I have always loved music. My mom always had music on in the house. My siblings and I memorized all of the records in our house! It cheers me up on rainy winter days, lifts the moods of everyone around the house and even helps us to memorize scripture.
The other day I went to a spin class and the music the instructor played in there was toxic. I don't remember all of the lyrics, but I remember after just one hour of it I left feeling like I had been poisoned. I'm not trying to be dramatic. I honestly felt sick, discouraged and frustrated that this is what people in the world are subjecting themselves to. Almost all the songs were about trying to find someone to love them or feeling disappointed when someone lets them down. I know not all the songs on the radio are that bad, but this set was particularly discouraging.
So when Mason started noticing songs from the radio (usually Air One) and studying the lyrics and bands more closely, we decided to encourage it. He's been to two concerts this year. The first one was The Rock and Worship Roadshow. It had a bunch of really talented bands... and many that we couldn't really understand. But the time in between the songs was so good. You could sense the sincerity of the singers and hear the reasons behind writing some of the lyrics. I found this so valuable and I think anytime that someone that the kids admire is telling them about a relationship with the Lord can only help supplement what they hear at home. And whenever we hear one of the songs on the radio, I have a new perspective about where the song came from.
The second concert was the Newsboys/Building 429. The Newsboys have been Mason's favorite band for a couple of years now. He notices what spot their songs are on the weekend countdowns, what their names are, and every time they come on in the song line up. So when they when they were coming to a church near us the same week as his 11th birthday, I took him, Kaiah and a couple of friends.
The atmosphere was great, the messages encouraging and the music entertaining and fun. As long as it's not too expensive, I hope to let the kids go to these from time to time.
The other day we were taking a neighbor girl to AWANA with Cambria and we had the radio on. All the kids were singing along and the girl said, "What is this music? I don't know this music. Is this God music?" I smiled and said, "Yes! Every single song on this radio station is telling us how much God loves us." I take that back... maybe not every Owl City song... but anyway :)
I am so thankful that we have several christian radio stations to choose from and even more options online. Instead of feeling poisoned, I feel encouraged, fed, and lifted up and hope that the kids will continue to choose this music as well.
