I cannot imagine my life without music.

God has been gracious to fill my life and world with music since I was a child.  My grandfather was a gifted pianist, trumpeteer, and singer.  My mother was a great choir director and accompanist, and I learned to appreciate many types of music sitting in front of the record player in my childhood home.

I honestly love so many types of music that it’s somewhat of an obsession with me.  When I bought my first CD player with money from graduating from high school, I began to spend a large part of my income on music.  I have thousands of cd’s in my closet now.

They don’t get played with much anymore, since now I have iTunes and several iPods, all filled with lots of different types of music.  Christmas, bluegrass, alternative, country, rock and roll, oldies, electronica, swing, jazz–pretty much every style of music has a home in my collection of 38,300 songs–or 93 days’ worth of music.

Yep, I love music.  And I’m so thankful God created it, gave me the ability to create it, and the spirit to appreciate so many different kinds.

Here are a few of my favorite songs or pieces of music.

Astronauts by The Cranes (Alternative)

Pop’s Hoedown by Billy Hill and the Hillbillies (Bluegrass)

Unpack Your Adjectives by Blossom Dearie (Children’s)

Mercy Said No by Greg Long (Christian)

My Sweetheart’s Like Venus by The Cambridge Singers (Classical Choral)

Prelude to “Holberg Suite” by The Academy of St. Martin-in-the-Fields (Classical)

El Paso by Marty Robbins (Country Western)

There’s a few.  I’m thankful for so much more, and am grateful for a God that has gifted so many people to create so many styles and sounds for me to enjoy.