"LEAN ON ME"

We haven't shared a song in a long while and we thought it would be fun to record this one and share it with you! I've introduced the girls to some classics over the years, and this one has become a favorite in our home. The ukulele was needing some TLC as we broke a string and hadn't changed them yet. So we decided to do something a little different and use cup percussion. The girls have been really into using cups this year and it's made making music fun. Even Ruby was picking it up when she was just 4 years old!

Of all the songs to share with my kids, I hope this one rings true to their hearts, that they know they have someone to lean on in us. Because we all need to know that there is at least one person we can call on when we need somebody!
We hope you enjoy this little late night video we put together (as Sterling was even fighting back the yawns...haha...but still so determined to record it with me).
Happy Wednesday!

DONT WORRY, BE HAPPY

After traveling through many states from east coast to west coast and somewhere in between, we are back in Kansas City. That's where we left some things in storage that we didn't sell before leaving on this journey, at the beginning of June. We landed back here a few weeks ago and are in the waiting for what is next. As we are in transition and figuring things out for our next steps as a family we are among a lovely community of people that have brought us into their homes to stay for a bit. We are so grateful for all of our friends that have opened their homes to share with us during this season.

Although it is an amazing experience to receive so much love and generosity from others around us, hopping around from place to place does come with it's challenges as a family of six (with four kids, ten and under, maintaining normal rhythms for homeschool and normal family life). So as we wait, we are learning patience on new levels. A lot of times we will come up with songs of our own, or listen to music and it changes the mood when we are feeling all the emotions (good and bad). That's the beautiful thing about music. It can be therapy in so many ways. It can help us feel calm, peaceful, happy, excited...we even use it many times for nap or bedtime.

It's been a while since we have recorded a song on here. Actually it's been about a year and a half (you can watch it here ).  So, Sterling and I decided to record another one just for fun. Life can get a little too serious sometimes and you just need a little silly. Here's a little reminder to worry less, and enjoy the day. Happy Friday!

LOOKING BACK AT JUNE ...(OHIO)

So, it's been a bit since I have shared here. A bit longer than I had expected. Many reasons. Traveling from place to place has been busy sharing and spending time with people in their homes/churches, some places internet was limited, and sometimes when we had free time (with internet) we were all quite tired. It has taken some time to get the hang of traveling so much, and if I'm honest, we still have not completely "adjusted' to it because it's ever changing. We have changed vehicles, states, homes, beds, etc. so it's been different in every place. But there are a few things now that we all know how to handle a bit better (the traveling for hours is one of them). Our kids have proven to be troopers and have done exceptional over these few months, which is one of the many examples of God's grace on our family during this season. He has proven over and over that He is with us!

So, I will just give a brief summary of how we took off on this journey to give some insight on what this has been like for our family, and to give praise for God's provision. As I had shared a little (here ) previously, Brandon and I have always talked about the journey with God and saying "yes" to what He leads us to do. We have journals from the past years of God providing for us supernaturally at times (meaning without a "normal" steady 9-5 job), providing money, food, vehicles, etc. Last fall, as we knew and felt things shifting with Brandon's job, we were praying about what was next. Traveling and sharing our songs as a family had come up a few times. We were also feeling prompted to sell some things to move forward. One of the things we both felt we were to sell was our van. It seemed a bit crazy in the moment. Why would a family of 6 sell their vehicle? But when we both prayed we felt peace that this was what we were supposed to do and trust God for what was next. So, we looked into it. Brandon took it to a place that gave an appraisal. We then had 7 days to decide if we wanted to accept their offer and walk away from our van, with cash in hand because although we did not own it fully, it was almost paid off and we had some equity in it. Within the same week that we were feeling that we should sell it, a friend of ours called and asked (without knowing about our situation) if we would "car sit" their 3rd vehicle for a few months. Brandon told him what was happening and we all agreed that this seemed like confirmation that God was providing another vehicle for us for now. We waited a few more days just to make sure selling it to this specific location was the right thing to do, and strongly felt a "yes" to move forward. So, we did. We ended up using our friends vehicle for months all the way up until this journey we were about to take. As May was coming around it was time for our friends to get their car back. Brandon and I both knew this meant God must have something else in mind. The same day that we were returning their car, we had another family let us use their van for a few weeks as they were going out of the country. Just in time! Then a man that was in our church told Brandon he had been praying and felt that he wanted to let us use their 2nd vehicle the whole month of June while they were out of the country as well! 

That took care of the car situation. We now had a vehicle to drive for the month of June! But because we had been without a steady job since the fall, we did not have savings set aside for this journey. We had been living bit by bit....doing what we could here and there for money, and sometimes people would call us and say they were praying for our family and God was telling them to give us a specific amount of money. All the while my husband was still applying for jobs every week with no word back, because this was awkward even though we felt like God was calling us on a journey, he was still trying to be practical and cover all the bases if he could. So June was nearing and we had been staying in our friend's basement as we planned our next steps. The last week of May we were praying and asking God how were we to go on this journey without tons of money in the bank. This time when we prayed we felt led to sell some of our bigger furniture items, because at this point there was no need in keeping them in a place without using them for however long we would be gone. So, off to craigslist they went as we listed them cheaply so we could let them go quickly. Mostly everything we listed sold within 2 days. The last weekend of May, before we left on our journey, we had tallied up $782.00. Now, I know it doesn't sound like much...but when you have been living week to week sometimes and seeing how far your money can stretch, we knew this was enough to start and get to our next few destinations. And it was. There is so much more that could be shared about this part of the journey. The provision. Walking into the unknown with enough to just see us through to the next week or the next steps. But that will have to be for another time. I just wanted to lay the foundation for what we started with. How this journey really began. In all of it's raw vulnerability. In all of our need and dependency. This is the truth, and without it our journey would not be what it is. My husband calls this our pilgrimage of "faith and family". And so it began here.

Okay, so as much as I would have loved to share tons of photos of all we did, my phone (which is my only camera at the time) was completely full as we started this journey and I could not take photos. However, I did snag Brandon's phone and took a few. And my lovely friend, and awesome host, Allison, took some photos as well! Unfortunately, due to the shuffle of the past few months (and I ended up changing phones) I lost some of the extra photos she had messaged me at the time. So, I only have a few listed below, and of most of the photos that were saved, they are of the older ones helping plant seeds in Allison's garden. Kind of funny if you think about it. Call it coincidence, but I actually feel that it is the best way to begin the documenting of our journey...planting seeds. The seed is the beginning of a process, the beginning of growing something, and starting something new. The seed is tiny to begin with, but it produces something of value. 

 As you can see in these pictures, our sweet friends (The Riggs Family) have some amazing property in Alexandria, Ohio. We stayed with them in their lovely home, which has an amazing story of history, as it was Allison's home as a child. Her extended family owns and still lives all around this property, with her parents living in an apartment below them, and grandparents across the street. Although we didn't get photos of the family, or all of us together even, we got to just spend time with them for the week and see how they do life on the average day. The girls were really interested in helping with the garden. They also got to play on their swing set, we took a walk into the town just a few blocks away, and even rode on a little train in the back yard that Allison's grandfather made!

 There were a few special treats staying with The Riggs. As mine and Allison's birthdays were coming up we got treated to a hair trim, a pedicure, and a little lunch date! Also, just spending late evenings after the kids were all in bed, talking as adults and getting to know each other just a bit deeper. Hearing about each other's history and vision. These were treasures for us. We couldn't have asked for a better place to begin our journey, with some of the most encouraging people we know.

As the week came to an end, we set up an outdoor space for some family time of food and music to share with their community. People from the town were all invited. We got to meet a few of the neighbors and friends! We were thankful for all that came out to join us.

Although we did not get photos of us singing (because we were all too busy singing and playing), there were a few people that did take a few snaps of the evening. I did get one with Ruby on the drums!

 One kind lady gave us the polaroids she took. If you look closely you will see a bunch of little ones sitting on a blanket singing with us as the sun was going down.

This was the beginning of our "faith and family" journey. A journey of giving, receiving, and sharing.

A special thanks to The Riggs Family for inviting us to spend time with you guys and the opportunity to share some music with your community!

FOR THE LOVE OF MUSIC

We are so thankful to have music and musical instruments in our home. Sophie snuck down stairs and got a few moments all to her self at the piano.

TEACHING MEMORY VERSES CONTINUED

Okay, so I meant to share a few more of our memory verses (you can see one of them here ) from the school year by the end of May...but things happened, kids got sick, and it just didn't happen. But I will be sharing the other two that I recorded. Here is one of them. Please pardon the fact that it is not the best video quality and has a few hiccups or mistakes. We are still trying to get used to recording videos...which is funny in the process. We don't do too many takes because that would be too much for them, but this was the best one for this video. We hope you and/or your kids will be able to follow along!

This was Psalm 112:1-4. The whole chapter has been encouraging but this was as much as we put to music for the year.

Psalm 112:1-4 from waldenfamily on Vimeo.

Here's the words so you can teach it to your kids as well and they can sing along to memorize it. (We repeated a few lines to make it more like a song)

Psalm 112:1-4

Blessed are those who fear the Lord,

who find great delight in his commands.

Their children will be mighty in the land; (repeat)

the generation of the upright will be blessed. (repeat)

Wealth and riches are in their houses, and their righteousness endures forever. (repeat)

Even in darkness light dawns for the upright,

for those who are gracious and compassionate and righteous. (repeat)





This year God has been teaching me a lot about His blessing. About being able to fully receive blessings and good things from Him and these come in all sorts of ways (not just financially). This is a scripture that I've been really thinking on that goes along with receiving God's blessing as a gift and finding contentment.
Ecclesiastes 5:19-20
"when God gives someone wealth and possessions, and the ability to enjoy them, to accept their lot and be happy in their toil- this is a gift of God. They seldom reflect on the days of their life, because God keeps them occupied with gladness of heart."

Our prayer is that we will daily remember God's faithfulness and all He has and continues to give us, and that this will then be passed down to our children and their children...that our hearts will be occupied with gladness and thankfulness.

Music is such a gift and I'm so thankful to use it in so many ways for fun and to connect with our kids. We love their interest in singing and playing instruments!

Let us know what your kids think. We would love to hear your comments.

TEACHING MEMORY VERSE

 Psalm 27:4 from waldenfamily on Vimeo.

                                                                   Psalm 27:4
                                      One thing I ask of the Lord, this only do I seek,
                        That I may dwell in the house of the Lord, all the days of my life.
                        To gaze on the beauty of the Lord, and to seek Him in His temple.

Once a week as part of our homeschool cirriculum we do about 30 minutes of Bible. 
( see here ) This was something that we started when Sterling was in a 3 day private school and we have kept it going ever since. This usually includes a memory verse and I put these to a melody to help the girls remember them easier. I remember as a child I had learned many scripture verses from a recording my parents had played a lot in our house (back then it was a cassette tape...crazy, I know!). Anyway, I still remember those songs/scriptures to this day and I'm now in my 30's. So, I want to give the girls a similar foundation that I had as a kid. And now even our 3 yr old will randomly walk around the house singing them as well.

In my single years I had tons of time to read the Bible. It was actually something I enjoyed a lot, even though I have never been a huge reader. (I've always enjoyed more hands on activities, such as sewing, painting, etc.) Now my spare time (especially quiet time) is less and less...and that means my times of reading the Bible are also less and less. So, I decided to do Bible time together with the girls during school time, and this way we are all involved. Even though it's not alone quiet time, we are all meditating on specific scripture that I have picked for that week. Singing it with them a few times a week actually helps me to really focus on the words. It's kind of like when you get a certain song stuck in your head. (Music has a funny way of doing that to you.) Well, what better thoughts to be stuck in our heads than these?! 

During this season of life with my kids being so young I am often drawn to these things Jesus said:

Matthew 18:1-5 At that time the disciples came to Jesus and asked, “Who, then, is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven?”

2 He called a little child to him, and placed the child among them. 3 And he said: “Truly I tell you, unless you change and become like little children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven. 4 Therefore, whoever takes the lowly position of this child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven. 5 And whoever welcomes one such child in my name welcomes me.

or

Matthew 11:25-26 25 At that time Jesus said, “I praise you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, because you have hidden these things from the wise and learned, and revealed them to little children.26 Yes, Father, for this is what you were pleased to do.

I can find rest in knowing that He is just as near when I'm talking and singing about Him with my kids as He was when I was a single person with lots of quiet space. In a lot of ways I see things more clearly through their simple childlike perspectives.

I know the school year is almost up but I wanted to document these, not only for our family but to share with others in case you might want to teach them to your kids. You could use it for school purposes or just as a family devotion to engage your kids in a time of meditation and worship. Before we start school work I get them all to sit down for maybe 10 minutes (the littlest ones don't last as long but 5-10 minutes is doable for them) and we sometimes sing our memory verse or another song, then everyone says a sentence prayer. On Wednesdays we do about 30 minutes of Bible (this is for the older two but the little ones are in there with us so that's how they learn the songs). I get them to write the verse and then draw a picture of what they think about it after I discuss it with them. There are some that we have learned that are a little more extensive because I felt like the content was too good to just use one line. When I taught those I would break it up into a few weeks, and just review the past week then adding the new part. In the next few weeks I will add the other scriptures here and there. It can even be something to try out over the summer when there is more family time. If your kids enjoy them and you would like to share, we would love for you to send us a video of them singing their memory verses too! 






(you can see some of the outtakes here and here)

FAMILY MUSIC

People have asked us why or how do we do music as a family. Well, we love music. Brandon and I were both influenced by music early on. I sang with my dad at churches when I was younger. Brandon sang in chorus at school and church ensemble. We both had musical families that sang and played music. So, it comes natural that we would sing to or with our kids. From an early age Sterling has shown major interest in music, and her sisters have now followed suit. We have never forced them to take lessons or anything like that. It's actually the opposite. We have a piano and guitars in our home, and Brandon and I play them pretty regularly. Here recently the two oldest have been asking both of us to show them whatever we can. We are both amazed at how quickly they have picked up on what we have shown or what they then come up with on their own. 

Sterling and Elle have both shown interest in learning to hear and sing harmony now. So, I have been working with them for the past few months. This past month we focused on one specific song "Somewhere Over the Rainbow" and decided to record it and share here. This concept is still a little bit more for Elle to catch on than for Sterling (I mean she is 5), but she is hearing and picking out notes which is huge. So this one is just Sterling and I. It took quite a few takes to get it without stopping (which would explain why we may look a little less enthusiastic than we would have in some of the earlier tries), but nonetheless Sterling did great for this being her first song to learn harmony all the way through. Music has been a bonding tool for us since our kids have been babies, and even now we are so thankful to have a common interest with them. We hope to teach them all we can and then some. 

Somewhere over the rainbow from waldenfamily on Vimeo.

We had fun doing this video and hope to do more as well, with all of them at some point. But this was the beginning. Hope you enjoy the video!

Family Album Title

"i've got a song in my heart."

cd update

So, here it is.....our 3 free songs to download as a "sneak peek" of the cd. They are not completely finished as they will sound on the cd. There are a few more things to add or tweak, but they are for anyone to hear.



We now have 10 days to go on kickstarter, and we are a little over half way from reaching our goal to finish this project! Pretty exciting! Click on the this link to see our little video of what this is all about if you haven't seen it yet.



We are so blessed to have this chance to share and have fun as a family, and meet some great people along the way. We love music in our home!

I often find myself thinking how nice it would be to inspire others around me, but I feel like God has really been speaking to me about being an inspiration to my family. It's so easy to inspire other's around us when they only see a snip it of lives...when we are all dressed up and ready to go, with a smile on our face, saying just the right things, and trying to get our kids to act right. But when you are with your family 24/7, there is just plain life, frustration, depression, aggravation, lack of sleep, grouchiness. And one thing that I am working on is being mindful of my actions all of the time. It's not just the eye's and ear's of  people outside of our home that I should be concerned about, but my husband and all of these little eye's and ear's that are taking everything in and actually mimicking me. And if that were not enough, the most important of all is that God is watching us as well, which we sometimes forget or just don't focus on. Nothing in all creation is hidden from God’s sight. Everything is uncovered and laid bare before the eyes of him to whom we must give account. Hebrews 4:13 
Making these songs with our girls has been a good reminder of just keeping things simple. Keeping worship to God simple. Focusing on simple truths like being thankful and such. This has been good for us. If you get a cd we hope it's good for your family too.

We're recording!

Years ago, before Elle was born, I had written a few kid's songs for Sterling. These were just to have some fun but to also implement certain values put to music. I just remember thinking...."what would I want or need to hear as a child?"...and out came some of these songs. By the time Elle came along, Brandon and I were singing and teaching these songs to the kids at our church. We came up with more songs and were asked by a few parents to record them. After some time, we decided to send out a letter to raise money and see if this really was a possibility. Unfortunately, nothing really happened with it. So, we put it on the shelf but still continued to sing and play the songs for our kids and even more songs came. Sterling then began to write songs with us. (She just helped Brandon finish one of the latest songs the other day.) Last fall after we had moved a few states away we were given a generous check in the mail (from someone in our previous church back in SC) to go towards recording this kids album. We held onto the check for months and Brandon connected with a friendly guy from our church here in Kansas City that records and produces music. After chatting with him about possibly doing a recording, it was an opened door.

Now here we are with some money raised and money saved, recording our very first kids/family cd! Today was our first day and our plan is to work on this for the next few weeks. The goal is to hopefully have everything completed by this fall (September)! So far we have enough money to record about 6 songs and we have 9. We will be doing a few things to try and raise some money for the remainder of the songs but for now are going forward with what we've got.


(the girls were so excited about hearing themselves sing.)





We are excited about this and hope it will be fun and a blessing to all that hear it!