Music on a Monday — Oh Carol!

On By auntyamoIn Getting to grips with God stuff, MusicLeave a comment

Are you ready?!

Have you prepared your vocal chords?

Are you all tuned up?

Cos it’s that time of year…..

If you’re someone who goes to church then you’re about to enter the ‘Hark! the Herald Angels Sing’ zone never to escape from it (well… until January!)

But I have to say I wouldn’t have it any other way. I totally love that carol. And the fact that it is a smidge too high for my grizzly alto means I have to MEAN it to be able to sing it.

As someone who loves Christmas and bans humbugs from her presence….! (be warned) the carols mean so much to me.

I’ve always loved Christmas. It’s a huge deal in my family. And I’m grateful to my parents that the crib was as important as the tree when I was a kid. Christmas Mass was important too so I learned that carol at a young age and still love it!

There’s so much GREAT Chistmas music. ReligIous and non religious. And I’ve even written my own Christmas song….

But for me, nothing comes near Hark! the herald angels sing.

And by the way…. if you’ve never actually thought about it, or investigated what it is they sing and why… Ask me, it could lead to a Christmas you’ll never forget!

Charitable Giving — Every little (REALLY) helps!

On By auntyamoIn Random RamblingsLeave a comment

Working for a charity as i have done for almost 10 years now; I really believe in the concept that ‘Every Little helps’.
I know that Tesco have commandeered the phrase. But they are right.

Coming up to Christmas, this is a time when charitable giving seems to come of the fore. Children in Need will be on soon, lots of charities will send out their Christmas appeal and you won’t be able to get down a high street without someone shaking a collecting tin at you.

If you’ve ever sat in a bath of baked beans to raise money for Children in Need or shaved your head for Tsunami survivors or just thrown a couple of quid in a collection bucket for the NSPCC… you really have done a worthwhile thing.

All those fivers and euros and tenners and fifties when put together can make REAL difference!!!

If your heart hurts for whales, endangered animals, sick childdren or viictims of global disasters you CAN be a small of the solution.

I know in these financially difficult times that it’s hard to give to everything, In fact for a lot of us it’s hard to give to ANYTHING; but I would encourage to find the cause that you feel strongly about and help someone or some ‘body’ that is working to help in that area.

Stuck for ideas of who to give to?
I doubt it but just in case… the charity I work for supports family life in Ireland, TearFund work all over the work helping to fight poverty and injustice, I’ve a friend in the UK who works for the Marine Conservation Society and in January one of my nephews will take the Art O’Neill challenge to raise money for 3Ts (Turn the Tide on Suicide) http://www.mycharity.ie/event/mick_bretts_event?ref=nf

As the saying goes…. Give a little; it’ll help a lot!

Music on a Monday — The Cousins CD

On By auntyamoIn Family, MusicLeave a comment

I’m in the middle of a really fun music project at the mo.

Last year one of my nieces was away and another niece wanted to send her a CD with some of us singing Christmas songs on it. – so she wouldn’t feel so homesick.
That turned into a Double CD with lots of the family singing Christmas songs with backing tracks, and a bonus track of practiaclly the whole family doing “Do They Know it’s Christmas”

It was hard work but the finished product is brilliant, If I do say so……

Some of the family are experienced GREAT singers, others are singers and others still are… well… not. But this was a free for all.
Anyone who wanted to do a song did one.
It was a whole lot of work but twice that in fun 🙂

This year we’re making another one.
It will just have as many of my 27 nicece and nephews as can/will be on it.
Solo spots are only for the more confident singers and then all 27 (hopeuflly) will feature in some way on the final track ‘We are the World’

I heard some of the stuff that’s already been recorded. From Beatles to Kelly Clarkson to Norman Wisdom — so far the songs are amazing.
Coming up there’s an acoustic version of a Beyonce song and a bit of Randy Crawford too….!

We’ve got some real talent in the family. A few X Factor hopefuls that didn’t get anywhere near as far as they should have. Singers that would knock your socks off and at least one guitar player that, as me da would say, “could make the thing talk””.

But FAR bigger that the talent is the love for music in the family. Which seems to be across the board regardless of the actual abibitly.

My brother Christopher is (as usual) doing all the hard work on this CD project. I’m sure everyone on the ‘Cousins CD’ will agree he’s a legend… in his own music room!

Oh by the way…If you come to one of our family parties you’ll be very welcome, but you better bring a song with you 🙂

Saying it out loud!

On By auntyamoIn Getting to grips with God stuff3 Comments

Last night I was speaking at the Ladies Dessert and Coffee evening in my church.

Ordinary Women, Extraordinary God

There were two of us speaking and my theme was ‘Disappointment and Hope’

I shared the story of how as the baby of 8 children and an aunty to 27 (and a great aunty to 15), how sad it was to find that I could not have children.

I had hoped for a very different outcome in my life. Disappointment doesn’t come near to how it feels.

I talked about the story of the two guys on the Road to Emmaus, walking away from Jerusalam after the death of Jesus and how they ‘had hoped’ for so much more.

They only knew half of the story. The picture is so much bigger. And I take consolation from that.

It was the first time that I had told our story in that sort of setting. It was a bit weird to hear myself say it out loud. And amazing how hard it still is to tell the story.

But even though ‘we had hoped’ for a different story, our hope is in Jesus and I thank Him and praise Him for His extraordinary love and mercy to me… an ordianry woman

Music on a Monday — This blog??? oohhhh… about Seventeen Seconds!

On By auntyamoIn MusicLeave a comment

I bought Seventeen Seconds by the The Cure again. I couldn’t help myself.

A few months ago I had the immense priv of meeting a band member from those days. The splendid Matthieu Hartley (keyboard player on SS). Standing outside the Bad Ass Café (where once I had hung out, mohican, doc boots, white face and all), I was v nervous waiting for him to arrive. But Matt (I can call him Matt you know) and his lovely wife and two of his mates (I’ve met his wife and two of his mates you know) were really great! They didn’t mind the weird stalker type person who just wanted to sit near a bit of Cure history 🙂

Seventeen Seconds was an important buy the first time around. I was into The Cure from just after Love Cats but EVERYONE loved The Cure after Love Cats. But to prove yourself as a real fan you had to go back! So I bought Seventeen Seconds and learned every word off by heart. Then I learned the words of 10:15 on a Saturday Night. Cos as a Cure fan you had to know the B Sides as well.

It’s the music of my formative years. We were never happier than when we were depressed listening to the Cure 🙂 I had lots of younger nieces and nephews and was the ‘cool’ aunty. But I didn’t want to be cool. I just wanted to be Robert Smith!

I look back on those days and remember loving my identity. And to this day regret giving it up for a guy who didn’t like girls with mohicans! Inside I’m still a Curehead really!

btw Mattieu Hartley music is still great! His band Icicle Thieves are playing in the Albert in Brighton this coming Friday.

An old blog of mine…. on social networking

On By auntyamoIn Humour1 Comment

Get out of my FACEbook!

This is a new site I’m thinking of developing for people who want to join social network sites but don’t want anyone to view their profile, don’t want to be invited to join an group and certainly DON’T want anyone to request their friendship!!

It is inspired by a friend of mine who is new to FB and VERY suspicious of it. He’s quite wary that now he is on there, people might find him.

There was the shocking moment when he realised that when he wrote on his friend’s wall other people could see it!!! The post went something like… “Wow Pete, haven’t seen you in ages. How are you doing?”

Now I know that the guys from Spooks would have that deciphered in a second and would know that this guy is obviously subversive and a danger to society and scoop him up, hiding him in a Safe House in Bethnal Green; never to be seen again. But to most of us FB users it’s probably fairly harmless and won’t damage the UN peace agreement s just yet if someone spots it. . .

Some words of advice for those nervous about social networking sites. Don’t take them too seriously guys. Don’t dwell too much on it. Be sensible, be friendly and for goodness sake if you’re going to add your credit card number will you PLEASE remember the last 3 digits on the back!!!

Music on a Monday — Zschech it out!

On By auntyamoIn Getting to grips with God stuff, MusicLeave a comment

 (I know… I know…the title only works if Darlene’s surname is actually prounounced Check…)
 
I thought maybe on Monday’s I’d waffle about music. Some church, some not! Maybe comment on how the previouse days songs had affected me… or not….I WAS wondering if I’d have anything to say (quite likely most of the time….)
 
But tis a feast today….
 
I was going to talk about our church’s live Radio broadcast on RTE 1 LW and online yesterday morning.
 
But then the news came to me that Darlene Unprouncable is leaving Hillsongs to take up a joint pastorate with her husband in a Pente church in Sydney.
 
It brought back a flood of memories. ‘Shout to the Lord’ was in the 90s and some of the Noughties what In Christ Alone  became in the rest of the Noughties and continues in to the…. Tennies???
 
We sang ‘Shout to the Lord’ was at every wedding I went to , including my own. We sang it most sunday mornings. at every Bible college chapel service and evertwhere else.
 
It blew other emotive worship songs out of the water for me. And (when playing it in G) that F chord came in it just lifted the whole song. Then a key chnge in the MIDDLE of the chorus. What an effect it had on the mood of the song.
 
it was as if we couldn’t hang on til the end of the chorus to go up a key. 
 
We’re worship leaders and WE CAN’T WAIT TO MODULATE!!!
To this day listening to it brings me to another time and place in my Christian life. I don’t know whether I’ve grown that much or just swapped a bunch of insecurites for different ones. But its about 15 yeats since I heard the song first and the words are as true to me now as they were then. So I can’t be doing that bad eh?
 
If you would like to hear the broadcast of our service yesterday you can go to this link. http://www.rte.ie/radio1/player_av.html?0%2Cnull%2C200,http://dynamic.rte.ie/quickaxs/209-r1-reflectiveservice.smil It’s me leading the singing for the the group songs (as opposed to the hymns with the organ).
 
I’m no Darlene; but zschech me out and let me know what you think!

Getting Adl’d in Lildis…

On By auntyamoIn HumourLeave a comment

Revisiting another old blog post of mine…

 

Wednesday, November 26, 2008

Getting Adl’d in Lildis…

We’re trying to budget. or BADGGIT!!!! as the ad used to shout at us…

But where can I go.to save money AND get what I want? Oh no! Now I DO sound like ads on telly,,,

Are you paying too much for your car insurance? (eh.. no)
Are you happy with your whites? (eh… yeah)
Have you had an accident in the last year or two and would you like to sue the living daylights our of some poor unfortunate? (eh… no)
Are you up to your eyes in debt and stuggling to pay an already crippling loan — and would you like to be even MORE in debt??????? (eh no… comment…)

I could go on but I’ll only get upset and I have serioiusly digressed…

But it turns out that Adl (or Lildi — always confuse them) are between 30-40% cheaper than Dunnes and Tesco. But they wouldn’t have everything on my list. Do they even sell houmous and the Metre long pack of Jaffa cakes? I’d have to write 2 or 3 lists! I’m bored half way through one!

The last time I went to Lildi (or maybe it was Adl. — always confuse them) was when I lived in Wales. I bought 3 bags of flour at 9p each, 7 tins of salmon in lemon juice at 47p each, a chinese rice bowl and chopsticks set at £1.99 and a bottle of cheap wine. For some reason I bought stuff I didn’t need cos it was cheap.

I’m afraid to go back in case I spend my shopping money on cheap Christmas decorations and then STILL have to go to Dnnnes and get my houmous and jaffa cakes.

But I plan to give them a try…

Back to blogging…

On By auntyamoIn Getting to grips with God stuff, Writing, Blogging etcLeave a comment

I used to blog quite a bit and have decided to get back into it.

Because my brain is usually muddled, I go from funny stories to serious atgumentative ramblings in my blogs. But they are always about God and me in some way or other.

I think I’ll start by bringing some of my old blogspot posts over to word press.

Hopefully this introduction to my musings will keep you looking in on me.

Do comment if you’d like to but be gentle… I’m big on the  outside but teeny weeny on the inside 🙂

Here are my first two blogs ever, from over 3 yrs ago

Sunday, July 22, 2007

In the Beginning…

Sorry about the corny title… But in the early Christian church people gathered together, shared food, shared fellowship, ahared their possesions and shared the gospel of Jesus Christ – the Saviour.

But now – it’s all so complicated!

And if jesus came to visit us one Sunday what church would He go to? A traditional evangelical church, a lively spirit filled Pentecostal church, a Baptist church, Presbyterian, Methodist, 7th Day Adventist, Anglican????

I am new to this blog stuff and I intend to develop this thought and question fully – but for now I am just throwing the queation out…

Wednesday, August 1, 2007

Church cont’d

Already I can see I am going to be as bad at blogging as I was at keeping a diary as a kid!

Anyway… on further reflection and looking at what God has to say about ‘church’ I realise my focus is all wrong. The church is the community of believers across the world. Not a building or a style.

And to be honest – if Jesus came back he would probably head off and have a cup of soup and a toasted sandwich in The Lighthouse on Pearse St or somewhere like that.

So short as it was my little musing on church was – I have found it helpful and will think some more and come back to it…

28 Oct 2010 You know what…. I never did lol