Music – Page 9 – AprilSingsalot

Giggles, Fits, Everything Else

April 7, 2017 aprilsingsalot Comments Off

While visiting a friend this week, it was time for her daughter to take a nap.

The child began to scream and cry because she wasn’t ready to take a nap, claimed she didn’t need one, and pleaded to stay up longer.

I was holding back a giggle because the very thing she was doing (throwing a fit) was a huge sign that she was indeed exhausted and needed a nap!

This got me started thinking about my reactions to all the setbacks, detours, and dead ends I’ve faced in life. How many times have I pitched a fit because things didn’t go my way, thereby proving I wasn’t ready for that thing in the first place?

More than I’d like to admit.

On a related note, last week I shared about our long road to becoming parents…and the fact that we’re still not there yet. (If you missed it, you can read it here.)

It was so helpful to hear that many of you are in the middle of waiting on something too.

God IS blessing you, even in the waiting,

The Weight of Waiting…

March 31, 2017 aprilsingsalot Comments Off

2003: I made a deal with God in an effort to secure my “happily ever after.”

It went a little something like this:

“Ok God, I’ve been through some pretty awful stuff. It’s helped me grow up a lot and you’ve graciously provided me with family and friends who love and accept me unconditionally. Thank you for getting me through. Now that we’ve got the hard stuff taken care of, I’d like the rest of my life to be smooth sailing. Got it?”

It seemed like things were on track too…I married a wonderful man, we have a beautiful house, I make music for a living…

waiting weight

You heard it, didn’t you? The inevitable but that’s coming…

We always knew we wanted to have children and started trying in 2011. We thought our dog Penny would be lonely once we were distracted by a baby so we adopted another dog, Shadow, to be a playmate when the baby came.

2012: No baby yet, so I applied to grad school, because I always heard you get pregnant when it’s most inconvenient to have a baby. What could be crazier than holding down two jobs and getting a graduate degree? This was definitely going to work…

waiting weight

2014: We now have two dogs,

I earned a masters in music, and….

still waiting.

We were diagnosed with infertility. The diagnosis meant that no matter how much money we were willing to spend or treatments we were willing to try there was no way we could make a baby together.

And yet we still wanted to be parents.

2016: We discovered the miracle of embryo adoption.

It’s a unique process that began because couples who have undergone fertility treatments often end up with more embryos than they can use. These embryos remain frozen in storage and are often called “snowflake babies”.

Our adoption agency matched us with a family at the end of last year and the embryos were transported to our clinic a few months ago. We get to experience the miracle of adoption AND the miracle of pregnancy…what could be better?

We are so close to becoming parents!

Close…but not yet.

I have been composing this post for months and waiting to hit publish until I had a happy ending to share.

And now I’m realizing that’s not what life is about.

Even though I would LOVE to fast forward to the happy ending!

God isn’t just here to handle the hard stuff or hand us the happy stuff.

He’s here for everything in between.

So I’m going to get comfortable with God and hand him everything.

My hopes, my dreams, and most importantly…

my timeline.

He’s got a plan for when this baby will come.

I will do my part and trust that He’s got this.

And whatever you’ve got going in your life? God’s got that too…

God IS blessing you, even in the waiting,

A Priest walks into a Harpist…

March 17, 2017 aprilsingsalot Comments Off

Sounds like the start of an awesome joke, right?

Even better, it’s a true story…

I was alone, driving a borrowed van, headed to retrieve my harp from school where everyone was already gone for spring break.

The place would be deserted.

This meant for the first time ever I would be faced with loading this massive harp all by myself.

Time to pray! “Ok God, let’s review:

~ I’ve never loaded the harp alone.

~ It weighs 96 pounds.

~ It is the most expensive thing I own.

The way I see it, we’ve got two options:

1. Help me do it on my own or

2. Provide someone who will help me load it…

(preferably a responsible adult).”

I got to the school, covered the harp, strapped it into its custom dolly, and started walking through the building, all without seeing another soul.

Just as I was nearing the door, a man came walking through the building and asked if he could hold the door for me. I accepted and then asked if he could walk me out to the van and help load it in. He graciously agreed and we accomplished the task without incident.

As I was thanking him, I realized he was one of the priests on campus! I smile now just thinking about how God answered my prayer for a responsible adult with a priest!

So glad I was specific, and so glad that God cares about EVERYTHING in our lives!

I created this meditation “My Hope is Built” with voice and harp is a great musical reminder of this!

Music and Meditation

January 21, 2017 aprilsingsalot Comments Off

My New Year’s resolution was to have a daily spiritual practice.

I’ve done ok so far, but making it more than 5 days in a row is a struggle.

How are you doing with yours?

For me, something’s gotta change.

I need some inspiration, some reason to continue when I’d rather sleep in.

Feedback from these posts are very helpful to me, so I began reading through them for inspiration.

What came up over and over was something like this:

“I really enjoy these weekly devotionals.”

What?!? Don’t tell anyone, but

I had no idea I was writing devotionals.

Looking back over them, I see now that is what they became.

So in an effort to embrace what works, here’s a thought:

I’m offering a daily music and meditation experience during February.

Sound like something you’d be interested in?

Each morning an email will arrive with up to 5 minutes of instrumental music and meditation prompts for you to use as a devotional.

Next week I’ll put out a sample, but if you want to get in early I’ve created a special gift for the first 15 people to sign up!

Check out more details here!

More Complicated Please

December 30, 2016 aprilsingsalot Comments Off

“I Want to Play Something More Complicated!”

That’s the phrase I hear most from students at this time of year.

They hear these complicated piano solos of their favorite Christmas carol and they’re desperate to duplicate it.

But it’s not possible for them yet because they haven’t learned the fundamentals. The really unexciting (but necessary) stuff like scales, chords, and theory that make playing complicated pieces possible.

Try explaining that to an 8 year old.

It’s impossible.

Which is why I end up creating simplified versions for them that work for their skill level. It’s a compromise that will hopefully keep them interested in music long enough to learn the skills to play at a higher level.

And so it is with life. I know I want to have more students to teach. A larger choir to direct. More opportunities to travel and perform.

But perhaps my “teacher” is saying you have more fundamentals to learn first.

So I’m going to start my days with a non negotiable spiritual practice. And by taking time every morning I hope to develop the skills I need to pursue those dreams.

It's not a race. Keep a steady tempo, in life AND in music.

Race Tempo

December 23, 2016 aprilsingsalot Comments Off

When I’m teaching a student to play or sing a new piece of music they tend to slow down in the hard parts and then race through the easier parts.

It’s a natural tendency we all have and something we have to fight against in music in order to keep a steady tempo.

And so I remind my students…It’s not a race.

Slow down and learn the notes.

It will all come together eventually and become a beautiful song.

And then I realize how true that is in life.

We’ve all heard slow and steady wins the race haven’t we?

Yet it’s so easy to get caught up in the fast and furious pace all around us.

I know I’m often tempted to skip ahead to something that looks more fun or easier than where I am now.

So this is a reminder to myself…It’s not a race.

Enjoy the journey…Eventually it will turn into be a beautiful song.

All Through the Night

December 15, 2016 aprilsingsalot Comments Off

A lullaby to remind us of God’s constant love for us

All Through the Night

May you find peace and love around and within you today.

Fear not I am with thee, peace be still. In all of life's ebb and flow." Not just the calm quite times or the crazy busy times. ALL the time.

Pieces of Peace

December 9, 2016 aprilsingsalot Comments Off

This week I learned (yet again) that if I wait for the world to provide me with peace, I’m never going to get it.

As I was rushing to get the rest of the decorations up around the house today I started wondering when this season was going to stop being stressful and start being fun.

Of course, I was pretty sure this wasn’t my fault. I had a pretty good list going of all the things other people should have done that would have helped give me some peace. If only my husband had said this, or there weren’t so many programs and activities to attend, or my dogs weren’t barking incessantly….

Please tell me I’m not the only one….?

So I set out to pick up the pieces of my sanity (littered amongst the wrapping paper, unopened mail, and Christmas lights) and find peace in the best way possible….playing music.

Category: Music