Fun to be back at church–good times. Address, 5150 2nd Street… All rockers–especially guitar players, should recognize the significance of those numbers–5150. I remember when the album 5150 first came out, I bought the cassette that day and loved two songs especially, “Love Walks In” and “Dreams”; in addition, I enjoyed “Why Can’t This Be Love” and “Summer Nights” as well. It was a solid album, and I loved Sammy Hagar as lead vocalist (5150 was his first Van Halen album); loved his sound and his focus on love rather than the dark side of partying (relationships without love, etc.…). I love music, it was and is my outlet, music will continue to be a big part of my life and I am thankful for those who bring music to life.
My Battles
God has been using music in my life to encourage me and get me through some tough times. I believe this is the case for countless others, and it lines up with scripture, one example is seen with David who I believe battled with depression. Now to my personal battles, I ended up getting a separation which led to a divorce, Covid hit, and now I am starting an extremely hard, ten-hour shift job. Here I am, divorced from my wife of many years, away from my children, and just getting over a stressful relationship. I was working one night and started to get really down; “from worldwide ministry to this…” I was thinking to myself, and I felt hopeless. Two managers worked nights, their names slipped my memory, but they would play music throughout the night. With tears in my eyes, work being done, and feeling like I failed, I heard “Dreams” come on. Knowing this song well, the lyrics grabbed me and lifted me up. Not sure if those guys knew I needed It (probably playing it for the crowd), or if it was someone else who requested the song, but it did help me that night in a big way. I believe the lady I was working beside would agree, I believe she was Puerto Rican, had her hair dyed blond, was in shape, and had a tattoo of a tiger on her neck. I also remember her talking about her sneakers and how her feet hurt. Nonetheless, Edward Van Halen was used in a positive way that night. As humble Christians, we should never be so closed-minded not to accept help and truth. If one looks at the lyrics of this song, one is able to see why it mattered to me that night; as well, the ties it had to my childhood.
God Winks
I started a new job (a tad better), and I heard the news of Edward’s passing. I took it pretty hard to say the least. I went to work that night, and the song “Beat it” came on.I smiled when the solo came on and said, if I remember right, “play Eddie.” Oh, one more thing. I commented on Valerie Bettinelli TikTok, on a video where she was talking about Edward Van Halen a few days after his passing. The comment was brief (thanks to character limits), told her about my current church’s address–5150– and how that tied in with my buying the 5150 album the day of release. She read it and liked it, so I hope she took that as a “God wink.” Sometimes God sends us a wink to let us know or to remind us He loves us. He does this through many ways; music, or something happening at a certain time, or a combination of events that would be impossible to work out on our own. These things happen to increase our faith, give us hope, and to help us have victory in a fallen world that sometimes almost gets the best of us.
“World turns black and white Pictures in an empty room Your love starts fallin’ down Better change your tune Yeah, you reach for the golden ring Reach for the sky Baby, just spread your wings And get higher and higher Straight up we’ll climb We’ll get higher and higher Leave it all behind Run, run, run away Like a train runnin’ off the track Got the truth bein’ left behind Fall between the cracks Standin’ on broken dreams Never losin’ sight, ah Well, just spread your wings We’ll get higher and higher Straight up we’ll climb We’ll get higher and higher Leave it all behind So baby, dry your eyes Save all the tears you’ve cried Oh, that’s what dreams are made of ‘Cause we belong In a world that must be strong Oh, that’s what dreams are made of Yeah, we’ll get higher and higher Straight up we’ll climb Higher and higher Leave it all behind Oh, we’ll get higher and higher Who knows what we’ll find? So baby, dry your eyes Save all the tears you’ve cried Oh, that’s what dreams are made of Oh baby, we belong In a world that must be strong Oh, that’s what dreams are made of And in the end On dreams we will depend ‘Cause that’s what love is made of…”
Side Note: I am leaving out some of the negatives, including the names involved. I made wrong decision(s) which made me vulnerable to attack, and some submitted to evil and did evil to me and my family. A very dark time without a doubt, but God did get me through this time. Now, we press on! Upwards and onwards!