Eric & Polly Rapp

When your love is mad at you and finds fault in everything you do,

we can all agree, that sure is rough.

Well, lighten up and try not to sweat; rest assured there's still hope yet,

'cause there's a lot of ways to stay in love.

She yells at you as she is standing at the sink.

There's a broken glass, and it's your fault--that's what she thinks.

You feel so alone when she turns to tell you twice,

Have no fear; just remember this advice:

Give your love a kiss tonight, even though she seems uptight,

and she walks around in a great big huff.

Let her know that you will stay, and you love her anyway--

that's at least two ways to stay in love.

You might be thinking back when you had your first kiss,

And your high-school sweetheart looked so nice, you couldn't resist.

Now you find you're older and life has slipped away from you...

cheer up now, I'll tell you what to do.

Send your love a valentine, even though it's summertime.

Take her out to look at the stars above.

Tell your love how sweet she looks, how good the food tastes when she cooks,

and now we have six ways to stay in love.

Love's not what they speak of in movies and old songs.

Sometimes things go right, but more often they go wrong.

When you said "forever," you must have known that's a really long time...

Listen now, here's a few more things to try....

Write your love a melody, and call the tune a rhapsody;

say a little prayer to the Lord above.

Go and buy a single rose; sneak up behind and boop her nose--

now we have ten ways to stay in love.

Now we have ten ways--but there's a million ways...

There's a million ways to stay in love.

Look around you--who is your neighbor?

Who do you see here in need of God's love?

Look around you--because of the Savior

What you're doing for them is more than enough

When you go to work, where a day seems a lifetime,

you're asking is this what God wants you to do

Take comfort in this: your boss is your neighbor

you're doing good works God prepared just for you

Look around you--who is your neighbor?

Who do you see here in need of God's love?

Look around you--because of the Savior

What you're doing for them is more than enough

A woman stays home feeding her baby,

changing the diapers and cleaning the clothes

She can do this with joy because of the Savior

God's will for her now is in front of her nose

Look around you--who is your neighbor?

Who do you see here in need of God's love?

Look around you--because of the Savior

What you're doing for them is more than enough

When evening comes and your head hits the pillow

and you think that your life doesn't seem up to snuff,

Be glad in the Lord and all that he gave you.

What he did on that cross was more than enough.

Look around you--who is your neighbor?

Who do you see here in need of God's love?

Look around you--because of the Savior

What you're doing right now is more than enough

What you're doing right now is more than enough

If I could draw like Marc Chagall,

I doubt I could do what he did.

He drew a cow holding a parasol,

and themes on religion and myth.

Lord knows I'm not a genius.

In visual ways, I'm not very smart,

But seeing you, I want to be a painter.

These would be some titles for my art:

"Woman with a Cat (running round in circles)"

"Fiancee in Top Hat" "Woman Wearing Purple" "

Fiancee Looking Sad" "Smiles among the Myrtle"

"Fiancee Lying Down" "Woman Wearing a Wedding Gown"

We are a lot like Bella and Marc,

though we don't live bohemian lives

We sit and play music 'til well after dark,

making up harmony and rhymes.

And now we're going to have a daughter.

Your belly's growing more all the time.

And ideas flow from me like water.

I draw these pictures of you in my mind...

"Pregnant Woman on a Bed" "Pregnant Woman Baking"

"Pregnant Woman Dressed in Red" "Pregnant Woman Dancing"

"Pregnant Woman Looking Mad" "Pregnant Woman Laughing"

"Pregnant Woman with Guitar" "Wife with Newborn in Her Arms"

If I live as long as Marc Chagall, I'd live for ninety-eight years

And just with you I'd share it all: happiness, anger, and tears.

When we reach the end of a lifetime I might be here all alone

By then I hope to have all these pictures

to look at all the good years we have known...

"Mother Making Cake" "Mother Lighting Candles"

"Mother Wading in a Lake" "Buying Daughter Sandals"

"Old Woman Doing Chores" "Old Woman Reading Bible"

"Old Woman on the Floor (Grandma playing with her grandchild)"

If I could draw like Marc Chagall, I doubt I could do what he did....

for the Lord has put angels by your bed

Whatever tomorrow brings, we’ll never know

so close your eyes and rest your weary head

The morning is coming, she brings with her the sun--

golden beams shining through the window shade

It’s the Lord’s way of telling us the new day has begun

And we’ll thank him for all the things he’s made.

Sleep, little baby, though the cold wind blows

for the Lord has put angels by your bed

Whatever tomorrow brings, we’ll never know

so close your eyes and rest your weary head

The Lord became just like you a long, long time ago

 When the cold wind blew through the stable door

He was cold, tired, and hungry, and carried all our woes

so you’ll never have to worry anymore.

Sleep, little baby, though the cold wind blows

for the Lord has put angels by your bed

Whatever tomorrow brings, we’ll never know

so close your eyes and rest your weary head

and it takes a little time before they're gone

Pour a cup of coffee, write down what the voices said,

and then I'll have the strength to carry on

I'll go out into my car and hit the interstate

and join the drivers cursing the new day

We wonder why we waste our lives on boring jobs we hate,

but I guess we just don't see another way

But you came to me with the world upon your shoulders

You came to me

It's a miracle to me that you'd want to know our names

But you came here to be one of us,

with frustration, sweat, and pain

You came to me; you came to me.

When I want some conversation I gather friends around--

I think they're friends, at least that's what they say

But if there's more than one of them, they'll throw me to the ground

and defeat me in a tag-team verbal game.

I am looking for someone who'll listen to my dreams

or cares to hear whatever's on my mind.

I could get on a rooftop and tell it with a scream

or listen to the Word who gave me life

You came to me when you walked upon the water

You came to me

And you'll leave no one behind;

you said seek and you shall find

Broke bread with scoundrels, whores, and thieves--

cured the lepers and the blind

You came to me; you came to me.

My knees, they crack when I stand up, my beard is turning gray

and my mind is next to go--of that I'm sure

Though I try to know the lingo and the music of today,

the guys and the pretty girls all call me sir

The day is getting closer in this uneventful life

When I reach the end of possibilities

And the choices that I've made, sometimes they cut me like a knife,

but after death, I know you wait for me.

You came to me at the breaking of the morning

You came to me

And we thought that you were gone when they hung you up to bleed,

but after three days you appeared, saying "friend, why do you weep?"

You came to me; you came to me.

Found a daddy-long-legs in my breadmaking bowl and I thought of you

loving critters great and small, things that fly and things that crawl--

and good friends, too

For your kindness when you dated my best friend,

hugs and counsel for a heart you helped to mend,

like a brother standing tall with strong arms if I should fall...

I thank God for you.

Had another long talk on the telephone line--well, it had to be you

Sharing laughter, joy, and tears, as we have so many years, like sisters do

For inviting me to share a dream or two,

Encouraging no matter what I do,

All the ways that you have been the very best of all best friends...

I thank God for you.

Well the love between friends, at its best, never ends--it holds on tight

And in a small way we learn to display God's love and light

Heard some beautiful guitar-playing in the other room and I knew it was you

Crafting melody in strings, making harmony take wing--and my heart, too.

For the gifts you bear so modestly and share...

Kindness, wisdom, patience, faith, your gentle air,

For the love between us grown--a little echo of God's own...

I thank God for you, I thank God for you.

Darling, I know that you'll leave me

Because of how and who and what I am

Across the dinner table you'll wonder

Why did I ever marry this man?

He sits there on the sofa watching TV

He doesn't work well with his hands

He's got a pencil-pushing job going nowhere

an education that's not worth a damn.

And the moonlight shines

on a far-distant place in your mind,

back to the days when love wasn't a chore,

and we walked along Superior's shore.

So you'll go out and get in your Escort

and drive north across the Mackinac.

You'll spend time in Manistique, where we stopped once

and go west, driving past Crystal Falls.

But still not far enough away yet

from the crippling thoughts you have of me,

you'll drive all the way to Ontonagon

'til you finally hit the shore of Gitche Gumee

Where the moonlight falls

on the waves and the rocks and the gulls

And you'll cast all your cares on that big inland sea

on the shores of your own Gitche Gumee.

As you walk along the shore of Gitche Gumee,

Bare feet making prints in the sand,

Your prints wash away from the shoreline,

and that moment helps you come to understand

That the land I come from has no Gitche Gumee,

just muddy rivers and modest ponds and streams

and seagulls don't float on the wind there.

Flat lands don't give Superior dreams.

And the moon rides high

near the stars and on the boats speeding by

And knowing now who I am, you'll be thinking of me

and say goodbye to your dear Gitche Gumee.

Hey, preacher man, give me the gospel.

It brings salvation to those who believe.

Hey, preacher man, give me the gospel.

Tell me I'm a sinner and Christ died for me.

I don't want to know about what you did last week on your summer vacation.

What you saw, where you went, or how much it cost.

Instead won't you tell me all the words that give me salvation.

How He lived and how He died for me on the cross.

Hey, preacher man, give me the gospel.

Give me the good news of God's only Son.

Hey, preacher man, give me the gospel.

Give me His body, give me His blood.

I don't want to hear about new ideas you learned while in seminary...

Higher critics like Marcus Borg or John Shelby Spong.

Please don't invite those learned men to preach in our sanctuary.

They're wise to men, but fools to God, and such fools are wrong.

Hey, preacher man, give me the gospel--

not with human wisdom, just tell it to me straight.

Hey, preacher man, give me the gospel.

Let me know I'm foolish. Lead me to the Gate.

I don't want to hear an opinion piece on the news or political parties.

Democrat, Republican--to Him it's all the same.

Please don't tell me how I have to vote to earn the Father's favor.

There's nothing I can do for that 'cause Christ did everything.

Hey, preacher man, give me the gospel.

Tell me of the God-Man who bore all the blame.

Hey, preacher man, give me the gospel.

When you preach the gospel, you shouldn't be ashamed.

I see the glitter of sunlight through leaves,

feel the warmth of the sun,

a cool morning breeze

But such earthly joys are all lost to you

You've already gone on to greater glories than these

I know the laughter of friendship so deep,

the thrill of new love growing stronger and sweet

But they don't compare to the bliss you must know

You've already gone on to greater glories than these

I thought that I would be holding your hand

showing the way, helping you understand

But God in His wisdom sent you on ahead

So, my child, I will follow instead

I know the hope of what's promised to be

A faith that can tell me of joy and of peace

But these are just shadows of the truth you now see

You've already gone on to greater glories than these

I thought that I would be holding your hand

showing the way, helping you understand

But God in His wisdom sent you on ahead

So my child, I will follow instead

Mrs. Adams sailed for France a long, long time ago

She left her room and window where she'd write and watch the snow

She crossed the deep Atlantic to meet her husband there

said goodbye to her family and the clean New England air.

What a sad misfortune to leave your children and your brothers

and have the body in one place while the soul is in another.

Grandma came here in '23 all the way from Tennessee

orphaned with her sister--two southern refugees

She came up to her uncle's farm to work the Ohio fields

Spent her life in these flatlands while she longed for southern hills.

What a sad misfortune to lose your father and your mother

and have the body in one place while the soul is in another.

I'm back home on this day of thanks; I've been gone for far too long.

I strummed my father's old guitar on which I wrote my very first song.

How I love this quiet house; how I hate to go away

but I'll live with my choices and return another day.

What a sad misfortune to leave the hometown of your fathers

and have the body in one place while the soul is in another.

Mrs. Adams sailed for France a long, long time ago

She left her room and window where she'd write and watch the snow

She crossed the deep Atlantic to meet her husband there

Said goodbye to her family and the clean New England air.

These are the hands that would have touched you,

untied your shoes, and tucked you in at night.

These are the arms that would have held you

if you had fallen and things hadn't turned out right.

These are the eyes that would have watched you

so anxiously as you were climbing up the stairs.

These are the ears that would have heard you

Saying new words, or, later, evening prayers.

This is the man you'd have called "Daddy"

then "Dad" then "Father" and later on, "Old Man."

The one who'd come home in time for dinner,

play catch with you and be your biggest fan.

This is the man who would have clothed you

and brought you in when you shivered from the cold.

This is the man who would have loved you

more than the world and all its gold.

This is the mind that's asking questions...

What did I do? or what could I have done?

This is the heart that keeps believing.

This is the faith, the hope to carry on.

There was his side where they had pierced him.

He was poured out like it says there in the psalm.

Those are his hands, and you are found there...

You are inscribed forever on his palms.

These are the hands that would have touched you....

When C. S. Lewis was a young boy he went to boarding school

The English days were cloudy and all the kids were cruel.

His life was words and solitude--that's all he really knew

Though he read the great books, he couldn't find the truth

One day he went to work on his same bus ride

Joy snuck up behind him and took him by surprise

And the spirit said, "Look..."

The spirit said, "See...

Take in the joy that I bring"

The spirit said, "Shout..."

The spirit said, "Sing...

Tell of the joy that I bring."

And I was just like Lewis...I liked my time alone

Stuck my nose inside of books, turned off the telephone

I loved to smoke my cigarettes, loved to drink my beer

Hated giving time to friends, hated lending them my ear

One day you sat next to me and took me by surprise

Now I talk to everyone since you became my bride

And the spirit said, "Look..."

The spirit said, "See...

Take in the joy that I bring"

The spirit said, "Shout..."

The spirit said, "Sing...

Tell of the joy that I bring."

God knows I'm no mystic...I think it's all absurd

You cannot have the spirit separate from the word

Lewis wasn't, either...he thought it was a ploy

But sometimes he had moments when he felt surprised by joy

We went to the ultrasound and saw you on the screen

I think of C. S. Lewis now and know exactly what he means

When the spirit said, "Look..."

The spirit said, "See...

Take in the joy that I bring"

The spirit said, "Shout..."

The spirit said, "Sing...

Tell of the joy that I bring."

Oh how I want to tell you

of the joy that's in my heart

Since God gave me the promise

that Jesus took my part

Jesus took my part

The Godhead in a manger--

a lowly, humble sight

Because I cannot keep His law,

he lived a perfect life

He lived a perfect life.

And then he went to Calvary--

they hung him on a tree

The Father's wrath, which I deserved--

he took it all for me

He took it all for me.

Then that Sunday morning

in the garden Mary cried

But there he stood before her,

now I shall never die

I shall never die.

Oh how I want to tell you

of the joy that's in my heart

Since God gave me the promise

that Jesus took my part

Jesus took my part