CM Music Feed

Stress

Admin — Thu, 05 Nov 2009 23:26:00 +0000

Do any of you ever feel stressed?

I think for the last 3 weeks I have been experiencing a lot of stress. I'm not sure its all external. I think sometimes, I torture myself, I worry, I imagine that I will never be able to accomplish everything I have set out to... Here, in Nashville, far from the land of Canola fields and Cattle farms of Alberta... here in the world of 6 lane traffic and perfect people and too much to do. I have been in a black hole, digging my way out. Thus, a blog.

I know that God has told us/me not to worry some 200 times in the NT (maybe more?). I am trying to break this habit. I am making lists and saying prayers and letting go of what I can not control... which is practically nothing except my attitude and actions.

Thank you for your patience during my silence, not that you are sitting there waiting for me to blog but I do feel it's kind of bad manors to start a blog then drop off the face of the earth.

Please forgive..
God Bless and Keep you

Leaving...

Admin — Mon, 19 Oct 2009 14:32:00 +0000

So, I have been slack in my super exciting, blog about my countdown ( can you sense my sarcasm here?) I cannot believe that we leave Canada today for our long journey back to Nashville. The last several days have been spent having good food with good friends and family to say good-bye. My husband and I often talk about how crazy it is that we live in two places and that we move across country twice a year... but it is our life and it seems to be the only solution that makes sense for us. It always makes us take stock, be grateful for our friends and family, because we never have a chance to grow too familiar with them... We are grateful that it always reminds us how blessed we are with so many wonderful people, both here in Canada and in the US of A:-) But for now.. I just want to say how much I love all my Canadian peeps... they are wonderful and they have taught me so much about sucking the marrow out of life.

I am thankful to be a CanadaAmerican.

Peace.....

Happy Canadian Thanksgiving

Admin — Tue, 13 Oct 2009 01:22:00 +0000

7 days to go

Hello and happy Canadian turkey day.

I am in my kitchen making sweet potato casserole, layered salads, watching the snow fall down outside (yes, it's still snowing).

I am feeling very melancholy and introspective today.. not sure why... maybe that's being female or simply just being human. I am listening to some good classical music and smelling the turkey bacon fry and thinking that God has given me so much more than I deserve and so much to be thankful for. I read in a book that Fear cannot take root in a thankful heart... so I am going to be thankful. Hope you are feeling thankful and happy today, even though it's only thanksgiving in Canada;-)

Blessings

Cold

Admin — Sun, 11 Oct 2009 06:00:00 +0000

8 days to go

If any of you have an iPhone with the Weather App, you might be interested in checking out the temperature here today in Red Deer Canada. A high of 28 F a low of 19F... yesterday... the low was 9 F. People. It isn't even Halloween yet!! Snow, snow and more snow... it is beautiful... Canadians are tough. God Bless the Canadians!
I am so cold.... but God is still so good;-)
c
current temp outside.... 28 F

Frosty

Admin — Fri, 09 Oct 2009 14:08:00 +0000

11 days to go

Hey there,
Just checking in with you guys and letting you know what's going on up here In Canada.

Last night, after the dinner hour, the girls looked out our living room window to see large fluffy snowflakes falling gently and quickly to the ground. They awoke to enough snow to put on their snow boots and even did a little sledding after school! An answered prayer, since they were hoping to have a little snow before we head south with the birds.... Last night, after the snow had been falling a while, Savannah got out the Frosty DVD and we huddled in bed and watched it.... I still love that show... If only Frosty were real.... maybe he is?

:-)

Crafts or Krafts?

Admin — Wed, 07 Oct 2009 13:20:00 +0000

Tuesday night here in Canada is Kids eat free night at Denny's, along with "The Craft Girl" who sits in the back of the restaraunt while the parents eat, completing sentences while the kids make bead necklaces and paper hats etc.

So this has become a family tradition for us here in Canada during the school year... we show up with the older crowd around 4:30 and the girls love it! So tonight, Savannah ( who is recovering from a cold... this will matter later) had Krafts Mac n Cheese and applesauce and Olivia had Spaghetti with veggies... so a fun time was had by all til on our drive home (I was flying solo tonight, sigmund was out of town).. savannah started coughing... savannah who has a very sensitive gag reflux.... and a cough turned into Mac n cheese all over the back seat and the car seat and her cloths and the bead necklace.... I looked back and Olivia was so grossed out... she's yelping and trying to look out the window trying not to see what's going on beside her ( did I mention we were in Sigmun'd soft cover Jeep?) and somehow, as I re-tell this I am laughing, laughing, laughing.

We have one more Tuesday night with the Craft girl to go before we leave. Savannah, in the back seat said... " I'll never be able to eat Mac n cheese again" ! I feel your pain baby.

So yes to Crafts and NO to Krafts.

God is good:-)

The Countdown

Admin — Wed, 07 Oct 2009 06:00:00 +0000

It is once again that time of year for your little family of Canadians to head south, like the birds and we will magically transform into southerners who love cracker barrell and The Andy Griffith show (can I get an Amen?!) So.. I am trying to pack, re-organize, drive my kids to school, make lunches ( no hot lunches or cafeteria's in Canada schools btw) and not loose my mind... but life is good.. it is fall, almost winter and I hear the southern wind calling my name!!

We depart Red Deer on Oct 19... not sure if this is terribly interesting but I thought I would blog every day or so and tell you what's going in the process.... I can tell you are totally into this!!! (:-) ok.. maybe not... but it's where Im at.

God Bless

Gloria

Admin — Tue, 06 Oct 2009 00:21:00 +0000

I am so very excited to once again be hitting the road with my two good friends, Travis Cottrell and Shaun Groves for the Compassion Christmas Tour. We had such an awesome time last year and I know that you cannot ever re-create the beauty that was last year.... BUT we are certainly going to try... I think there will be a few different songs on the set list for all of us so if you came last year, please come again to see us. Compassion is such an awesome organization and I am so thankful to be involved with them.

So.... we are getting out all our Christmas fav's.... if you have a favorite that you'd like me to try and squeeze into the set list... let me know and I'll see what I can do:-)

Merry Christmas on the early early side.

Ps. We made Facebook event page for the shows. Let us know you are coming.

Minden, LA: http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=175423301326
Lexington, KY: http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=145602172452
Wingate, NC: http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=289910830407
Jacksonville, FL: http://www.facebook.com/event.php?&eid=169675072159
Fayetteville, GA: http://www.facebook.com/event.php?&eid=286314630176
Greensboro, NC: http://www.facebook.com/event.php?&eid=143582733830
Wilson, NC: http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=144991413300

Concert On the Deck

Admin — Thu, 24 Sep 2009 22:31:00 +0000

Here are some pics from our 3rd annual concert on the deck that we host at our house in Red Deer every year. This year we had a wonderful Greek gentleman here in Red Deer cook up some awesome greek food. After dinner, everyone cozied up to each other in lawn chairs and blankets and we do a concert... It was a beautiful clear night....

The first year we had my good friend Jonathan Kingham- an amazing singer songwriter do the event, last year, st lola performed along with a string section from here in Red Deer. This year, it was myself along with Cara Slaybaugh, who is my good friend and has been playing cello with me for about a year now and also my buddy Matthew Burgess, the coolest percussion guy on the planet;-)

It is always a great evening to be with good friends and to enjoy God's creation...

Here are a few moments from the night.

#1 sigmund giving the welcome pic

#2.. cara's cello solo.. amazing grace. oh so beautiful

Two Roads Bluegrass - Free Download

Admin — Tue, 22 Sep 2009 14:17:00 +0000

Hi there,

I have been meaning to do this for a while. I have had several requests to post my mom's (Lola Morgan) original version of Two Roads (from Beautiful Bird) that was inspired by her version on the bluegrass record that she did... I love this version... it totally inspired me and took me back to my childhood in east Tennessee and Kentucky. To give you a bit of background on my mom... As I grew up my mom spent lots of years traveling with tent revivals and evangelists, and local TV shows, being their special guest singer. I remember sitting in an old country church listening to my mom sing and the hairs on the back of my neck standing up. I always thought and still do think that she has such soul and a true gift for communicating a song. She was raised in the back hills of Harlin,Kentucky. The oldest of eleven children in the middle of the depression... I guess that's the kind of life that would put soul in your voice.

I would love to offer this song as a free download so that you can hear it for yourself. I am so proud of her and all that she has come through in her life.. If you would like to hear more songs from her Bluegrass record, let me know and I will continue to post them.

Blessings,
Cindy (and Lola)

To Download Two Roads: Login (or create an account) to the site in the upper right hand side. Once you are logged in a 'Downloads' menu item will appear at top. Click 'Downloads' and gain access to the free song.

Where the River Ends...

Admin — Mon, 14 Sep 2009 18:03:00 +0000

I wanted to tell you guys about a new book that I am reading.

I was recommended this author by a gal name Julia in Toronto.. I was in the bookstore, staring at so many books and I ask her who was a good author because if you can find someone who is your taste... you can read and read and read all thier books...she recommended Charles Martin... the book I bought was Where the River Ends.

I cannot tell you how beautifully this book is written... Charles Martin is a fellow believer and has books sold in Christian bookstores.... now, I have to say that I am not always of fan of all Christian authors, as I sometimes think some books written for the christian market are not always written in a way that can apply to anyone's life outside of conservative christian circles.... just my opinion but I believe that even a book that is deeply spiritual and even where the gospel is clear, if written well and from an honest place, can and will impact more than just fellow christians... I think the great composers and painters did this... I think Francinne Rivers does that...also Shel Silverstein.. To Kill a mockingbird, Sigmund's books do this and not sure how you feel about this book but I think The Shack did this as well.

so... with all that said...

I would love to recommend Charles Martin... he has several books.. I have started on Where the River Ends, I am about 80 pages in and am totally inspired by the way he writes and thinks and I feel I could recommend this book to my non christian friends as well. It is world class writing...
here is a link to his site. charlesmartinbooks.com

Read and Enjoy

Land

Admin — Mon, 14 Sep 2009 17:58:00 +0000

Last night, our family, along with our next door neighbors took about an hour drive northwest of Red Deer to a little farming community called Eckville. We had been invited to dinner by a minister and his wife who are also cattle ranchers, and originally from South Africa.

The drive there was filled with rolling hills sprinkled with hay bales ready for harvest... it was a perfect fall evening, no wind with the sun shining gently down on us as we drove along enjoying the creation that God made.

When we arrived at our destination we were greeted by a house that was once the local school house about 70 years ago... so perfectly nestled into a haven of evergreen trees, it was like something out of a Thomas Kinkaid painting. We played croquet and drank ginger ale. Feasted on the best food I think I have ever tasted, and I'm not talking about soup and salad.. I'm talking about freshly baked bread from a country oven and preserves made from wild raspberries picked from the farm, beef ribs and hand rolled sausage from one of their own cattle that had fed on the grass of God's green earth and nothing else. To say we ate to our hearts content... would be a grand understatement.

Earlier in the evening, before dinner, our hosts spread blankets over the back of a flat bed and treated us to a tractor ride through their land before the sun went down.
Sigmund and the girls sat at the edge with their legs swinging off the back, grabbing blades of wheat and wildflower as we passed them by. We covered 500 acres of the most beautiful rolling hills, small swimming ponds, hills with spectacular views, creeks, fresh springs of water that tasted as pure as water drawn from the well of heaven.

As we rode along I was overcome with how amazing the world we live in is and what a wondrous thing land is. It made me want to load up all the city dwellers I know on the back of a flat bed truck and show them what it's like to be in an open field where you can run as far as you can see and keep running... to get a glimpse of what I imagine heaven will be like someday. A beautiful tapestry of wheat and hills and ponds and trees perfectly sewn together, unpolluted by human greed.

I am so glad for land, for farmers who are still committed to the daily task of caring for the land. I think if I had the choice between a large house on a small city lot of a camper on a patch of land... I think you know what I would choose...

To paraphrase something I once heard Oprah say, when asked what she thought was the most valuable thing to own.... " Land, because there will never be anymore of it"

Thank God for land.
Blessings

What’s so great about Toronto

Admin — Fri, 11 Sep 2009 14:34:00 +0000

Two and a half days ago, Sigmund and I flew to Toronto to do a TV talk show called 100 Huntley Street… it is kind of Canada’s version of The 700 Club… it is also the longest running talk show in Canada.. Anyway, we left our two little angels in the hands of Sigmund’s mom and auntie Marcella and we flew up a couple days early for a writing clinic Sigmund was doing and also a book signing.

I had been to Toronto many times, but this time I took extra care to pay attention to nice spots and sights so that I could share a little of that with you guys… kind of like my own little travel/food blog.. not. But… I thought if you had never been to Toronto and were looking for a little Canadian get away.. I could tell you a little of my trip but BEWARE of the border.

My first venture out of the Holiday Inn was to walk to Burlington Mall..now a mall is a mall but I have one exceptional thing to say about the Burlington Mall… Chicken Soup! Mentsuyu Chicken Soup, to be exact, from the food court at a little Japanese food stand. This soup is a new thing and I have to say.. it was AWESOME! after I licked my bowl clean I ran over to the nice little guy who made my soup and told him it was delicious!! He thought I was crazy but was glad for the compliment as all us cooks are when people like our food:-)

Next, Sigmund and I had our book signing at a small bookstore across from Burlington Mall and get this… they have a used book section in their basement and they buy back old books!! Isn’t that great. I thought that was so fantastic… then we went for a walk before dinner by lake Ontario.. there was the most beautiful little cobblestone village shopping square right off the lake, called ( appropriately enough)The Village Square...We dined on fresh fish at a little restaurant called The PepperWood…. I must say the prices were very high and the food was…. pretty good… but we had a great view of the water and with the exception of some really loud drag racers!!( why.. i don’t understand their cars are so loud!!) it was a very lovely meal…. then we walked along the pier as the sun set on a lovely Canadian evening..

So…. just in case you were wondering what’s so great about Toronto…. these are just a few things;-)  

Peace

100 Huntley Street

Admin — Tue, 08 Sep 2009 17:31:00 +0000

Cindy will be on 100 Huntley Street this Thursday. She will be talking about her new book 'Dance Me Daddy' and singing 'King Of The World'.

You should be able to watch online at http://100huntley.com/program.php

To find out more about 100 Huntley Street visit their website.

Barefoot Camping # 5 - Reading

Admin — Tue, 08 Sep 2009 03:58:00 +0000

I am not sure what better or simpler pleasure there is in life for me, (besides being with my husband and the girls that is) than reading.

I remember my 7th grade teacher was Theresa Butler. She was the person who introduced me to John Steinbeck and Walt Whitman and poetry and The Raven and The Highwayman...

I do not in any way think of myself as a cultured reader... I rarely know as much as the average person about literature but I have, since a very young age, loved words and story and looking into another person’s soul through their words . So for me.... hours of sitting in a rickety beach chair with my bare feet in the sand reading, reading and reading... pausing sometimes to help build a sandcastle or eat an ice cream cone.

People.

This is living.

So it is time now to unpack all the clothes and chairs and books from camping.

It is rather sad to take it all apart remember all the good moments, safely placed in our memories... I hope that my life ( and maybe yours:-) looks a little more camping every day...

Simplicity .... to focus on living with less rather than more
Patience... to carry us through our struggles
Walking.... to fill our lungs with air and our minds with Peace
Listening... to build relationships and perspective with those around us
Reading..... to quiet our minds and see the world from someone else’s point of view.

Blessings and Love.... good-bye campfire... till next year.