A Little Night Music in August

As our spring season barreled down the tracks and came to a screeching summer halt, we found ourselves in need of quiet and solace. We borrowed an RV and headed for the mountains of Cascadia. Completely off the grid, we set up camp at a site on the side of a cliff that overlooked the Ohanapecosh river. A humble creek flowed unassumingly behind us in a trickling waterfall over a moss-covered log, glory in every drop of water. We reached our hands into streams of hot springs that trickled over rocks from within the living volcano. The well traveled trail to Silver Falls was quiet and still as perpetual sunlight followed our footsteps. We buried ourselves in books around the campfire, stared up at the stars as dusk descended, swam in the frigid snow-melt, and slept with the sound of the river lulling us into peaceful slumber. With a few other adventures along the way, we feel restored and refreshed, and with so many hours on the road across Washington state, into Idaho, and all the way up home to Beautiful British Columbia, we listened to satisfying music which I want to share with you. Here comes the mother-load!

This month’s “eine kleine nachtmusik” might take a few evenings to enjoy. I think if I ever lost my ability to hear (or more of my ability to hear as some in my family might say), it would be okay, I would hear music in my head and heart all the same, and bounce to the beat the Lord ingrained in my heart. Music is a gift from the Lord to carry us through soaring heights, comfort us in dark valleys, and lift us on eagle’s wings out of canyons of confusion and despair where we can see clearly again. Music is an intimate way to experience life. I think that is why it is so subjective. What touches one person’s soul will be like nails on a chalkboard to someone else. When one person needs the soothing calm of J.S. Bach’s Air on the G String, another might need a bit of pep in the step with the Dave Brubeck Quartet or the volcanic velocity of Eva Cassidy’s vocals in Oh, Had I a Golden Thread. We come from such varying backgrounds and life experiences. There is no end to the creation of new songs, and for those who trust in Jesus, we have the sure and steady hope that we will enjoy an eternal song.

The following is a list of songs that have accompanied me on many miles of travel this summer in Cascadia, a Land of Falling Waters. May this music fall on open ears, soft hearts, and may it bring you to the stream of Living Water, Jesus Himself.

Trust in the Lord - Jon Guerra

A Thousand Shores - Leslie Jordan

Have Mercy - Paper Horses

John 3:16-17 The Words of Jesus Vol. 1 - The Corner Room

Oh The Mighty Hand - City Alight

All Glory Be To Christ - Emily Weiss

Oh sing to the Lord a new song;

sing to the Lord, all the earth!

Sing to the Lord, bless his name;

tell of his salvation from day to day.

Declare his glory among the nations,

his marvelous works among all the peoples!

For great is the Lord, and greatly to be praised;

he is to be feared above all gods.

For all the gods of the peoples are worthless idols,

but the Lord made the heavens.

Splendor and majesty are before him;

strength and beauty are in his sanctuary.

Psalm 96:1-6 ESV Bible

A Little Night Music in April

Photo by Kenrick Mills on Unsplash

The candle is lit, Mozart’s strings and flutes play in the background and I sit down for a moment of rest and reflection. Its been a full month, and it seems I am only able to write once a month here on my blog. We have seasons that are fruitful and seasons where our fields lay fallow. Each season has purpose and our labor is to ask the Lord what shall we do in each of those seasons. What shall we do with the time we are given? Should we harvest, or is it time to plant? Should we till the soil and add the nutrients and minerals that will produce a better harvest next year. Should we let the field rest and restore as is God’s wisdom in caring for the land He has entrusted to us. Writing is a place of rest and creativity for me. So the field of this writing space is where I come to recharge and pour out of that rest, but, at least for this season, it is perhaps more sparse, but still there is work being done in feast or fallow.

Today, I want to share some music that has blessed me this month, and may, in turn, bless you the reader. I had never heard of Tenielle Neda before this month, and I am captivated by her music. Her songs are scripture based and come from a Reformed theology background. She is a wife, mom of two, and driver of iron ore trains in Australia - which I think is incredibly cool.

This is the music I play as I have become the chauffeur of my tweens and teens, to transport them and their friends, to drop off at track & field, music lessons, driving to and from school. I am in that season where I spend a large portion of time in my vehicle. So I must be prepared to use my time wisely, to be nurtured in my soul and mind, to learn and grow, to relax to music, and to pray. Driving time can be used for so many kingdom-minded moments. Tic Tacs, hand sanitizer, a bottle of water, a good pair of sunglasses, and a hat for bad hair days are also along for the journey!

What is My Hope? - Tenielle Neda

“And if we live, we live to the Lord. And if we die, we die to the Lord…”

The Heidelberg Catechism was published in 1563 and can be summarized as “an ageless summary of an everlasting comfort.” Question 1 asks, “What is your only comfort in life and death?” The New City Catechism also asks this first question, “What is our only hope in life and death?” The answer is the basis of this song, and Scripture is the basis of this timeless answer.

Romans 14:7–8

For none of us lives to himself, and none of us dies to himself. For if we live, we live to the Lord, and if we die, we die to the Lord. So then, whether we live or whether we die, we are the Lord’s.

The Heidelberg Catechism answers it this way:


That I am not my own,

but belong with body and soul,

both in life and in death,

to my faithful Saviour Jesus Christ.

He has fully paid for all my sins

with his precious blood,

and has set me free

from all the power of the devil.

He also preserves me in such a way

that without the will of my heavenly Father

not a hair can fall from my head;

indeed, all things must work together

for my salvation.

Therefore, by his Holy Spirit

he also assures me

of eternal life

and makes me heartily willing and ready

from now on to live for him.

This composition is full of emotion as it takes the listener from a minor key, asking the question of what is my hope? Even this simple question is evidence that we live in a broken and sinful world in need of restoration. The fact that we have to ask what our hope is, shows that we need hope to live in this world. It is a sacred question and one that confronts the darkness all around us, the emptiness of worldly pursuits, and the desperate need to be filled with the regenerating work of the Holy Spirit in our souls. There is a sadness that accompanies this question. It is not stated, but it is there in the backdrop of our need to define what is the most important thing about our existence.

The song moves victoriously into the chorus with a triumphant major key resolution, almost a sense of rest as it guides one into the truths of Scripture, the food for our souls to be nourished by. There is an answer to the longing of our souls and it is found in the Bible, the Word of God. As a youth, I remember this verse standing out to me as I searched the Scriptures to know Yeshua more intimately. “If we live, we live to the Lord” was such a radical truth that imbedded into my soul. God was calling me to live for Him.

The words and music of this song become perfect companions for the meaning of these truths and the rest that all Scripture gives in answer to the questions we ask in this dark world, a world that is being and will be renewed and restored by King Jesus.

I pray that you are blessed by this song as much as I have been, and that it will be eine kleine nachtmusik to reflect on in a moment of quiet.