Tomorrow (July 30) my lovely wife and I celebrate 25 years of marriage, so I hope you'll permit me a moment of personal reflection in her honor. You see, although I had been a Christian musician for many years, it was Carolyn who introduced me to modern worship music and opened my eyes to what worship could be.

Back then our church was doing "blended" worship, but to us, it felt like we were stuck in a style of worship that was great in the 1950's, but neither of us felt good about bringing our non-believing friends to church to hear hymn singing with organ accompaniment.

Carolyn was the youth pastor at our church for several years, and at youth leader conferences she was exposed to an emerging, contemporary style of worship that was exciting, engaging, and culturally relevant. It was the late 1990's, and she began bringing home CDs such as the Revival Generation albums, with artists like Delirious?, Matt Redman, and others, and she played them during her Quiet Times in the early mornings. Listening from my study in the next room, I heard songs that gradually awakened me to what worship could be, and with the help of a wise, older senior pastor who understood that our church needed to adjust to the times if we had any hope of communicating effectively with new generations, the vision of contemporary worship at our church became a reality in the late summer of 2000.

I began working with the worship team, and soon was leading the team. And many of those songs, which seem a bit dated now, almost ten years later, ended up in our early repertoire. I have been leading contemporary worship services ever since, and in a very real sense, I owe it to my beloved wife for helping me catch that vision.

Thanks for twenty-five great years, babe, and for your influence in my life and ministry. You're the best.

(Carolyn is our children's pastor now--you can check out her blog at http://carolynheacock@blogspot.com.)