Funeral Songs

I know. You think I'm a freak for thinking of such things. But I don't see it as morbid... I see it as hopeful!

A year or so ago, I knew that Kristi and I would be lifelong friends when I heard her say, "I want this song in my funeral. Don't forget." Whoa! Someone else thinks about stuff like this too! And even better... it was a song on MY list of funeral songs that she was talking about. It's energetic, fun to sing, and uplifting. We sang it last night at a devo here at my house... goes like this:

Well, if you're missin' me singin' down here
And you can't find me nowhere nowhere,
Just come on up to bright glory,
And I'll be singin'/laughin'/scrappin'/prayin'/etc up there....

Also on my list is John Lennon's "In This Life", followed immediately by "If We Never Meet Again This Side of Heaven." I want Selah's version of the medley played. The CD (Press On) is in the champagne crate in my Family Room.

There are places I'll remember
All my life though some have changed
Some forever not for better
Some have gone and some remain
All these places have their moments
With lovers and friends I still can recall
Some are dead and some are living
In my life I've loved them all

But of all these friends and lovers
There is no one compares with you
And these memories lose their meaning
When I think of love as something new
Though I know I'll never lose affection
For people and things that went before
I know I'll often stop and think about them
In my life I love you more

Soon we'll come to the end of life's journey
And perhaps we'll never meet anymore
Till we gather in heaven's bright city
Far away on that beautiful shore

If we never meet again this side of heaven
As we struggle through this world and its strife
There's another meeting place somewhere in heaven
By the beautiful river of life

Where the charming roses bloom forever
And separations come no more
If we never meet again this side of heaven
I will meet you on that beautiful shore

The next one is completely unfuneral-like, but I want it anyway.
Something Worth Leaving Behind by LeeAnn Womack:

Hey Mona Lisa, who was Leonardo?
Was he Andy Warhol?
You were Marilyn Monroe
Hey Mozart, what kind of name is Amadeus
It's kinda like Elvis
You gotta die to be famous
I may not go down in history
I just want someone to remember me

I'll probably never hold a brush
that paints a masterpeice
Probably never find a pen
that writes a symphony
But if I will love then I will find
That I have touched another life
And that's something
Something worth leaving behind

Hey Midas you say you have the magic touch
That even all that shiny stuff
Someday is gonna turn to dust
Hey Jesus it must have been some Sunday morning
In a blaze of glory
We're still tellin' your story
I may not go down in history
I just want someone to remember me

I'll probably never dream a dream
and watch it turn to gold
No, I'll never lose my life
to save another soul
If I will love then I will find
That I have touched another life
And that's something
Something worth leaving behind

Hey baby see the future that we?re building
Our love lives on in the lives of our children
And that?s something
Something worth leaving behind

Lastly, I want this one played. It marked a turning point in my life, and its message is beautiful:

Bound to Come Some Trouble by Rich Mullins
There's bound to come some trouble to your life
But that ain't nothing to be afraid of
There's bound to come some trouble to your life
But that ain't no reason to fear
I know there's bound to come some trouble to your life
But reach out to Jesus, hold on tight
He's been there before and He knows what it's like
You'll find He's there

There's bound to come some tears up in your eyes
That ain't nothing to be ashamed of
I know there's bound to come some tears up in your eyes
That ain't no reason to fear
I know there's bound to come some tears up in your eyes
Reach out to Jesus, hold on tight
He's been there before and He knows what it's like
You'll find He's there

Now, People say maybe things will get better
People say maybe it won't be long
And people say maybe you'll wake up tomorrow
And it'll all be gone
Well I only know that maybes just ain't enough
When you need something to hold on
There's only one thing that's clear

I know there's bound to come some trouble to your life
But that ain't nothing to be afraid of
I know there's bound to come some tears up in your eyes
That ain't no reason to fear
I know there's bound to come some trouble to your life
Reach out to Jesus, hold on tight
He's been there before and He knows what it's like
You'll find He's there

Then, I want y'all to wipe away your tears and PARTY!! Eat lots of Mexican Food. Play lots of music. Look at my scrapbooks and thank God for the awesome life I had.

Are you completely freaking out now? I am too, sorta. Last night, I had this dream. My house burned down. Darren and I couldn't get out of our bedroom - had to jump from the windows. Then we had to climb up to the kids' windows, break through them, and rescue them. When we broke the windows, the kids freaked out and ran into the hallway, toward the fire. It was chaos. I'm sure I was huffing and puffing and crying in my sleep.

Once the kids were safe (watching from the street), I went inside to retrieve Vaune's (one of my clients) photos. I crawled through the front room, into the family room, and saw that my whole scraproom was engulfed in flames. At that moment, I understood why we couldn't get out of our bedroom... it sits directly above my scraproom. I don't know what happened after that, 'cause Aidan came into my room, said he'd had a bad dream, and I cuddled with him until he fell back asleep. After that, I couldn't fall back asleep myself. I tried to figure out why I had dreamed such a thing. During the devo, when we sang "If You're Missin' Me", Kristi again mentioned, "I want this song in my funeral. Don't forget." And then an hour or so later, as she and Cara were in my scraproom cutting Sizzix letters, we smelled a burning smell. We checked the stove, the water heater, and finally decided it must be a smell coming through the vent. I'm sure those two things combined to form the dream I had.

So yah. It's sorta freaky. But it didn't prompt me to think about my funeral. I've been thinkin' about that for years. Call off the men in white coats. I promise, I'm FINE. LOL!