Thursday night June 23rd was an evening to remember, as 60 friends gathered to celebrate the release of A Thousand Years with dinner, music and stories. This reminded me to keep living in the moment, to remember to celebrate life’s blessings along the way. Bread of Angels was particularly special that night, as I shared the “passport story” (see June 16th blog post) and how this music and inspiration from Psalm 78:25 symbolizes provision in our lives. At first glance it seems to apply to food, shelter and finances, but with further reflection, I realize this music expresses provision on many different levels.

The first half of June has been filled with experiences of grace…adjusting from school to summer family schedule (swim meets!), concerts to wonderful audiences in Sacramento and Seattle, Donald Miller’s Storyline Conference in Portland about living out a better story (more to come on this), and a 24-hour trip to Toronto to tape an interview and piano performance for July. Grace is the only way to describe this most recent trip. I was going to check in online and realized I had left my passport in a safety deposit box that was closed for the weekend. Everything online says you need your passport to travel in and out of Canada from the U.S., but my contact there said there was a chance it was possible with a photocopy of my passport and a few other document copies I had. There were seven security checkpoints I counted between getting through Atlanta into Toronto and back, and each got progressively more intense, but in the end the journey was completed. I would not recommend it, but I will never forget this experience. There were signs of grace everywhere, as I shared my embarrassment to security people and was forgiven, as my glasses were knocked off and went flying on an airport subway – and didn’t break. This is part of the story we are living out, to notice grace and to offer it to others too.

It was a boy’s dream climbing tree – a 100-foot tall sweetgum right across the street from my childhood home in North Carolina. By the time I was nine or ten I was able to climb all the way to the top and look out over the neighborhood. There was an element of risk and recklessness in getting that high above the ground, but the trunk and branches made you feel safe. I can still remember swaying in the breeze and taking in the wonder of the birds, blue sky and sun shining through the leaves. This prompted a question in my mind this morning – what risks do I need to take, how should I be more reckless . . . in pursuing moments of wonder? The rewards can be noticing more beauty, experiencing more adventure, or enriching a relationship. What was one of your “sweetgum tree” moments in life that can lift your spirit today?

This week I have been meditating on this story I came across in The Message (From Water to Wine – John Chapter 2). There is a great wedding banquet taking place and Jesus’ mom tells him “They’re just about out of wine.” Jesus responds “Is that any of our business . . . Don’t push me.” Then she tells the servants “Whatever he tells you; do it.” There were six 20 to 30 gallon pots and Jesus ordered the servants, “Fill the pots with water.” Then the story says And they filled them to the brim. My meditation has been Is my life full to the brim with faith? When it is 100% full to the brim, this is when mysterious, amazing, unexplainable things happen, that are impossible a part from God’s hand. So, my focus on joy for the month of May has now become Full to the Brim with joy (and faith)!

I don’t like when a pine tree dies in the backyard and has to be removed at great expense, but I am thankful that I have a yard with trees. I don’t like when the house needs some unexpected repair, but I am thankful that I have shelter. I don’t like when my car has an annoying rattle in the rear panel that costs $100 to fix, but I am thankful that I have transportation. I don’t like when there is conflict over an issue with my wife or children, but I am thankful that I can share life and love with my family.

I am sure something will happen today that I don’t like, and I can choose how I will respond. I prefer counting life’s blessings versus being flustered by life’s problems. This is what inspired the song Rivers of Light. Every desirable and beneficial gift comes out of heaven. The gifts are rivers of light cascading down from the Father of Light (James 1:17). Before they call I will answer; while they are still speaking I will hear (Isaiah 65:24).

My summer job in high school and college was at a canoe rental in the Florida panhandle (Adventures Unlimited is still a great place to go canoeing or tubing today). I didn’t realize it at the time, but the work taught me about the importance of solitude and silence. There was a stark contrast between busloads of people filled with excitement (and noise) for a day on the Coldwater River, and the solitary work of unloading canoes on the sandbar early in the morning. My favorite job was called “The Top,” where from 7 to 8 a.m. you had to carry 100+ canoes about 30-40 yards down to the “beach” in preparation for the first busloads that would arrive around 8:30 a.m. It was a great physical workout that took about one hour. The reward for this solitary hard work was the 30 minutes of silence lying still in a canoe or in the river, listening to the breeze, the birds and the trickle of the water. I didn’t know that one day I would compose a song called Silence that always reminds me of those early years nurturing my soul with times of solitude and quiet.

This is the Boy Scout motto, “Be prepared.” I have been active in my son’s scout troop for three years now. Today we have to prepare for a canoeing and camping weekend, so I was thinking about this phrase as it relates to life. I often fall short in being prepared, in following through or in being consistently obedient in working on what is most important. Life is filled with imperfections, distractions and things that are “good” or “better” versus the thing that is “best” for me to focus on. Times of victory and struggle are part of the journey. When I feel unprepared or inadequate, I remember the verse “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness” (2 Corinthians 12:9). One more verse that speaks to preparation is a great encouragement to me – “For we are God’s workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.” This morning I praise God for His strength and for “being prepared.”

I have been on the road for half of the past month. Recording A Thousand Years, out of town performances and Boy Scout camp outs have been integrated with life during this stretch. This afternoon I took my daughter to her first swim team practice and stumbled on some great lines by C.S. Lewis that got me thinking…”If I find in myself a desire which no experience in this world can satisfy, the most probably explanation is that I was made for another world. If none of my earthly pleasures satisfy it, that does not prove that the universe is a fraud. Probably earthly pleasures were never meant to satisfy it, but only to arouse it, to suggest the real thing. Aim at Heaven and you will get earth “thrown in”: aim at earth and you will get neither.”

I have decided to make “Joy Forever” my theme for the month of May. This is the meaning of the Old French phrase “Vive La Joye,” which is the title of track #3 on the new album “A Thousand Years” coming May 20th. Psalm 16:11 was written by David in 1000 B.C. and says, “You fill me with you in your presence, with eternal pleasures at your right hand.” When this was written he was being pursued by King Saul, who was trying to kill him. This catches my attention, that while running for his life, while hiding in caves to escape King Saul, David took some time and wrote about joy. This is inspiring and makes me want to fan the flame of joy inside my heart!

The month of April has been focused on creating music to offer peace and hope. It has been a busy and full week back home after recording A Thousand Years. There has been lots of listening back to mixes for final approval to master the CD.  A Brahm’s Lullaby section ended up not making the final recording so that the Be Still My Soul hymn could be more prominent. My arrangement of Chopin’s Prelude in E Minor, which has an original beginning and ending inspired by Job 7, will now be titled Monastery at Eventide. I learned that Chopin composed is 24 preludes while staying at a monastery and Job 7 speaks to a longing for evening shadows amidst daily and life struggles. Graphics design work has been completed and submitted, and the CD manufacturing process will begin next week. My daily theme right now is Psalm 46:10, “Be still and know that I am God.” Stillness, gratitude and remembrance give me life as I reflect one day at a time.