There's a Song In My Heart...

I've struggled to answer a question in my life pertaining to the songs I've written and my singing: How much do I "put myself out there" before it becomes all about me and not about God? As a singer, I've encountered many a fellow songbird who has struggled with this very concept. As a Christian, how do I remain humble yet share my gift unabandonedly (not a real word according to spell check, but it's makes sense in my head!) with the world. Because if I truly believe that God gave me the gift of music, then shouldn't I be eager to share it with those around me? And honestly, it's a very cool way to share the Gospel of Jesus Christ and what He's done in my life. Each song the Lord gives me is simply an overflow of something He's doing in my life at the time or the way I feel about Him - so how do I go about giving back this precious gift without coming across as arrogant or self-promoting?

I feel like one of the luckiest girls around that I can say I've had a lifetime of amazing opportunities to share my gift of singing. I was just telling my parents last night how grateful I am that people invested time and energy into "bringing me up" as a singer. Instructing me, allowing me to sharpen my gift. And not just me, thankfully! Growing up, I was surrounded by awesome singers - starting with my best friend, Rebecca. We even wrote songs together! Classics for sure! And there was Kelli & Nicholette...what great times! We grew up in a fairly small church on Whidbey Island. But quickly into our Jr. High-High School years, a man named Rob thought we were capable of putting together a youth worship band...and low and behold, we did it! Our pastor was even gracious enough to allow us opportunities to lead worship on a few Sunday mornings - we were blessed to have people surrounding us who believed in us! Man am I grateful for those times...

So here I am, 25-year-old-mom-of-twins. Did I miss something? Did I miss my chance to be something greater? Nah...the Lord knew I wasn't cut out for being a professional singer. Just watching Hollywood Week on American Idol confirms that! (I have serious anxiety just imagining what that week would do to little ol me!) Anyways, all that to say, it's just not in me. The drive, the passion for that lifestyle. But what is in me is writing music. I've been writing songs since I was a freshman in high school. Looking back on some of those first songs I wrote I cringe (and laugh). They sound so ridiculous...however, they were from the heart, so I won't discredit what the Lord was doing in my life then! : ) Through High School I continued to write and I even had the chance to record some of my favorites. Nothing special - in fact it was literally in my basement, recorded through our karaoke machine...one word - yikes! Kidding Dad...! My brother on acoustic guitar and my Dad on keyboard, we had one take to get the entire song down and somehow we ended up with something decent. I sold the cd to raise money for my tour with the Continental Singers after High School. All in all, that recording experience was huge for me and taught me so much about myself.

So I say all that to conclude with this...I am going to go out on a HUGE, HUGE, HUGE limb. For those of you who know me well, you know this is uncharacteristic of me, but I feel the Lord challenging me, so here I go.........(turn up the volume but not too loud in case you're in your office and turn off your itunes : )........

No bells, no whistles...just the overflow of my heart that I felt the Lord asked me to be willing to share with you. May the Lord fill you with joy and hope wherever you are in life, love and other mysteries (heehee, I just couldn't help it...thanks a lot Point of Grace!)

Sincerely and humbly,

Emily

*Lights: A gift from Katy : )

*Hair & Makeup: What?!