the story of: one thing leads to another

I have had this one Christmas card saved in my home office for about 2 years.  i bought it on clearance (the only time worth shopping for holiday stuff is December 26-Jan 1), and saved it.  it had a simple enough theme and not much text to it (i hate wordy cards), but the time had just not been right to give it to Sarah, my wife.

this Christmas, it felt right.

mostly because the song i wrote for 2011 carried along the theme - the idea of the snowball effect.  You know, how one thing starts and then it snowballs into a bigger thing and the next time you look there's an Indiana Jones-style snowboulder bearing down on you.

in relationships, there's a lot of movement, and indeed a snowball of emotion in most cases.  now, hear me out - it starts with holding hands... then maybe some cuddling... then the first kiss... then you're committed to each other... then marriage... then... you get it.

in our relationship, we've definitely been growing to love each other more and more.  and now that we have a son, it's pretty remarkable how much i can love my wife and love this new little person... it's still growing, too!

so, last year's song for Sarah captures that progressing idea of at first holding hands, then the kiss, then the comfort of just being held by the one who loves you.

since this hasn't been recorded yet, you'll just have to imagine your own melody :-)  it's a lot more 'pop' than some of my other songs, and even has a kind of Mraz or Needham feel to it (even though i don't listen to Mraz).  i'll hopefully be doing a rough version of this that i'll post in some format or another.  or, you can come hear me play it live if i do a show in the area!  just watch my twitter feed for details on that.

here are the lyrics:

The very first time that we went  out

we sat so close, practically overlapping

and in the dim light of the show

you whispered in my ear so soft and low

my love, my love, my love   hold my hand

sometimes we would sit and talk

often we were sitting nose to nose

lost in one another’s eyes

i touched your cheek, we felt it in our toes

my love, my love, my love kiss me

one thing leads to another

thankful we were led to each other

now when we find the precious time

to take a breath and finally sit down

once more we lean in close

resting on me you don’t even have to ask…

my love, my love, my love hold me

catching up

over the past few weeks, i've realized several things:

leading people in worship is a very comprehensive pastoral task... much more than just playing songs well.

i don't spend enough time writing anymore

i really love my son!

i've been in the midst of preparing a worship practicum/internship/seminar with my good friend Aaron Leeds, the worship pastor at Triangle Community Church, and i've been re-reading Worship Matters by Bob Kauflin with another good friend, Forrest.  in both of these circumstances, the immensity of the calling to lead people in worship of the Creator has been working to churn a lot of thought in my mind, but i haven't really decided what forum to express these thoughts... maybe here, after all.  Although i intended to largely post stuff related to the WeddingSongs project, maybe i should stretch the blog into a more general songwriting/theology space.

that said, i don't spend NEARLY the time writing that i used to, even a year ago.  part of that is because i read too much... well, maybe not too much, but more than is necessary to stimulate good thought.  i've caught myself reading for the sake of escapism a couple times recently, and that's not particularly helpful.  i'm probably going to take my guitar on vacation with my wife, and just play around, hang out with her, and try to relax for a day or two.  we'll see how that works out...

while my wife and i celebrate our anniversary (5 years) together, we'll be leaving our son with some trusted friends... but i don't know if i can handle it.  I've really grown to love the routine of getting him up in the morning, and spending time with him when i get back from the office before he goes to bed.  how weird will it be for those days we're gone...?

anyways, here's to some more frequent postings here...

the story of 'To Unity'

in honor of the birth of Laura Kate and Andrew's son, here's the story behind the song i wrote for their wedding!

i had the privilege of playing with a great group of musicians while in college and grad school.  Casting Shadows was a band that formed from an opportunity i had to record some songs i'd written; when offered the chance to go to the studio, i decided that i needed the help of the worship band i was blessed to lead with, and we ended up writing songs together as Casting Shadows after that session.  my friend David Phillippi played bass for CS and laid down a track for WeddingSongs - 'Awake.'  Jon Pritchett played electric guitars, and now he is a Doctor (while still shredding guitar with Visio Dei church in Raleigh). Matt Epler played drums, and still plays with me at LiFT and when i get random opportunities to lead worship out and about. Laura Kate Harvey Lupton played keys and sang lead/harmony vocals, and i'm glad that she and her husband are back in the Cary area for a short time before they head to Colombia on mission.  Maybe we'll write another few songs together before too long!  Part of the Lupton family's call to Colombia is equipping the local church to write and sing songs for worship.

LK gave me the opportunity to write a song for her wedding while i was still pretty new to this wedding-songwriting thing, and i was very grateful to craft something for a close friend.

with LK and Andrew's song, i really began to finalize the types of questions that i ask a couple for whom i'm writing.  i like to know how they describe each other - what phrases and key words that come to mind when they think of their future spouse.  i also ask how they first met, and if there is a moment they can recall when they first decided that they loved the other... those are often potent memories!

Andrew is a theologian, and they are both very Jesus-centered people (as all Christians are called to be - these two live it out well!).  What started to come across to me, particularly from Andrew, was the weight of the gospel that he felt in this process of getting married, and the joy he took in knowing that he was picturing the gospel, and manifesting the image of God by pursuing marriage.  This started to sound like very trinitarian language to me, and that got a few thoughts rolling around in my head...

turns out that LK loves the mountains of East Tennessee, and Andrew is a mountain boy, and he actually proposed on a mountainside.  I'm pretty sure that's an obvious set up for a song, so i took a cue from this scene and included it in the chorus of the song.  The chorus and verses continue on in a fashion that i hope was meaningful to Laura Kate, who was a music major at CU and has music in her soul - the movement of melody, harmony, and unity in music seemed to me to be another picture of the Trinity.

and, LK being a songwriter, i asked her what she had written for/about Andrew and she was gracious enough to lend me the bridge of this song (the last part here), from a poem she had written.

here's the lyrics!

You opened your mouth, and sang of home

I was already singing the same tones

My voice caught in my throat as you showed how you love me

My ears ringing with the melody underneath

The music of these mountains 

Is sweeping me away 

From melody, to harmony, to unity 

So I’ve opened my mouth to sing with you

This harmony draws out a melody more true

I’m surprised by how uniquely I hear both parts

But I feel the deeper resolution in my heart

Together now we sing of this mystery

A symbol of the trinity, unity in our diversity

I in you, and you in me

One voice, one life to glorify one King

The music of these mountains 

Is sweeping me away 

From melody, to harmony, to unity 

I love you not like lighted candles melting at their leisure

But like the fire that heats the stars

which know not quench or darkness

I love you, not by right of merit, deed or birth

I love you by the lavish grace of Him who loved us first