Music is the Language of the Soul

Hello Russia!  You are the third most popular country to visit my blog!

I get statistics on my blog followers.  This week we hit 5000 visits.  The stats don't tell me who you are or your email or anything like that, only what country you are from and what operating system you use.  Personally, I'm okay with whatever operating system you like. . .that's not my deal. . my son Calvin probably has stronger opinions about that.  

So--here is a list of countries that have made visits: Russia, India, UK, Australia, Germany, Montenegro, Malaysia, Vietnam, Canada, Poland, Denmark, Spain, Singapore, Latvia, Brazil, Austria, Sweden, and Macedonia.  A few of you got here by mistake, search engines do that, but some of you keep coming back.  

I sit here and think about the different cultures in Minnesota, Russia, UK, India, and Vietnam.  I wonder why folks would come back to read my random and long-winded pages.  

I think--that it is because the topics I return to cross every culture.  People everywhere love music.  People everywhere are wrestling with how to raise their kids.  People everywhere--and from every religion--have questions about their faith.  

Growing up, my pastor was very open to the toughest questions.  I appreciated that.  

The other confirmation students sat through quite a few of my musings.  My Missouri Synod Lutheran Pastor was pretty strict about his answers.  I  no longer agree with his reasons why women shouldn't be pastors and a few other things, but I learned a lot--mostly that it was okay to ask the questions.  

When I came to my mother about life issues, she always told me, "if you are feeling this way, chances are that other people are having the same feelings."   I still believe that.  

Truly, that is the whole reason I write this blog, as opposed to just keeping my thoughts in a personal journal.  I have a faith that if I'm having these feelings, these questions, chances are someone else somewhere else is having these same feelings, these same questions, and that somehow by sharing them, we validate each other.   

Here's to the questions.  Russia, if you are out there, have a nice day!