Thursday, October 17, 2013

Come Dance With Me... Wedding Song #3

Photo Credit: Chris Cozzone

Well, it's about time to get back to my "wedding Playlist" blogs and I'm only on song #3 because life's been crazy lately with so much travel. I'm on the plane right now, headed home from Chicago to San Francisco after an amazing weekend with family and friends; cheering Emily on as she completed her very first (of many) marathon(s).
Emily: Chicago Marathon 2013
I cannot continue without saying "CONGRATULATIONS" to Emily for not only finishing the Chicago Marathon with an awesome time, but also beating her dad's time by 10 minutes... GO EMILY!


So back to Nicholas and Berenice's wedding and the song that really got the party started... "Come Dance With Me," recorded by Michael Buble.
Photo Credit: Chris Cozzone
It was the perfect song (in my opinion) because it was an American song with a Latin flair and boy, did it ever get everyone out on the dance floor! I could tell immediately that we not only had a great party going but also that we had a "dancing crowd" in our midst. Even our DJ, Brian, mentioned to me in an email a week later that he had just DJ'd at a Wente Vineyards wedding and while it was a "great time", it "wasn't the Ackerman wedding!" What a wonderful compliment!


I don't think anyone could resist crowding onto the dance floor and moving to this song.
Photo Credit: Chris Cozzone
The Latin beat, the lyric, and the compelling music were just perfect and I'll never forget it. I was grabbing those "lingering guests" who were reluctant to dance and pulling them out onto the dance floor to dance with me and to be honest, I believe that this was one of many highlights of the California wedding for me.
Photo Credit: Nancy Pascutoi
 


Below is a link to the song on YouTube as performed by Michael Buble. Enjoy listening to "Come Dance With Me." Dance right where you are as you listen...and anytime the spirit moves you, come find me because I'm ALWAYS up for a good dance party! 


(By the way, I didn't know what the word "Terpischore" meant so I (of course) googled it and this is what I found... "In Greek mythology, Terpsichore "delight in dancing" was one of the nine Muses, ruling over dance and the dramatic chorus." Pretty cool, eh? And now that I know the meaning of that word, I do believe my favorite line in the song has to be:
"Hey there, cutes, put on your dancing boots and come dance with me!
Come dance with me, what an evening for some Terpsichore:"

Dance on, my family and friends...

Monday, September 16, 2013

One Voice...

I've had many people over the years ask me where I got the idea to title my blog "One Voice" so I decided to blog about it! It all happened while I was in London's Hyde Park, attending the final evening of Proms in the Park where the headliner was none other than Barry Manilow.

Having been a life-long fan of Barry's, I was thrilled that my trip to Bosnia coincided with Barry's show at the Proms. I had already begun writing blog posts, though they had yet to be posted on my blog since I hadn't actually set one up yet. You see, I didn't have a name for it, and what's a blog without a name?

So there I stood in Hyde Park that night with 5,000 other folks, listening to Barry as he sang his encore entitled "One Voice." Though I'd heard the title track from the album, released in 1979 hundreds of times and knew the lyric and harmonies by heart, I had never HEARD it quite like I did on that evening. As he sang the words, "...all it takes is ONE VOICE... If only One Voice would start it on its own we need just One Voice facing the unknown, and then that One Voice would never be alone it takes that One Voice..." it hit me like a ton of bricks! That was it... that was my blog title... ONE VOICE!!! 

But for me, it wasn't going to be "One Voice singing..." but rather it was going to be My "One Voice SPEAKING". Yes. God had blessed me with the gift of writing and He wanted me to used that gift to reach others. He had given me a Voice and I had the honor and privilege of using it to reach out to people in ways I never even imagined. It started with my Bosnia blog, which followed my travels to meet with women who had lived through the unimaginable.... they had survived a war. They received funds from World Vision's Micro Finance Organization called Vision Fund and were now financially independent women. They very quickly became my heroes and my inspiration.

I was also privileged to use my One Voice to document Christopher's accident and recovery from a Severe Traumatic Brain Injury during the Spring of 2010, then also MY brush with death when I suffered a Pulmonary Embolism just seven months later, including  the ensuing sleeplessness, PTSD and depression from all that I had experienced in just a little more than a year. I have been urged by many to turn my blog, especially the posts about Christopher's Brain Injury into a memoir and I just think I might do that. His is a success story... a miracle story and one that perhaps needs to be told to a larger audience than I have here on my blog. But I'm working on that one. Stay tuned...

Below is the link to a video of Barry Manilow way back when, rehearsing and then performing "One Voice" and I just love his description of the song and how it came to be. Even if you're not a Manilow fan, the video is worth the look, so take a few minutes and watch it... I think you'll enjoy it and perhaps it will help you understand why I chose One Voice for the title of my blog. Cheers!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lQrcI1ZcK7M

Friday, September 13, 2013

Mujer Divina... Wedding song no. 2


Wedding song number two just HAD to be the song that Berenice and Nicholas used for their first dance at both the California and the Mexico weddings. It is a beautiful love song and I’m so glad to have been introduced to it!
I asked Emily to do a rough translation of the lyric and so we have her to thank for being able to understand the sentiment of the song.
I’m including several things in this blog post. The first is the link to Bere and Nick dancing to this song in Mexico.
The video ends suddenly because Nick and Bere came over to her father, Rahpael and I, and brought us out onto the dance floor to dance with them. I will never forget those dances with my boy, Nicholas! Below the You tube link is the lyric to the song; first in Spanish because it is so beautiful in that language, and then translated into English. I believe that my favorite line of this song is as follows:

"You have made me walk, go over distances. I can breathe you, feed my love. Also, you make me cry; my tears of honey, woman..."


Mujer Divina
Mujer, mujer divina
Tienes el veneno que fascina en tu mirar
Mujer que no se olvida,
Tienes vibración de sonatina pasional
Tienes el perfume de un naranjo en flor,
El altivo porte de una majestad
Sabes de los filtros que hay en el amor,
Tienes el hechizo de la liviandad
La divina magia de un atardecer,
O la maravilla de la inspiración
Tienes en el brillo de tu ser
Todo el palpitar de una canción
Y eres la razón de mí existir, mujer
Tienes en el ritmo de tu ser
Todo el palpitar de una canción
Eres la razón de mí existir, mujer
Tú me haces caminar, distancias recorrer
Te puedo respirar, alimentas mi querer
También me haces llorar, mis lágrimas de miel, mujer.

Mujer Divina (translation)
Woman, divine woman,
You have venom in your looks that fascinate me.
Woman that is not forgotten,
You have vibrations of a passionate sonata.
You have the perfume of a flowering orange,
The haughty bearing of majesty.
You know of the blocks that are a part of love,
You have the enchantment of lightness.
The divine magic of dusk,
Or the marvel of inspiration.
You shine the way you are,
The throb of a song,
And you are the reason for my existence, woman.
You have the rhythm of being,
The throb of a song,
You are the reason for my existence, woman.
You have made me walk, go over distances,
I can breathe you, feed my love.
Also, you make me cry; my tears of honey, woman.


Wednesday, September 11, 2013

Golden...

I've had a lot of family and friends ask me about various songs from Nick and Bere's California wedding so I thought I'd post several songs that were played throughout the evening over the next several weeks here on my blog. Here's one of my favorites and it has such a perfect lyric for a newly married couple. Aw heck... it's perfect for any couple! The song is the title track from Lady Antebellum's latest album called "Golden" and my favorite lyric from this song is:

'Cause you are golden, lovely
Oh so hard to find.
Yeah you are goodness, forgiveness
Of the purest kind..."

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G1mmxJQhCQc

Monday, September 9, 2013

We are now a family of SIX...

The journey of child-rearing is one for which I have been blessed three-fold.
Nicholas at age three in 1989
First Nicholas was born in 1986, then Emily came along eight years later in 1993.
Emily, four years old in 1997
Christopher was born in 1996, almost three years after Emily.
Christopher at eighteen months in 1997
I have had the joy and privilege of being a stay-at-home mother and I can honestly say that raising my children has been the most fulfilling thing I have ever done. I have loved every moment of it. I remember when they were babies saying that I never wanted them to become toddlers. Then at the toddler stage, I didn't want them to become pre-schoolers and so on. Each and every stage just got better and better as they grew from tiny, fully DEPENDENT infants into beautiful, fully INDEPENDENT young men and woman.
Nicholas & Christopher before the California wedding, August 18, 2013


Emily & Nicholas before the Mexico wedding, August 24, 2013, photo credit: Roby Fisk

Christopher & Emily before the Mexico wedding, August 24, 2013, photo credit: Roby Fisk
But I have to say that these current years are the BEST!!! I love interacting with my "children" as adults and the conversations that we have are so full of life, energy and the quest to learn, grow and accumulate knowledge and life-experience.

However, I always knew that my goal was to raise my children to leave. That might sound strange, but I believe that God entrusted me with these tiny beings for the sole purpose of teaching them to be fully independent and functional adults who spend their lives contributing meaningfully to this world in which we live. I can only pray that I have succeeded in reaching this goal. 



Berenice & Nicholas in the Wente Vineyards Barrel Room, August 18, 2013, Photo credit: Chris Cozzone
Last month, my firstborn, Nicholas married his best friend, Berenice Rosales, and I couldn't be any happier! They married at Wente Vineyards in Livermore, CA on August 18th and then again in Huamantla, Tlaxcala, Mexico on August 24th.
Berenice & Nicholas at the end of the evening of their wedding in Mexico; fireworks and all! Aug. 24, 2013, photo credit: Ricardo Bandala
Both weddings were unique and magical. I will never forget either one of them and the lovely mix of family and friends. I can't even say that I liked one better than the other... they were each special in their own way. During the planning of the California wedding, I remember wondering how I would feel on their wedding day. I've heard of mothers being sad because they're "losing" their child (especially their firstborn) so I wondered if I would experience this sadness. But alas, I woke up that morning feeling exhilarated! Wasn't this what I raised him to do? To become an independent adult who falls in love and marries his best friend? And the double blessing was that I would be gaining a daughter that day... a beautiful young woman, inside and out who loves my son so much that she wants to spend the rest of her life with him. Could life get any better than this? I LOVE my new daughter!!!
A lovely moment during the California wedding, August 18, 2013, Photo credit: Chris Cozzone
 


And so now we have gone from a family of five to a family of six and I couldn't be any more grateful to God for this blessing! I can't wait to see Bere and Nick again and to continue to be a part of their lives, supporting and encouraging them as they navigate this thing called "marriage." I do believe they're off to a great start and I wish them a life filled with love, adventure, fun and growth!
Our family of SIX!!! Photo Credit: Chris Cozzone

Friday, September 6, 2013

Show Me...

No matter how often, and when or why I listen to the song "Show Me" by Audrey Assad, I am moved. This song reaches something deep inside of me. It reaches the "honest" me... the one who is not only honest with others but who is honest with myself. I am reminded that while making my way through the complexities of life, no matter how I feel... whether I want to be left to cry, to lie, to "be" or to rest in Christ, I have that freedom and God is always there for me... no strings attached. 

I decided to make this slideshow to go along with the beautiful song written by Audrey Assad & Sarah Hart. Below is the lyric and the link to the video. May the Lord bless you, your families and your friends.

You could plant me like a tree beside a river
You could tangle me in soil and let my roots run wild
And I would blossom like a flower in the desert
But for now just let me cry.

You could raise me like a banner in a battle
Put victory like a fire behind my shining eyes
And I would drift like falling snow over the embers
But for now just let me lie.

Bind up these broken bones
Mercy bend and breathe me back to life
But not before You show me how to die.

Set me like a star before the morning
Like a song that steals the darkness from a world asleep
And I'll illuminate the path You've laid before me
But for now just let me be.

Bind up these broken bones
Mercy bend and breathe me back to life
But not before You show me how to die
Oh, not before You show me how to die.

So let me go like a leaf upon the water
Let me brave the wild currents flowing to the sea
And I will disappear into a deeper beauty
But for now just stay with me
God, for now just stay with me



Saturday, April 13, 2013

Don't Try So Hard


Where to begin? I guess I'll begin where I started... this morning at the Minneapolis/St. Paul Airport while waiting for my flight to leave. This past week was spent moving my parents from Oklahoma into their new apartment in a Retirement Community in Minnesota and it's been an AWESOME week! Who would've thought that unpacking 190 boxes in 5 days would make for an awesome week? But just being with my parents, my brother Ken, his wife Lisa and their two grown daughters, Sara and Stephie has truly been a blessing for me. It's been a week full of work, laughter, decision-making, difficult conversations but mostly, love. 

As most of you know, the past three years have been challenging for me, beginning with my trip to Bosnia, then Christopher's Brain Injury, my Pulmonary Embolism, 17 months of sleeplessness, all culminating in Major Severe Depression. But I've come so far in the past year and for that, I am most grateful! As I was saying to my mom one day last week, a year ago, I wouldn't have had it in me to travel to Minnesota and spend a week working like a dog. But I did it! And now that I am on the other side of that challenging journey, I am beginning to find myself standing back and looking at all that I have learned through the trauma and trials I experienced. What a wonderful thing that is to be able to do! 

It's amazing what can be learned from pain. It's not as though that's a new concept... we all know that good things don't come easy, but WOW... things are beginning to fall into place and I find myself opening up and sharing my journey with others more and more these days. And guess what? It's not just me! We all have our struggles, challenges, ghosts in the closet and elephants in the room. Yet it's so easy to feel as though we are alone in our journey. I know that's how I felt many times. But it's simply not true! 

Amy Grant teamed up with James Taylor and recently released the first single from Amy's upcoming album, How Mercy Looks From Here. As I listened to it for the first time this morning with tears streaming down my face (yes, at the airport, while sitting at the gate), I just couldn't believe how the lyric to this beautiful song resonated with me. I know that is what Amy's goal was in writing this song, and boy, did she ever succeed! This particular line is the one that really got to me... "You're lovely even with your scars; lovely the way you are; so open up your lovely heart and don't try so hard." And isn't that exactly what we do? We try and try and try to find love, to be loved and accepted, to be who we think everyone wants us to be. But the reality is that we are lovely just the way we are; scars and all. 

Here is the link to the video of the song and below the link is the lyric. Try to wrap your arms around this concept and embrace it; make it your daily mantra and live your life to the fullest, knowing that you are lovely as you are and that you don't need to try so hard!

Amy Grant w/James Taylor
Don't Try So Hard from the album, How Mercy Looks From Here

"Another Monday comes and I just wanna breathe, 'cause it's a long, long week for someone wired to please. I keep taking my aim, pushing it higher; wanna shine bright, even brighter now. Wish I could tell myself...

Don't try so hard, God gives you grace and you can't earn it. Don't think that you're not worth it because you are. He gave you His love and He's not leaving. Gave you His Son so you'd believe it. You're lovely even with your scars; don't try so hard.

Do you remember how the summers felt when we were kids? Ah, we didn't think much about it, we just lived; taking our time, beautiful leisure. When did we start, trying to measure up when all of this time, love has been trying to tell us...

Don't try so hard, God gives you grace, you can't earn it; stop thinking you're not worth it, because you are, He gave you His love and He's not leaving. Gave you His Son so you'd believe it. YOU'RE LOVELY EVEN WITH YOUR SCARS; LOVELY THE WAY YOU ARE; SO OPEN UP YOUR LOVELY HEART AND DON'T TRY SO HARD."


Friday, February 22, 2013

Memoir...


Lately I’ve been thinking of turning my blog about Christopher’s accident and Brain Injury into a Memoir and joined a Teleseminar via NAMW (National Association of Memoir Writers) this morning. My head was spinning by the end of the seminar and I found myself at my blog (leackerman.blogspot.com), reading the words I had written almost 3 years ago. As I read the entry titled, Christopher’s Rehab/Recovery 5, May 7, 2010”, I couldn’t help but laugh through my tears. Chris was only a week out of his coma and was still very confused and frustrated about all that had and was continuing to transpire. Here’s the verbal exchange that ensued that day…

Chris: "You don't love me. If you loved me you'd take me home. I HATE this hospital. I'm not hungry. I WAS going to eat at home but’ NO’… I'm not GOING home. I'm hot. This hospital is STUPID. I HATE it here. Why can't I just go home? Why doesn't this STUPID hospital just let me go home?"

Laura: "I'm tired of you calling this hospital 'stupid' because THIS hospital is the reason you're still ALIVE".

Chris: "FINE... Why doesn't THIS hospital just let me go home?"

Some of the topics that were discussed during the seminar were “Who is your audience?” and “What message do you intend to convey?” As I read the verbal exchange between Christopher and I that day (and on many other blog posts that I had written), I found myself wondering what category MY memoir would fit into. Would it be a tragedy? A success-story? A heart-breaker? An inspiration? Perhaps a mix of all; but I also think it would somehow fit into the category of comedy! Oh, how very thankful I am that we are on the other side of that mountain. Now about that Memoir…

Wednesday, February 20, 2013

Audrey Assad- Blessed Are The Ones (Live)



"So further up and further in we got nowhere else to go; but You give us seeds of toil and tears, it's beauty we will sow. Yeah blessed are the ones, oh blessed are the ones, blessed are the thirsty ones." Audrey Assad

Wednesday, February 13, 2013

This Girl


This Girl

Her life seemed so simple; she had not a care;
the world passing by, with her head in the air. 
She smiled and she laughed never shedding a tear,
no need to cry, she knew not what to fear.

Then darkness crept in voices lurking about, 
they whispered and screamed, filled her heart up with doubt. 
She'd opened herself up to evil, unknowing,
how fast it took over, the emptiness growing.

This girl had erected a wall deep and wide, 
between her and God, a created divide. 
She then turned away from the life that she knew,
as she questioned the reason for all she’d been through. 

As time carried on and her struggles increased, 
she encountered misfortune, an unwelcome beast.
She wanted to pray and to cry out to God,
but she just couldn't do it; thought she'd then be a fraud.

So she counted on family and friends far and wide, 
while the pain and the anger destroyed her inside. 
But onward she trudged with regret and great sorrow, 
and found herself dreading another tomorrow. 

Her days were like torture, her nights filled with fear,
she buried herself deep within for a year.
Withdrawing from all of the people she knew,
she kept it a secret, telling only a few. 

A voice from her past came from out of the blue
with a message of love and great hopefulness too.
Though she tried to believe all the things that he said,
the pain, fear and doubt still consumed this girl’s head.

But nothing was going to turn him away,
because God had decided that he was to stay.
At times her rejection was too much to bear,
yet he never gave up, on his knees, deep in prayer,

His faith in this God, who had died for us all,
was so powerfully strong that he could not withdraw.
The Spirit inside him continued to prod;
 believing one day she’d respond to his God.

Her struggle with God was an arduous road,
she kicked and she screamed, just increasing her load.
Refusing to listen to well-meaning friends, 
this girl was determined to not make amends.

What she didn't know was she had it all wrong, 
her quest to be free meant she had to belong. 
Not to an organized group made of man,
no, freedom for her could be found in His plan. 

God's love is so deep that it's hard to imagine, 
being fully forgiven we cannot truly fathom.
He asks us to trust in what is unseen, 
that only through Him can we find ourselves clean. 

So the day that this girl found herself at His door, 
she still had no clue of the blessings in store.
 Deciding to enter, and look toward His face,
she suddenly found herself covered by Grace.

Oh, what a glorious day when she prayed,
that He would accept her, all tattered and frayed.
She laughed and she cried for the Lord had won out,
this girl now God’s child, beyond any doubt.

God works in mysterious ways but we know,
that a deep transformation our hearts undergo.
Sometimes it takes longer for us to embrace,
the ways of our Lord, but He gives us that space.

For He knows where our hearts lie, His patience is great,
from the love of this God, nothing can separate.
Though evil continues to prowl all about,
our God is much greater, He always wins out.

This girl’s story’s not over, she’s just been forgiven,
her new life ahead, destination is heaven.
Good thing don’t come easy; just keep up the fight,
‘cause deep down she knows that things WILL be all right.

                            Written February, 2011 by LEA