choir practice

one of my goals for the choir rehearsals this season is to have a weekly devotional thought from scripture. it just made sense to me to have a small teaching moment along with the music we're doing. it maybe a scripture to help us understand a line we are singing or maybe it some general perspective on God's music.
last night was the latter.
i began by asking the simple question: why do we sing?
a few people broke into a refrain from "his eye is on the sparrow".
but, in the next few minutes (and it really was a brief time), we had a wonderful discussion on what we all agree is a command to sing. i was so pleased to hear the choir members going beyond the typical "i feel..." statements and really hitting the "the bible says..." statements. we are all entitled to our opinions, but unless our opinions are backed by scripture they are pointless and basically worthless. (as americans we have every right to be wrong.)
i also quoted the simple line from psalm 98:1. "sing to the Lord..."
that means we must! "should", "could", "might", "maybe", and "ought to" just don't cut it. the book of psalms (as well as the whole of scripture) is a to-do list, not a suggestion box.
there was a general consensus among us, that too much of the lack of participation in worship service music is because of ignorance of this command. the simple truths are often so simple that they get overlooked. the choir (and their fearless leader) have declared it to be our mission to help make it known through loving, teaching moments that we are all called to sing. even if we don't have an artistic penchant, we are still called to sing. that's the message we're called to deliver, and by God, we will!
ps - i love my choir!

musings on photography

i love pictures.
i think it's because of the memories attached to the photo. whether it be a picture of a person or an event, it always reminds me of that person or that time and place. it sparks me.
so, as of recently, i've come to greater appreciation of the art of photography. snap shots are great, but i'm amazed when a well-trained and talented individual captures something special. i don't know how they do it, but in a two-dimensional print, you can see depth.
and so it is with kara's senior pictures. we don't have them all in just yet, so i'm not going to post them (na-na boo boo). but, those of you who know kara well will be able to see an external showing of her internal beauty. i can't explain it, but once you experience it, you'll understand, too. she has been blessed to work with two amazing photographers for her senior picture project--one we know well as a friend, one we'll probably never see again.
but, for them both i thank the Lord for the artistry that shows us the beauty of kara.

Lord above, kara is so precious to me and i am blessed to have her in my life. thank You for showing me the beauty in Your creation of her. thank You for allowing her to rise above the limitations held for her for so long. we dedicate her life to You--use her as only You can.

pix links

http://www.new.facebook.com/album.php?aid=55898&l=74ce3&id=641188297
http://www.new.facebook.com/album.php?aid=55900&l=5cc03&id=641188297
http://www.new.facebook.com/album.php?aid=55901&l=7b6bb&id=641188297
http://www.new.facebook.com/album.php?aid=55902&l=7f270&id=641188297
http://www.new.facebook.com/album.php?aid=55903&l=1c9c9&id=641188297
http://www.new.facebook.com/album.php?aid=55904&l=b651a&id=641188297

link to baby pix

http://www.new.facebook.com/album.php?aid=55556&l=22e04&id=641188297