I married a music-phile.

Ask Frank about nearly any song from most genres (he’s a little shaky on the country music scene…) and he can likely give you the name of the album and the year it was released and when it hit its peak.

It’s pretty much amazing.

He plays a game at bars with friends where they all put a dollar in the center of the table and when the next song plays, the first person to correctly name the artist and song, slaps their hands on the pile of singles and wins it.

I would never play this game with him because I know better.

When Frank is home, music is playing in all of the rooms of the house.

He loves Dispatch and OAR and U2 and Smashing Pumpkins and Owl City.

He loves music that he can listen to sitting on a patio at a bar or restaurant, leaning back in his chair and enjoying a beer.

Because of Frank, music has become the soundtrack of our lives.

When we started dating in 2002, John Mayer songs bring me back to that post-college summer that we enjoyed together.

It was the summer that Frank worked 12-14 hour days and sent me sweet texts between shifts flying traffic observation.

It was the summer that we went for walks, saw Mike & Joe at several venues, and I burned a few dinners trying to impress him.

And there are songs that bring me back to the summer of our engagement in 2003 – a summer that alternately went by so quickly and so slowly.  If you look back at the summer of 2003, most of my posts were just marking time until our wedding.  I couldn’t wait to be married to Frank!   I think of OAR’s “Crazy Game of Poker” and Zwan’s “Honestly” when I think of that summer.

This past summer was a challenge for us, but was so sweet at the same time.

Frank was flying, I was at a job by the end of the summer that I loved, and we were both working on our running.  We would sit in the screened-in porch, eating dinner and watching the sun set over the field behind our house.  It was so blissful for us.

Frank introduced me to a song over the summer that makes me think of peaceful summer nights and God’s abundant grace.  I’ve been thinking about this song a lot lately – partly because I miss the summer and mostly because I have been reminded so much of all of the ways that God has blessed us – both big and small.

The song is by Dispatch and it’s called “The General.”

there was a decorated general with
a heart of gold, that likened him to
all the stories he told
of past battles, won and lost, and
legends of old a seasoned veteran in
his own time

on the battlefield, he gained
respectful fame with many medals
of bravery and stripes to his name
he grew a beard as soon as he could
to cover the scars on his face
and always urged his men on

but on the eve of a great battle
with the infantry in dream
the old general tossed in his sleep
And wrestled with its meaning
he awoke from the night
to tell what he had seen
and walked slowly out of his tent

all the men held tall with their
chests in the air, with the courage in
their blood and a fire in their stare
it was a gray morning and they all
wondered how they would fare
till the old general told them to go home

[CHORUS:]
He said:
I have seen the others
and I have discovered
that this fight is not worth fighting
I have seen their mothers
and I will no other
to follow me where I’m going

So,take a shower, shine your shoes
you got no time to lose
you are young men you must be living

Take a shower, shine your shoes
you got no time to lose
you are young men you must be living
go now you are forgiven