Wow-ful Women Wednesdays

Well, I made it to about 3:40 before I totally lost it. I call that progress.

"You are everything you've promised....Alleluia"

Wow-ful Women Wednesdays

AH!!! I am about to explode your brain with Wow-fulness. You should probably sit down. ;-)

Okay, so seriously, who can sing like this? I know this song is getting a tonne of radio play and maybe you are tiring of hearing it, but I truly can't imagine how that can be possible. This girl can SING!! And it just struck me on my way home from the market as I was listening to Adele with goosebumps all over my arms that part of what makes her brilliant is that she sounds like the two singers in the second video put together. Wow: The Grammar Police will have a hey-day with that last sentence! Regardless, listen to Adele first (because she is brilliant) and then listen to the Civil Wars second (who are also RIDICULOUSLY fabulous and note the Wow-fulness of Joy Williams....seriously.) Then tell me if you agree that Adele is like the Civil Wars in one person. Which is insane.

Wow-ful Women Wednesday

*sigh*

Jenny & Tyler. So good.

Wow-ful Women Wednesday

Ah, yes. Here it is: a link to the blog I wish I wrote. I know I usually post a song on a day like today, but this post is so absolutely where I'm at these days. And I believe it will ring true with all my church family and our MATEO dreams. For those of you who don't know what that means, please ask me. I'd love to tell you. In the meantime, read this post by Ann Voskamp, a mom, just like me, who has kids to teach, and words to speak and write,...and seeds to sow.

Read her gorgeous post here.

Happy 5th of May!

My prayer this month...

Happy Second of May!

Bwahaha.

Okay, so I had a thought of posting a new "May" song every day this month. We'll see how long that lasts ;-)

This is lovely, though. I know May won't really stay forever, but there will be at least 29 more days, I'm guessing.

Happy First of May!

Wow-ful Women Wednesday

This has been well-circulated lately, and I have posted Carrie Underwood before, but this video certainly bears repeating here on me wee blog. Everytime I hear her sing I think, "now, *that* must be her full voice. She couldn't possibly sing with that strength any higher"....and then she does. And then she key changes. And she sings just as strongly still. Ridiculously talented.

Enjoy!

Wow-ful Women Wednesday

Ah! I'd forgotten about this song. If you saw a girl driving a Blue Corsica in the summer of 1997 through the streets of Santa Rosa, California looking like she was screaming in the driver's seat, it was actually me singing this song. And every other song on this cassette *ahem*.

This is Christine Dente and her husband Scott in their band named Out of the Grey.
I heart this song. Every little bit (but especially from about 3:30 to the end)
Enjoy!

Wow-ful Women Wednesday -- Birthday Flashback Edition

It is my sister's birthday today. Happy birthday! So in honour of her and her birthday, I knew that I *had* to find a video of a duet that she and I would do when we were kids. There are so many options (each one more ridiculous than the last).

I mean, do I pull out Whitney and her mom singing "I Know Him So Well"? It's a good one, but the video quality is very, very poor. So no. And we did it better driving in her K-Car anyway. She was Whitney. I was Cissy.

Then there is Kenny Rogers and Dottie West...but I'm tryin' to keep it clean around here :-) I won't even tell you how young we were sitting in the backseat, driving across the country for family vacation singing that one. She was Dottie. I was Kenny.

So here is the other option, and I think it is the best. Pretty sure we sang this around the organ. That's right. My sister is a very talented musician and singer. But she and I both started on the organ. And then I quit (story of my life) and she carried on to do much more musically. But picture us. At the organ. Singing this song (followed by "Memory" from Cats, and a selection of songs by Air Supply. I can't make this stuff up, people).

But do please note the ridiculously large stage they are on. And how ridiculously in her personal bubble the guy is. Wow. Can you imagine singing that close to someone? Awkward.

Here, for the Diana to my Lionel, is Endless Love. Happy birthday, J.

A Spring in my Step

In my neck of the woods today we are experiencing a perfectly lovely day. There is a nice slow thaw with no breeze to speak of, and mostly sunnyish skies. And I was forced to get outside today with my daughter to help her deliver flyers. I'm not going to lie: I felt like helping with the flyers about as much as I wanted to mark my children's math books (oh ya. I had to do that too.)

Anyhow, out we went, and I was prepared not to grumble because I told a friend of mine to ask me later if I grumbled (hurray for accountability). But before I even had a chance to convince myself not to grumble, I caught up with the mail man.

We have a nice mail man. He is always smiling and always has his music turned WAY up and sometimes he sings along. He teases my kids about skipping school on a sunny afternoon. He walks with purpose, but in a sauntering kind of way. He looks like he enjoys his route and isn't in a rush to finish it. I should find out his name and give him a Christmas Card next year.

But, as usual, I digress.

So I catch up with him at a house where I have flyers to put in the mail box and he has, well, mail. He asks me, "Is that your daughter pulling the wagon over there?"

I answer in the affirmative.

He says, "You know what? You have the nicest kids. They are always so polite and friendly and respectful. Your daughter was just saying hi to me. I have 3 kids of my own and so I always notice other people's kids, especially when they are nice."

*sigh*

And so, I remember that the point of my life is not my own agenda, (which, by the way, has nothing to do with much other than drinking tea and reading books today) but raising these beautiful children in such a way as to touch someone else's life and give them a glimpse of joy.

And for some reason, all of this -- the lovely weather, the lovely conversation, the lovely realization, the lovely children -- made me think of this song.

Maybe this is the 80's musical spin on "Bloom where you are planted."

Wow-ful Women Wednesday

Okay. Really? All these people? On one stage? Together? At the same time? Singing? Worshipping? At the same time? Seriously.

My kids are saying that I shouldn't really post this video on Wow-ful Women Wednesday because there is only one woman. And really it isn't about that for me anyway today. This video is being used by the Lord to teach me a lesson today. There has been a very specific theme in what I'm hearing and reading and discussing these days, and this video represents a whole lot of what I need to learn.

Thanks to my friend, Wendy, for posting this video this week. I certainly wouldn't have found it otherwise.

Wow-ful Women Wednesdays

There are some singers that make me want to either be a better singer or to just duct tape my mouth shut and never sing again. These two women from this family are two such women. There is a "je ne sais quoi" about their voices that just haunts me. So beautiful. Of course the production quality of this video and the instrumentation and the harmonies, and women playing the double bass, and brothers who can sing....It all adds up to a significant stirring for me. As such, I'm posting 3 videos today of the Franz Family. I know the first song is a Christmas song, and I know it is January, but is there really ever a poor time to remember that Jesus is Emmanuel - God with us? Didn't think so.

Enjoy.



A little extra dose of Blue Grass:



And then this: *sigh*

Christmas Countdown - Christmas Morning Edition

Merry Christmas! Wishing you a joy-filled, hope-filled, Christ-worshipping day, today and all year long, as we focus our hearts and minds on the child that was born to be our King, our Saviour, our Redeemer!

Christmas Countdown

I know, I know. It is Wednesday. I should be posting a Wow-ful Woman. I'm not. This is a man. You need to know, that I did not own this CD until I met my soon-to-be husband. This song instantly grabbed my heart. It may have felt incredibly autobiographical for Chris and I back in the day. Just sayin'.

And it usually made me cry like a girl. Apparently it still does (*ahem*). Christmas barely feels like Christmas until I hear this song. On the recorded version there is a lovely duet part added half way through, but I really, really, really like this SCC plus guitar version (particularly because then I can sing the duet part as if in a really excellent karaoke moment).

LOVE this song. LOVE.
Yay for Steven Curtis Chapman.

Christmas Countdown - Duet Style

Okay, so don't mind the awkward Kathy Lee Gifford interview part at the beginning, but do enjoy the brilliantly talented Harry Connick Jr. with his adorable daughter, Kate. How much fun is this?

Christmas Countdown

Wow-ful Women Wednesdays - Christmas Edition

This song was brand new to me last year, and I posted it near Christmas. I do believe it bears re-posting. I still always think I can get through this song dry-eyed, and everytime I'm wrong.

A Baby Changes Everything -- Faith Hill

Christmas Countdown

There are soome Christmas songs that everyone covers because they are just that good. This is one of them. But there is something about this version, sung by the lyricist himself, that makes it my favourite version of it. Ever. Mark Lowry sings his song slower than most. And he sings it like he's really speaking to Mary, and really just as awed as she must have been to find out just who her son truly was.

Christmas Countdown - Country Style

Okay. Throw stones if you want, but I'm pretty sure I'm not the only Country music liker out there. Especially a little *ahem* Garth Brooks. I won't lie. My Garth Brooks Christmas cassette is one of my favourites (clearly not favourite enough to justify dropping $9.99 on iTunes, but whatever. Maybe Santa reads my blog and wants to gift me with it this year!)

I really like this version of this song. Just kind makes me all happy and warm on the inside. (And I know you like it too, even if you pretend you don't!) :-)