Hallelujah

Big things are happening around our house this week. School is back in session. That means Big Brother is now in the first grade. He's an old pro at this school stuff. I didn't even walk him in on his first day. He confidently got out of the car and made his way inside among the other nervous children all by himself.

All summer he had been informing me that he would not go to first grade and that he would stay in kindergarten indefinitely. When it came down to the do or die moment, however, he showed his bravery. I'm sure the Darth Vader backpack and Justice League lunchbox didn't hurt either.

Baby Girl's big news is that she is officially on the move. Gone are the days of lying on her back unable to escape the mobile monkeys circling her head. I lay her down under the monkeys and she is ten feet away before I make it back to my office chair.

Daddy's big news is that he is ours once more. For the past few weeks he has been working, sometimes twenty hours a day (he did that five days in a row) on his new projects - a CD of hymns and a CD of worship songs. Tonight is the last night he will not be at home. We have missed him, but we knew our sacrifices wouldn't be in vain. The finished product is incredible. 

Sometimes I forget I'm married to such a talented man. I forget that he blows through this shiny piece of metal with all these complicated looking keys and music comes out the other end, music so beautiful anyone lucky enough to hear it is deeply moved from the first note. He can make people laugh and cry and feel real emotions. And the most wonderful effect of all is that it puts babies to sleep. Don't believe me? Give it a try. I've never seen a baby or toddler not enthralled by it. And the peace and calm of it soothes them right to sleep. His music is soothing in a way no words can describe, you have to experience it to understand. And somehow I forget all of this if I go too long without watching him create new music. The best thing about forgetting is that when I do remember, it's a brand new experience every time. I'm star struck all over again. 

He has put together two CD's in a few short weeks. From the laid back sounds, you would never guess how quickly they were put together. That just shows how talented Jamie is and how naturally this comes to him. And I need to also mention the other half of the Jamie Reid team, George Hairr, producer extraordinaire. His creativity combined with Jamie's raw talent makes for a musical experience that can't be replicated. 

Here is the lineup for the CD of hymns

1. As the Deer

2. Because He Lives

3. Give Me Jesus

4. Blessed Assurance

5. I Surrender All

6. Were You There/At the Cross

7. Jesus Paid It All

8. The Solid Rock

9. Amazing Grace (My Chains Are Gone)

10. I Need Thee Every Hour

And here is the CD of worship songs

1. I Need You

2. How He Loves Us

3. How Beautiful

4. Blessed Be the Name

5. At the Cross

6. All Who Are Thirsty

7. Here I Am to Worship

8. God of Wonders

9. I Can Only Imagine

10. Made Me Glad

My favorites? All of them. A few stand out among the others for me though. 

Blessed Assurance. His previous albums Instrumental: A Collection of Hymns and Instrumental: Songs of Worship had what I call the Jamie Reid sound. Both of his new CDs have the same sound, but he took it in a little different direction this time. Blessed Assurance is jazzy sounding. It features a Hammond B3 that gives you a warm, old time churchy feeling. Not my old time church since I grew up Church of Christ, but like the classic church services you see in movies. It's a little more up tempo than his usual relaxing pace, but he still captured his signature laid back sound.

How He Loves Us. I wasn't familiar with this song before he let me listen to his interpretation of it, but the from the first note, I was hooked. I can't get it out of my head. I don't know the words, but I can hear the emotion in his playing and I get what the song's about. I'm a words person, so for him to achieve this is a great feat. 

How Beautiful. I have to mention this one because I requested it. Okay, I demanded it. He played this song at our friend's wedding a few years ago and it was so beautifully done it had to be recorded. 

I can't wait until this one is available to sell so that people can start hearing the fruits of his labor. I'll be sure to announce it as soon as it is. Until then, you can hear Jamie's past (and equally as special) projects at www.jamiereidmusic.com

The Ever Elusive Me Time

Me time.

What does it mean? I used to think it meant doing what I wanted to do. Over the years it has evolved into any second I can actually be alone. Being an introvert in an extrovert world can be quite tiring. And with two children who need my constant love and attention, alone time is a rare gem that I have to track down and dig for hours to catch a glimpse of. In a family with two artsy parents who need time to create, whatever free time existed is cut in half, and those halves aren't always cut evenly.

For the past week of so Jamie has been working on a new project. It is the next installment of his Instrumental series of hymns and worship songs. Needless to say all of the time lately has gone to him. And I'm surprisingly not jealous.

Before I discovered how much I like writing, I often wondered (OK, I complained about it) why my life's purpose couldn't be as clear as Jamie's. If you've ever heard Jamie play, you know what I mean. If you haven't follow the link in this shameless plug.

Instead of getting jealous, I tried to learn from him. I think we all have something we do better than anything else. It was hard for me to figure it out because I have a lot of interests, and I'm pretty good at most of them. Figuring out which one rose one tick mark above the others in an imaginary bar graph was hard. I was looking for something big and bold, the thing that would single me out and shine the spotlight my way. When I still came up blank, I figured out that a talent doesn't have to be a performing act. It was then I finally saw that my purpose was just as obvious as Jamie's, only more behind the scenes.

My purpose is to help Jamie in his purpose. I know it sounds like a cop out, trying to piggyback on his talent, but it's not. I am very arts oriented, but I also love numbers and have a special place in my heart for spreadsheets. It's a strange combination that makes me an atypical accountant. In the early days of our marriage my purpose included working a reliable job and using my talents in spreadsheets to manage our family finances so that he could find time and resources to be a working musician. Now that we have children, my purpose duties have grown to include managing the kids and keeping everything running when he works on music.

He can't focus and be in the right frame of mind if he knows we're all falling apart here at the house. It's a hard job, but somebody's got to do it. And I'm glad that that someone is me. I love to hold his CD in my hand and know that I helped. I'm the little girl who poured the Shake and Bake into the bag and claimed that I helped make dinner. The contribution may be small, but it's important. After all, what would chicken be if you just shook it by itself in the bag?

My talents are not as noticed as the beautiful and inspired music that comes from my husband, but I still get to be part of something beautiful through him. And truthfully, I'd rather be behind the scenes anyway. Who needs the spotlight. Plus, I get to have two purposes - supporting and writing. And I'm really looking forward to my own me time once his project is complete.