Wow. What a week. This first full week of school has taken some getting used to. Scheduling, carpooling, taxiing...it's all new.
Usually new + Courtney = one hot mess. I don't really like change (says the girl who's moved three times in two years...) but for some reason, this year, I feel GOOD about the changes...it's almost like we, as a family, have been sleeping for too long and now we're finally awake.
Sometimes when I think back on the past several years, how underwhelmed I've been, how difficult it was for me to want to get out and do anything...I wonder if something bigger than me was going on.
Because now I find myself wanting to run errands, wanting to be out and about, wanting to make new friends and be the kind of mom that's really focused on the important stuff.
Maybe there's been a shift in my priorities or something.
This week Sam started school for the first time ever. He's four, and while my other two didn't go to preschool, they had other forms of socialization. This guy? Not so much.
I was really worried neither of us would survive.
Little did I know, Sam had big plans for the "Fun Room." He loved it. Loved every minute and cried when I picked him up. He didn't want to leave.
Thank. Goodness.
Still, having the other two at school all day, I have more alone time with Sam (he's only gone for 2 1/2 hours)...and I've re-realized something and wonder how on earth I ever forgot.
When I was a kid, we memorized Bible verses. As an adult, when Adam and I did kids' ministry, the ONE thing that was important to us to change about Bible memorization was that it was more than rote repetition.
It needed application. I mean, if we know the words of a foreign language but don't have the translation, those words never become anything to us. They're just odd sounds.
When we moved in to this house a few weeks ago, we discovered a big old CD player that had been in the garage. I watched Adam haul it upstairs and asked "What are you doing with that?" (It's not a pretty CD player, friends.)
"I thought Sam might like it," says my musician of a husband.
"But it's so ugly."
"But it works."
And so it began. Sam's not-so-big room now had a ginormous CD player which usually found its way out of the closet and into the center of the space. I can't tell you how many times I've tripped over it.
As he falls asleep, his routine has been to listen to Adam's memory verse CDs.
Did you know my husband wrote memory verse songs back in the day? They're songs full of memory verses all in different styles.
There are three of them...Red, Yellow and Blue.
They're available on iTunes.
In our house, they're a little like background music because we've had them for years, and now, every night, I'd go into Sam's room and shut off the CD player, kiss his squishy face and go to bed.
But yesterday, something happened.
I have one of the CDs in the car and as we made the trek to pick up Ethan from school, I turned it on.
Background music.
And then I heard this little voice behind me singing along to the song...and I realized (once again) that he wasn't just singing words to a song, he was singing Scripture.
He was singing words that he may never forget...life-giving words that, who knows? Might get him through a dark time, give him joy when he's sad, help him get to know God a little better...
And I remembered what a brilliant teaching tool music really is.
There's nothing like hearing a child worship. They're so innocent and do it with reckless abandon. They're fearless.
It's inspiring, don't you think?
It's a revelation that never should've escaped me, but now that I've re-leared it, I'm holding on to this one. I have a son who won't stay in his class at church but who loves to sing and listen to music...it seems appropriate that we listen to lots of the right kinds...
Giveaway:
I feel like today I'd really like to give all three of these CDs away...maybe you're like me and you've forgotten how important music can be...or maybe you've always known and want to add to your library. Either way, leave me a comment and I'll draw a winner next week!
And if you want these for your collection, head over to iTunes and snag your own today!
