The first time I heard Riverdance I was captivated.  One because I LOVE tap, and this kind of dance is close enough, and two because I love Celtic music.  Oh I love it.  I listen to my Riverdance soundtrack A LOT.  And even if I have in on in the background of my day; while I am working, while I am cleaning, while I am cruising around the Internet, my heart stirs.  Something about the music and the sound of the dance stirs me up.  On the particular clip that I included for today someone commented that their feet don't have rhythm but their heart does.  That about sums it up for me too!  I am completely without rhythm but my heart takes flight when I hear good music.  Books without pictures and music without words will allow your imagination and heart to take flight.  Reel Around the Sun

It started innocently enough.  I spied a cassette tape on my brother's bedroom floor and picked it up.  It looked good so I popped it in my cassette player and pushed play.  I haven't been the same since for it is when the OBSESSION began.  Yes, obsession.  Oh it's healthy, I haven't like stalked the man or anything but his lyrics and guitar playing are IT for me.  And yes, Lanny knows.  It was an unspoken in our wedding vows that no matter if we were richer or poorer that if Steven Curtis Chapman was in Colorado we would be attending that concert!  So far, that has held true.  And yes, I own every single album he has ever made.  :)  The title track really caught my heart when I first started listening to this album (way, way, way back!).  "More to This Life".  There is more to this life than what you or I see right in front of us.  We see just a small pixel (ha, I just went all techno - or something - on you ...

I'm a BIG lyrics girl.  Before the music intrigues me the lyrics have to speak to me.  And this is one of those songs.  The first time I heard it, I mean really heard it, I cried.  It is MY heart's cry and frankly I'm relived to know I'm not the only one who cries to God with these sentiments.  Solomon in Ecclesiastes lamented that life was meaningless, meaningless, meaningless.  He was afraid of the nothingness of life, the pursuits that end up meaning nothing in the long run.  Afraid of giving partial effort and the regret that comes because of that choice down the road.  When God has given us the ability to give our all it is not okay to only give partially.  It leads to complacency.  Going through the motions.  You've done it and so have I.  Sometimes we go through the motions at our job, just getting through the day and not really investing in the tasks at hand.  Sometimes we go through the motions at church, just...

Of course I had to do a song that is my name!  That's a given!  :)  I first heard of and heard Beth in High School when I was dating a musician.  So it goes without saying that of course he would sing this song to me every so often.  And really when I hear the song I very easily see how this could be my life had I stayed with that person or had my husband continued on with his band.  I love this song for its music.  Regardless of what I may personally think about Kiss they are great musicians and I appreciate good music just as much as I do good lyrics.  Now.  What do I think about Kiss?  I think they are hysterical.  It's brilliant what they ended up doing.  My husband has seen them first row in their early days and still talks about those concerts to this day because of how brilliant they are in their performance and music.  We've watched a few episodes of "Family Jewels", a reality show featuring Gene Simmons and hi...

Come, thou Fount of every blessing, tune my heart to sing thy grace; streams of mercy, never ceasing, call for songs of loudest praise. Teach me some melodious sonnet, sung by flaming tongues above. Praise the mount! I'm fixed upon it, mount of thy redeeming love. Here I raise mine Ebenezer; hither by thy help I'm come; and I hope, by thy good pleasure, safely to arrive at home. Jesus sought me when a stranger, wandering from the fold of God; he, to rescue me from danger, interposed his precious blood. O to grace how great a debtor daily I'm constrained to be! Let thy goodness, like a fetter, bind my wandering heart to thee. Prone to wander, Lord, I feel it, prone to leave the God I love; here's my heart, O take and seal it, seal it for thy courts above. (Robert Robinson 1758) There is much I could say about this hymn.  I just love it.  LOVE IT.  But for sake of time I'm going to pick a few phrases that really grab me every time I hear it...

Mikaela and I went to the Denver Art Museum today and I found myself singing Photograph while we were driving home.  It has to be the song for today!  I think I was singing it because we ended our trip to the museum in the Photography wing.  Makes sense! ;)  The first time I heard Def Leppard I was in 7th grade and they hit the U.S. big with "Pour Some Sugar on Me".  Didn't know what the song meant then, know what it means now so you'll never see it land on this experiment! 'Nuf said. :) But what that song did was introduce me to Def Leppard and I fell in love with their music.  I even went backwards to listen to their albums that were made before I even knew they existed.  Photograph would be one of those songs that stuck.  A few years ago Lanny and I were watching a documentary on Def Leppard and they were talking in depth about this song and why they wrote it.  Actually the video explains it pretty good.  Around the ...

Ever thought about the power of presence?  I've heard the phrase "commanding presence" and it can be a good or bad thing depending on how the person appropriating that presence chooses to behave.  I've been in social situations before where the room is taken over by someone who has an infectious presence and is the "life of the party".  The presence of people we love is missed when they are gone.  Presence is powerful.   Maybe you believe in God, maybe not but this song talks about the powerful presence of God.  He is a commanding and infectious presence.  Get a taste of him and you need more.  In his presence there is a comfort that can not be described with words, an empowerment that can only come through supernatural means, that which seems impossible becomes possible, what is broken down is restored, and so much more.  It's a mystery that slowly reveals itself as you spend more and more time in the presence of the Creato...