My town

     Tonight David had a scouting "go see it."  The town we live in had an open house. We got to visit the senior center, police department, and fire department. The town hall and electric company were also open, but we didn't get a chance to go to those two. We learned about the police department building and all of the rooms in there. Then the kids got to eat dinner (cooked by the chief), talk to police officers, see all of the police vehicles and watch a demonstration of the police dogs. At the fire station they got some goody bags, saw the fire engines, went through an obstacle course, tried on gear, tried moving one of the dummies, and saw a presentation in the smoke house. As I watched everybody interacting, I was reminded about how happy I am that we live here.
     In general, I love my town. They do many events here that celebrate family and community. I will often be out at a grocery store, baseball game, school event, etc and run into someone that I know. We also often see people that have worked with the kids and they will always smile and say hello to them. I love the business owners that I have visited. The feeling of community in this town brings me a lot of joy.
    I also enjoy the geography of the town. We have wooded areas, ponds, some nice parks, and we're on the coast. My town makes me feel peaceful (most days!)

Ear worms.

   So yesterday I mentioned that I will share some of the pieces I'm listening to lately. There are either pieces that I have been listening to and enjoying or pieces that mean something to me. I hope you enjoy them too.  (Disclaimer- I'm not writing this from my music educator point of view, it's just music I have had fun with. Some of it is not serious at all.) One of my friends calls songs that get stuck in your head "ear worms" so that's why I used that as my heading today.

Kristian Stanfill- My Heart is Yours
Paul Baloche= To The Cross 
Jabberwocky- Lyrics by Lewis Carroll/ Music David Brunner. (My Chorale is singing this.)
Eli Eli! by György Deák-Bartok
Adagio for Strings- Samuel Barber ( I think this is the saddest song ever written)
Love is an Open Door from Frozen. My boys and I sing this around the house. I got a chance to meet         Santino Fontana (Hans) before and this song just makes me think of that day.
Symphony No 1- The Lord of the Rings, I. Gandalf- Johann de Meij
Paul Baloche- King of Heaven (I love to sing this)
Moses Hogan- Elijah Rock
Pharrell Williams- Happy
Almost anything by John Williams (Harry Potter scores if you really want to look it up)
Same thing for Howard Shore (Check out Lord of the Rings)
Maroon 5- Payphone
Jason Robert Brown- Moving Too Fast from The Last Five Years (the video quality stinks on this one       but JRB is an AMAZING pianist. I eventually would love to play those runs without tripping over       my fingers. Also, check out the musical Parade. A bit dark but one of my favorites.)
Stephen Schwartz- "For Good" from Wicked
A Great Big World& Christina Aguilera- Say Something (another one my chorus is singing)


 Wow, what a weird mix. I'm sure if you asked me tomorrow, I would come up with a bunch of other songs. What's the latest song that has been going through your head? I'm going to admit that "All About that Bass" has been in my head all morning. I dislike the song's lyrics but it is so unbelievably catchy.

Music

     So, as anyone who normally reads my blog might know, I am a music teacher. I teach general music and chorus at the middle school level. My students are 10-14 years old. Music has always been important to me throughout my whole life.
     I have always loved to sing, dance and play music. Neither of my parents were musical but they encouraged me to get involved. (My mom did dance around the house with me many times, much to the annoyance of my dad, who is much more serious.)  I have many, many happy memories of music within my extended family. My Bampa (grandfather on my mom's side) loved Irish music and both he and my Nana would sing Irish traditional songs to me. They also took me to many "concerts on the green," which I think developed my love of performing in some of these outdoor concerts as an adult. On my dad's side, my grandmother sang and played the piano with me. I vividly remember sitting at her piano and trying to plunk out tunes. She later bought us our piano when I was in 3rd grade.  My great-uncle Don also used to sing with me.
     In 3rd grade, I began flute lessons. They were okay. I did well. I also joined chorus in school. I loved that. On Christmas that year, my family was given a piano. I started lessons immediately and was asked to choose between the flute and the piano since it was a financial strain on my family.  I chose the piano, knowing that the knowledge I gained from piano lessons might be more transferable. I am so glad that I chose the piano. Every year at Christmas, my cousin Tom and I would play piano together (and have a little friendly competition at who was better!). It was a tradition in my house to have a big open house on Christmas Eve. Everybody was invited- friends from school, old family friends, relatives, neighbors, etc. It also became tradition to carol together. This was very special to me because I don't know too many families who would actually get together and sing as a group. (It wasn't always pretty, but 98% of the people sang.)
     Throughout my middle school and high school years music became on of my best friends.   By this point I was still singing in chorus, as well as trying out for festival choruses and any select choruses that I could. I played piano in jazz band and still took lessons. I had also joined concert and marching band and was mostly playing mallets in the percussion section. (I ended up playing xylophone, glockenspiel, double bass, bass guitar, and all the rest of the percussion section by the end of high school.) At home, I was playing the piano a lot. When I had friends over and felt like goofing around, we sang around the piano. When I was angry, I played the piano. When I was celebrating something, I played. When I was sad or upset I also played.  There were many things I had to say- but most I didn't want to share with anyone. Music was my way of getting those things out. Music in many ways became my refuge and my safe place when things were going badly.
     Music also gave me the opportunity to meet tons of kids my age from different places. I was lucky enough to perform with the Sound of America Honor Choir one year. We traveled to Austria, Italy, Germany, Switzerland and France. The tour had kids from 48 different states. I worked my butt off to raise the money to go. It was one of the best experiences of my entire life. I also realized that I was lucky enough to travel to all of these "exotic" places while neither one of my parents had ever even been out of the country and my dad had never been on a plane.
     When it was time to choose a career, I considered music ed or pre-med. I could talk until I'm blue in the face about the importance of the arts and what good things come out of learning music but for me, I get excited that I get to help my students develop their souls.  In school there are not many places where kids can express themselves emotionally in a variety of ways. (At least in an appropriate way). They are asked to individually contribute while still collaborating with others. They are asked to sometimes put the group first, but demand personal excellence at the same time. When I listen to my students sing, I can usually tell how their days have gone. I am happy to be giving them academic knowledge about the subject of music while also encouraging them to develop their own musicianship and expression. I love ending my day with my choruses and seeing the joy in their eyes as they sing. (It also helps to end my day with a bunch of kids who have chosen to be there.. lol)
     Ironically, in my personal life. I like performing music more than I like listening to music. To me, a lot of music feels "canned" since I'm so used to being in the middle of it while it's being performed.  As an adult, I appreciate seeing the effect my performance has on an audience or to an individual. I do not like being showy or performing for personal attention, but occasionally I'll see someone who is deeply moved by a performance and that is really special to me.
     Tomorrow, I will share some of my current "favorite pieces."  What are your favorite pieces? I'd love to check them out. Do any of you have similar experiences with music in your own life?

Day 6- David

Continuing with the family theme. My youngest son David is another constant source of joy. Check out his toothless grin, who can not smile at that?

   David is one of the most smiley kids I have ever met. He is a loving brother and son.  He is very affectionate and loves to giggle. Every day when I get home from work, he bolts from the house to give me a huge hug. Later on, usually at dinner, he asks me about the best part of my day. If I make the mistake of trying to think about what that moment was, he innocently asks if it was his hug from when I got home from school.
    I love to sit and watch David play with his cars or drawing. I am so proud when I hear him reading so well or watch him follow Timmy around like his best friend in the world. He is kind to everybody and plays well with all kinds of kids. He and I frequently have dance parties in my dining room and we are quite goofy. I smile each time we're at our youth group and I watch him dancing along to all the worship songs.
    A few years ago David was attacked by a rabid animal so our family went through the hard questions about what would happen if David died. The shots were horrible and every time he got them, his fever spiked to 105. The doctors said we had 3 days to know if he would be okay or not and those 3 were some of the worst days of my life. I'm so grateful that he is okay.
     David's sweet little voice, curious questions, gigantic hugs and cheerful disposition are really touching to me. I'm grateful that God has blessed me richly through my children.

Day 5- Irony

Have any of you ever had a time where things were going really well and you felt happy, then things turned around and you just felt like a huge grouch? Well, that's me today. I didn't sleep well. I am getting a cold. I didn't get as much as I wanted done (for school) over the weekend. I got frustrated with a few people yesterday. On top of it, my bike was stolen.  It's a good thing I've been contemplating joy through all circumstances.  As 1 Thessalonians 5:16-18 says:

16 Always be joyful. 17 Never stop praying. 18 Be thankful in all circumstances, for this is God’s will for you who belong to Christ Jesus.

Is it me or has it been a really weird last week? Here's to starting a new week! Many blessings to you, friends!

Day 4- Timmy

Happy birthday, Timmy!

So, I have been blessed with 2 amazing sons. Today is Timmy's 9th birthday. He brings a ton of joy to our family so I'd like to write this post about him.

    Timmy is a really sweet, sweet boy. He is kind to everybody he meets and is often drawn to kids who he sees by themselves. He has always had a heart for kids with special needs as well. He is definitely a snuggler and can always be counted on to help around the house or to give a nice shoulder rub. He is always a boy who senses if something is wrong and can come make you feel better by just coming to sit quietly with you. He is giving and loving. 

      He is a voracious reader with a great imagination. Fiction, non-fiction, comics, chapter books, magazines, articles- you give it to him, he'll read it.. and like it. He loves to learn and often amazes me with the depth of his knowledge and with what he is interested in. (Today we went to the New England Aquarium and I was really surprised at the information he already knew, as well as the questions he asked to the staff.) He loves science and exploring the world. 

     He is strong and healthy. He loves baseball and being energetic. He loves running and anything that goes fast. 

     He also has a great sense of humor. He has some terrible, terrible jokes but he really loves to giggle and laugh. He can frequently be found reading Calvin and Hobbes or books of jokes. 

    He also loves God. I cannot wait to see the plans God has for Timmy. 

Day 3- Faith and Joy

Faith and Joy    

   I have always been a "good girl." I was a rule follower, a respectful kid, a hard-worker, etc. I was an honors student involved with tons of activities from music, sports, drama, National Honor Society,leadership seminars, etc. What people didn't really know too much about me is that my home life was not ideal. I'm not going to get much into why things were not always happy but I will say that I often used to use school, activities and music as my escape from everyday life. 

     Around 8th grade I felt called to start going to church. I had always believed in God. My nana is a devout Catholic who goes to mass multiple times a week and talked to me about God quite a few times. My parents "aren't really religious."  This meant that we went to church on Easter and Christmas. My mom felt very uncomfortable in church and my dad was raised Protestant so he didn't really feel comfortable either. So, eventually they stopped going. About 8th grade, some things around home started to get worse and I started to get depressed. I had friends but not too many close friends. I started praying frequently and decided to go to church by myself.

     After a few years of going to a Congregational Church, I became pretty involved there too. I felt like I had many adults who cared about me and I felt like I had a lot to offer the church. I volunteered to be a reader, I sang in the choir, occasionally I did a solo or played the piano. I taught Sunday School to the younger kids. Even in this church, I didn't really feel like I had much of a relationship with God. I knew about God and could answer the normal Sunday School questions but I didn't really understand that God wanted to have a relationship with me.  I got confirmed in this church and continued to go there until I graduated from high school. My parents even came with me sometimes. (My dad really liked coming but then someone spread a rumor and he stopped coming. He had pledged a certain amount to tithe  that year and he wasn't able to tithe as much due to some medical issues of this mom. He was embarrassed to go because of this. We had just switched to a woman pastor and people had spread around that he wouldn't go to church because a woman was in charge. This is a huge shame because I think it really closed my dad's mind about attending a church and being a part of a family of Christians.) 

     Anyhow, when I was looking for colleges, I was really ready to move away and start my own life. I had decided to major in music ed (though it was a tough decision between music and pre-med) and I was looking at schools. Knowing the finances of my family, I looked at 1 state school, which was okay but nothing special. I looked at a school in NH and really liked it there. I auditioned and got into the music department. I actually got some nice scholarship money too. The tour guide I had was really obnoxious and made me feel uncomfortable but this became one of my top choices.  I looked at 2 or 3 other schools that I knew were not for me right away. Lastly, I decided that I would look into Gordon College, a small Christian liberal arts college in MA. In my town, if you went to church at all you were considered a Christian. I had "promised" God that if He was faithful to me when I was growing up that I would attempt to honor Him and so I decided that I would try to look into at least 1 Christian school. 

     I got into all of the schools I applied for. I decided to go to Gordon. During my application process, I'm sure they figured out that I had no idea what I was talking about in terms of my faith. I got into the music department and had some interviews for a large scholarship (which I didn't end up getting but did cause me to have many open, honest, personal conversations with the staff who was talking to me). At Gordon I decided that I would start over in life. I was surrounded by many kind, caring people and many people whose lives seemed really ideal from the outside. Classes were challenging for me- or at least the classes based on the Bible since I had barely any knowledge.

     During my freshman year I became a Christian- knowing and understanding that I would base my life on what I felt Jesus was asking me to do in life. I had realized that Jesus had come to earth to die in my place for my sin. (I have had some of my family say "come on, really. What sins have you committed?" It's true that I have not done anything horrid but sin is sin- lying, gossiping, gluttony, etc. Romans 6:23 says "For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.") I began to recognize God's provision in my life, even in times that were difficult. I began to have worth (in my own eyes) and my focus changed from self to a purpose way larger than myself.

     The years at Gordon were easy in some ways- I surrounded by many humble, knowledgeable leaders. I met many godly adults who were willing to act as mentors to me (some without even knowing it.. lol). My faith was strengthened daily. I attended chapel and listened intently to learn more about faith and what it meant to be a Christian. 

     However, times were difficult also- I was given an ultimatum if I wanted to "continue at this Jesus freak school or continue to have a relationship" with my family. I attempted to talk to some of the students I thought seemed the "most holy" about this and they thought I was lying about my whole life story since "people who have been though things like this just don't turn out to be normal people." (This was said by a youth ministry major. To this day I want to find him and tell him off.. lol) Many people just seemed to have it easier than I did.

     During my time at Gordon, I met my husband. I was blessed with the faith of his parents and all of my brother and sister-in-laws. I saw examples of godly marriages and faith through a few generations and was again saw affirmation about my purpose.  I began teaching and realized that my faith also impacted the way I treated my students. (Honestly, I wish it impacted the way I interact with the staff more. I'm still working on that.) 

     Fast forward a bunch of years and here's where I am: I am blessed with a church that challenges me to grow in my relationship with Christ. I'm involved with many of the youth programs and I am honored to be a part of the lives of these kids. I still teach at the same school I started at. I love that many of my students respect and care for me as well as for my classes. I know that I am a second mom to quite a few of them- and that, for some, I am one of the most important adults in their life. I have a wonderful family. My husband is very family oriented and my 2 sons are excited about God. (And they're really nice kids, if you don't mind me saying.) Most importantly, I am able to tell you at any given time about some of the things God is doing in my life. I am learning to hear His voice better. I am constantly reflecting on how God has cared for me over the span of my whole life.  This puts things in perspective on the hard days.  I often think about Jesus' sacrifice for ME (and for you too) and about how I really didn't deserve that. 

     I also consider that God made me the way I am on purpose. My talents, quirks, interests, etc- they're all there to carry out what God has intended for my life. God has set apart many people in the Bible and he has set me apart too. Do I always know how? No, but God has equipped me for all I need to carry through with his plan for me.  So all this brings me back to joy- How can you not be filled with joy knowing that the God who created the universe cares about a relationship with you personally? When I look back and see all the ways God has intervened in my life at different points, it is impossible to not have joy. When circumstances of life get me down, it is encouraging to know that this life is temporary- what is eternal is more important. 

    So friends, if you are discouraged, unhappy, lacking or just feeling unworthy, I hope that you know that there is a God out there that deeply loves you and longs for you to seek Him out. He has always been there and he will always be there for you- all you need to do is look.  If there are any of my friends or family who are reading this who are not believers and you'd like to hear more, I'd love to share more with you.  I sometimes am nervous that I won't have the right answers or that I'm not going to speak eloquently enough, but I thought I would put myself out there since I'm challenging myself. My faith has been my biggest source of joy in my life. 

     For I am persuaded that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers, nor height, nor depth, nor any other created thing will have the power to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord!"  Romans 8:38-39