Random Thoughts from a Barber Shop

On the bulletin board:

Strange how millions of people would like to live to be 110, but they don't know what to do with themselves when it rains on a Sunday afternoon.

And of course I can't resist sharing this one:

If a man speaks in a forest and there's no woman to hear him, is he still wrong?

Who knew you could find such wisdom and humor at a barber shop.

Mapleview Report

Just to keep everyone posted (in case anyone but me is reading this), I sang this morning at Mapleview as planned. I sang a song called "More Like You," which was recorded by Clay Crosse. It went really well, and Greg said it fit into the service nicely. I got lots of compliments from members of the congregation, too. One guy even asked, "Do you sing for a living? You've got a voice that you could; that's why I ask." Affirmation isn't my main motivation for singing in church, but it sure is encouraging to get.

Well, I've been keeping some late nights lately, so I think I'm going to close now and head for bed. One more week in Michigan! Then it's back to reality in Wichita. Talk at y'all later. Take care.

Mapleview Free Methodist

This Sunday I am scheduled to sing a special at Mapleview FMC in Niles, MI. The pastor, Greg Rensberry, is a friend of mine from Spring Arbor College when we were both students there. (We were also co-workers at Covenant Hills Campground one summer.) We had lunch and visited some today.

I've been able to get together with several friends from my college days while up here in Michigan this summer. It had been years since I'd seen or heard from most of them; that's been one of the big blessings of being here. It's nice to renew old friendships. The hard part for me is maintaining them!

Good news!

Today I pulled out all the old notebooks and papers I had ever used for songwriting and found that I had two songs almost finished. One had all the lyrics written and the other was lacking only two lines. And I had written a third to a half of the music for each. So all I had to do was write those two lines, do a little lyrical tweaking and finish the music for both songs. It seems that the lyrics are harder for me to complete than the music. I think that's b/c the lyrics are more important to me; I feel compelled to strive for excellent lyrics, whereas the music seems to me just a vehicle, something that just needs to be functional. That's probably a weakness in my musicianship.

But the point today is that I finished two more songs! They're kind of like rough drafts, though, so I think I will keep reviewing them and possibly making changes. Still, excellent progress for my first day back at songwriting, I think. It was really fun, too. I definitely need to take time to do that every week or so, even after school starts.

Well, it's late, so I'm gonna sign off. Peace, everybody.

An encouraging word

Yesterday my parents saw a concert of Jamey Dennison, a guy I met a couple years ago when I was with the Christian band Heaven 2 Earth. Apparently he had gotten our CD at the time b/c my mom said he asked them to say hello to me, gave a wonderful compliment about my songwriting, and encouraged me to continue writing. This guy has been writing and performing for a long time. This isn't just a hobby for him; he's a professional songwriter. The fact that he had listened to my music and remembered me is encouraging in and of itself. But that he would compliment my songwriting and specifically encourage me to continue is amazing to me!

So that was kind of a kick in the butt that I need to get writing again. It's been years since I have, but I know there are things God's done in my life and taught me that could help others. too. So, like Nike says, "Just do it." I need to stop whining about being busy and do the things that are important. And since I'm not working and on vacation for the summer, I could spend some major time right now. So that's one of my goals for this week and next. I will spend a few hours on songwriting.

It's a good goal. I'll keep you all posted.

Long time coming

Well, for a long time I didn't have time to do any posting on this blog, and then I forgot my password so I didn't do any posting for a long time more. But now I'm back.

Update on Two Mites Ministries: I have resigned my position as worship leader at Christ Community Church. I finally got my Kansas teaching license this past spring and have a new job teaching math at Campus High School in the Haysville, KS school district. The school itself is actually on the south side of Wichita. It's only about a 20 minute drive from my house, so that's not too bad.

Anyway, the point of my story is that I think my music ministry is going to be on hold for a while until I settle into my new job. Having taught in the past, I know being a first-year teacher is a lot of work and can be a lot of stress. I definitely don't want to spread myself too thin at this point in my life.

Well, I don't intend to wait 8 more months before making another posting here, so hopefully this will be more interesting to read in the future. At least to some people. Peace.