Real life Advent encouragement for families with FREE lead sheets to download

Just looking for Lead sheets? SCROLL DOWN for the PDFs of our Christmas tunes and listen to our Christmas EP titled “Joy”.

We have been a big old mess this Advent season. Anyone else? It seems like we are waiting on a lot of things. Our family and marriage is a bit worn down over it all. We are reminded that this season isn’t just about remembering the birth of Christ, its also a time to remember his return and celebrate that God’s story isn’t over yet! And what better time to remember that we need the return of Christ but admit the hustle and bustles of the craziest time of year?

As we wade through the hustle and the bustle we’ve realized the importance of tuning our hearts back to the truth. That Christ has come and that Christ will come again! Our Advent traditions have been a fight this year to make it happen, but it has been worth it and I’m just here to encourage you that it doesn’t have to look perfect to benefit the spiritual growth of your family. That Picture above? Truth be told that was from two years ago. We haven’t even gotten a chance to our yearly snow village this year and THIS is actually what our table looks like:

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On Waiting

A little over a year later we’re still diligently working away on our album. Man did we think we’d be done by now. However the Lord has been teaching us over and over about his faithfulness and his perfect timing. Teaching us to lean in and trust in his ways, giving us faith to persevere.

Its been a little like that project that you think is just gonna last a morning but it takes 5 more trips to the hardware store than you think and it took relearning or reteaching yourself something you thought you knew which inevitably caused you to re-do some things that you thought would work.

Have you ever been there?

Thinking it was almost done…working hard…waiting…re-doing…re-tweaking. Over and over?

Man is that an exhausting place to be.

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Spring 2017 Update

Life has been humming along. Some of it quickly, some of it slowly. All of it BUSY. It’s been a while since we’ve blogged or updated so we wanted to give you an update on all things Musical and Murphy-ish. Consider this the Christmas letter that we never sent you, may it bring you joy, love and stress as you experience our life like we do. If it takes you two weeks to finish reading, that’s okay we’re apparently not in a hurry.

2017 started off with a lot of traveling. Good thing God provided a way for us to upgrade to a minivan! We got to lead worship at two conferences early on this year. One with kids in tow for MCO (Medical Campus Outreach) in Savannah. Another conference was sans children (thank goodness), to a little conference held mostly for pastors and youth staff called Crieff held in Flat Rock, NC. We also led worship for the missions conference at First Pres. here in Augusta, which included lots of fun new sounds. Allie got a chance to tour the Canadian side of Niagara Falls on a girls weekend, and then we all turned around on spring break for a family vacation and visited Lake Lure, NC with some close friends. As fun as that all was, we are home bound now through the summer which is helpful and much more restful.

Mike has continued to pursue and be diligent to his seminary classes as he takes Hebrew 2 and Systematic Theology 2 at the same time this semester. YIKES. He has also continued to bring his best to his job, developing new sounds and songs for Sunday evening and morning services. He has continued to develop our budding little gospel choir, adapt organ and guitar arrangements to spice up a few more modern songs into our Sunday morning services, and continues to bring out exciting new stuff like the hammered dulcimer on Easter Sunday. He also has met weekly with our recording engineer to produce our album during the mixing process. Mike Murphy just does not stop. Seriously. There is literally not enough of him to go around (if someone could figure out how to clone him please that would be awesome…k?).

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What it truthfully feels like to record an album.

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In short recording an album is the most exposing process a musician could go through.

Standing in front of an expensive microphone that will reveal your best and worst qualities is a frightening process. And recording with the intent of a finished product is nothing but nerve wreaking. Knowing that what you lay down will be what you hear of yourself forever is enough to stress anyone out.

And what I initially thought would be a process of sounding the best we could. I now know it is a process of learning to be happy with our own imperfections.

“But he said to me, ‘My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.’ Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may rest on me.” 2 Corinthians 12:9

And yet those weaknesses revealed in the exposed nature of recording one’s self is the beauty of the process. Because without those weaknesses one wouldn’t have a song to sing about. In full strength one doesn’t have need of a savior to lift up in praise. And one would be left to surmise that one’s own glory is the true necessity to recording an album, or doing anything great for that matter.

But this is simply not the case.

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Guitar and Organ | The Wonderful Cross

Mike has been slowly growing a little library of sorts of some songs that work well to pair guitar and organ together. This past week we did The Wonderful Cross (a Chris Tomlin chorus added to When I survey the  Wondrous Cross). Basically the Organ added some nice synth/swell sounds and it was a really nice effect. We have been so grateful for our congregation who has met Mike and Jon Wilson’s mesh ups with much appreciation. Mostly their reaction is not one of “What you messed with tradition?!” but rather one of thankfulness. I’m thinking that probably says something about the need for this kind of guitar/organ woven beauty as we move forward to bringing young and old, traditionalists and modernists together into our worship services. There is still room for both modern worshippers and classical/tradition leaders to shine at our church and for that I am grateful, but also so thankful that each can lay aside their preferences and work together to make something new and fresh. Here’s to Musical Breadth!

Starting at 26:20 you can hear his rendition. Message us or comment below if you would like the chart or any notes about what they did.