"The Elephant Diet" Day # 2

Sundays are days that I normally try to keep as a sabbath, so I try not to do anything toward music projects on this day. But I found myself listening to Christmas music on the way home from church and that makes my mind drift toward my own project and what it might sound like.

I was listening to David Spencer's Christmas project.  He's one of the guys I am considering for production of my Christmas CD.  He's very creative in his arrangements, taking old tunes and making them very interesting.  So what might he do with my tunes I wonder?

I am going to try a song with him and see how it goes.  There's no better way to know what it's like to work with someone than to actually work with them on something.

I sent him my "Night of Miracles" song and will look forward to hearing what he does with it.  Ed Cash's company (Chris Tomlin) recommended his name to me and I've liked what I've heard of the music he produces.

Other than that, I've tried to keep my mind off the project today.  It's a good exercise in controlling my thoughts.  That's something God has been working on in me...teaching me to take my thoughts captive and renewing my mind with His thoughts and not letting it roam wherever it wants....which is usually toward worry and fear or in this case, obsession over all the details of a project.  That's a whole different kind of elephant!

"The Elephant Diet" Day # 1

This morning I woke up around 6:00 a.m. with one of my Christmas songs on my 
mind.  It occurred to me that some lyrics could be stronger so I began to 
rewrite them in my head.  Another bite out of the elephant.

Years ago I was listening to a radio program about Christmas by Focus on the 
Family and in the midst of the show they used the phrase "A Night Of Miracles" 
and somehow it jumped out at me. 

I began to write a song with that title and that's the song that I woke up with 
in my head this morning. The Christmas story is full of miracles!  I have them 
numbered in my Bible and have over 33 amazing things that happened in that story 
and the song lists only a few of them.

When you're preparing to do a CD, you really want the songs to be strong so you 
work on making them the best even up to the moment of recording them.

Today I also communicated with a couple of different producers that I'm 
considering for the project.  Every producer brings something different to the 
song, so it's a hard decision.  

I worked on making a demo of the song with just a piano and vocal track so they 
get the idea of the song and sent it by email to one of the producers I'm 
considering.  I've never used him before so I'm having him do one song to see 
how it goes.  I met with him this past summer and really liked his music and his 
heart.  

Today I also listened to another demo that I was working on from last night in 
my studio.  It's always good to listen to your work with fresh ears!  I want it 
to have an "Enya" flavor.  Enya has inspired me so much over the years.  A track 
like that involves singing with yourself over and over....tons of stacked 
vocals.  You have to be sure to sing well each time because you are trying to 
match the nuances of each previous track.

The song didn't sound like I wanted it to today, so I have to figure out why and 
how to make it what I want.  A producer will certainly help get the song to the 
way I want it, but I want to have it close to what I want when I give him a demo 
of it.

Not every day will be this full of activities dedicated to a Christmas project.  
Saturdays are normally my cleaning day, bank errands and grocery shopping.  I 
got all that done, plus worked on songs in between cooking and caring for a sick 
husband.

Finishing up the day with a delightful piece of pineapple upside down cake that 
started out as a fiasco when I forgot to put the pineapples in first.  But it 
turned out ok and it tastes wonderful!

The Elephant Diet

I've always heard that if you want to eat an elephant, it's best if you eat it 
one bite at a time.  

There are two elephants I'd like to eat these days:

1) getting better and more consistent about blogging
2) producing a Christmas CD

I think the best way I can do both, is to combine the two. 

So here I go!  

I am going to blog about the journey of what it's like to do a CD project and 
let you in on the process: the decisions and hard work that go into something 
of this magnitude.  

This will be my 7th CD project.  I've also recorded 2 singles and 1 professional 
music video.  They are all big elephants, but I've eaten them all and without 
having to go into debt to do it.

Welcome to the journey of making a CD.  Hopefully as you read this, you will get 
inspired to eat your own elephant - one bite at a time.

(I have no idea what the calorie count is when eating an elephant).

# 18 Hang on to that seed! Part 1

I believe we are all born with a seed inside of us.  It might be a seed of music or teaching, etc.  As we discover our seed, we will encounter challenging soils and elements that will threaten to steal the seed.  This message encourages us to HANG on to the seed!  Fruit will come if we stick with it!

Check out this episode!

Do you like T-shirts?

How do you feel about wearing T-shirts? My Mother used to make my clothes when I was a little girl and she often made them very frilly and colorful.  Ruffles, lace and ribbons...whatever was pretty, that was me!  For the most part, I rarely wore pants or jeans so I learned to do many things in a dress and got quite comfortable that way.  Dressing up was a favorite pastime.  It never included T-shirts.  (Even my black leather biker jacket has leather black tassels.) Many artists sell T-shirts at their product table to help with income, but I don't and a big part of it is because I just don't like T-shirts so it's hard to sell something you yourself are not fond of!  I'm just not a T-shirt kind of girl.   But recently, when I was handed a complimentary T-shirt from the organization for which I was leading worship, I smiled to myself and took it gladly.   I've been wearing it. Wearing T-shirts I am learning to put on something that doesn't exactly feel like me, but the more I wear them, the more I get used to them and feel comfortable.  I even feel more like a part of the culture of the organization when I do that. It's not the first time I've been given a free T-shirt so I've had plenty of practice getting used to wearing them. We are encouraged by the scripture to 'put on' the Lord Jesus Christ.  At first, this might feel unfamiliar to us and even uncomfortable at times.  We are being asked to enter into another culture called the Kingdom.  The 'clothes' that we wear in the Kingdom are very different from this world system that we live in.  We were born with a sinful nature, so it doesn't always feel natural to act like Jesus.  But when we embrace Him in our lives and believe Him, we are given a new nature.  The more we 'put on' His love and His nature, the more we will truly begin to look like Him and all that He represents. Colossians speaks of this:   3:12-14 - "Since God chose you to be the holy people whom he loves, you must clothe yourselves with tenderhearted mercy, kindness, humility, gentleness, and patience.  You must make allowance for each other's faults and forgive the person who offends you. Remember the Lord forgave you, so you must forgive others.  And the most important piece of clothing you must wear is love.  Love is what binds us all together in perfect harmony."  (NLT) Sounds like a wonderful wardrobe!  Just as I've chosen to start wearing T-shirts to honor the organizations who give them to me, I want to choose to wear the attitudes of Christ - to let my roots grow down into Him so that His fruit is displayed in the 'clothes' I wear.  We can change.  We can wear a new wardrobe and begin to feel comfortable in it. Maybe you'll never think the same way again when you wear your T-shirts.   You might even see some for sale on my table with my CDs...someday.

Afternoon Chocolate

Recently I heard what I presumed to be a grandmother tell her granddaughter something that instantly took me back to my childhood. "Don't eat that before supper or you will spoil your appetite!"

"May I have a lollipop?" the eager child had asked the grocery clerk.

Though she was given permission to have the lollipop, she was given strict orders by her grandmother to NOT eat it before supper!

I smiled to myself. I had heard similar words most of my growing up years. We were not allowed to eat any kind of snack before a meal and were often reminded that it would spoil our supper if we did.

My Mother was a fabulous cook and I was too young to appreciate it at the time. Now, in her 89th year, she has had to give up cooking for herself and it has been very hard on her. As I watch her age, I realize that though aging brings wisdom, it also brings loss of independence and a new level of wisdom is needed.

It has been quite a year for her and I knew that things were shifting significantly when she began to delight in having afternoon tea and CHOCOLATE! Her expression of pleasure when I offered her a chocolate bar told me that we were no longer living under childhood laws but mutual love between two grown-ups maneuvering our way through life together.

The roles have been reversed. As a child, I needed her to guide me into proper eating habits and she now needs me to help her adjust to the challenges of aging. I can think of no better way to do that than with afternoon chocolate.

Streams in the desert

I'm writing this from the beautiful Sandy Cove Ministries location in North East, MD.  I'm here to lead worship for an event unlike any I've done before.    It's a "Health and Wellness" week-long event, complete with healthy menus along with the recipes and portion size suggestions so we can take the meal plans home with us.    Everything has been counted out for us based on a 1500 per day calorie count. I'm hoping maybe I can lose a few pounds.    I had a very rich birthday last month!  Though the morning started out cloudy, I did end up with some sunshine in the afternoon.  I rode my Honda, washed windows, watered flowers, went out to lunch with a friend and enjoyed many Facebook birthday wishes.   But the highlight was taking some time to reflect on my gratitude journal entries from the past 4 months.  At someone else's suggestion, I began this type of journalling in December. I have been writing down five things each day that I'm grateful for.     I was blessed beyond words as I read through my expressions.  A true, unforced attitude of gratefulness rose up on the inside of my heart.   I have a deeper revelation of the term "streams in the desert".   In the past, my journalism consisted of honest thoughts and ramblings which sometimes can be very melancholy. The past year has been a difficult one with my Mother's numerous falls and declining health. I have had some challenging ministry decisions to make also. But as I read through my gratitude pages, you would think that my life is grand and glorious, filled with rich things, moments and people. And actually, that is the truth. Though it has been a desert, my entries were like streams of refreshing as I reflected back. The glass is truly full, not half empty, not half full, but FULL! I still do longer journal entries in another book, but I am starting to see why the author who got me started on the gratitude journal encouraged this discipline. It's subtle, but powerful. I highly recommend it if you struggle with maintaining a positive attitude when life is hard. Thanks for reading and have a wonderful day.