Monday, March 12, 2012

Nostalgic For Christian Music

In my last post about my resolutions, I mentioned that I was finding joy from listening to christian music in my car. A couple weeks ago there was someone sharing a story about how christian music has changed her life. She said one of the hardest challenges of trying to convert to only christian music is that you miss the nostalgia that comes from listening to the secular music of your past.  I've been thinking about what she said.

Yes, I've listened to plenty of secular music in my past. I have great memories that come up when I hear certain songs too. Sure.... it's very nostalgic. That IS why it's so hard. Somedays I want to crank up the country station and remember the hot sticky summer days in Houston when I rolled all 4 windows down and blasted "I've got a feeling" and sang along at the top of lungs even if I was a red light. Or I want to listen to Lilly Allen remembering all the times me and the girls sang along to her bitter sweet music in our poor British accents.

That is a huge challenge to face.

However my parents have given me a great blessing. As a family, we listened to a lot of Christian music together. With my youth group, we listened to a lot of Christian music together. So I have many nostalgic memories with Christian music as well. I have to say- those memories are a little bit better. There are no high school crushes attached to those songs... no bitter enemies... no bad choices... just times of revelation or times of growing.... times of clean fun with my church friends.... times of being with my daddy.

I'm not one of those people that think it's a sin to listen to anything other that Christian music. I do think it's important to filter what we listen to. I haven't always thought this way.

My senior year of HS I really wanted to go to a My Chemical Romance concert. More than anything- I wanted to go. My dad pulled up their website and it didn't take long for him to realize he didn't want his baby girl listening to that trash. He told me that the words to those songs were always going to be in my head. He told me to think about what those words were saying. He told me about one of his songs from youth... it had a fun catchy tune but it was ultimately about the devil. Those words don't ever leave your head. He was right. It took me about a year and a half.... but I got to the point where I couldn't listen to that CD without feeling guilty. I threw it out.

I've just recently started trying to really filter what I listen to. It's not just about bad words- it's about content. Really... I feel a lot more happy when I listen to christian music. With all of the distractions of the world I have a hard enough time remembering to look to God. Every time I hop in my car I'm reminded.

When I have kids, I want to give them the blessing my parents gave me. Filtering their music when their young and giving them nostalgic feelings about Christian music.

Because our life should be all about God, and what a great place to start.

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