my dad and music

From my seventh grade year at ECS until I started driving, Dad took me to school every single day, unless he was sick or out of town.  We have always enjoyed the same kind of music (yes, that means I even love Neil Diamond), and we loved listening to worship music back in those days.  We would crank it up and sing loudly.  He has a really good voice, and we used to sing in choir together.

Anyone else remember these?  These were our favorites, especially that Glorify Thy Name one.  I've had that song in my head lately!  How ironic that I'm writing this today.

I found a beautiful version of this on YouTube.

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I have chills!  I still love this song.

Anyway, we would happily sing to our hearts' content while he drove me to school.  When I think back to when I started driving, I cannot imagine what that must have done to him.  I know my reaction to my first two sons driving off alone for the first time, and to know I was his last child driving off...whew.  I can't even finish that sentence.

On a lighter note, to this day, we still love music.  God has always used music in both of our lives' to minister to us in our time of need.  I can't explain how I can sometimes tangibly feel the presence of God while I'm singing praises to Him, but it's always been that way for me.  I know it's been that way for my dad, too.  When I hear a great new song for the first time, he is the one I want to play it for.

So thanks to our awesome technology that we now have, I can search for something on my phone (the song I want him to hear) and connect my phone to the tv, and play it for him there from YouTube.  I just did this a couple of weeks ago, actually, with a new Brooklyn Tabernacle Choir song called Psalm 34.  We may have watched it a few times.  And we were both worshiping while we were watching and listening, and we had church that day in my living room.

I'm so thankful that we have that connection.  Few people understand my love for music, but Dad is definitely one of the ones who gets it, because it's the same way with him.  When I say music, I don't mean all music.  I mean praise and worship music.  It's what I most love to fill my mind with, and I know for a fact that when I am going through trials, I can start to praise the Lord in the midst of that storm, and He swoops in and carries me through what I'm facing.  It's happened a million times in my life, and it's why if you ever see some of the things I keep as memories in my downstairs closet, you will find sheet music to certain songs.

All of this in me began when I was very young.  I definitely get it from him, because his love for praise and worship music is even greater than mine.  It's just another thing the Lord blessed us with sharing, and I'm so glad for that.

It's funny when you become a parent, how you will never know that something you love has the possibility of becoming so influential in the lives of your kids.  Looking back at how my boys have been raised, I can definitely say that they were all raised in a house where music was played, and played LOUD, for as far back as they'll ever be able to remember.  Graham was two years old when I received my very first under the cabinet kitchen radio.  It's been set to K-Love ever since.  I pray that someday they will come back to loving that kind of music.  They've all developed their own tastes, and I've let them.  I have to trust that the ones that'll stick with them the most will be worship songs, though.  Or Toby Mac songs, whichever works. 

That's just one of my many prayers for my boys.

Maybe that can be a take-away for this post today: pay attention to what fills your mind, especially if you have little ears around.  The same could be said for little eyes.  They are little sponges, and what goes in their minds will be what comes out.

Thanks for reading.  Love to all.

catching up again, and a few picture memories

Wow!  So a few years have passed since I last wrote on this blog, and honestly, I have kinda forgotten about it in the last six years or so.  I have been pretty busy over here, raising future husbands and fathers, and as far as schooling goes, I am two down, two to go.

(Meaning, two have graduated and the last two will be sophomores come August.)

I can't remember if I was homeschooling or not, the last time I wrote, but this year will make year number seven for my family since we began that journey.  I guess I was already homeschooling.  We have enjoyed homeschooling, for the most part, and have kept up the tradition of spending Fridays with Dad.  (Hence the name of the blog.)  At this point, we are just committed to finishing strong.

I am happy to report that Daddy is now a young eighty seven years of age!  I am now forty one, and the boys are nineteen, eighteen and the twins are fifteen.

Speaking of fifteen, my friend pointed out one time that it was so cool that my dad had taught all my boys how to drive.  He has!  He taught me, too.  Not many people can say that.  He started them all out young, on his land, driving either the riding mower or his truck.

I love that about our relationship.  I love that my boys have grown up bonding so closely with ALL their grands, not just Dad, and that they have such great relationships with them.  How good God has been to my family!

*A note here, about that last sentence: Jesus is Who I love the most.  I have a relationship with Him that He drew me to, and He is my Savior.  He is the one subject that we talk about the most every single week, and we could go on and on, and DO, for hours.  I am so thankful to God for this legacy of faith I have through my dad.  I would be remiss if I didn't state that right now.

The other subject we talk about constantly is food.  We both love food.

Here's what Dad looks like nowadays.

Left to right are me, Dad, Trish, and Paul, two out of my five siblings.  This was back in March, the last day of March, to be exact, and we were celebrating Dad's birthday.

This is from about three years ago (below), and one of my favorite pictures and memories.  We love to go downtown for the veteran's day parade each year and we eat afterward, then go across the street and explore the train station.

Our hair was crazy because it was cold and windy.

I don't know where the boys were, but they were around.

And look at THIS picture of my dad and I the day after I got married!

He came to see me off on my honeymoon, after we had breakfast with all our parents.

We've aged a few years, all of us.

One last picture, and I'll be done.  Here are all my boys on Drew's graduation day.

Look at this picture of them in comparison to the one in the sidebar.  They're all grown up!  It's bittersweet, this process of growing up these handsome boys.  Dad always said never to blink; before I know it, the years will have flown by.  He was right, as usual.  (Left to right are Jonah, Drew, Graham, and Noah.  Numerically, Graham is oldest, then Drew, then Jonah, and then lastly, Noah, by a mere two minutes.)

Well, I'll be done for now, but I plan to keep writing more regularly on here again.  I will most likely post these blog posts to Pinterest, but if you are here and reading, the easiest way to update you on posts will be if you subscribe to them.  There are a few steps you'll have to take to do that, but I think that'll be the best way to stay connected, should you want.  I don't know who I'm writing for, an unknown group of people or myself, but either way, I'll leave that info there for whatever it is worth.

Thank you for reading!  Love to all.