Music Monday

I remember this song meaning a lot to me once Randy & I found out about World Impact while at Mooseheart. It spoke so clearly to how I felt the Lord moving Randy & I to do work in inner-city St. Louis. While we were working/living at Mooseheart we would take our girls to a church off campus once a month to Trinity Nazarene and they sang this song (took all I got not to join in singing).

Brandon Heath, Give Me Your Eyes

What Does a Cat Say?

"Hannah, It'll go so fast! Mona won't be little like this forever - enjoy every moment!" I remember hearing this a lot when I was nearing my due date with Mona. I remember hearing it so much that I was a little anxious when she was first born because I didn't want to forget all her small baby details. What I didn't hear a lot of was, "Hannah, she'll grow so fast but you'll grow with her and love every new stage." Now, I'm not going to lie and say every stage was easy but what is true is that as each new stage approached I didn't find myself sad over her growing up - not like I thought I would.

I've found that Mona growing and learning has been some of the most exciting moments of our life. In return God has used those times to remind me just how much he loves watching me grow too. So in the celebration of Mona growing and learning new things I thought I would show her off.

Mona Evelyn Riggs at 20 months
"Circles"

Mona shows off all her new animal sounds & words

Music Monday

So as much as I am enjoying my new "Music Monday" I have the most difficult time deciding which musician I want to "showcase" each week. Each of my favorite musicians evoke such a beautiful raw emotion that is just as strong as the next. So today's pick is...... Ray LaMontagne and NeedToBreathe! I couldn't pick a favorite song so I just went with the best video for both artists.

Ray LaMontagne, "Shelter" and "Hold You in My Arms"



NeedToBreathe, "Outsiders"

Music Monday

For as long as I can remember music has held a special place in my heart. Some of my fondest memories growing up are music related. With great anticipation to family gatherings I could always count on my uncles playing their guitars while they would sing with such conviction. Memories of the front door open and the summer air rushing in our living room while my mom played the piano accompanied with singing by my sister or myself. Memories of sitting on the kitchen counter as my mom prepared dinner with music in the background. Over night drives to Florida for our family vacation. While everyone was asleep us kids would take turns staying up with our parents while they drove. I always looked forward to my turn as I would get to pick out the music and sing the night away from Cincinnati to Lexington to Knoxville to Chattanooga and on to FLORIDA!

I would say I spent the majority of my early 20's going to concerts with my dear friend Dale and others who would join along. We enjoyed seeing the Counting Crows, Ben Folds, Tony Lucca, Joe Firstman, Wallflowers, Marc Broussard, John Prine, Willie Nelson, Carbon Leaf, Damien Rice, Guster, Josh Kelley, James Taylor, John Mayer, Steven Kellogg & The Sixers, Graham Colton, Rufus Wainwright and the list goes on...

These days I don't go to so many concerts but my husband does a great job of surprising me with tickets from time to time. Last year Randy surprised me with tickets for us to see Hillsong United for my Birthday - WOW! That was a pleasant surprise and what an amazing night it was! I love seeing how our daughter enjoys music too. I could almost promise she was born with a unique gift to pick up rhythm in music as young as 10 months old. I look forward to memories we'll created with music.

So all this to say, I'm dedicating Monday's to introducing some of my favorite music to you all out there. I recognize my pics today couldn't be farther apart in style but that's how I work - I'm random. Enjoy...

David Crowder Band, Shine


John Prine, Lake Marie

I Timothy 6:17-18

Last month I was driving to the store with my daughter Mona in the back seat. We had a couple of inches of snow on the ground, and the wind was blowing strong. I came to a stop light, which was red, so I stopped. Through the frost-covered side window I saw a young woman with a stroller waiting for the bus. She had her back turned to the wind, and a heavy blanket lay across the top of her baby’s stroller.

Now, this was not something new. I mean, I had come across this scene in our neighborhood many times before; but for some reason, in that moment as I looked at Mona’s covered car seat in our warm-heated car I realized, “We are not only blessed. We are rich.” Statistics that Rob Bell presents in a DVD entitled, RICH, state that in 2006 only 8 percent of people in the world owned cars. That means 92 percent of the world would look upon my family in our car and consider us rich. Around a billion people in the world do not have the luxury of clean drinking water. Approximately 800 million people in the world will go this day without eating a meal, and about a billion people in the world live on less than one dollar a day. When put into this perspective my family is indeed rich.

I ask you to take a look at 1 Timothy 6:17-18 with me: “Command those who are rich in this present world not to be arrogant nor to put their hope in wealth, which is so uncertain, but to put their hope in God, who richly provides us with everything for our enjoyment. Command them to do good, to be rich in good deeds, and to be generous and willing to share.” So what does this look like? This could look like offering to carpool with a co-worker to save on expenses; being a listening ear to an elderly neighbor who does not receive many visitors; offering your time to work on other church members’ vehicles; or if the Lord has given you financial gifts, possibly you offer to help a friend with overwhelming medical bills. In one way or another, the Lord has bestowed upon us gifts, and we are responsible to use them to His glory.

So we are taking a look around our community here in North St. Louis and asking ourselves, what gifts has God given us that we can offer to others? For Randy and me this looks like driving an elderly neighbor to the grocery store every week, helping our neighbor children with homework, mowing a single mother’s front yard in the summer, shoveling snow from her sidewalk in the winter, or offering to give another neighbor a ride to get diapers for her son. We look forward to how God is going to continue to reveal gifts He has given us so that we may extend those to others. This is our way of joining in God’s plan to bring heaven to earth.