Uphill idealist

I was thinking on how I'd share the music adventure with you all - so I think I'll go the picture route... Enjoy! Group shot at the end of the night! Rhonda and I on percussion. Full House. Getting the crowd going! Keith Secola on flute. Bass Solo Singing Frybread with my girls. Treehouse Tea Party: T.R., me and Rhonda Happy times! Tara

I was out doing some meet and greet at a local venue this evening to meet my friend's booking agent and to discuss some potential ideas for some upcoming shows and after we had our chat this tall Native American man came up to say hello to my friend and I. After a few minutes of greeting and musician banter, this gentleman asked if we were coming to a benefit show the next day to help out a family that just lost their Mom to cancer... we said we were planning to attend. Then he asked us if we were going to sit in on the set he was playing on. My percussionist friend said he'd love to. Then he turned to me and asked what I played. I told him I played guitar a little and that I had been singing most of my life. He then told me that I should come and join in the jam session and that he was looking forward to seeing me the next day. I was somewhat taken aback, as the band that is headlining is a fantastic groove band and I'm so out of practice in jumping in on something like th...

Hunger and thirst Spring has officially arrived, (even if we still are seeing the blanket of winter around us.) And with spring's arrival, we have begun to see flowers sprouting through the snow covered ground and even a robin here or there. Recently, a friend of mine sent me a photograph of the first spring life she had seen… This sparrow had begun the duty of building a nest for it's family and in the midst of it's effort had blindly flown into the corner of her home and gotten stuck in the vinyl siding. She snapped this photo just before she and her neighbor pulled up the corner of the siding to release the trapped beak of the sparrow. When the bird was freed it was fine, besides being a little disoriented and confused, and took of in a redirected flight in a few minutes. This bird had been looking for twigs and various items to create the nest for the upcoming arrival of its family of sparrows, but somehow – the bird had been knocked off course. Even though he had been ...

(http://www.monks.org) While looking up some info on the life of Thomas Merton I stumbled across this prayer and a quote written by him - I thought that the mood and setting of his dependence upon God and the scriptures was impressive. May I rely on God and the scriptures like this... My Lord God I have no idea where I am going. I do not see the road ahead of me. I cannot know for certain where it will end. Nor do I really understand myself. And the fact that I think I am following Your will does not mean I am actually doing so. But I believe that the desire to please you Does in fact please you. And I hope I have the desire in all that I am doing. I hope that I will never do anything apart from that desire. And I know that if I do this you will lead me by the right road though I may know nothing about it. Therefore will I trust you always though I may seem to be lost and in the shadow of death. I will not fear for you are ever with me and you will never leave me to face my troubles al...

Sleeping with bread is a practice that combines thanksgiving with honesty with God, the church community and beyond. I've been slacking in my reflections on SWB Mondays, but my daily live has been full of more "living" so be that as it may a moment in life that I need to allow myself some grace in this "another" transition. That's life. After spending much of March dealing with bronchitis and more in my family members and myself, I resolved to make a few changes to pursue a healthier lifestyle (totally necessary after not contributing to my personal fitness for over two years) - but this is a new day and a new life in many respects, so I joined a local gym a few weeks ago. There are moments of frustration over how fast my days pass now that I'm spending and hour or so exercising 6xs a week. I often find myself thinking: "I could be doing ______ right now instead of this." or "How did it get to be Wednesday already?" But for the most p...

I've always loved music. When I was little I'd turn on the radios on Friday nights and listen to 50's and 60's oldies all evening and dance and sing the night away. Two songs I really remember getting 'down' to were: Snoopy and the Red Baron ( I'd act it out) and Purple People Eater. You can tell I was around six years old by my choice of favorites. I've been involved with music in lots of different ways: school musicals, singing in my room, choir and acapella, church solos, wedding/funeral singing, music therapy with kids, singing lead in a christian rock band, singing lead for a bubblegum music "for kids" band, and many time singing at nursing homes. I've sung in groups, solo, in recording studios and my shower. Singing and music have had an incredible effect and influence upon my life direction and currently my career direction as well. While I enjoyed playing in bands - most of the time I've been singing has been within in church. C...

I recalled the news footage clips of the Beatles coming to America and it caused me to think alot about discipleship and following Christ. Now the Beatles were something that the states had never experienced before, so this is not a rant on the silliness or over emotional reaction of the crowds of people that were present on that noted day, but there is something in the intensity of that moment that impresses me. Palm Sunday might have been something like the atmosphere of the day the Beatles came to America. Shouting, people waving whatever they could get their hands on to get Jesus attention, laying their clothes down to make a "red carpet" for his travels. All these characteristics of that moment could be compared to the arrival of many important celebrities or political figures of the past, but unlike the Beatles or Kennedy - Jesus wasn't there to entertain the masses or overthrow the government. Moments before his arrival, Jesus had looked over the city of Jerusalem ...