Come to me, my melancholy Baby

Did you ever have a day where you just feel like you could cry at the drop of a hat? No real reason, just having a "blue" day. Today was one of those. Maybe it was the conversation with my neighbor when she pointed out that I was referring to my mom in the past tense (even though she's still alive)and that maybe I had accepted the fact that I had lost a large part of my mom (due to dementia). I haven't accepted it; it just feels like she's gone. Maybe it was the fact that I am constantly thinking of my dad who passed away 5 months ago, especially today when my son was competing with his tennis team for the State Class B title (my dad loved tennis). Boo hoo, they lost. Or maybe it was the fact that any conversation with my 20 year old always is a struggle to not become adversarial. The simplest comment is always met with defensiveness or even worse, the attitude of "that was simply the stupidest comment ever". I guess at 20, they know all and I know absolutely nothing.
So here I sit at a computer which will let me type out my feelings and not give me a wisecrack remark or tell me to get over it. It will quietly not comment while I pour out my feelings. Maybe I'll even give in and let myself have a good cry. Is that wrong? I don't know. How long is a cry allowed to go on before it's considered wallowing in self-pity? Tomorrow I'll count my blessings, but tonight I'll just hug my box of Kleenex.

Things I Learn from Rock 'n' Roll

For two years now I have taught Sunday School to our high schoolers. It's always a challenge to try to engage them in the material given to me to teach. I do not come into it thinking, "Wow, I'm really going to blow them away this week". I doubt they'll even remember .0001% of what I say.
We recently decided to close out our class for the season (we don't have SS during the summer) with a look at the lyrics of some Christian bands. I'm not always super enthused about some of the "headbanger" stuff, but I was willing to go with it as it was the kids' suggestions and I felt it may reach into their hearts more. At their request we looked at songs from Toby Mac, Switchfoot, Red, TFK and Brandon Heath. My aim was to show them that beyond the music were some biblical principles. Wow, "Death of Me" by Red has some really deep doctrine. We need to let Christ put to death all the old ways of our flesh and allow him to recreate us into His Image. Who knew heavy metal could get at the heart of Christianity. And how about dwelling on and focusing your life on those things that are eternal. We talked about that from "Gone" by Switchfoot. Having the compassion that Christ had for those around Him is a blessed way to go through life. Brandon Heath sang of that in "Give Me Your Eyes". "Bring Me To Life" by TFK speaks of allowing the Holy Spirit to revitalize our lives and free us to live the life He wants for us. Can it get any deeper than that? Just incorporating these few thoughts would revolutionize our lives and our world!
I don't know how much this will impact the teens but I hope when they listen to music now they will think a little about how it fits into what God teaches us. Lyricists choose specific words for a reason; a lot can be learned from this generation's music.