What in the World Does Phil Phillips Have to Do with Marriage?

     

     Alright friends, I KNOW this is my second post about Phil Phillips within a month...

     I know...I'm a cheese ball. 

    Here's the thing, I told you all in that last post that my almost 4 year old daughter LOVES the song "Home" and that we were listening to it in the car on her way to preschool last month. Well, it's gotten to the point where she asks me to play it every time we drive to preschool. And she sings along at the top of her lungs, which just cracks me up, so I always oblige when she asks me to play it. 

     (I must confess we also love the third song on the CD, "Gone, Gone, Gone", particularly the chorus where he repetitively sings, "Like a drum baby never stop beating" and we play our air drums and sing loudly and make silly faces at each other...I can't believe I'm confessing all of this! Haha.)

      So this post is in part a proclamation to let go of the fact that you probably look ridiculous to all of those watching from their cars passing by, and you may even look ridiculous to your children. Sing at the top of your lungs and play that air guitar...at least for the next couple of years until they are old enough to realize that they are actually embarrassed by your ridiculousness. Encourage your kids to play theirs to and fill the car with coordinated craziness (hey, it's better than listening to fruitless arguments about who gets to watch what on television later!). 

     Here is my other confession...besides the fact that Ella loves to sing along I have actually grown to really love the lyrics.  I rarely listen to current pop music for many reasons, including it's complete lack of relevance to my  life and the superficiality of it all. 

      That said, don't you remember those days when you were young and free and dating? Perhaps it was your now husband or a boyfriend, but there was a song that somehow became part of the playlist of your relationship and life: An artist you both loved, a concert you saw, a CD you listened to ad nauseum during a particular season or on a trip. The music elicits emotions and the emotions connect to your reality and you briefly feel like you are on top of the world, or like everything is going to be alright after all. 

       That's what happened when I was listening to this song the other day. It made me consider my relationship with Scott, at least momentarily, on a deeper level.  It took me simultaneously to a more youthful time in our lives when we had time for silly pop love songs and then back to our day to day reality and served as reminder about the beauty of our marriage...the most important component of our "Home". 

Here are the lyrics...

Hold on, to me as we go
As we roll down this unfamiliar road
And although this wave is stringing us along
Just know you’re not alone
Cause I’m going to make this place your home

Settle down, it'll all be clear
Don't pay no mind to the demons
They fill you with fear
The trouble it might drag you down
If you get lost, you can always be found

Just know you’re not alone
Cause I’m going to make this place your home

     I promise not to get too mushy and deep here, but does parenting ever feel like that unfamiliar road to you? Like a wave dragging you along?  It does to me sometimes! There are days when I feel like it pulls us both down. Like it's dragging us along so quickly and has caused us to be so distracted that we forget what brought us to this place in the first place-- the fact that we love each other, that we want to do life together, that we wanted to encourage and uphold and support each other in all things. 

     At the end of the day "home" is much more than the physical space that we live in. It is the safety and the encouragement and the support that we create in our relationship together. By remembering to be considerate, to do something sweet for each other, by listening to each other and rooting each other on in life and work and other pursuits.  It is the safety that after 12 years together (9 married!)  I can tend to take for granted and forget to be grateful for. 

     I want to be all of those things for Scott...He is very often all of those things for me. 

     The song is a reminder that we are in this crazy thing together...That the place where we are right now, the craziness of our lives today, the details and the responsibilities we have on our plates at this very moment...we are in it together. We are home. 

     Don't you love that?! I do. 

     
     Alright, alright, I'm done with my sappy confession. I almost didn't write this post because  I was imagining you all now fully knowing what a sappy cheese ball I can be...but I decided I'm ok with that!  

    All that said, sing a song with your kids today. Listen to a new or old tune that reminds you of your hubby and why you love each other. Relish in the silliness and the beauty of it all. And if you need an excuse, you can tell yourself that I told you to do it! 


                         Cheers! 

                                  Lisa