Feelin' better...

The mommy guilt didn't end up eating me completely alive. Seth got up cheerful from his nap, ate like the little mini-teenager that he is, and then played cheerfully until it was time for the afternoon nap. He looks like he got the worst of it in a prizefight, but he's smiling around the bruises. I think it's harder to see your children in pain than to see the evidence of the pain. I won't be showing him himself in the mirror anytime soon, but my guess is that he'd probably be fascinated with the view. =)

But on another note... I decided to spend some of my birthday cash on awesome praise music. I used to have an extensive Christian music library. Now I have many outdated Christian cds from the 90s. Anybody remember Big Tent Revival? What about Audio Adrenaline and the Newsboys? Yeah, those last two are still around, but I don't have anything by them that is less than 10 years old. Pathetic because I really enjoy Christian music. It's been an important part of my Christian journey, and I've been disrespectin' that. Well, I took a baby step toward change today...

When we lived in DC, we went to a church that had rockin' praise music. It was fantastic. I LOVED it, and I got used to the fact that I could worship Jesus with wonderful music and deep lyrics every Sunday morning. I don't take that for granted so much anymore. There are many great churches around here, but none of them come close to the Sunday morning worship at Sovereign Grace of Fairfax. So I decided it was time to invest in a little nostalgia trip back to DC. And Sovereign Grace Ministries made it easy peasy. They're having a really good sale during the month of February. Free shipping. And every CD is $6. I'm not kidding. Go here for the details. I bought two this morning. I probably should've gotten more.

I'm one of those people who loves the depth of hymn lyrics and and also loves the awesomeness of a praise band. Many praise lyrics, it seemed to me, though, were kind of... ummm.... missing something. They were kind of repetitive. They couldn't match the heartfelt verses of classic hymns. That's what I thought... until I came across the compilation of praise songs that Sovereign Grace had put together. They either created or found praise music with the kind of depth I expected to find in hymns. So if you feel the same way I have, it's worth it to give a listen to the samples on these cds. You probably won't be disappointed.

I remember seeing this email a few years ago. It went around the forwards circuit, and it was pretty funny, in my opinion. I thought it did an admirable job at poking fun at the difference between praise music and hymns, so I shall reproduce it here:

"Not long ago a farmer went to the city one weekend and attended the big city church. He came home and his wife asked him how it was. "Well," said the farmer, "It was good. They did something different, however. They sang praise choruses instead of hymns." "Praise choruses," said his wife, "What are those?" "Oh, they're okay. They're sort of like hymns, only different," said the farmer. "

"Well, what's the difference?" asked his wife. The farmer said, "Well it's like this - If I were to say to you:`Martha, the cows are in the corn,' well that would be a hymn. If, on the other hand, I were to say to you:

Martha Martha, Martha, Oh, Martha, MARTHA, MARTHA,
the cows, the big cows, the brown cows, the black cows,
the white cows, the black and white cows, the COWS, COWS,
COWS are in the corn, are in the corn, are in the corn, are in the corn,
the CORN, CORN, CORN,

Then, if I were to repeat the whole thing two or three times, well that would be a praise chorus."

A young, new Christian from the big city attended the small town church one weekend. He came home and his wife asked him how it was."Well," said the young man, "It was good. They did something different, however. They sang hymns instead of regular songs." "Hymns," said his wife, "What are those?" "Oh, they're okay. They're sort of like regular songs, only different," said the young man.

"Well, what's the difference?" asked his wife. The young man said, "Well it's like this - If I were to say to you, `Martha, the cows are in the corn,' well that would be a regular song. If, on the other hand, I were to say to you:

Oh Martha, dear Martha, hear thou my cry
Inclinest thine ear to the words of my mouth.
Turn thou thy whole wondrous ear by and by
To the righteous, inimitable, glorious truth.
For the way of the animals who can explain
There in their heads is no shadow of sense,
Hearkenest they in God's sun or his rain
Unless from the mild, tempting corn they are fenced.
Yea those cows in glad bovine, rebellious delight,
Have broke free their shackles, their warm pens eschewed.
Then goaded by minions of darkness and night
They all my mild Chilliwack sweet corn have chewed.
So look to that bright shining day by and by,
Where all foul corruptions of earth are reborn.
Where no vicious animal makes my soul cry
And I no longer see those foul cows in the corn.

Then, if I were to do only verses one, three, and four and do a key change on the last verse, well that would be a hymn."

Have a wonderful weekend, y'all.