Monday, April 4, 2016
"The Great Adventure" by Steven Curtis Chapman
Have you ever had an everyday moment where the many memories
just come flowing in like a flood? I just had that moment this morning. I was
driving to school with my kids and oddly enough they were getting along and not
yelling, whining and screaming like usual. I was listening to KSBJ (Houston’s Christian
Radio) as I do each morning during our commute. As the DJs began talking about
the morning show they said they had a special guest, Steven Curtis Chapman. I
immediately turned the radio up as he was a true music hero and inspiration to
me.
I kept listening through dropping off Luke at the daycare
and eventually got to my office and logged onto www.ksbj.com
so I could continue to hear this 2 hour morning show. As the songs came rolling
in and the music continued to play I just sat there at my desk thinking of my
teenage years and how these songs and their lyrics literally changed my life. All of the sudden the many tasks I needed to do before the students arrived didn't matter. The lyrics and songs swept me away. I was reliving memories and saying prayers to my Lord and Savior.
I was somewhat of an outcast in my younger and teenage years
especially. I was somewhat of a loaner and always felt better by myself. I
remember I would carry a Walkman with me and it ALWAYS had a Steven Curtis
Chapman CD in it. Albums like “More to this Life” and “For the Sake of the Call”
were some of my all-time favorites. I remember going to youth camp and taking
that Walkman with me wherever I went and I would listen to these songs to and
from the dormitories to the chapel. In fact, often times I would sing these songs
as specials and solos in my Dad’s church.
When the album “The Great Adventure” came out the theme song “The
Great Adventure” (Saddle up your horses) was a huge hit and was on the radio
often. Of course, I was late to that party and didn’t get that album until many
years later but once again I was listening to the CD almost daily I’m sure. It
was another song I sang in church and a song I thoroughly enjoyed.
I remember a summer Allison and I traveled to Wichita, KS to
be with our grandparents for a week as we traditionally did in the summers. We
went to my Grandma Pat and Grandpa’s house in Derby, KS and I was an attitude
filled teenage (probably 13-14 at the time) who was bored with their “rabbit
ear” TV selections and boredom had set in after a few days. Grandma and Grandpa
raised four boys but it seemed like (at the time) anytime I went to visit them they
had nothing or very little to do. I
remember sitting in the basement with my Walkman on singing the words to “The
Great Adventure” while Grandpa watched the news and sports on the TV. All of the sudden he turned
off the TV and came over and asked me what I was listening to. Again, I was an
attitude filled teenager and never in my wildest dreams would I have expected my
Grandpa to say “Oh I know that song”. But he did and he knew this song
and many other Steven Curtis Chapman songs I listened to. All of the sudden we
had a bond (one of many we shared through our years together).
The rest of that day Grandpa and I spent talking about the
lyrics of these songs but I will never forget what Grandpa said about the words
to “The Great Adventure”. He said “Kellie, you have a great adventure ahead of
you. You’ve got a trail to blaze. There will be times where you will struggle
and go through valleys but you will also see the very highest of mountains. Follow
your leader. Do you know who your leader is?” I do not remember what I said
after that but I will never forget him reliving those lyrics with me in the
basement of their house. He told me stories of his "Great Adventure" and his trials and tribulations.
The next summer when Allison and I came to visit our
grandparents in Wichita, KS I sang “The Great Adventure” at both my Grandma
Juanita’s church at my Grandma Pat and Grandpa’s church. I sang the song at Pleasantview Baptist Church in Derby as my Grandma Pat and Grandpa watched from the congregation,
I saw Grandpa mouthing the lyrics and smiling at me and pointing up to Jesus. “Follow
Your Leader Kellie. This is the Great Adventure”. Thank you Grandpa for that
life lesson!
The words of this song spoke to me then and are speaking to
me now. I have no idea why this radio morning show spoke to me so much today but it
did and I know that even now I need to “Follow my leader”. I am on a Great
Adventure and I do not know where this journey will take me but I am ready to
follow Him to the glorious unknown.
The Great Adventure
Saddle up your horses
Started out this morning
In the usual way
Chasing thoughts inside my head
Of all I had to do today
Another time around the circle
Try to make it better than the last
I opened up the Bible
And I read about me
Said, I'd been a prisoner
And God's grace had set me free
And somewhere between
the pages
It hit me like a lightning bolt
I saw a big frontier in front of me
And I heard somebody say, "Let's go"
Saddle up your horses
We've got a trail to blaze
Through the wild blue yonder
Of God's amazing grace
Let's follow our Leader
Into the glorious unknown
This is a life like no other
This is the great adventure, yeah
Come on get ready
For the ride of your life
Gonna leave long faced religion
In a cloud of dust behind
And discover all the new horizons
Just waiting to be explored
This is what we were created for, yeah
Saddle up your horses
We've got a trail to blaze
Through the wild blue yonder
Of God's amazing grace
Let's follow our Leader
Into the glorious unknown
This is a life like no other
This is the great adventure
We'll travel over, over
mountains so high
We'll go through valleys below
Still through it all, we'll find that
This is the greatest journey
That the human heart will ever see
The love of God will
take us far
Beyond my wildest dreams, yeah
Oh, saddle up your horses
Come on, get ready to ride
Saddle up your horses
We've got a trail to blaze
Through the wild blue yonder
Of God's amazing grace
Let's follow our Leader
Into the glorious unknown
This is a life like no other
This is the great adventure
Come on, this is the
great adventure
Saddle up, saddle up your horses
We've got a trail to blaze
Through God's amazing grace
I spent the rest of
my morning and the majority of my day listening to other songs by Steven Curtis
Chapman and reliving my younger days and thinking of the many memories I have
created through these songs and the lyrics they provide. Thank you Steven
Curtis Chapman for these beautiful songs and lyrics. They have truly changed my
life.
God is good… All the time!
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