one brick shy (ish): Nickle Creek : The Hand Song This came up on my iPod the other day and even though I don’t usually like to listen to the slow tunes when I have time to listen to music, but I let it play out because I was too busy to forward to the next song. Hrm, I thought during the first verse - it’s okay, sappy but it’s Nickle Creek so I’ll give it the benefit of the doubt, plus now that I have a little boy it makes me pause. Then, the second verse - I couldn’t help it, I burst into tears. Trying to teach my little ones about God, Christ, and the “good news” of the gospel is the most important thing I have to do in this life, I know this. But often it hits me how hard this is and how much I’d rather be doing something else. I spent the first 25 years of my life mainly training as a violinist, and in the last month I’ve touched my instrument once. I miss it so much I can’t explain how much it hurts. But then the second verse… the little boy gaining a small testimony of the love of Christ in such a simple way… for a moment it softened the empty feeling inside, and filled it with a quiet reassurance that I’m doing the right thing by choosing family over … well, everything else really. I have friends touring the world, recording, gigging, living the life I wanted, and I do nothing but care for two little children all day here in the middle of nowhere. I still don’t really like the life I chose, even though I know it was the right decision. But I know at the end of it all… it won’t be about the gigs, the records or the bands… it will be me, standing before my Maker, showing him what I did with the time and the angels He gave me here on earth. I know, beyond the shadow of a doubt, that this is what He wants me to be doing. And I’d rather go with His will, than mine. The payoff, I’ve learned, is much greater than following my own silly mind. fyi: If you are already emotional for some reason, don’t listen to the third verse. It’s kind of over the top. The first two are smile-inducers.