The Power in Music

Music - an art of sound in time that expresses ideas and emotions in significant forms through the elements of rhythm, melody, harmony, and color.

Music. The genres are virtually limitless. What's your favorite...Classical? Rock? Pop? Gospel? Rap? Heavy Metal? Jazz? Bluegrass? Opera? Punk? Grunge? Inspirational? Hip Hop? Contemporary Christian? Country? Blues? Latin? Reggae? Shoegaze....wait. What? Shoegaze? Yep. That's real. Perhaps you knew that. I didn't. Anyway, this list is only the beginning of a plethora of music styles.

I am a music person, meaning, I love music, not that I'm musical. I don't play an instrument, though I have always desired to play the piano. I keep praying that God will give me that 'playing by ear' gift so that I can just sit down one day and play. Still waiting. I love to sing and have been told that I "have a good voice" but I wouldn't win any contests. I just love listening to music and singing along. And of course dancing if I'm so inclined. In my pre-teen & early teen years I was sure I was destined to become either Mrs. Davy Jones or Mrs. John Cowsill. (Gasp! Spellcheck did not even know who the Cowsills were. I had to "add them to the dictionary".) Loved The Monkeys & the Cowsills along with The Grass Roots, Three Dog Night, Linda Ronstadt, Bread, Aerosmith, Chicago, The Eagles, Rod Stewart, Elton John, Carly Simon, Fleetwood Mac, Queen, Abba, Doobie Brothers, Michael Jackson, Stevie Wonder, Kenny Loggins....you get the picture.....70's & 80's music. Oh, and Bobby Sherman! Oh so dreamy. I knew every word to every song and I'm sure they're still embedded deep in my mind today.

In 1982-83 I went through a divorce & found myself a single mother of an 18 month old. (No, I was not married to Davy or John.) As do most music lovers, I used music to feed my emotions.  It fed my sadness & depression....and I liked that. My choice of music seemed to validate my feelings but certainly did not bring any encouragement or hope. I was sad & I wanted to listen to sad music. It made me feel better. (??) You could say I was addicted to feeding my negative emotions. If I was a songwriter I could have written a few songs about heartbreak, maybe had a hit. Love gone bad is a very popular theme. Adele & Taylor would have been on the top of my sad, emotional feeding list no doubt. I'll take Adele's voice any day but not the life she sings about.

I don't know the exact timeline, but one day God woke me up out of my emotional stupor and spoke to me in a defining moment about my music. He told me to stop listening to secular music. I was to listen only to His music. Music that would benefit & encourage me. I can say, that without hesitation, I obeyed. It was strange. I knew without a doubt that the God of the universe was speaking to me. He cared enough to pull me away from something that was not enhancing my life. He's personal like that. I never looked back. Honestly, it was a miracle because I was truly addicted to music that I identified with emotionally. What was wrong with that?  I should have argued & fought, but I didn't for some reason. It was a supernatural experience. At this same time He made me ultra sensitive to lyrics. All of a sudden the music I loved so much was now a turn-off. And to this day, lyrics jump out at me in a very big way.

This belief in the power & influence that music has over us has been reaffirmed to me over the years. My mother dealt with depression. I remember a time of walking in the house finding her sitting in the dark, listening to country music (the crying in your beer kind) threatening to take her life. This was not a lone scenario. No, the music was not the cause of her depression, but it was obviously feeding the negative emotions-exactly what she wanted. I knew that feeling. Eventually she was successful in the taking of her life. Again, I'm not blaming the music. My mother had much deeper issues haunting her. But, I can't help but think, during those times of feeling hopeless, and going to music, what if she had listened to songs that were uplifting? That made her feel happy? That gave her hope? Could it have played a part in bringing her out of her darkness instead of driving her deeper into it? Could she have had the courage to ask for help? I'll never know. But I am so happy that at this tragic time in my life I was not using sad music to 'make me feel better'. Of course I was heartbroken but feeding that heart-brokenness was not the answer. Feeding the hope and peace that only God can give at a time like this was what I needed.

Please know, I judge no one for their choice of music. I realize there are amazing songs in every genre. There's no denying that. This is simply my story. My thoughts. My experience.  I have dealt with a bit of ridicule over the years for this decision but I don't mind. I answer to no one but God. As does (or will) everyone else on this planet. I decided to never again allow music to influence my life in a negative, hopeless, immoral, ungodly way. It has now been over 30 years since that day God spoke to me and I have no doubt that decision spared me a few excessively emotional, self-indulgent, unnecessary sad moments.

Enjoy whatever style of music you love but most importantly, I hope the lyrics encourage you & inspire you to live a happy, hopeful, moral, fun, peaceful, pleasing to God life. Music is spiritual. It no doubt affects our spirit one way or another. 

Listening for Him,

Leslie

YOU NEED ONE WORD

One word. It will make a difference in your day. Your week. Your month. Your year. It will change you. It will motivate you, inspire you. It is powerful.

Have you heard of  "My One Word"? It began in 2010. The idea is to choose one word for the year to inspire you. I think it's a great idea. Much better than new year's resolutions. For the past 3 years I have chosen a word. I was excited! My word was going to motivate me! Change me for the better! Give me passion! Yeah right. By March each year my words had basically fallen off my radar. I barely thought about them. At the moment I can't even tell you what my words were.  Once again I started something that I didn't finish. I don't like me when I do that. Why do I do that? That's a subject for another blog post. I'm determined that this year is going to be different. I'm going to live my word, keeping it before me every day. It will make a difference in my life and, in turn, hopefully in the lives of others. My word must come from God, not me. Maybe that was my mistake the past 3 years. So, I have been asking God about my word. Recently, while reading K-Love's verse of the day, a word popped out. The verse was Matthew 5:16 - "In the same way, let your good deeds shine out for all to see, so that everyone will praise your heavenly Father." Shine. That was the word. But that is such a "normal" word. I wanted something more unique. So I moved on from that dull word, Shiny, but dull. Just a short time later I opened my K-Love app to listen while getting ready for work, Now what do you think I heard? Kari Jobe was singing "We gotta, we gotta, we gotta let the light shine." What? Seriously? I did NOT just hear that word again, Oh no. God, is that a sign? Surely that's not my word. I think He said "Leslie....duh". Really? Shine? That cheesy word? Bleh. I still resisted but after a few minutes I gave in. I mean God said "duh" to me. Okay. If You insist. But I want shine to mean more than just shine. When I think of it there must be more to it than the obvious. Each letter needs to say something. So, should I go the spiritual route? Seeking Him In....I'm blank on an "N" word for that one. Or, Sharing Hope I Need Everyday. What? Dumb. Showing Happiness In.....that "N" word again. Nothing. Until last night while driving home alone from a funeral visitation, listening to Christian radio. All of a sudden these words just freely glided into my head and out of my mouth.....

Seeing Humor In Nearly Everything

Why those words came freely flowing into my thoughts while on the way home from a wake, I have no earthly idea. I certainly wasn't in a humorous mood. They must have been from Him. A heavenly idea. And He certainly knows I like to find the humor in whatever I can. And the words "nearly everything" leaves room for seriousness. So, my word shine isn't seeming so dull any longer. I'm seeing it in a different light. I'm excited for how God will use it in my life this year. I will keep it always before me. It will not fall by the wayside. It will be plastered everywhere. I will remember it forever. 

So, now it's your turn, What will your one word be? Ask God to reveal it to you. It will have greater meaning. It will inspire you. Motivate you. Change you. You will discover the power of just one word. When you discover your word, please share it below. Don't keep it to yourself. It is meant to be shared and inspire others!

I'm sharing now. It's time to SHINE!

Leslie

http://myoneword.org/

http://getoneword.com/the-one-word-video/

I'm blogging! Yikes!

Here I sit. Finally. Doing something I've wanted to do for a very long time. Writing my very first blog post. From my very own blog address. And I have my very own blog name. This is cool. I'm feeling rather important. Wait. No. No I'm not. I think I might have a panic attack. What am I doing? How can I be a blogger? I do not have a large vocabulary. I do not know big words. I'm a good speller but that's easy when you don't have to spell big words because you don't know any. Listen to me. I'm bloviating. Hey! That's a pretty big word! Hope I spelled it right. Anyway, here I am, starting a blog. About what? I'm not sure exactly. There will be no theme. I'm no expert in anything. I just like to write. Mostly about life things. Making people laugh. And cry. Making small things big things. Just simple things. 

So, as intimidating as this is, here I go. I live life as an open book so I have chosen to put it onto "pages". It won't be a best-seller. Few may read it. But it will fulfill a desire. As an acquaintance recently told me, "write for yourself". I liked that advice. Yes. That's what I'm doing. Writing for myself.  If some choose to read "Life With Leslie", I will be honored. If not, that's okay. Every book is not meant to be a best-seller. 

See you next time! If you so choose to "turn the page" in this simple book. 

Many Blessings,

Leslie