Mother's Day

A Celebration Brunch in honor of the wonderful women who are our mothers!

And the concert that followed...

The Night Before Christmas

Music is one of the things our family enjoys together...especially this time of year with all the unique and beautiful music.

This year, our trio was expanded to a quintet since Charlie joined us with his oboe and Ben with his violin.

Christmas is no longer a time to get things in our family.  But we can't bear not to give good things to each other, so we still open presents Christmas Eve.  None of us can wait for everyone else to open their gifts.  There have been secrets circulating through the house for weeks and the best part for me is the surprise on the receiver's face when they see the way you have worked to bless them. 

A Musical Evening

All four boys are in our local youth orchestra this year.  Last night they performed  at a gala celebrating SEMYO's 30th anniversary.  Sam played Viola in the Chamber Strings group, Ben and Garrison played violin and cello respectively in the Philharmonic Orchestra, and Charlie played oboe in the Concert Orchestra.

Behold, I tell you a mystery…!

Easter Morning

We woke early at about 5:30am in order to finish chores before playing at church. Mama prepared coffee and warmed muffins Emily had made the night before.

Blueberry muffins...!
We enjoyed our breakfast in dim light and listened to the words of Handel’s Messiah…


CHORUS Lift up your heads, O ye gates, and be lifted up, ye everlasting doors, and the King of Glory shall come in. Who is the King of Glory? The Lord strong and mighty, the Lord mighty in battle. Lift up your heads, O ye gates, and be lifted up, ye everlasting doors, and the King of Glory shall come in. Who is the King of Glory? The Lord of Hosts, He is the King of Glory.

CHORUS Hallelujah: for the Lord God Omnipotent reigneth. The kingdom of this world has become the kingdom of our Lord, and of His Christ; and He shall reign forever and ever. King of Kings, and Lord of Lords. Hallelujah!

AIR (Soprano)I know that my Redeemer liveth, and that He shall stand at the latter day upon the earth; and though worms destroy this body yet, in my flesh shall I see God. For now is Christ risen from the dead, the first-fruits of them that sleep.

CHORUSSince by man came death,

CHORUS By Man came also the resurrection of the dead.

CHORUS For as in Adam all die,

CHORUS Even so in Christ shall all be made alive

RECITATIVE. (Accompanied - Bass)Behold, I tell you a mystery; we shall not all sleep; but we shall all be changed in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, atthe last trumpet.

DUET (Alto and Tenor) O death, where is thy sting? O grave! where is thy victory? The sting of death is sin, and the strength of sin is the law.

CHORUSBut thanks be to God, who giveth us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.

AIR (Soprano) If God be for us, who can be against us? who shall lay anything to the charge of God's elect? It is God that justifieth, who is he that condemneth? It is Christ that died, yea, rather that is risen again, who is at the right hand of God, who makes intercession for us.

CHORUS Worthy is the Lamb that was slain, and hath redeemed us to God by His blood, to receive power, and riches, and wisdom, and strength, and honour, and glory and blessing. Blessing and honour, glory and power, be unto Him that sitteth upon the throne, and unto the Lamb, for ever and ever.__ Amen.

The Ultimate Sacrifice...

“Surely He hath borne our griefs, and carried our sorrows! He was wounded for our transgressions; He was bruised for our iniquities; the chastisement of our peace was upon Him. And with His stripes we are healed.”

The hymn “Ah Holy Jesus” was written during the time of the Augsburg Confession and the Reformation. The words and melody are a heart cry of sorrow and anguish as we realize what Jesus did for us and respond with devotion and adoration.

Ah, holy Jesus, how hast Thou offended,
That man to judge Thee hath in hate pretended?
By foes derided, by Thine own rejected,
O most afflicted.

Who was the guilty? Who brought this upon Thee?
Alas, my treason, Jesus, hath undone Thee.
’Twas I, Lord, Jesus, I it was denied Thee!
I crucified Thee.

Lo, the Good Shepherd for the sheep is offered;
The slave hath sinned, and the Son hath suffered;
For man’s atonement, while he nothing heedeth,
God intercedeth.

For me, kind Jesus, was Thy incarnation,
Thy mortal sorrow, and Thy life’s oblation;
Thy death of anguish and Thy bitter passion,
For my salvation.

Therefore, kind Jesus, since I cannot pay Thee,
I do adore Thee, and will ever pray Thee,
Think on Thy pity and Thy love unswerving,
Not my deserving.

Bach used this hymn’s melody as the basis for his work St. Matthew’s Passion.

O dearest Jesus, how hast thou offended,
That such a cruel sentence hath been spoken?
What is thy guilt, what were the evil doings
Thou hast committed?

Alas, my sins, they have thee sorely stricken;

I, ah Lord Jesus, have this debt encumbered
Which thou art bearing. Ah, would that now my love for thee,
My health, thy trembling and thy terror
Could lighten or could help thee carry.
How gladly would I stay!

If the tears upon my cheeks can Nought accomplish,
Oh, then take my heart as well!
But then let amidst the streaming
Of the wounds abundant bleeding
Be the sacrificial cup!

We were blessed this week with an opportunity to give hospitality to some friends in the Lord.

Mr. Mally, Sarah and Grace, and four Bright Lights interns couldn't make it home to Iowa because of a storm and stopped at our place for a night.

It was wonderful to make music and sing together on Palm Sunday evening.

Praise God for His gift of fellowship!

March Music 2009

We make the transition from farmers to musicians often. In a given day, all six of us could spend our morning with our hands in the dirt filling cells with soil for seeds or in the hoop house stirring up the deep bedding. But at a given time, we clean up, change from “chore” to “town” clothes, and have music lessons or practice instruments, or go to perform somewhere. We are living in two very different worlds…everyone does to some extent, and as much as they do, it adds depth and variety to life. See…even fantasy isn’t completely fantasized. Never wonder again where C.S. Lewis got his ideas. Real life is far more intriguing than most imagine. :)
The Lenz Trio played Wedding Dance for a Night of Music and Recitation event. Emily wrote Wedding Dance for Genna's wedding and it was premiered on Grand Avenue. Ever since, it has been a general favorite. It is a fast Irish piece! Regrettably we have no suitable recording devices or we would share it with you!


The “Boys Quartet” coached by Aubrey played “Farandole” by Georges Bizet. And every boy arrow performed a solo piece. Samuel performed on his viola for the first time accompanied by his instructor, Emily, on the violin! :) We performed in a dark church so you have to squint to see the pictures.

The “instructors”

Everyone was so thrilled with the music and recitations!

The Six Arrows :)

A Rehearsal

Here is the new quartet rehearsing with their coach, Aubrey.

A Debut!...

The Lenz boys quartet performed in public for the first time yesterday. Left to right Charlie (oboe), Garrison (cello), Sam (viola), Ben (violin). They did a wonderful job with a Bouree from Handel's Water Music. The most impressive part, however was their bow at the end...it was perfectly timed! :)

They haven't thought of a name for themselves yet. In fact, the Lenz trio really hasn't either. If anyone has a suggestion for us to consider, let us know!