Brenda has been reading articles about injecting newness into our home decor. After 11 years in the same place, our builder-grade carpets are starting to look like the hairline is receding; after multiple carpet shampoo sessions there’s not much left to clean anymore. It’s time for the wood floors that Brenda’s been eying in the Traditional Home magazine.

When life sprouts gray hair (the carpet being one example), it’s good to “head” it off at the pass and make some changes. There are several areas I can think of where staleness was creeping in and change was necessary. Even though Brenda and I are moving ahead, knowing that the cost of life-overhauls are expensive, it’ll be worth it. For example, the air conditioner decided to give up two weeks ago and the alternator in Brenda’s car left us stranded on a busy highway this week, leaving us with no choice but to call a tow truck ($75) to the rescue. So, there are a few more gray hairs that popped up out of nowhere, needing our immediate attention.

I find that life’s gray hairs are always going to pop up, usually when we are at a low point financially. I do trust that God is ever-present in those challenging times. My best move is to take it all with a good attitude and start looking for wisdom in how to best deal with the situation. God promises that if I ask, He will give the needed wisdom. He’s never failed me.

Being a giver is a quality I’ve tried to cultivate in my life. I find that others are quick to respond to my need, especially if I have been there for other people. I saw this video, an outtake from the Wrecking Crew film, to be inspiring. When one least expects, blessings can pop up in life to let us know God is watching.

This Sunday’s Tennessean sports section had a sad photo on it’s front page. It was of a horse that had made it first to the finish line, taking Saturday’s Iroquois Steeplechase top honor. But winning jockey Brian Crowley soon realized the triumph in Nashville would take a tragic turn.

 Arcadius, the champion horse of the 71st running of the Iroquois, made it to the winner’s circle, then suffered a pulmonary aneurysm and collapsed and died, to the horror of his rider and the fans looking on from the stands. The equine medical staff valiantly attempted to resuscitate Arcadius, but it was too late. The surprise and grief on the jockey’s face, as officials shuffled to get answers and make sense of the sudden turn of events, said everything to all who see the photo. It was a huge shock, to say the least.

Seeing tragedies like this, either in person or from afar, cause me to reflect about the fragility of life. Many times there are no answers to why bad stuff happens because some things come upon us in such random fashion. Even though Arcadius ran it’s last race Saturday, the horse obviously gave everything it had. Race chairman Dwight Hall said that a pulmonary aneurysm was unavoidable.

 Like Arcadius, I want to go out of this world having given all of my energy, heart and strength toward the purpose for which God called me in this life. Arcadius is a hero in my book; a true show of virtue in a world where character seems to be diminishing. Our hats are off to both rider and champion today. Well done!

I have really enjoyed watching two genealogy shows on TV this year. The stories of famous people come to life as they search out their ancestry–many times finding surprises, disappointment and sometimes outright cool information.

Comedienne Margaret Cho was a recent subject on the PBS genealogy production “Finding Your Roots,” hosted by Harvard professor Henry Louis Gates, Jr.. She was surprised to learn of her family’s political involvement with the Japanese who occupied their native Korea. Because of this traitorous action, the family were forced to migrate away from their village to avoid persecution. One of the family members–as they locked up the house before fleeing–grasped the keys and tucked them away as if they would soon return to find the place untouched and ready to move back in. 

I thought about this for a split-second and realized that I myself have a whole ring of keys on a proverbial key chain, stored deep in my conscience, hoping someday I might return to a place in the past that I’ve never been able to completely relinquish. Unfortunately–and possibly for my journey as well–Margaret Cho’s family would never return to that village again. A member of Cho’s family still has that very house key today.

Our lives sometimes resemble the attic in our homes: filled with hopes, dreams and intentions from the past, waiting there silently collecting dust. Maybe it’s time to crawl up the stairs,  scan our hearts and make a plan to discard those things to which we may never return.

Maybe it’s an old relationship, a grudge or an unrealized goal. Whatever it may be, most of us have a set of keys that connect us to the past. Some are to doorways of unfinished business that we are wise to complete. But some keys are to doors that we will never see again. 

Maybe it’s time to say goodbye to some parts of our past. Thank God for new doors and opportunities yet to be discovered.   

Last weekend I had the privilege of leading worship at The People’s Church in Franklin. Normally I am the music director at The People’s Church, Spring Hill campus, but they let me out for a weekend to do what I love best: lead worship!

I am so blessed to be in the People’s Church family and look forward to a rich future here. I wanted to share the video of the worship service last week along with Pastor Rick White’s sermon entitled “Modern Lessons From an Ancient King,” a 9-week series on King David. Have a blessed weekend, friends!

This past weekend was a milestone for me. I saw the Beach Boys for the first time. We received VIP passes, met a few of the boys backstage, including the “lost Beach Boy” and original lead guitarist, David Marks. What a killer night!

Several years ago Brenda and I flew to New York and saw Paul McCartney at the Madison Square Garden–another milestone. I wish I got tickets to see Ringo Starr here in Nashville in July…all sold out in a flash (that would have rounded-out my Beatles concert bucket list).

When we look back on our lives, its hard to disassociate the music we listened to growing up from our memories. The Beatles and the Beach Boys were the Alpha and Omega of my osmotic musical education.

I  came upon this clip online including some lost footage of a Beatles concert at the Washington Coliseum. Pretty darn cool. The documentary is lengthy, but if you are a Beatles fan, it’ll be fine!

What an era in which to grow up: the 1960s. I am still blown away at the many cultural landmarks–good and bad–from that decade. I hope this video brings back great memories of that incredible time in history.

It’s hard to believe that a new Beach Boys record (including Brian Wilson) will be here June 5th! There’s a new single that has been released called “That’s Why God Made the Radio.” It definitely sounds like old-school Beach Boys.

I’m looking forward to seeing them in Atlanta this Saturday with my brother Jon, his family, and my son-in-law, Adam. There’s a good chance we may get some backstage passes to meet the band after the show.

Brian and the boys may look a little older than we remember, but they can still sing like angels!

For those who have attempted the delicate system of making great pancakes, the sacrificial pancake is familiar. First, it takes the perfect blend of ingredient and texture of the batter to create the beloved breakfast item. Then, even as the batter is of utmost quality–smooth, with just the right thickness, and no impediments like air bubbles to inhibit a perfect stack of goodness– the first pancake of the batch usually suffers from deformation as it prepares the griddle to produce the rest.

Life is kind of like that. Sometimes before we succeed there are requisite failures that help pave the way. Many times in my life God has allowed failure in my first attempt at something. Henry Ward Beecher said, “One’s best success comes after his greatest disappointments.”

I don’t like the taste of failure! Failure to me in the past has always been bitter, but it has taken the wisdom of God to teach me otherwise.

Jesus, knowing in advance that Peter would fail, told the Apostle in Luke 22 31-34:

“Simon, Simon, Satan has asked to sift youas wheat. But I have prayed for you, Simon, that your faith may not fail. And when you have turned back, strengthen your brothers. ”But he replied, “Lord, I am ready to go with you to prison and to death.” Jesus answered, “I tell you, Peter, before the rooster crows today, you will deny three times that you know me.” (NIV)

Jesus had big plans for Peter as a leader. So in Matthew 16: 18, Jesus reveales His assignment to the disciple:

“And I tell you that you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of Hades will not overcome it.” (NIV)

But Jesus knew that Peter, before he could become a success, needed to fail first. In Luke 22:15-19, Jesus asked Peter if he loved Him. Peter said yes, each time with growing intensity. Finally Jesus said, “Feed my Sheep.”

Like Peter, we may have all of the fervor, preparation and education for the life ahead of us. But sometimes failure is the best way to temper us, and humility will create a strong foundation for success. Just like the sacrificial pancake, failure is but one forfeiture on the road to a life of accomplishment.

Josh & Betsy, North Carolina, 1991

Rummaging through the attic this week, Brenda came across some jewels. Somehow a stack of photos have been sitting up there for years. It’s no coincidence that on the 15th anniversary of my mom’s passing we would find some of the greatest pictures of Mom and the kids together.

As I said in my last post, life goes by so quickly and, if we’re not careful, we’ll miss the significance of the precious little moments. Trying to raise two kids thirteen months apart on a college student’s income was tough–just ask Brenda! When everything was happening it was daunting. But memories seem to take the rough edges off, and seeing the photos were a joy.

Betsy has been married to Adam for almost three years now; I am so proud of her and the life she is living. Josh, the oldest, will soon celebrate two years of marriage with Amber, and their first child is due in October.

Josh, Brenda and Betsy today

Both of our children seem to have survived our ignorance and failures as young parents. Our biggest goal then was to get to the next step. As the kids grew, the pace picked up and, before you know it, here we are.

Just an encouragement to young parent: Don’t hurry through these times. I know it’s difficult, but savor each moment if you can. One day you’ll find photos in your attic and you won’t believe how they’ve all grown up and gone.

Thinking about the lyrics of Joni Mitchell’s song “Big Yellow Taxi,” I realize the many things we take for granted.  Southern California may have had it’s share of troubles, but it’s still a gorgeous place, and I am blessed to have spent the first twenty years of my life there.

I saw a photo a friend posted to Facebook the other day. It was a picture of his church youth group washing cars for some kind of fund raiser. The parking lot where they were working overlooked the beautiful Pacific Ocean–probably in San Juan Capistrano or San Clemente.  I made a comment to the effect: “I hope the kids realize that they live in an extraordinary place.” My buddy commented back that they do. I believe they won’t truly appreciate it until it’s a distant memory.

Speeding through life as a young person, on the way to the next stop, is something we’ve all done. “There’s got to be something more right around the bend” is what we say as we try to figure out a future for ourselves. Twenty or thirty years later we stop long enough to look back and realize that what we just rushed through will never happen again.

I am reminded to enjoy what is happening right now: windows are open and the ions in the air–along with the aroma of coffee being made and the sounds of classical music being played–are creating a moment in time that must be savored. I am going to stop right now and enjoy it, because it will be gone all too soon.

I awoke this morning thinking about the cool vibe we had onstage for the worship set in church yesterday. I was playing electric and–alongside the normal drums, bass and keys–we added a banjo and a mandolin to compliment the worship leader’s acoustic guitar.

It’s great to work with twenty-somethings because I (a fifty-something) get to crawl into the heads of young musicians to lean how they view the musical world. The cool thing is, there is a back-to-tradition musical trend these days that is very refreshing. The inspiration for the instrumentation yesterday were the Avett Brothers. The musical twist on the normal worship song set was very inspiring for us musicians, and hopefully for the congregation.

With the digital world we are living in, there are advantages and disadvantages. One disadvantage is it’s easy to duplicate real musical instruments through digital sampling ( a great tool in the right hands). The results of creating a digital facsimile of an analog instrument helps various, somewhat unattainable, musical flavors to be instantly available to the the song creator. He or she can roll through a virtual smorgasbord of sounds to access a bagpipe or a penny whistle for a Celtic-styled song, for instance, all triggered through a midi keyboard. Another disadvantage: just anyone can set-up a recording studio these days in one’s bedroom with a computer. The digital opportunities we are blessed with, though, are no substitute for real musicians playing real instruments, and skilled music-makers creating recordings with old-school discipline.

The actual Hammond organ with a Leslie 145 rotating speaker, mic’d in stereo, really created a warm bed for the acoustic instruments to lay in yesterday. The drummer was keen to play with brushes and blasticks to create a rolling rhythm without dominating and overpowering the dynamics. I played my Les Paul with a bit of tremolo and little distortion to add to the low-key vibe. The musical instincts of each musician helped the arrangements to ebb and flow. The knowledge of when to play and when not to play was evident amongst everyone Sunday. The total effect of sensitive, skilled players and singers was, far and away, superior to what any novice may attempt to duplicate with scads of virtual sounds and unlimited tracks at their disposal.

Great music is created by great musicians and singers–and it’s usually advantageous to have those musicians playing together, looking at each other in the same space. For that, there is no substitute. I look forward to many more of these experiences in the future.