This afternoon the fam & I went to Chicago's Adler Planetarium so that Baylee could see planets and stars. Definitely not the most kid friendly of the Chicago museums, but apparently they are taking steps to remedy that. We had fun nonetheless. Our few hours there pretty much consisted of letting Baylee lead us around the exhibits, meaning that we read none of the placecards but pushed every available button. Yes, we laughed a lot.
Thursday, September 24, 2009
Thursday, September 10, 2009
How do you come back from your daughter dying?
Though there aren't a ton of Christians artists/bands that I really like, Steven Curtis Chapman has indeed always been a favorite. I honestly can't think of one of his projects that I'd consider a "bad album." Sure, there might be a song, or at the most two songs on a CD that I don't care for (Ex: Dancing with the Dinosaurs), but normally 8 out of 10 songs are great. Of those, 2-3 are usually amazing to a caliber that other artists can't compete or compare (Ex: Speechless, Magnificent Obsession). He's consistently a quality artist, consistently an incredible and fresh song writer.
And then his adopted daughter was killed in a freak car accident.
Along with everyone else who knows who he is, I was completely shocked by the news (article). Being Baylee's dad, my heart broke for him. Broke! I remember holding Baylee tight that night and praying, "Be with him Jesus. My heart feels his pain, but at the same time I can't imagine it. I don't want to."
How can he come back from that?
How can he keep singing and performing?
And if he does keep going, what's the first single going to be? It's not like he can just ignore the tragedy. At the same time, I'd selfishly think, "don't let him sugarcoat it."
Well, SSC's new song is out. It's called "Heaven is the Face." And as always, as should have been expected...it is amazing!!! And it is so for two reasons.
It's amazing because it's the same quality music and song writing I've always expected and received from Steve Curtis Chapman. The rhythmic guitar playing, the melody, the lyrics - pure and total SSC - as always.
It's also amazing because he put his heart out there. He didn't sugarcoat it at all. Instead he's honestly and genuinely shared part of what he's experiencing with us in a 3min, 46 sec song.
Here's the tune, followed by a video of his comments about it. I encourage you to give it a listen, maybe it can be an encouragement to you or someone you know.
And then his adopted daughter was killed in a freak car accident.
Along with everyone else who knows who he is, I was completely shocked by the news (article). Being Baylee's dad, my heart broke for him. Broke! I remember holding Baylee tight that night and praying, "Be with him Jesus. My heart feels his pain, but at the same time I can't imagine it. I don't want to."
How can he come back from that?
How can he keep singing and performing?
And if he does keep going, what's the first single going to be? It's not like he can just ignore the tragedy. At the same time, I'd selfishly think, "don't let him sugarcoat it."
Well, SSC's new song is out. It's called "Heaven is the Face." And as always, as should have been expected...it is amazing!!! And it is so for two reasons.
It's amazing because it's the same quality music and song writing I've always expected and received from Steve Curtis Chapman. The rhythmic guitar playing, the melody, the lyrics - pure and total SSC - as always.
It's also amazing because he put his heart out there. He didn't sugarcoat it at all. Instead he's honestly and genuinely shared part of what he's experiencing with us in a 3min, 46 sec song.
Here's the tune, followed by a video of his comments about it. I encourage you to give it a listen, maybe it can be an encouragement to you or someone you know.
Friday, September 04, 2009
Another trip around the sun
Today was my birthday. 35.
Lots of running around during the day. Errands. Shopping for evening festivities. Free Turtle Mocha from Caribou - that was awesome.
Great evening spending time with family & friends. That's what I wanted, more than anything. And it was a reminder of what is most basic andost important: I'm a very blessed individual.
I'm thankful for my wife.
I'm thankful for my kids.
I'm thankful for my family.
I'm thankful for my friends.
I'm thankful for my church.
5 basic, simple statements - but that which are filling my heart right now and making me realize how grateful I am for how God allows me to spend my breathing time.
More thoughts tomorrow. Tired right now and headed back to the city from the suburbs.
-- Posted From My iPhone
Lots of running around during the day. Errands. Shopping for evening festivities. Free Turtle Mocha from Caribou - that was awesome.
Great evening spending time with family & friends. That's what I wanted, more than anything. And it was a reminder of what is most basic andost important: I'm a very blessed individual.
I'm thankful for my wife.
I'm thankful for my kids.
I'm thankful for my family.
I'm thankful for my friends.
I'm thankful for my church.
5 basic, simple statements - but that which are filling my heart right now and making me realize how grateful I am for how God allows me to spend my breathing time.
More thoughts tomorrow. Tired right now and headed back to the city from the suburbs.
-- Posted From My iPhone
Thursday, September 03, 2009
Death TV
Last week Billy Corgan posted a tweet that's remained stuck in my head:
Billy ▶ Has anyone else noticed this year has given rise to a new form of entertainment; death TV. All death, all the time.
I'm not sure what his specific intent was in writing that, but if you scan the news, be it on TV or online, it's not just that there's been a lot of famous people passing away; death seems to be one of the predominant thing being covered. Some people are sick of hearing about Michael's death, but apparently a lot of others keep coming back to CNN.com to read about it - he's still one of the top headlines. And if it's not gossip about the King of Pop being wondered about, then it's some other star-studded corpse. I think that Corgan has something there when he says, "a new form of entertainment."
Why do you think we're so into reading about other's passing?
Billy ▶ Has anyone else noticed this year has given rise to a new form of entertainment; death TV. All death, all the time.
I'm not sure what his specific intent was in writing that, but if you scan the news, be it on TV or online, it's not just that there's been a lot of famous people passing away; death seems to be one of the predominant thing being covered. Some people are sick of hearing about Michael's death, but apparently a lot of others keep coming back to CNN.com to read about it - he's still one of the top headlines. And if it's not gossip about the King of Pop being wondered about, then it's some other star-studded corpse. I think that Corgan has something there when he says, "a new form of entertainment."
Why do you think we're so into reading about other's passing?
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