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Caedmon's Hymn

The beauty of the hymn below is one of the reasons we gave our boy, Caedmon, his name.

Now let me praise the keeper of Heaven's kingdom,
the might of the Creator, and his thought,
the work of the Father of glory, how each of wonders
the Eternal Lord established in the beginning.
He first created for the sons of men
Heaven as a roof, the holy Creator,
then Middle-earth the keeper of mankind,
the Eternal Lord, afterwards made,
the earth for men, the Almighty Lord.

SCC / Cinderella / Dove Awards

I can only imagine the pain Steven Curtis Chapman must feel when he performs this song on stage every night. This was captured last week at the Dove Awards in Nashville.

Moving performance. I hate the fact he probably had to trim the middle chorus out for time reasons.

Music Purchase: Jars of Clay's "The Long Fall Back To Earth"

Hard to believe these guys have been around so long. The great thing about them is they're able to reinvent their sound from project to project. Other artists do this and it sounds fake or off-putting. Not with Jars.

With "The Long Fall," Jars channels the 80's and places an amazing modern pop spin on the music. If you were to give an award to a band member for best contribution to the album, my vote would be for Charlie Lowell, Jars' keys player. His fingerprints are ALL over this project.

The opening instrumental title track is moving ... and it bridges into a song, "Weapons," which could possibly be one of the most important and relevant songs of the last 10 years. Other highlights include the first single "Two Hands," a father-to-son ode in "Boys," and a re-mixed "Closer" - changed up a tad from the Closer EP from last fall.

Music Purchase: Kelly Clarkson's "All I Ever Wanted"

Not only did Kelly co-write with OneRepublic frontman Ryan Tedder on a handful of tracks, but she also tapped the talents of Katy Perry, Relient K's Matt Theissen and Christian music band leader legend Mark Lee Townsend.

It's pure pop perfection from the original American Idol ... perfect for a spring drive with the windows down and music loud!

Bea Arthur & Cupcakes

I love "Golden Girls" and I'm gonna miss Bea Arthur.

Cute Things Falling Asleep

My Scottish "cousin-in-law" Rod always posts the best websites ... this one's no exception: cutethingsfallingasleep.org.

How To Make A Baby

Combining Passion & Ministry

You may be someone or you know someone who effortlessly combines a personal passion with how they minister to people around them.

For Linny and I, it’s Darlene, the nursery coordinator at our church. She’s passionate about kids and gardening. When she heard yesterday was our 2nd wedding anniversary, she offered to come over and watch our son, Caedmon, for a few hours so we could go out for a nice dinner. While we were out, she helped Caedmon make a card and pot a daisy on our front stoop for Mommy and Daddy. WOW! The smile on our hearts when we arrived home was huge.

What Darlene didn’t know is that daisies are mine and Linny’s flower, the one we used the most of for the floral arrangements in our wedding.

Does Darlene remind you of anyone in you life who’s able to take a personal passion and marry it to how they minster to people?

Sheer Beauty

Before you jump to any conclusions, this isn't Linny. This ultrasound belongs to Scott Marshall (the guy who officiated our wedding) and his wife, Andrea. They're almost 10 weeks along ... baby Marshall #3 is due sometime in October. Congrats to Scott, Andrea, Hudson and Corban!

Big Whiskey and the Groogrux King