August 14, 2019 1:22 pm
The Little Man attends his first concert. I attend my first house show. We rock out and #MakeMemoriesPop.
We attended a concert the other night; specifically a house show. As a farmer, I’ve never thought much about sitting in a coffee shop listening to fresh new tunes, but this was different. This was a Christian Concert.
Our church, like many others that have evolved over time, tries to employ small groups. Our pastor rightly recognizes that, even for a country church, he cannot get to know everyone on a one-on-one basis since we’re at two services averaging over 200 folks. So it’s important that you have a group to “do life together,” share in joys and trials, and study God’s Word together.
The hosts of our small group are retired physicians and wonderful Christian teachers. Their daughter, a high school math teacher by trade, has also grown in her faith with a gift for music. She writes her own Christian songs. She’s great and has even been to Nashville to record professionally and had her songs listed on Spotify.
Let’s be honest. Christian music has improved. MIGHTILY. I’m not too musically inclined but I wasn’t all that keen to the listen to Christian music growing up. But times have changed. Our local radio station 98.9 used to be an all-hit station, but these days is part of the K-Love syndicate. And it’s one of the programmed settings in my pickup truck.
Back to the house show. Theresa “Pinky” Lindell put on quite a performance. While no aficionado, I can say that I wouldn’t have been surprised listening to some of her songs over K-Love.
I loved the House Show because it allowed her to expand upon the meaning and inspiration for each song. She gave us the story of how the song came about, adding context for what we were enjoying. The theology in the songs rang true and gave another perspective to contemplate our faith. Much of this part was above the 50” head of the Little Man. He seemed to be taking in the singing via his “work” which consisted of farming on our hosts’ carpeted floors (DISCLAIMER – if you’re not from a farm family, know that “Carpet-Farming” is a thing. You can make lines that look like crop rows or tillage pulling your 1/64 scale model toy tractors and implements across the floor. Since we lack carpet in our home, this was a golden opportunity for the Little Man). I laughed a bit because this is mostly how I listen to music; radio or phone blaring while I tinker away in our machine shop.
As a #FamilyFarm, it is wonderful that our work is our passion. More to the point, that we can see God’s craftsmanship all around us. Each of us has a calling according to God’s plan for His glory and the advancement of His kingdom. The small, intimate setting of a House Show really allowed me to hone in on the craftsmanship involved in writing, recording, and performing such songs. Music is an art, but there is quite a science to it as well and it is genuinely impressive to see what someone else has created.
Karlie and I each took something away from the performance. My favorite was Eternity Echoes. I heard this and thought about a day on our #FamilyFarm. At it’s best, we catch glimpses of heaven—a smile from the Little Man and Sprout, the smell of fresh earth after a needed summer rain, the warm sun greeting you as you leap off the tractor. Those glimpses, those echoes¸ are subtle reminders that we’re not home. We’re ambassadors in a foreign land waiting to go to our eternal home.
Check out Theresa’s website here. I hope it gives you the same inspiration it gave us.
http://www.tplsongwriting.org/house-show.html
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