This Life That Lies Before Me
Before I get to introducing my little sister to everyone, I wanted to say
a huge thank you for all the feedback I have been getting on my writing
and also those things that other people write and I just pass along.
You have no idea how much it means to me. THANK YOU! Just give me a
few days to respond to you individually.....
Michael
And now the moment you have all been waiting for! The one member of
the Powers family that got 90% of the talent genes: My leeetle Seester:
CHRISTINA MILLER!
Other than being the most fertile in the family, (She has four kids
under the age of five!) she is a stay at home mom, singer and songwriter.
She is the type of person who wakes up in the middle of the night and has
to find a pen and a piece of paper. Why you ask? Because the words to a
song has just come to her and she wants to write them down. Her husband
Jeff, besides being an engineer, is also a talented singer, guitar player,
and song writer. The two of them have talent that just oozes from their pores...
I envy them both. I know that I shouldn't as I am beyond thankful for
the talents and gifts the Lord has given me, but just once I would like to
sit down and just make up a song. Or better yet, go to sleep and have the
words to a song just scream out that they need to be written down!
When we had Caleb dedicated to the Lord three years ago, Jeff and Christina
attended the service along with other family and friends. After the pastor and
congregation prayed for Caleb's young life, we went back to our seats to sit
down. To our surprise Jeff and Christina walked up to the stage and smiled at
us. Then Jeff took out his guitar, and Christina pulled the microphone close to
her......They had written the words and music to a song just for Caleb, and had
asked our pastor if they could sing it to us at the dedication.
As you read below, just think of what was going through my mind as my first born
son was being dedicated to the Lord, and my sister and brother-in-law whom I love,
was singing the following words to us:
This Life That Lies Before Me
As I unwrap this precious gift, this life that lies before me
I cannot fathom what you will give, this life that lies before me
So with faithful and earnest prayers, we lift him to you Father
With open hearts and open hands, to protect him through life's troubled waters
And we ask.....
That your hand of peace be upon him
That your eyes of love will too
That your mercy ever surround him
No matter what we do
Yes, that your hand of peace be upon him
That your loving eyes will too
That your mercy always surround him
That your protection be about him
And that his life would be forever
Dedicated to you.
I don't remember what life was like without him
And I cannot imagine my life without you
For such perfect and precious gifts could only come
From the One who's gifts are true
So, I unwrap this precious gift this life that lies before me
And I will give all that I can give to this life that lies before me
The many smiles and all the trials in this life that lies before me
Will be lifted high to his Father and friend, oh this life that lies before me
And we ask...
That your hand of peace be upon us
That your eyes of love will too
That your mercy ever surround us
No matter what we do
That your hand of peace be upon us
That your loving eyes will too
That your mercy always surround us
That your protection be about us
And that our lives would be forever
That our lives would be forever
Dedicated to you
I cried all the way through the song. Not only did it make me think of the precious
life that God had given to Kristi and I through our first son, Caleb, but it reminded
me how much I loved my sister. It was one of the best "gifts" that we have ever
received in our lives, and we are so thankful to Jeff and Christina for the love
they showed us that day.
Jeff and Chris have written hundreds of songs, but have not accepted money for
any of them as they feel that they belong to the Lord.
In fact Christina was approached to sing for a CD called "Be Exalted."
A friend of theirs, Bob Baker, who has done album work before, decided to
start another one, but this time to do it on his own, rather than go
through someone else. He teamed up with Steven Curtis, who lives in England.
They asked Rich Mullin's, whom Bob knew, if they could use his Elgin studio.
The week they were to begin, Rich died. So about a month later, they went ahead
and used the studio, it was sad, but soothing too. Anyway, they used Rich's studio
recorder, Jordan, who is now with Rick and the Ragamuffin's, Rich's old band. Bob
had asked Christina to do some background vocals and offered to pay her, but she
thought it would be a neat experience, and since Bob was her friend, she wanted to
help him out and save him some money.
After the first song, which she did some duet work with Bob, she did some
harmonies. Bob couldn't quite get a spin on the last song and so they did
it live. It worked out better with Christina leading so he gave the lead vocal to her.
The CD is big in England and they play some of it on WCFL out of Chicago.
I know some of you are thinking that she was crazy not to accept any money for what
she did, and I wanted to smack her (in an affectionate way), but I know the Lord will
honor her for it.
For those of you who like Christian music you can learn more about the CD at this web
site:
Wellspring Worship
http://www.wellspringworship.com/
Christina and I are hoping to help her friend Bob Baker by getting word out on
this project. My wife Kristi and I have the CD and enjoy it. The more we have
listened to it, the more we have liked it, even though Christina only sings on
three of the songs!
I know the Lord is going to use Christina and her husband Jeff greatly in the
days to come, and I just want to encourage them again to keep singin' and song
writin'!!
We love you both!
Michael and Kristi
For those of you who might want to write to Christina and let her know what you
thought about her song above, her email address is: tinifer@yahoo.com
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Dear God,
So far today I've done all right. I haven't gossiped. I haven't lost my
temper. I haven't been greedy, grumpy, nasty, selfish or overindulgent.
I'm very thankful for that.
But in a few minutes, God, I'm going to get out of bed; and from then
on, I'm probably going to need a lot more help.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Thought For The Day:
"It's not hard to make decisions when you know what your values are."
Verse for the Day:
"But Daniel purposed in his heart that he would not defile himself."
Daniel 1:8
Kid's Thought for the day:
"When you hear a noise in the closet, it's scarier not to open the door and peek in."
Parent's Thought For The Day
"We spend our health getting wealth; then gladly pay all we have earned to get our health back."
Coach's Thought For The Day
"An athlete who can smile when things go wrong has thought of someone they can blame it on."
Deep Thought For The Day:
"Why do we search the entire room and maybe even other rooms for the TV remote, but
refuse to walk to the TV and change the channel manually."
_
/_/\/\ MICHAEL T. POWERS
\_\ / THUNDER27@aol.com http://members.aol.com/Thunder27/index.html
/_/ \ "For I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but
\_\/\ \ Christ lives in me. The life I live in the body I live for the Son
\_\/ of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me." Galatians 2:20