Stories Behind the Songs

I thought it might be nice to give some information about the songs I’ve written. There is an underlying thread of God’s love illuminating my dark days. Please enjoy!

The Way Everlasting
(2001)
The lyrics for The Way Everlasting are from Psalm 139: 1-10, 17-18, 23-24. I love this psalm because it reminds me that the Lord knows me better than I know myself. He knows me today, my past and even my future.

Search me, O God, and know my heart; test me and know my anxious thoughts. See if there is any offensive way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting. -Psalm 139:23-24

My Lord Is Near Me
(2001)
I did not write this beautiful hymn. It was composed by Barbara Fowler Gaultney (1935-1974). It is one of my favorite hymns.

Close to Thee
(2007)
The lyrics for Close to Thee are by Fanny J. Crosby. I love this song because it essentially says,”Lord, I’ll go anywhere you lead me, go through anything, and do anything you ask- just let me walk with you.”

Thou my everlasting portion,
More than friend or life to me;
All along my pilgrim journey,
Savior, let me walk with Thee.
-Fanny J. Crosby

Be At Rest
(2001)
The lyrics for Be At Rest are from Psalm 116:1-7 NIV. I kept this song a secret for a while. It is kind of like my testimony put to music. I don’t remember the date that I wrote it, but I believe it was sometime in 2001, about the same time I wrote The Way Everlasting. At that time, I called these songs Psalm 116 and Psalm 139. Anyway, I remember playing some of my songs for my husband when we first started dating in 2004. I’m pretty sure I had never played this one for anyone before. He loved it and encouraged me to share it with others. Now, I play it every time I give my testimony!

Be at rest once more, O my soul, for the Lord has been good to you. -Psalm 116:7

Comfort Enough
This song is about that long day when everything seems to go wrong (You know what I’m talking about!) Parts of the lyrics for Comfort Enough are from Psalm 4:7-8 and Psalm 5:1-3, 11a, 12.

For only You can give me the peace that passes all understanding. That You are Lord of my life is comfort enough.

Masterpiece
(July 28-29, 2005)
Here we are at Psalm 139 again. To date, I have written 3 songs based on this passage of scripture. I wrote this song July 28-29, 2005 after I chaperoned a Youth Trip to Ridgecrest. The theme was “Masterpiece” with scriptural emphasis on Psalm 139:14. I had a great time on the trip and the theme stuck with me. As a young woman, I struggled with a healthy self image. I had body dysmorphic disorder and have been treated for anorexia. This song is about a girl named Jamie, but really it is a song I wrote to myself.

Oh, Jamie, what’s a girl to do-
When you’re missing all the beauty
That the Lord put deep inside you,
And your only measure of worth
Is your mirror and your scale?
And all you do is fail?

Amazing Grace

You Are Here
(September 2001)
I wrote this song in about five minutes. It’s a testimony song.

A Walk In the Woods
(August 2, 2005)
This little piano piece is titled A Walk in the Woods because as I wrote it, I imagined a beautiful, sunny, crisp day walking in the woods and enjoying God’s creation. In my mind’s eye, it’s my husband, Dave, and I walking hand in hand. Can you hear it when we dance?

A Better Resurrection
One of my favorite poets, Christina Rossetti is the author of this poem. The title references Hebrews 11:35.
I tried to be as descriptive musically as she is lyrically.

My life is like a broken bowl,
A broken bowl that cannot hold
One drop of water for my soul
Or cordial in the searching cold;
Cast in the fire the perished thing,
Melt and remould it, till it be
A royal cup for Him my King:
O Jesus, drink of me.

God So Loved the World
(2007)
John 3:1-16 is the inspiration for God So Loved the World with the chorus directly quoting verse 16. I enjoy the juxtaposition of the dark (musically) verses with the smooth, flowing chorus.

What Will It Take?
(January 31, 2009)
I wrote this song on a Saturday night to sing at a church service the following morning. The pastor (my father) had titled the sermon, “What Will It Take to Keep You From Jesus?” and I was scheduled to sing the music message. I began the writing process by listing things we put ahead of Jesus in our lives.

What will it take to keep you from Jesus?
What will it take to make you see
That to find your true life, at first you must lose it-
“Come, follow Me.”

My Life In You
(March 4, 2009)
This song began with the opening piano motive. I was sitting at my piano during a break at work one day, (I teach piano and voice lessons) looking out the window, listening to the birds sing. My fingers just kinda found the keys and started playing. Soon after the words and melody followed. I reference Eustace and Aslan from C. S. Lewis’ The Voyage of the Dawn Treader in the chorus. If you haven’t already, I highly recommend that you read this book.

With one slice to the heart,
You split this dragon skin;
Peel back the damaged layers,
Reveal a new life within.

On a cross long a go,
You paid my debt of sin;
You freed my burdened soul,
Now I sing of my life in You!

The Battle
(April 1, 2009)
As a true procrastinator, I am inspired to write new music when I should be doing something else. That is how this song came to be.

I was preparing to give my testimony about how Jesus healed me from Depression at a Celebrate Recovery Service. (Celebrate Recovery is a Christ-Centered Recovery Program for addictions.) I usually give a “musical testimony” because I feel a though I speak “clearer” when I sing! I should have been practicing, but I just felt distracted. It had only been 4 months since Jesus,The Great Physician, completely healed me from my battle with Depression. (You can read more about this miracle on my Testimony page.) I started feeling oppressed by the enemy around this time: thoughts that were uninvited and not my own, nightmares, and a heaviness in my life as if my depression was setting back in. I realized that Satan wanted me debilitated, and unable to testify to the glory of God.

I had personified my depression as a “faithful friend” who would always stay with me, who knew how I felt when no one else cared, and made me feel special because I was unique in my pain. But, my depression was not my friend- on the contrary, it was a thick wall separating me from the “Friend who sticks closer than a brother.” (Proverbs 18:24) It seemed as if I was fighting a constant battle with that depression instead of giving the battle over to Jesus who won the victory over death and the grave! Hallelujah!

The Battle
Hello old friend, I see you’re here again
I have waited to see your face
Now you’ve found me, you’ve come to drown me
In your sorrow again

You enchant me, you romance me
With your sweet familiarity
I reject you, I reflect you,
I become the old kind of me. . .

I’ve got to think clear, you shouldn’t be here
I’m a new child, I’m free!
But, I love you, though I don’t want to.
I’ve got new eyes to see:

That He knows me and He loves me
And He died to set me free.
I’m alive now, in the light now
You can’t come to kidnap me

So, run along now, You’re not welcome here
The Battle’s already won
I’m a child of light, I’m a child of Love
And I’ll fight you forever with His song:
Hallelujah, Hallelujah, Hallelujah, Amen.

Faithfulness
(January 26, 2010)

You Are Faithful
(June 1, 2010)

My Strength and Song
(August 17, 2010)

O Love That Will Not Let Me Go
(August 15, 2010)

Do You Know?
(September 3-4, 2010)
My husband, Dave, and I were asked to provide a couple of songs at a fund raiser for the Restoration House Crisis Pregnancy Center here in Hammond. I immediately started thinking about what to sing and decided to write a song. I wanted to write a lullaby. Psalm 139:13-16 came to mind and became the jumping off point.

I love this song and cannot wait to sing it to my own children one day!

God Opened My Eyes
(Steve Lowery, lyrics: July 12, 2010)
(Jessica Bryan, music: September 10, 2010)

Ransom

(October 16 & 20, 2010)

Matthew 20:28, Isaiah 53:5, 7

 

And Can It Be

(November 2010)

Lyrics by Charles Wesley, 1707-1788

 

Immortal, Invisible

(November 2010)

Lyrics by Walter Chambers Smith, 1824-1908

 

We Should Learn

(November 11, 2010)

 

Adore Him

(December 14, 2010)

 

The Shadow of the Cross

(December 16, 2010, January 13 & 19, 2011)

 

Death to Life

(January 14, 2011)

 

In Christ Alone

(February 8, 2011)

Lyrics by Keith Getty and Stuart Townend

Music by Jessica Bryan

 

Wayfaring Stranger (Arrangement)

(March 4, 2011)

 

His Eye is on the Sparrow (Arrangement)

(March 5, 2011)

Lyrics and Music by Civilla Durfee Martin and Charles Hutchinson Gabriel

 

Hiding Place

(March 20 and July 21, 2011)

 

The Lord’s Prayer

(May 2011)

 

If You Believe

(June 24, 2011)

 

It Is Well (Arrangement)

(July 18, 2011)

Lyrics by Horatio G. Spafford

Music by Philip P. Bliss

 

Oh, How I Love Jesus

(August 19 & 20, 2011)

Lyrics by Frederick Whitefield, 1829-1904)

 

A Shelter in the Time of Storm

(September 8, 2011)

Lyrics by Vernon J. Charlesworth and Ira D. Sankey

 

Shelter

(September 8, 2011)