matmusic ministries

Here are some phone pictures from our various Christmas activities…more pictures and full descriptions later.

Nice decoration from my school, Collin County Community College.

Our kids at The Colony’s Christmas Parade (that’s Santa on a fire engine.)

Decorations with Nana.

One of our gifts for the kids was a night at the Great Wolf Lodge in Grapevine complete with a huge indoor water park! It was a blast.

So far, so good…tonight we get together with my Dad and cousins. Should be fun also!

This is a view out of the front of my office building. The trees were a beautiful fall shade a while back.

I found the following article interesting and thought it was a good message to share with my blog readers.

The other day, I was reading a write-up about one of my favorite classic bands (Genesis, if you must know), and the writer was talking about the lost art of listening. He was referring to how people used to take the time to put on a great album, sit back, and listen straight through, letting the imagination create visuals to go with the music, or letting the mind fully consider the lyrics being sung.

Do we still do that today? Especially in today’s iPod culture, with single songs and playlists being favored over albums. Music has become something to put on in the background and listened to in part, rather than the whole. Who has time to sit back and listen to music with everything else going on, right?

In that sense, listening to music’s very much like listening for God’s voice in the stillness of prayer time. Christmas music is a great example of this, especially the depth of writing found in the traditional hymns of the season. Amid all the hustle and bustle that comes from the preparation for the Christmas holidays, it’s very rewarding to pause and reflect on the mystery of the Word made flesh, so beautifully expressed in music through the ages.

-Russ Breimeier

Source: http://www.christianitytoday.com/lyris/music/archives/12-12-2007.html

I would also challenge that worship music is similar. How easy is it just to sing a song in church without carefully considering the lyrics? After all, we have been trained to sing in the car, at work, or while studying without really thinking about the lyrics. That’s why so many people say, “I don’t really listen to the lyrics, I just like the music.” I always want to respond with, “then how do you know every single word!?”

The thing is: music seeps into your soul and, subconciously, the listener IS affected by the words that they are declaring. THIS is why singing uplifiting lyrics at church, at home, with your kids, is so important. Of course, I am not saying that a person should never listen to a good secular rock song but to constantly immerse yourself in them with no uplifting counterbalance can be detrimental to the soul.

In this season and all others, let’s be proud to sing songs of hope and love to our Father.

“Nearly all men can stand adversity, but if you want to test a man’s character, give him power.”

- Abraham Lincoln, US President (1809 - 1865)

The above quote got me thinking about the One with ultimate power. Who has more power than the God of all gods, the creator of the universe? Yet who is more just and true than Him? A God who knows our faults and loves us still is a God that I want to worship with all my heart - through song, through service, through loving my neighbor.

We praise Him for these reasons!

My Dad is a sports fan. He used to love the Cowboys until Jerry Jones bought the team and fired Tom Landry. To this day, he doesn’t watch thier games. He has, instead, shifted his allegiance to the Dallas Stars. On that team, he loves to cheer for the long-time Star and new record holder for most points by any American-born hockey player, Mike Modano. Since Modano achieved the record this year, the Stars had a special night to honor him.

So, for Christmas, I decided to get him tickets to the Mike Modano Tribute game when the Stars played the defending NHL champion Anaheim Ducks.

There was a touching ceremony before the game which brought some sports-tears to our eyes. For the entire 20 minutes, all fans were on their feet. Madono cried. This was a great tribute to a great player and a seemingly great guy.

After the game, we braved the cold weather outside the train station with our Modano game program.

Dad and I had a wonderful time enjoying a game and a player that we both love. I think Dad really liked his early Christmas present.

This is the picture of the result of my light-hanging hard work.

An artsy look.

I am pleased with the look. And it always feels good when the passing cars slow a bit to admire the shining display on your home.

Tis the season for needlesly endangering your life while hanging over the eve of the house with staple gun in one hand and a strand of Christmas lights in the other.

Here I am looking sideways at the lights as I lay fully prone on the grip-tape like shingles.

The girls were down below helping with the small, twinkling lights that go in the bushes. (Note the bulb in the lower part of the frame.)

Ashton is realizing that she can climb pretty well. She was reaching up as high as she could to help me.