Nostalgia.... Marriage and such.

Simple Man
Lynyrd Skynyrd

Brown Eyed Girl
Van Morrison


{Simple} Man marries a {Brown Eyed} Girl.


These are the songs that can make a good day better, and a bad day, worse.  In marriage, we all meet bumps in the road don't we? My husband and I? We've come to places where the road has just disappeared all together. We've been "distant" with each other more times than we've been "close", we've planned for a divorce once...... or maybe three times..... ?

Yuck.

What a horribly sad admission.

What's the point in sugar coating it, though?  Why make up a happy story with happy-happy-happy BULL-honkey?  I'd rather be real, thankyouverymuch.  Hey, now.  Don't get me wrong- we may  not have a fairy tale love story in the traditional sense; but a love story is STILL a love story.  Happiness exist among the life stress' and personality clashes- but it's not all rainbows and extravagant floral arrangements, either.

This isn't to say that we don't love one another.  And it isn't to say that I would trade ANY of it.  And it certainly doesn't mean that we haven't experienced plenty of those nauseatingly-giddy seasons in our marriage, either.  With as much passion as we've put into not getting along, that passion has been doubly present in the times that we just couldn't get enough of one other. 



Dancing in the Mindfields
Andrew Peterson

"We're dancing in the minefields; we're sailing in the storms....."

The amazing "story" that a song can tell is- possibly -one of the most relevant explanations to why it is I am so drawn to music.  It can be relational; a song.  It can offer empathy in a world when folks just don't want to admit that they deal with JUNK like we do.  Put it, (the junk) into a catchy lyrical parade, coupled with pleasant acoustics and a few sound system spins... and it doesn't cause us discomfort to 'hear' that somebody else went through a season of HELL, too.  Rather, it inspires us.  Some of us sing along not giving a rip about the lyrical connotations, others hone in on what the author is trying to represent, and relate the lyrics to their own personal journey.  Poe-tae-toe, Poe-tah-toe.  To each his own.

In Christian music- it's a bit different.  Andrew Peterson is singing about a marriage; listen to the lyrics.  Whether he wrote the song based on the marriage he and his wife experienced, or based on what he witnessed from somebody else- whether he even wrote the song or not.... it doesn't matter.
He's talking about a future rather than a failure!!!  He's not gettin' all country-pop whiney about how his wife stole his dog when she left him in his truck for his best friend......

There's hope attached to the hardship- the same way we have hope in the fact that we have a Jesus Savior who promised to walk beside us in each and everyone of our obstacles.  "It was harder than we dreamed... but I believe that's what the promise is for."  
An acknowledgement.  IT WAS HARD.
A hope: THAT's WHY we made a PROMISE.

Love me some Christian music.  Love. IT.

Another great artist and song pertaining to  marriage.
Sarah Groves
"It's Me"

Dear Sara Groves,
You put yourself "out there".  I love you and respect you for it.
Appreciatively Yours,
Amber K. Anderson

I stumbled upon this song, and immediately went to iTunes to download the entire album.  I heard an interviewer ask Sara what had inspired her put herself 'out there'; her open honest answer moved me in a way that made me feel deeply connected to this artist.   She admitted that this song, as well as much of the album, is a confessional.   So now- not only does her music inspire me, but her purpose in performing and writing does as well.  She said "Anytime I'm confessional, people seem to follow suit."   Whooo!!!  I can't tell you how important that statement is to me.  It's true! It's real!  It's uncommon.

We hide our insecurities and we put our secret struggles in the deepest darkest parts of our pockets; pulling them out when we are certain that we're "safe" from the judgement we are sure to get from others.

I'll bet Sara didn't get met with wide-open-arms from everyone when her confessional album was released.  I'd assume there were plenty of naysayers regarding her willingness to confess the fight sequences her husband and her went through.  Whatever.  Power to the vocal chords, woman!  You. Rock.