Happy ONE MONTH anniversary, Jen and Patrick!

Oh What a NIGHT! Never have I seen my daughter, Jennifer so happy as she was on the day of her wedding. Such a beautiful wedding ceremony and reception. We had so much fun...dancing and letting our hair down.

Jennifer and Patrick came home over Memorial Weekend...and are now back in Chicago. Jennifer is getting adjusted to living in a big city, being a wife and setting up their beautiful new home. She's been painting the boring white walls in their condo...I cannot wait to go visit them so I can see what she's transformed their place into. It gives me such joy to see them finally together, where they can start their exciting new life together. Although I miss her dearly, I realize she's always just a phonecall away...makes me wonder: How can a person be so happy and so sad at the same time?

It's a slow fade

Lyrics from Casting Crowns

It’s a slow fade when you give yourself away
It’s a slow fade when black and white have turned to gray
Thoughts invade, choices are made, a price will be paid
When you give yourself away
People never crumble in a day
It’s a slow fade, it’s a slow fade

Be careful little ears what you hear
When flattery leads to compromise, the end is always near
Be careful little lips what you say
For empty words and promises lead broken hearts astray

It’s a slow fade when you give yourself away
It’s a slow fade when black and white have turned to gray
Thoughts invade, choices are made, a price will be paid
When you give yourself away
People never crumble in a day

The journey from your mind to your hands
Is shorter than you’re thinking
Be careful if you think you stand
You just might be sinking


It’s a slow fade when you give yourself away
It’s a slow fade when black and white have turned to gray
Thoughts invade, choices are made, a price will be paid
When you give yourself away
People never crumble in a day.


Wow. How true this is.

“Slow Fade” is performed by Casting Crowns. This song carries a profound message as it speaks about how it has become more and more common for Christians to become morally compromised. The lyrics have a certain level of simplicity and innocence yet they carry deep meaning, describing how small steps of compromise, though seemingly unimportant, transition into deeper and more serious sins. The lines “The journey from your mind to your hands is shorter than you’re thinking, be careful if you think you stand you just might be sinking” describe how though we may not immediately feel the effects of our wrongdoings, they add up, and before you know it, you are too engulfed in your sins to get out.


The Message

Mark Hall, the lead singer for Casting Crowns, wrote a small piece about the song and its meaning on the band’s website: ”People don’t crumble in a day. You don’t fall, you fade. In your mind, there’s that pride that says ‘I’d never do that’… but you don’t just do it, it’s a slow, series of compromises, little ones that go there eventually, until you’re sitting in a place you’d never go, doing something you’d’ never do… and yet the way you’re living totally makes sense to you somehow because you’re so numb…
This song was inspired by the spreading cancer of moral failure in the fathers of this generation. As believers, we must guard our hearts and understand that no one crashes and burns. They just slowly fade away one little compromise at a time.”

Finally…

This song is a clear reminder that as Christians we cannot let down our guard under any circumstance. There are constant and daily attempts to undermine our belief and moral standing, and we must not compromise in the least. As portrayed in the music video, even the smallest of things can start a downhill slide into committing more grievous sins. It is vital that we stand out by remaining firm in our faith and persevering through any temptation or desire to do even the smallest of wrongs.
(from interhigh.org- april 17)