Hey! I hope your summer so far has been going great! Last week, I kicked off the Inspiration Summer series here on the blog. The idea is to share what our family is doing to stay inspired all summer long, doing things that bring us closer to each other and, more importantly, closer to God.

One of the things I decided to focus on was music. We (as I’m sure many other families with kids are trying), are working on minimizing our screen addictions. Sometimes, out of habit, the TV is on, or we’re all staring at our Kindle Fires and smartphones on down time, while waiting for dinner to be ready, or waiting for me to finish drying my hair before heading out.

I’m not putting my foot down and declaring it a no-screen summer. Remember, it’s an Inspiration Summer! Plus, I’m realistic. Summer is great for extra Fifa Soccer video games for my son and My Little Pony videos for my daughter!

But I also want our family dynamic, the space in which we live, our environment, to be filled with what we value as a family: love, joy, peace … and the rest of the fruit of the Spirit of God. It’s a fantastic list that I’d love to encourage you to fill your home with it as well! Check it out:

Love, Joy, Peace, Patience (I need more of this one), Kindness, Goodness, Gentleness, Faithfulness and Self-Control (put down the extra brownie!)

So, one way I decided we can invite more of that into our home space is through music (no surprise!) My hubby and I as newlyweds loved just sitting by the light of his awesome fish tank, listening to music, enjoying each other’s company. There’s a peace that accompanies those moments that I really want to share with our kids.

Now, it’s not that we’ll just be playing classical music (although last night we went to the Houston Symphony’s free Star Wars and more tribute to John Williams and it was awesome! We actually tuned in to some 91.7 classical tunes on the way home and my daughter declared that she loved classical music. Her conservatory-trained classical pianist Abuelo Millo (grandpa) would be proud!

If you know me, this whole Inspiration Summer thing is not going to be boring; it has to be FUN! Here below are the top 3 music apps that our families loves listening to:

• Pandora
  • I’ve been using Pandora for years and using the “like” button a lot. I feel like Pandora definitely gets my favorites on playlists that include Christian music by Hillsong, Jesus Culture, Kari Jobe and Israel Houghton, among so many others!
• Spotify
  • My hubby is more of a Spotify guy, but we gravitate toward the same music choices. We’ll be sharing our family’s curated Spotify playlist soon, so you can check it out! But in the meantime, in addition to the artists listed above, we also love Elevation Worship, Passion, and if you want Christian music “en español,” try searching for artists like Miel San Marcos, Jesus Adrian Romero, Christine D’Clario, Marcos Witt, Coalo Zamorano and many more.
• TuneIn
  • If you know my story, you know I spent 20 years of my life in Christian radio. I love about TuneIn that I can search for any radio station, including the ones where I’ve worked (K-LOVE, Air 1, KSBJ, NGEN, the Rock Radio Network in Puerto Rico), and others where I have friends who work (KVNE in Tyler, TX; The Z in Orlando, FL; KTIS in MN). Plus, it’s fun to check out other radio shows by Steve Harvey, Yolanda Adams, there are so many fun radio stations to check out on TuneIn! I love the variety it offers.

I’d love to hear about YOUR favorite music apps and how your family enjoys music. Share in the comments below!

Love (and wishes for you and your family to have an Inspriational Summer),

~Coppe