Check this out!

Just as I was posting about the kid-dominate nature of the blog for the next few weeks, I came across this: the tenori-on from Yamaha. Check it out!

http://tenori-on.yamaha-europe.com/uk/whatis/

Just imagine what this thing could do!

The first night!

All right, the first night was successfully navigated! Sam was an absolute champ and woke up on schedule like clock work! Ellie, however, decided it was time to play with dad at 4:00 a.m., so we did! I can't complain overmuch because I've been missing her!
We are preparing to take Sam to his first pediatrician appointment in a few minutes, which will be a delight, I have no doubt! It has been an incredible blessing to be able to stay home with the family for a few days! Honestly, most of the posts for the next week or two are probably going to be mostly about the kids but I am serving as the cantor for a revival next week so that might break it up a bit! I hope you are well and that we can catch up soon!

The Cutest Little Girl in the World!

Look at this lovely little girl! Ellie is the cutest (in my humble, and biased opinion!).

Children are a blessing from God

The psalmist got it right! See Psalm 127:3-5 (NASB):

"Behold, children are a gift of the LORD,
The fruit of the womb is a reward.
Like arrows in the hand of a warrior,
So are the children of one's youth.
How blessed is the man whose quiver is full of them"

Sleeping Away!

All is at rest.

Happy Birthday Sam!!!

I am currently experiencing one of the most amazing things! I am three feet away from my brand new son, who is sleeping so hard, all 9 lbs, 1.5 oz, and 20 inches of him! Samuel Joseph was born at 11:34 this morning and both mom and baby are well! Sarah and the ob did an amazing job and Sam was such a trooper! He is AMAZING!!!!

CrB

One of the little side projects I am currently involved in is playing bass in a classic rock cover band called CrB. It's a pretty good band that has a keyboardist, great lead singer, lead guitarist, drums, bass, and a great saxophonist (my dad!). We are having a pretty good time working through some blues-based materials as well as a ton of classic rock stuff. This picture came from our most recent studio session when we creating a demo.

A little bit more soul, baby!

Nothing says 'soul' like having the eyes closed?

SCJ JC

Whew, I finally got those articles done! (Well, I got them done a long time ago, at least it feels that way!) This picture, and the next one, are pictures of my cantoring experience at the South Central Jurisdiction Jurisdictional Conference. Someday remind me to tell you about my song choices and the George W. Bush library at SMU!

Lake Junaluska

I am such a procrastinator! I really need to be writing some articles for the old church newsletter at the moment but it's Friday and I'm getting Sarah's oil changed and tires rotated and I just can bring myself to do it! So, I thought I'd post some pictures instead! The picture above is from my teaching/conducting gig at Lake Junaluska this summer. I was blessed to serve as the Older Elementary Children's Clinician. The whole week was a blast! The kids (all 60 of them!) were amazing, I taught some well received classes, and got to meet some truly amazing people!

All in all, it was a great week! I hope to take my family there for Music and Liturgical Arts Week in the near future! Next year, Alan and Susan Pote, Tom Troeger, Mark Patterson, and Andre Thomas will be there! Should be incredible!

One of my favorite Picasso's

Hello Friends!
I hope all is well! I have a few minutes between meetings and I thought I ought to take a moment to post. We are but 5.5 days away from the scheduled arrival of Samuel Joseph! (So the posts will probably become even more infrequent, hard to imagine, I know!)
It is 101 degrees in Dallas today and I got to thinking of cooler times! The picture above is Picasso's "Violin and Grapes." I LOVE IT! Sarah and I took this picture of it on our trip to New York in February (it was much cooler then). The painting lives at the MOMA in NYC. It is a stunning work! I keep trying to find a large print of it for our home but they are hard to find and the only one I found just doesn't even come close to capturing the vibrancy of the original. One of these days....

Cantoring @ the SCJ JC

Howdy! Well, I've finally found a few minutes to blog during the South Central Jurisdictional Conference. This week has been crazy! I have averaged five hours of sleep the last few nights and I am starting to get a bit sleepy but what an interesting experience this has been!
On Tuesday I had the opportunity to work in rehearsal with the combined choirs of St. Luke Community UMC, Hamilton Park UMC, and Lovers Lane UMC, three of the best choirs in the North Texas Conference.
On Wednesday night I had what I consider to be the great privelage of cantoring the opening worship service for the jurisdictional conference. Being able to lead a thousand people in a cappella singing was absolutely an thrill!!! We had 100 people in the choir, a six piece professional brass ensemble and the incredible pipe organ at FUMC Dallas. If I get some time I'll write more about this service but suffice to say, it was one of the most amazing music ministry moments of my life.

O.K......we are live at ballot 17 for our last bishop....no election....

Back to the week!

On Thursday morning I had the opportunity to led the morning worship service and then all of the singing during the conference on Thursday and Friday.

This morning I lead the music for the bishop's retirement service. It's been amazing but know I've got to go and get another song ready!

Checking in!

Howdy!
I hope your summer is treating you well! Mine has been a bit crazy, and is going to ramp up quite a bit this tomorrow as the South Central Jurisdictional Quadriennieal Conference will be meeting in Dallas. I will be serving as a cantor for three of the worship services and for the buisness sessions. I am thrilled to be a part of this week's events but there's a lot of i's to dot and t's to cross before the event begins. We've got rehearsal tomorrow night at First UMC, Dallas, to prepare for the opening service on Wednesday, a rehearsal on Wednesday for the retirement service on Friday and then all of the actual services. Should be pretty fun!
You won't be hearing too much from me this week unless I can get some spare time when I'm there to blog (which is not real likely!)
But, I hope you are well!

A meditation piece for you...

I love my daughter! Otherwise...wow...
The same beautiful 2.5 year old who asked if she could watch "animated tv" last night got it in her mind that she didn't want to go to sleep and we had a very difficult time getting her to do that last night. After several false starts, she finally got to sleep, until about midnight and then she was up till about 3:30. I suppose I should thank her: she's getting us prepared for the next couple of months! :)
In my laziness I was looking for a short form of the daily office to pray this morning and I came across this meditation piece from the Taize Community. One of these days I'll post a long series on Taize but, for now, here's something to ponder:

8 JULY
A believer of the first centuries wrote, “Don’t be anxious!” (2) When we entrust to Christ the worries that keep us far from him, he enables us to discover this reality: “In calm and trust will be your strength.” (3)
2. Philippians 4:6
3. Isaiah 30:15

Eleanor Grace is so, so, so, smart!

I can't believe it: my daughter, who is 2.5 years old, just asked me if she could watch animated t.v.!
Wow!

Random Thoughts on a Sunday Night

Yeah, I know, I know, it's been a week. I am the world's worst blogger!
So, here's some random thoughts from today...

1. I just got back from hearing my old youth choir kids sing tonight: I am proud of them! They sang very well and their new director is very cool! (Anybody who rocks the Kangol hat and the iPhone is cool with me.)

2. Kangol hats are awesome. I am going to wear my summer black one tomorrow. iPhones are pretty awesome too...one of these days.

3. I got to preach today, which I love. I preached about justice and God's grace and you know what, it mattered!

4. John Mayer has really good tone!

5. So does Glenn Gould.

6. I love diversity in music!

7. A good friend of mine is a female pastor who just started last week at a church in Bridgeport. There was a blog post in a local blog in the town that she is in that commented on her being a woman. I realized, again, that I don't have to face that kind of thing simply because I was born as a male. Seriously, bigotry is just dumb.

8. Because I preached today, I am exhausted. Preaching is a different animal than teaching or other kinds of public speaking that I have engaged in. It just drains me! (In a great way.)

9. Our youth minister, Nathan Bryant, led the music at services this morning and was amazing! He really has an incredible instrument in his voice!

10. My trip to teach and conduct in North Carolina has totally revitalized me as a musician: I feel blessed and excited and vitally interested in making music again!

11. Tomorrow I get to worship with my brothers and sisters in The Order of St. Luke, which is going to be nourishing to my soul.

12. Usually I am filled with random thoughts but I'm done for tonight. God bless you!
Joe

A Real Rarity in this Life!

Here it is, my real rarity! I just walked through the living room in our home and my lovely wife was watching "America's Got Talent" and I stopped to watch because there was a kid who was about to sing who is autistic. I just spent some time lecturing in North Carolina about how one of the greatest gifts we can give to our children (especially our children who are autistic) is the gift of expressing themselves through music.

Howard Gardner spends some time in his landmark work ""Frames of Mind: The Theory of Multiple Intelligences" discussing how children with autism tend to excel in music. My experience has been that Gardner (in nearly every area that I have read him in) is absolutely correct! I worked with two autistic kids when I was a senior in high school and it was through music that they could best express themselves.

Needless to say, with autism on the rise, incorporating autistic children into church music ministry programs is something of a soapbox of mine!

So, I'm passing through the living room and I stop down to watch. Please understand me: I HATE REALITY TV, MOSTLY BECAUSE I'M INTO REALITY!!!! And so, this nine-year old young man starts to sing a Jackson Five song (he claims that the Jackson Five are his favorite group, which is proof, if you ask me, of his autism, as he was born in 1999!) and, while he has some substantial pitch issues, on the whole he nails it.

The feeling behind his singing brings me to tears.

It was beautiful.

I never thought reality t.v. could do that to me!

I hope he does well and continues to utilize music as a tool to express himself!