How Beautiful – The Weather Channel Surprise

November 5, 2014 By Stanton Lanier 1 Comment

Click above to listen to How Beautiful from my second album Still Waters as you read. If you enjoy, consider purchasing the song, album download, or CD from iTunes, or stantonlanier.com (where sheet music is also available).

When was a time something you love was part of a great surprise?

Sometimes these events happen in bunches, and sometimes there may only be a few per year. This story happened Saturday, February 1, 2003. I was still a full-time financial planner and had released my second album Still Waters before Christmas 2012. In the midst of Saturday chores and projects around the house, there was a voice mail left on my phone.

It was a friend from Arkansas, and the message said, “I think I just heard your music on The Weather Channel. How is that possible!?” With technology at the time, it took a few days to figure out. A Still Waters CD had made it from a person at work to a person at The Weather Channel to the person in charge of music for the Local on the 8s. The song How Beautiful had been selected for the music rotation, and was playing in the background about once every two hours across the U.S. This only lasted for two minutes during the local forecast.

To my surprise, this led to CD orders from thirty states. There were amazing stories from people who emailed to share they could sense God’s peace and hope in the instrumental music. One was from a lady in Michigan who was folding her laundry. Another was from a young man in a Connecticut hospital. All of this caused tears of joy and a growing sense that something bigger was happening. Was God calling me toward doing music full-time?

The other big surprise was the inspirational verses behind How Beautiful. This was and still is one of my favorite melodies on this album. The piano notes are singing the scriptures almost word for word, which speak of the beauty of serving others in love, and the wonder and mystery of God’s grace and forgiveness.

How beautiful can your life be today in sharing some good news with someone?

“How beautiful are the feet of those who bring good news!” — Romans 10:15

“That if you confess with your mouth Jesus as Lord, and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved.” — Romans 10:9

Do the Skies Speak to You?

November 3, 2014 By Stanton Lanier 2 Comments

Click above to listen to Across the Skies from the album A Thousand Years as you read, featuring Johann Pachelbel’s Canon in D. If you enjoy, consider purchasing the song, album download, or CD from iTunes or stantonlanier.com (where sheet music is also available). Do the skies speak to you? I can remember it like it was yesterday. I loved climbing to the top of the tall sweet gum tree across the street from my childhood home in North Carolina. I call it the “100-foot tall sweet gum tree,” as seen through the eyes of a nine-year old boy. When I sat on a strong branch near the top, holding on to the tree trunk, my perspective shifted. I could look out over the neighborhood. I could see the birds flying high. I could sense there was something much bigger than me. I didn’t know it then, but there is scripture that speaks to what I believe I was sensing…

“God’s glory is on tour in the skies, God-craft on exhibit across the horizon. Madame Day holds classes every morning, Professor Night lectures each evening. Their words aren’t heard, their voices aren’t recorded, But their silence fills the earth: unspoken truth is spoken everywhere. God makes a huge dome for the sun—a superdome! The morning sun’s a new husband leaping from his honeymoon bed, The daybreaking sun an athlete racing to the tape.That’s how God’s Word vaults across the skies from sunrise to sunset, Melting ice, scorching deserts, warming hearts to faith.” (Psalm 19:1-6, The Message) This is how the melody Across the Skies was birthed for the album A Thousand Years, which interweaves original composing with timeless hymns and classics. Johann Pachelbel’s Canon in D became the canvas for painting an original melody inspired by the first half of Psalm 19. As you listen, think about some of your favorite “sky moments.” What vistas did you treasure as a child? Where do you like to go today to see the sky? As you take in the scene, can you hear God’s gentle whisper speaking softly to the depths of your soul? Let your heart be warmed to faith as God reveals Himself to you, as the Great Storyteller writes a page in your story today (the image above happened as my flight was landing on a recent Ohio concert trip). “The heavens declare the glory of God; the skies proclaim the work of his hands. Day after day they pour forth speech; night after night they reveal knowledge. They have no speech, they use no words; no sound is heard from them. Yet their voice[b] goes out into all the earth, their words to the ends of the world.” (Psalm 19:1-6, NIV)

Higher – Why is this Happening to Me?

August 29, 2014 By Stanton Lanier 2 Comments

Click above to listen to Higher from my third album Draw Near as you read. If you enjoy, consider purchasing the song, album download, or CD from iTunes or stantonlanier.com (where sheet music is also available).

Higher was inspired by Isaiah 55:8-9 — “For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways,” declares the Lord. “As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts.”

What has happened recently that made you wonder why?

Are you feeling defeated right now? Discouraged? Something got you down? Bear with me through this story that happened two summers ago. I hope you are nudged closer to overcoming whatever is deflating you. “It” doesn’t have to win…

It was a Friday morning off to a great start. I was up early, had some quiet time, and was ready for a good day. After breakfast my wife said, “You could go ahead and fix the faucet this morning, before it gets hot.” I knew she was right. One of our outdoor faucets had a small leak, dripping about one gallon per day. I adjusted my plans, set my mind to checking this off my list, and thought, “replacing a washer shouldn’t take too long, but even if it does, I will still maintain a positive attitude.”

“Let’s get this done and finish a new blog post this morning too,” I thought. I borrowed some special tools from two neighbors and set to work. First, I turned off the water line to the house. Then, I removed the faucet. I quickly realized that none of the washers in the assortment package would fit. I was frustrated, but kept a good attitude. It meant a return trip to Home Depot. Maybe it would be easier to just get a new faucet. There wasn’t one. Our faucet was too old. My good attitude turned to groaning.

This led me to a plumbing supply store where there wasn’t a new faucet, but I was given a new washer at no charge. I smiled as I walked back to the car with this unexpected gift. But back home the washer seemed a little too thick. The faucet would not re-attach no matter how hard I pushed and turned. I began to talk to it, telling it who was boss. I went back to the plumbing supply store to get a different washer, and discovered they close from 11am to 12pm every day(!). My groaning turned to frustration! “Why is this happening!” I cried in my head. “This is such a waste of time!” I was feeling hopeless and defeated.

I went back to Home Depot to find the correct washer. It only came in packs of ten. I came home, put one in place, and the faucet still would not re-attach. I stared at it, pushed it, hit it with a hammer, put my foot on it, anything I could think of to make it screw back on. My frustration had turned to anger! I knew there had to be a way. I tried loosening another nut closer to the top. If this was the solution, it would create enough clearance to re-attach the back of the faucet, then I would have to re-tighten the smaller bolt to have everything good as new. It worked! Amazing! It was something simple, but had taken an hour to discover. Then, the final step. I turned the water line back on, and . . . no more leak! It was over! I had defeated the faucet, and my positive attitude reappeared out of hiding.

I would much rather be creating, practicing or sharing my music, but living in the present meant to fix this problem first (just so you know, sometimes I do call a plumber). Life’s interruptions somehow can be good for the soul, and can make room for greater things to happen. There is an ebb and flow, a pacing to each day. When I feel like time is being wasted, in fact good things can be happening. I just may not know what they are. It keeps things in perspective when every day doesn’t go my way. Perhaps tomorrow more will happen than seems humanly possible.

Life can get me down. I can be anxious about the future. Can you relate? Are you feeling defeated or discouraged by something big or small? Live in the present. Take one step at a time. Know the grace of a new day is coming with tomorrow morning’s sunrise. Remember God’s ways are higher than our ways.

How can Isaiah 55:8-9 speak into your life today?

Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own. — Matthew 6:34

“For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways,” declares the Lord. “As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts. — Isaiah 55:8-9