Music that kids will love and parents won't hate

"More, more!" It's the chorus that is repeated as soon as I load Caleb into his car seat. He wants me to turn on music, and not just any music, his music. Oh how I loathe the high pitched voices and melodies that assault my eardrums. I try to distract him by singing "Itsy Bitsy Spider" in hopes that he will forget that his cd is in the player. Fail. My plan never works. I give up my will, ruffle through the cds, and turn up the volume while my mind begins to numb. Folks, this should not be.

It's out there. I promise. There is real music out there. Music for kids that won't make parents want to poke their own eyes out. This is the beginning of several posts on this matter so lend me an ear, check out my picks, and be ready to sing along with a smile!

I think my husband would agree that our top pick is a group of dads who love to tell the story of Jesus. Meet Go Fish. Their music is fun, upbeat, and creative. We keep the preschool cd at the top of our playlist and you may be surprised to learn that the band just released an album of hymns! Say what?  Yes, Grandma would be so proud. Their latest release, "Kickin It Old School", features songs such as "Blessed Assurance" and "I'll Fly Away". Go Fish's music is some that parents and grandparents can not only sing by heart, but will have fun teaching to the kids in their lives.

Courageous

 

Have you seen it yet? I encourage all parents to make it a priority to see this movie ASAP. It will challenge and convict fathers (and mothers) to step up and be the parents that God intended you to be. Your children have been entrusted to you. The bravest and most courageous thing you can do as a parent is to seriously consider the spiritual role you have in your child's life. What are you doing to model what it means to be a follower of Jesus?

Kids Prayers from Granger Community on Vimeo.

While browsing through children's ministry blogs today I found this video. What a powerful reflection of a child's heart! And what an overwhelming reminder of the huge task that God has laid before all those who work with children.

Obsessions of 2009

According to Dictionary.com the word obsessed means:
1. the domination of one's thoughts or feelings by a persistent idea, image, desire, etc.
2. the idea, image, desire, feeling, etc., itself.
3. the state of being obsessed.
4. the act of obsessing.

We find ourselves four months into the year 2009, and I believe it is due time to alert my dear readers about my top obsessions of the year. These particular preferences do not minimize or replace previous obsessions (ie. coffee, the color red, The Office, etc.), however it is likely that they may take precedence over any prior fixation or desire. So without further adieu, in no particular order, my top 5 obsessions for the year 2009!

1. Okay, I know it's totally lame for me to buy the prepackaged salad when I can create my own ensemble with a few soy nuts and a bottle of dressing, but this salad is absolutely AMAZING. There is a perfect blend of wonderful goodness in the poppyseed vinagarette dressing. The chosen greens, teamed with little rubbery carrots, and pea pods creates a meal that is so delicious. The one downfall (other than costing an arm and a leg for a bag of salad) is the first ingredient in the dressing is high fructose corn syrup, but it's SALAD! What's so bad about a little corn syrup when I am eating salad?

2. I'm not a dark chocolate person, however the Lindt Truffles have changed my life completely...even the dark chocolate ones. These chocolates are heavenly and the perfect solution to a chocolate craving!

3. Vistaprint. Gone are the days of ugly flyers printed on white computer paper that is running low on ink and cutting off the side margins. I now use Vistaprint for all of my advertising needs. Almost daily I receive e-mail coupons offering me all kinds of amazing free stuff. They taunt me really and tempt me to travel to their site and create more and more postcards, flyers, etc than I could ever need, but it's all FREE! All of my summer advertising was created using this site and created at a very minimal cost. Most importantly, they use high quality cardstock and print in full-color. Bye-bye Microsoft Publisher....

4. I would like to take this opportunity to cordially introduce you to Bruno. He is an inflatable purple gorilla, and I like to think of him as my new best friend. I saw him once in Joliet at a car dealership and I have talked about him since. I create elaborate stories about Bruno's adventures which I share with my husband and brother-in-laws. Imagine my excitement when I saw Bruno just a few miles from my house! Currently he is doing a little advertising gig at a car dealership on Jefferson street. I love him. Seriously.

5. So I have this friend, we used to be roomates and now we work together, we also talk on the phone most evenings, eat lunch together, have dinner parties on the weekends, and work out together in the mornings. Needless to say, I spend more time with Meghan that I do with my own husband, or really by myself for that matter! It's a good thing though because we encourage each other to stay active. I have been trying to wake up early and get to the gym and for some reason it's just easier to get out of bed knowing that someone else is going to be at the gym waiting for me. Cardinal Fitness in Shorewood is our gym of choice because it is close, cheap, and generally quiet in the mornings. They even have these great elliptical machines that I can plug my ipod into and play the music through the machine. I didn't see the point of this feature until one day I attempted to turn on my ipod and found the battery to be dead. By using the plug-in feature, I was able to have my tunes and enough juice left in the ipod to do abs as well!

I think that's it for now. Thought you would enjoy an overview of my top 5 obsessions for 2009. What are yours?

Judson Women's Conference 2009

This past weekend Judson hosted it's first annual Women's conference. We have had a few Women's Retreats in the past, but this was our first attempt at this one-day conference format. We were pleased to have Marybeth Whalen, of Proverbs 31 Ministries as our speaker. Marybeth's honesty and open spirit made her easy to relate to and was encouraging to the soul. We also were blessed to have Holly Benner, from Redeemer Fellowship Church as our worship leader. Holly's beautiful voice led us into worship and connected us to The Lord. I was blessed through this conference and I can't wait for next year!

Whoah! Hello 2009

I guess it has been awhile since I have posted! 2009 is here and off to a crazy start. Graham and I spent 9 days in Montana over Christmas and had a great time celebrating our Lord's birth with my family.

The Rock and J-Factor are back in session and we have some great things planned for the upcoming months.

Girls of Grace met last Saturday for it's first meeting and we were thrilled to have 16 girls there in the middle of a snowstorm! The lesson was about Faith and family with emphasis on Ruth (from the Bible) and Corrie Ten Boom. If you haven't read about either of those amazing women, I encourage you to do so! We made a cool wall plaques and conversation starter take-out boxes! You won't want to miss our next meeting on February 7.

Wisdom Warriors will be meeting on January 24. They are studying the Israelite's journey to the Promised Land and will be spending some time talking about courage. I heard a rumor that they may be eating ice cream sundaes as well!!

Lots and Lots 'O Boxes

We did it! Operation Christmas Child- The Musical was a HUGE hit. I am so thankful for all the work put into this program by the Bergesons, Miss Patty, the choreographers, the tech crew, the costume crew, the prop crew, and especially to the kids. I am so proud of you all!

The pictures are online and look amazing. Go check them out... (click on extras, there will be a drop down list where you can choose Photo Galleries. Click on Christmas Musical)
http://www.judsonchurchjoliet.com/

In cast you aren't completely convinced, I'll give you a glimpse to see what you are missing...