Posted on by Mama Jo

For This Child – The Story Behind the Song

Over the last several years (since 1991 to be exact!) my sisters and I have given our parents nine grandchildren.  Between three of the households (including my parents) we have hosted about the same number of exchange students with two more joining the family for the 2016/2017 school year.  In my own experience, my work as a choral director, band staff member, and theatrical director has provided me with several honorary kids who call me mom.  And there is one lesson that has become crystal clear to me over the years – every child/teen needs to know that there is someone in this world who is absolutely crazy about them.  Preferably more than one someone.

My sisters and I have discussed – and even occasionally explored – the idea of foster parenting or adopting.  I’ve met a number of students over the years who came from homes where mom and dad were too bogged down in their own “stuff” to be there for their kids so these young men and women were starving for someone to notice them, challenge them, push them to be better.  I’ve discovered this world is full of kids who just need an adult to care enough to call them up to be the best possible version of themselves!

Right about the time my sister, Becki, found out she was pregnant with her first, I wrote this song.  Yes, it was mostly for my biological children.  But it was also for all of those I’ve sort of “adopted” over the years who needed to know that someone cared and was taking them before the throne on a regular basis.  It means that the prayer list for “my kids” is getting pretty long but I’m okay with that!

The inspiration for the chorus of the song came from the Old Testament story of Hannah.  She wanted to have a son but had remained barren for years.  During a trip to the temple with her husband, she begged God for a son and promised to give the boy back to God.  God heard her prayer and answered it with a resounding yes.  After she had weaned the boy – most scholars figure he was about 3 or 4 – Hannah took him back to the temple and left him there in the care of the high priest.

“For this child I have prayed,
I have knelt before the Father,
Placing all my hope and trust in him
I set my heart on things above.
And now I know he heard my cry
For I have seen his answer
In this precious life before me
A priceless gift of love.”

I Samuel 1:27-28

“For this boy I prayed, and the Lord has given me my petition which I asked of Him.  So I have also dedicated him to the Lord; as long as he lives he is dedicated to the Lord.”  And he worshiped the Lord there.

Posted on by Mama Jo

In Your Eyes – The Story Behind the Song

If you’ve read some of my other stories, you know that I rarely (almost never) sit down and say, “Today, I will write a song.”  The song “In Your Eyes” is an exception.  My sister commented that she thought it would be great if I wrote an original song for the wedding she hoped she would soon be planning.  I was still struggling with the idea that I was writing faith-based songs.  A love song?!  That was a whole new territory I wasn’t sure I wanted to delve into.

Then I got the “brilliant” idea to write a song for my husband.  The year was 2001.  We were living in Grand Rapids, Michigan and he was working for UPS at the time.  A promotion took him to Columbus, Ohio, for a couple weeks of training.  He got to come home the weekend between but he was in Columbus Monday through Friday for two consecutive weeks.  This trip just happened to occur right around Valentine’s Day so I decided the song would be his gift.

Once it was written, I realized I had inadvertently fulfilled my sister’s request with one condition – it was really “Jim’s song” so he had to say yes.  I knew he would – he and I met when said sister was only 8 years old so he really thinks of her more as a sister than a sister-in-law –  but I wanted him to know that the song was intended originally for him and I wouldn’t be tossing it out to brides on a whim.

It’s first audience was just him, in the front room of our home.  That might have been one of the most nerve-wracking performances of my life!  But thankfully he loved the song and two years later, when my baby sister got married, I shared that song as a part of their wedding.   It’s been performed a couple of other times since then for special couples.  But it will always be “his song”.

“In your eyes there is joy and there is laughter
A hope for happily ever after
And love’s unending song.”

Song of Solomon 8:6

Place me like a seal over your heart,
    like a seal on your arm;
for love is as strong as death,
    its jealousy[a] unyielding as the grave.
It burns like blazing fire,
    like a mighty flame.[b]
7 Many waters cannot quench love;
    rivers cannot sweep it away.
If one were to give
    all the wealth of one’s house for love,
    it[c] would be utterly scorned.

Posted on by Mama Jo

Lyrically Inspired – Little Drummer Boy

December is one of my two favorite months of the year.  The other is October. . . but I digress.

I love Christmas music.  I mean I would listen to it all year if people weren’t so prone to being cranky about it.  But December means all restrictions are off and I can blast Christmas music to my heart’s content!

So I thought I’d take a few minutes to share with you some of my most favorite songs as well as the reasons why.  Lyrics can be every bit as thought-provoking as a good book, a powerful sermon, or a deep philosophical discussion.

This first song wasn’t a favorite when I was younger.  Frankly, I found it annoying for a time.  Somewhere during middle school I was able to get past the “nonsense lyrics” and really hear what was being said and my opinion was radically changed.  Let me show you what I mean –

I have no gift to bring
That’s fit to give our king
Shall I play for you
On my drum
Mary nodded
The ox and lamb kept time
I played my drum for him
I played my best for him
Then he smiled at me
Me and my drum
I took out the “pa rum pum pum pum” lyrics because this is the phrase that first captured my attention and I wanted you to see the words clearly.
All the drummer boy had to offer was his ability to play.  When he did so, the infant smiled at him.  As simple as that – the drummer gave the very best that he had and it pleased the Messiah.
There is a sad tendency in some churches to allow for shoddy musicianship in services because the thinking is “We’re doing it for Jesus so it’s the thought that counts.”  I doubt most churches would feel that way about the sermon.  We expect the Pastor to put in time preparing the sermon.  Reading scripture, praying, consulting the original language when needed . . . none of us would be happy with a pastor who got into the pulpit on Sunday morning and said, “I haven’t really prepared anything.  I’m just gonna kinda wing it today.”
But church musicians?  People have actually been known to get angry that they rehearse; that they come to the Sunday morning service well-prepared.  But this song gets it – “I played my best for him”.
Wouldn’t be a bad epitaph, now that I think about it – She played her best for him.
Posted on by Mama Jo

Fear Not – The Story Behind the Song

Christmas is, without a doubt, my favorite holiday.  I think I’ve even started to like it more than my own birthday!  I love the decorations, the music, the gift-buying, the television specials . . . I love the whole crazy, busy, chaotic experience!

But I do have one small frustration – Christmas Eve Services.  I didn’t grow up going to them even though I was a Pastor’s kid.  Dad felt that Christmas Eve was for family so he never held one and if we were ever members of a church that held them, we never went.  For much of my married life, we’ve been in churches that did, indeed, ask members to come out on Christmas Eve for a service.  I’m still not a big fan of such things but I think a large part of it is due to the fact that every Christmas Eve service I’ve ever been in feels like a funeral.  But we’re celebrating a birth, right?!

I guess you could say that “Fear Not” is the type of music I’d program into a Christmas Eve service if I was ever given free reign!  A birth – especially the birth of the Messiah! – is a happy occasion, a reason to celebrate.  No long faces or somber expressions at a baby shower!  The story of the cross started in that little stable in Bethlehem, true.  But I believe that all of heaven was excited that the process had begun and that God’s relationship with man was about to radically change forever.

”Fear not, I bring to you great
A message of hope to every
Man and woman girl and boy.
For unto you this day,
Over in King David’s town,
A Savior, Christ the Lord, is born
Heaven’s gift of love come down.”

Luke 2:10-11

But the angel said to them, “Do not be afraid; for behold, I bring you good new of great joy which will be for all the people; for today in the city of David there has been born for you a Savior, who is Christ the Lord. This will be a sign for you:  you will find a baby wrapped in cloths and lying in a manger.”  And suddenly there appeared with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God and saying, “Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace among men with whom He is pleased.”

 

Posted on by Mama Jo

Only In You – The Story Behind the Song

I would like to tell you that recurring themes show up in my songs because I’m really good at focusing on concepts until I perfect them.  I would LIKE to tell you that but I’d rather be honest.  The existence of recurring themes in my songs is due to the simple fact that I can be a little hard-headed when it comes to learning lessons.

“Only in You” is a reminder that joy comes from exactly one source – my relationship with my Heavenly Father.  Period.  When that relationship is being nurtured, inner joy is palpable.  When I am setting aside time to be with my Abba my sense of purpose is well-defined and the next step is crystal clear.  It’s when I start worrying about what others think, when I allow my focus to be misdirected, that I find myself struggling.  I start to doubt my calling and purpose.  I start to second guess what I’m supposed to do next.

So this song draws my focus back to the ONLY source of joy and the only being able to confirm my sense of purpose.  It’s that simple and that difficult.

I find my greatest sense of worth
In the presence of my King on bended knee.

You will make known to me the path of life; In your presence is fullness of joy; In Your right hand there are pleasures forever.  ~Psalm 16:11

Posted on by Mama Jo

Lyrical Inspiration

Come meet this motley crew of misfits
These liars and these thieves
There’s no one unwelcome here, no
So that sin and shame that you brought with you
You can leave it at the door
And let mercy draw you near

I absolutely love the song “Come to The Table” by Sidewalk Prophets.  Especially the lyrics above.  There is absolute unqualified love and mercy for those who would follow Christ.  Enjoy