Perhaps you have heard this song on the radio: "While I'm Waiting" by John Waller. (If you don't listen to Christian radio, then you probably have not heard it.) Friend Shelly sent me a link to a YouTube video of the song, and I was inspired to share it with you, too. I think the song sums up what I am trying to do with my life at this time. I can't claim to be waiting in perfect peace, and sometimes I have to struggle to be productive while I wait. But know that I am trying!
While I'm Waiting - John Waller
I'm waiting
I'm waiting on You, Lord
And I am hopeful
I'm waiting on You, Lord
Though it is painful
But patiently, I will wait
I will move ahead, bold and confident
Takeing every step in obedience
While I'm waiting
I will serve You
While I'm waiting
I will worship
While I'm waiting
I will not faint
I'll be running the race
Even while I wait
I'm waiting
I'm waiting on You, Lord
And I am peaceful
I'm waiting on You, Lord
Though it's not easy
But faithfully, I will wait
Yes, I will wait
Thursday, April 30, 2009
Wednesday, April 8, 2009
Since coming back to the States, I have felt a reawakening of patriotism and interest in the cultural things of my country. I don't think I've ever been against such things, but I feel that I am seeing them in a new light. When I was in Honduras I drank in every experience, every detail of life, treasuring each as a cultural gem. But being surrounded by things that were not of my own culture seems to have brought out a new appreciation for the things that are of my own people. I am more curious about the the things that make us unique in the world, "Americans", and it continues to be an interesting education. It is an enjoyable study, to be sure, but I am somewhat ashamed that I had to go to another country in order to discover my own.
This journey of re-discovery has most recently stopped at music. I have started to listening to old-timey music. I have heard it termed so many things that it is hard for me to pin down, but I am reluctant to call it "bluegrass" since in my mind that seems too narrow a term. "Mountain music" might be appropriate, and I've heard it called "roots" music. My new favorite radio station, WETS 89.5, calls it "Americana", since what they play covers everything from true bluegrass, traditional songs of the mountains, "new-grass", celtic influence, and even Bruce Springsteen and Rodney Cowell. As I listen I ponder upon the points that make each style unique, try to trace the evolution of the music, and imagine the reactions of my Honduran students to such sounds. Some of them were pretty redneck and so they might enjoy it! If I ever go back I might have to try a music appreciation class.
In what surely must have been designed to further my musical education, Shelly called last week to invite me to the Lincoln Theater for a concert featuring some famous bluegrass bands. The Lincoln is an old theater here in Marion that has been refurbished as a concert hall, catering specifically to the bluegrass and mountain music culture. Because of my newfound interest, I found it fitting that we should go. Shelly and I had not been inside the theater since it was renovated, and the visual experience alone was rewarding! And the music was fabulous, of course. All in all, it was great fun: good music, good atmosphere, and good company. Singing John Denver's "Thank God I'm A Country Boy" with 200 other people is pretty darn cool.
The theater is beautiful inside! 
Shelly and I, after the show.
This journey of re-discovery has most recently stopped at music. I have started to listening to old-timey music. I have heard it termed so many things that it is hard for me to pin down, but I am reluctant to call it "bluegrass" since in my mind that seems too narrow a term. "Mountain music" might be appropriate, and I've heard it called "roots" music. My new favorite radio station, WETS 89.5, calls it "Americana", since what they play covers everything from true bluegrass, traditional songs of the mountains, "new-grass", celtic influence, and even Bruce Springsteen and Rodney Cowell. As I listen I ponder upon the points that make each style unique, try to trace the evolution of the music, and imagine the reactions of my Honduran students to such sounds. Some of them were pretty redneck and so they might enjoy it! If I ever go back I might have to try a music appreciation class.
In what surely must have been designed to further my musical education, Shelly called last week to invite me to the Lincoln Theater for a concert featuring some famous bluegrass bands. The Lincoln is an old theater here in Marion that has been refurbished as a concert hall, catering specifically to the bluegrass and mountain music culture. Because of my newfound interest, I found it fitting that we should go. Shelly and I had not been inside the theater since it was renovated, and the visual experience alone was rewarding! And the music was fabulous, of course. All in all, it was great fun: good music, good atmosphere, and good company. Singing John Denver's "Thank God I'm A Country Boy" with 200 other people is pretty darn cool.
When I was in high school, the Lincoln was just an empty building with a hole in the roof.
The theater is beautiful inside!Shelly and I, after the show. PS - I've been trying to publish this post for a couple of weeks now, but technical difficulties kept from it...sorry!
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