MY DAUGHTER'S IPOD

The other night, racing between tasks and friends, my daughter brought me her Ipod and said, "Mom, listen to this song. I downloaded it for you." The song was one of my favorites, one I sang to her when she was young. The version was one I had never heard before, sung by a boy's choir of all things. But that is how it goes with my daughter. She often picks the unusual. Her Ipod is filled with an eclectic compilation of songs and music that have moved her or captured her attention. There is foreign music. Instrumental music. Familiar music and also the unfamiliar. Nirvana may be followed by the score from The Phantom of the Opera.

I stand back and look at her through new eyes and a heart that is amazed at the complexities within her. See, she and I both know that if I had an Ipod, it would be filled with Third Day, sprinkled with a few other bands. And, speaking of Third Day, a comment Tia Anderson made in Christianmusician.com magazine perfectly describes my girl..."To me, it has always been about soaring melodies that wake you up, make you think, and stir your soul." She experiences music in a way that is beyond me. She listens beyond the obvious and hears music on so many different levels.

And so I see the same in her relationship with God. Awhile ago I got this email: "i was just thinking about some things the other day...it was very nice out...no clouds or anything, and i somehow got on the subject of thinking about the sun. The sun is a star...a regular star, but even less than that really. Compared to the other stars in the universe its not the biggest or the brightest by far. Yet, it plays a lead role in the means of our survival. Our galaxy revolves around it. I guess it goes to prove once again that God sometimes chooses unlikely things to fulfill his plans. send me back some thoughts of your own please. -yer kid". Another night, we were just chit chatting before going to bed and out of the blue she said, "Mom, you know (unnamed)? Well, when our lives really start (her meaning--when we get to heaven) he will be sorry for (what he did) and will feel the need to apologize. And we won't feel the need to hear him say it." And, you know--she's right and her observation was very healing for me. A few weeks ago she asked the question, "Is it sinful for a Christian to work in a bar?" One of my favorites was a recent joke she made when we were at lunch after seeing the DaVinci Code. I made the observation that really, there will come a point where every man will recognize the lordship of Jesus Christ. She playfully added, "Yeah, I can't see people in the end times saying, 'Wow, I guess I better start believing in Mary Magdelene.' " I have awakened in the middle of the night to hear her sobbing as she watches "The Passion of the Christ" and have watched as she has developed a passion for the persecuted church. And then there are the times she falls asleep during a sermon and others when I know she is hanging on every word.

I think that what I am realizing is that she and God have their own thing going, apart from me. God is singing her these soaring melodies, that wake her up, and make her think. She listens beyond the obvious and hears Him on so many different levels. I feel like I am standing back as God takes her hand to walk with her. And while I wonder where they may be headed, I know that she is safe. Like with her Ipod, I love when she says, "Mom, listen to this...!!"