Elli Girl is Here!

Catherine and I been lying low for a while now, playing a show now and then, serving the elderly at nursing homes, working on an album (releasing later this year), and oh yes... we had a BABY!!!!

We are delighted to announce the arrival of the newest member of the family (and band) Elisabeth Grace. She is a gentle soul and truly a delight. Born on May 5th @ 6:48 am she weighed 8 lbs 3 ounces and was 20 inches long. The first thing we noticed about her is her full head of hair and long fingers (like her mommy and daddy).

At one point while still at the hospital, the doctor came to check her over. He took out his little flashlight and looked into her eyes and said, "perfect". At which point I turned to Catherine and said, "See, even the doctor thinks she's perfect".

You can see some beautiful pictures of our 'perfect' little girl @ our facebook page (you might as well 'friend us' while your there)

Anyway, Catherine and I are excited now to be devoting more of our time and energy, not only to raising our little girl, but also to focus on writing and sharing our music - but I'll save that for a future post. This one is for Ellie.

Daniel n Catherine Lovett
www.reflectworship.com

New Baby on the Way

Catherine and I are about to embark on the greatest adventure of our lives. We are going to be parents.

I remember the day we went in for the ultra sound. After seeing the insides of our baby, it's beating heart inside it's small chest, it's bones and spine all lit up on the screen, it's tiny feet and tiny toes and tiny hands all curled up in front of it's tiny face. We were then told we were looking at our little girl.

Of course Catherine always thought of "it" as a little girl and remarked about how it would have taken the remaining months of pregnancy to cope with "it" being a boy... if it were.

As we were walking out of the hospital I told Catherine, "Well, I suppose I will just have to take my little girl hunting and fishing, camping and canoeing, and teach her how to spear things."

Catherine laughed hysterically as she said, "You don't spear anything!"

Well, it's never too late to start I suppose. I had recently been watching man vs. wild in which Bear Grills teaches you how to survive in the wilderness spearing fish and so forth. In one episode Bear Grilles is slogging through a bog in Ireland to retrieve a dead sheep. After wrestling it free he ate its raw heart and rolled its skin inside out for a bloody sleeping bag.

Twenty minutes later over dinner I had coped. In truth I was a bit concerned about having to teach my little boy a trade to make a living. This concerned me because I don't know if music ministry really qualifies as a trade.

Girls, I realized, need to be taught how to be a good wife, if she decided to marry and this was something Catherine could teach her just fine. But then this got me to thinking about her future husband. I can't believe I'm already worrying about her future husband. When I talked to Catherine about all this, she said to me, "What are you talking about a trade for, were you born in the 1800's?"

Elisabeth Grace is now seven months along. She flips around in mommies belly and enjoys kicking daddy in the face when he tries to listen to her heartbeat. It's hard to believe or even imagine how our lives will change in just a few short months.

Honestly, the world actually seems like a much safer place to me knowing that there are so many other parents out there. It's odd but I already feel a sense of community with other parents.

I think about Ellie alot. I think about all the exciting books we will read together like C.S. Lewis's Chronicles of Narnia and all the adventures we will have... like spearing things.

Thanks for listening,

Daniel
www.reflectworship.com

My First Prayer Letter Ever

Dear Friends and Family August 2009

As many of you know, for the past couple of years I have been performing spiritual concerts for the elderly in nursing homes and assisted living facilities throughout Northeast Wisconsin. My goal has been and still is to be a blessing and an encouragement to the faith of those who no longer can get to church. I bring a bit of church to them through the familiar hymns and spirituals and sharing of God’s word. I see now more than ever that what I do is not just a job but a ministry.

It is clear to me that God has called me and has given me the grace for this ministry. Jesus created me. And this is something that he created me to do. As of August 2009 I had been going it alone and was on my way to burnout, but I recently sought out some prayer and was amazed at the night and day difference in the attitude of my heart and the tone and atmosphere of the “concerts”.

I have a strong sense that God is once again at the helm, leading and blessing this venture. This is something that He wants to continue to expand and grow, and most important, to include the rest of His body in.

I need the body of Christ to support this ministry. I need prayer, not just to keep me going, but to see God move, to see God save, and to see God bring comfort and encouragement to those who need it.

So here is what I am asking: Will you pray?

In your conversations with God, will you please remember to lift up this ministry?

Please pray that God will:

• Open doors of ministry and bring the increase as He sees fit
• Move on people’s hearts – that they will hear Him calling them into relationship and answer that call.
• Keep me fresh and encouraged and that God will continue to pour into me so that I will have something to give.
• Inspire me with words of encouragement, life, and hope – the He would give me the right words in the right time for the right person.
• Grant me favor with the nursing home staff.
• Inspire me with new songs of ministry.
• Provide all that is needed for all that He is calling
  

Recently I received back this report about how the Reflect Hymn project is being used:

“Daniel,

Having a chance encounter with an old friend who works the night shift at our local nursing facility, I wanted to share with you her comments about your music.

She told me that a copy of your music on CD; Reflect Hymns, appeared at their nurses station, and that they had been playing and enjoying the music. However, she said the greatest benefit seemed to come when your music was played exclusively in the rooms of those patients who were experiencing their last days. She told how the staff all remarked that such a great sense of peace seemed to envelop the room and the people in attendance, that they have a policy of always playing this music for such times as this as it provides such comfort.

I thought you might want to know this, since I know you send out these CD's as a sample of your work when booking concerts at various Nursing Homes. Even though this facility has never had you there in person, your music is being used and valued, which I just 'happened' to find out a few weeks ago during my 'chance encounter'.

Blessings,

Cindie”


Thanks for listening, and thanks even more for praying. You can learn more about what I am up to at our website: http://www.reflectworship.com/

Daniel Lovett

A few of my favorite ministry stories

Well Get On With It!

One of my favorite stories is when I had my very first heckler. As I was playing at a facility in Green Bay one very loud lady up in the front would yell out whenever there was a few seconds break between songs, "well, get on with it!" And then when we sang Amazing Grace, she sang out real loud, " Amazing grace, how sweet the sound that saved a wretch like you..." Lovely woman.

It was at that very same facility, perhaps that very same concert that a man decided to join in playing his harmonica. The only problem was that his harmonica was in the key of "C" and none of my songs were. Once I asked him what key his harmonica was in, I changed a few songs to that key so that he could play along.

Did She Just Say That?

This is a story about a lady who was nicknamed "Corky". She was suffering from some debilitating illness that affected her mind and her ability to communicate. After the concert I went up to her to shake her hand and she said to me, "Thank you very much for coming, I really appreciated it."

The manager of the place leaned out of his nearby office and asked, "did she just say that?" His surprise told me that this was very unusual for her to make a cohesive sentence. Was this the healing effect of music or something more?

George

When I was first getting started doing concerts there was a particular place I would frequent here in Appleton where I met a man named George. In fact, it was at that very same facility where I had played for "Corky" in the above story. George loved to read and always had a book in his hand every time I was there. We would talk about whatever book he was reading or have conversations about his past.

He told me that he had had a hard life - haunted with the pain of his divorce. He was a teacher from an area near where I had grown up. He taught in a little town in Idaho called Priest River. While growing up, my family and I would drive through Priest River every year as we went up to Priest Lake and the surrounding mountains to pick huckleberries. He said that his passion in life was not in teaching a larger group but more so when he was able to mentor a student and to really connect. And he mentioned that he saw the same enjoyment and passion in what I was doing. George passed away on Fathers Day. When I learned of his death, I remarked to God, "well, he is in your hands now." But then I realized that he always had been.

He's got the little bitty baby!


This next story is one that really touched my heart recently. I was playing a concert out in Wild Rose and had played the song, "He's Got the Whole World in His Hands". A few songs later I see a man struggle out of his wheelchair in the back of the room and hobble up to where I was. With tears in his eyes he blurts out, obviously very distraught, "He's got the little bitty baby in his hands! He's got the little bitty baby in his hands! "

When I had done that song earlier, I had not sung that verse of that song, probably to shorten it up a bit. But he wanted to sing it. So he stood up there with me and we sang it together. It was such a beautiful moment.

"a persons a person, no matter how small"

On new years day my wife and I watched the animated Dr. Seuss film “Horton Hears a Who”. The movie was hilarious and I laughed quite a bit, but it also gave me something to ponder on. One of the lines that Horton repeats a number of times is this:

“…a persons a person no matter how small.”

After the movie was over and I was reflecting on it, I had an “omigosh” moment when I considered the implications as this relates to conception and the question, “when does life begin?”

I don't know if Dr. Seuss, whose books have delighted and entertained children for years, believed in life at conception. But, his book “Horton Hears a Who” was all about life that was found on a “speck”. And, when you think about it, isn’t that what the earth is in the vastness of the universe? Just a “speck”?

I think that if God respects the lives we live on this “speck” called earth, shouldn’t we also have respect for the life in the “speck” that is a conceived human child?

After all, “a persons a person no matter how small.”

It is my desire to convey the message that each new life is meant to be valued, cherished and most of all, loved. So I wrote a song called “tiny hands” that I think beautifully expresses that message.

I am offering this song as a free download – and all I ask is that you pass it on. Consider forwarding this message on and help me in this effort to reach and change the world one person at a time.

Visit www.reflectworship.com/freesong to watch the music video, read about the inspiration behind the song, and download “tiny hands”.

Blessings,

Daniel Lovett

"tiny hands" (free song download)

Above is my very first music video feauturing a song called "Tiny Hands". It was inspired by the amazing movie "Bella", but mostly by my sister-in-law Stacy and her little girl Ava.

Stacy was diagnosed with terminal cancer of the blood and soon after learned that she was pregnant. She was advised by her doctors to abort her child in order to recieve the treatment that would prolong her life. She refused and expected, for all practical purposes, to deliver the child and die soon after. All of her family and friends began praying for her situation and asked that the Lord would heal her. I still remember the shocking and surprising phone call we recieved the day we heard the news that the cancer was gone. The Lord had answered our prayers and healed her. She gave birth to a happy and healthy daughter named Ava Grace. Ava is truly the happiest baby I have ever seen and has given me insight into the joy of God. Whenever I vote, the overriding issue for me is a baby's right to live. But this is not just an issue for the election year.

A friend of mine made the comment that people only brought up the issue of abortion and were "prolife" once every four years. He said that this wasn't really being prolife, it was being anti-abortion - and not very effective at that.

It is true that this uncomfortable topic is brought before the public when this nation is choosing leaders who might effect the laws that permit mothers to "abort their pregnancy". Why should we suffer needlessly the three plus years after election day by brooding on this atrocity? BUT, in response to my friends comment I say that if those in favor of the murder of infants can call themselves "prochoice", then certianly those who oppose the murder of infants can call themselves "prolife".

We don't live in the dark ages. I so appreciate seeing that commercial that shows the baby in the womb and a woman narrating about its heartbeat at so many weeks, and the stages of the babies development. She finishes by saying that she once thought of it as a blob of tissue and now she sees just how wrong she was.

This has been going on for far too long in this nation. Yet so many of us are silent on this issue. There is no overwhelming outcry against abortion. So what are our leaders to think? They represent us don't they? They represent the fact that we care more for our wealth, our individuality, and our precious freedom of choice, then we do about the rights of the unborn.

Will you help me change this? Why must it be the policy of the Republicans to be prolife, and the Democrats policy to be "prochoice"? Why can't it be everyones policy to give an unborn child the right to live? I believe that if we all continue to stand for truth and justice that we can change the world. Much like William Wilborforce stood against the profitible and dispicable practice of the slave trade in England, we must stand against the murder of children in "God blessed" America.

This is a human rights issue. A human being has a right to live.

I honestly don't know if we will ever be able to legally defend the life of the unborn. I don't know if the laws will ever change. Be we can and ought to do what we can, reaching one person at a time with the message that each new life is precious, a gift from God to be cherished and loved.

This is why I am offering my song "tiny hands" as a free dowload. All I ask is that you will pass it on to a friend. Send them a link to this page. Send the song as an email attachment. Just please pass it on. If even just one woman decides to keep and cherish her child. It will be worth it. This is my gift to you... this is my gift to the world.

(visit this website to download-->"www.reflectworship.com/freesong")

Please pray with me and fight with me for the unborn! Do what you can while God lends us breath to pursue justice and truth and most of all, love.

I was thinking this morning about the scars, both physically and emotionally, that women carry the rest of their lives after an abortion. Many of us are trying to be sensitive to them and not raise such a painful issue. But future pain can be avoided, and present pain can be healed.

My wife and I recently watched a movie that "lit a candle in our heart" and spoiled us by showing us what a good movie is all about. The movie is called Bella. Make it the next one you rent and be blessed.

Thanks for listening,

Daniel Lovett

http://www.reflectworship.com/

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For the Unborn

"FOR THE UNBORN"

Recently I spent some time at Barnes and Noble and way too much on a cup of coffee (down with Starbucks!). I was reading a book called "Velvet Elvis" by Rob Bell. The book was such a blessing. In it, he told a story of his friend Matt who went to visit a couple who had just lost their newborn baby. Born at two pounds, it wasn't ready to make it's entrance into the world. As Matt entered the room, he noticed that the baby was still in the room with the grieving couple. After greeting the couple, Matt went over, picked up the baby, and kissed it on the forehead.

Tears welled up in my eyes as I read this. It got me to thinking about the preciousness of life and.... about abortion.

I used to live down the street from a "Planned Parenthood" which is one location where babies are put to death every day accross our nation. While driving by, I would often see people out on the street praying. Some times (most times) they would have posters. Posters with graphic pictures of babies that have been mutilated and parts of children found in medical waste.

Like most people, I was disturbed that they would show these pictures and wished that I didn't have to see them. I was mad at these picketers for disturbing the public (me) with these graphic pictures. But then I began to see things in a different light. How much more shocking and disturbing that murder is legal in America!

I recently watched the movie "Amazing Grace". It is the story of a man named William Wilberforce who devoted his life and political career to abolishing the slave trade in England. In spite of much hardship and setbacks and after a long a tiring effort, he finally overcame. His opponents were convinced that a sudden end to such a profitible market would spell financial ruin for England. So it was allowed to persist for years. Year after year Wilberforce would propose his bill, each time ending in defeat, until public opinion shifted to such a degree that the opponents didn't have a leg to stand on. The outcry against slavery had become greater than the voice of those profiting from the travesty of slavery.

Tell me, would America suffer economic ruin, if we were to end abortion say... today? Whoever is profiting from this business of death, shame on them!

As Scriptures say, "the love of money is the root of all kinds of evil." Do you think that those involved in other such evils (such as modern day sex slavery and porography) would stay involved if there were no profit? If there were no one buying their product, their business would fail.

Does it strike anyone else as odd (and shocking) that there exists places where mothers can murder their children and furthermore, that it is legal?

I was inspired by the movie Amazing Grace but I am not a politician or a lobbiest. I am at a loss of how to fight this evil or effect any sort of change.

While at Barnes, a woman sitting accross from me held her six month old baby boy. He was "waving" (holding out his arms in a general direction and clenching and unclenching a fist) and smiling at those around him and generally evoking so much joy in everyone who happened to observe this sweet innocent child. This preciousness is worth fighting for.

Children are models for us all, as Jesus pointed out. They are uninhibited, unpreoccupied with self. They display what most of us have lost with our "reserved" and "dignified" ways. We don't look at eachother in the eye as children do. When have any of us felt awkward at a babies stare? No, we instead feel honored and blessed by their notice. They are little angels - God himself supplying their joy. The first thing they learn is how to smile; and as I have obsereved from my work in nursing homes, it seems it is the last thing that we as human beings forget.

I am not into politics. My wife talks me into getting out to vote, but when I do, the only issue that I am voting on is this:

Who will fight for the unborn children?

This is the only issue.

Will you do what you can to fight for the unborn?

I just happened to open the dictionary on the table as I was writing and it opened exactly to the word "picket". It is defined as, "A person stationed outside an establishment etc... to demonstrate opposition."

Will you be a demonstrate your oposition with me and do what you can, as you are inspired, to stand against to the killing of America's children?

Praying for Justice,

Daniel Lovett

ps. This is my neice. Her mother was advised by the doctors to abort the baby to prolong her life as she was diagnosed with terminal cancer of the blood. She refused the idea immediately and chose to deliver the child and expected, for all practical purposes, to die soon after. We all prayed a great deal for her and the Lord saw fit to heal her completely of her cancer. Her baby is a now a joy and delight to their family - and I must say that she is the happiest baby I have ever met. She is always smiling, full of joy.