Unshakably

So, on November 29, 2018, the Lord Jesus led me to begin to write a new song. Now, that is not a simple task, even for a song that is home recorded, or especially for a song that is amateurishly home recorded, whatever the case may be. For, this one took four days to write from beginning to end.

And I am being led of the Lord here to share that process with you, because it is related to the message of this song and to life, in reality. So, here goes:

The Process

First the Lord leads me to write a new song. Then, I sit at the keyboard (piano) and plunk out a tune as I hear it in my head, which sometimes needs to be refined once I have it all written down. Then, I handwrite the notes down on a music score sheet. And it isn’t just that I have to know the notes to write, but I also have to know the timing and the key signature, and if the song begins at the beginning of a measure or in the middle, and I don’t always know this immediately, so I sometimes have to ask for help.

Once that is done, I pray and I ask the Lord for lyrics to go with the tune, and then he pours those lyrics into my mind, or he gives me Scriptures to read, which then he shows me how those fit with the notes to the song, and so I handwrite or I type those lyrics, which also may need some minor tweaking, from time to time.

Then is the task to decide what chords go with those notes, and I usually have to use a book and the internet to help me with that if the chords go beyond just the basics. Then, once I have the chords chosen for each song measure, I have to select how those chords will be played out in the song, either as solid chords or as arpeggios, which are “the production of the tones of a chord in succession and not simultaneously” (M-W Dict.). 

Generally, I have two base lines and then the melody line, so I have 3 lines of musical notes to write and to blend together in harmony, one with another. And that does not always work the first time around, so this process may take a lot of tweaking until the notes sound right together and the harmonies are good. And, I also have to figure out the introduction to the song, musically speaking, and how the song will end, too.

Then, I put the notes into a computer song writing software package. And there I also put in the lyrics and the chord notations, so there are quite a few intricate steps just in this process alone, which I have to remember how to do each time, which can be complicated when there are updates to software packages, and if there is a span of time in between songs.

I also have to choose the instrumentation for each of the 3 parts to the song, and computer generated instruments are not the best sounding nor is there generally a sustain pedal to blend notes together, and so sometimes it sounds like “plunk, plunk.” But it is what I have to work with and what I can afford, so that is what I use. And, so I play with the different instruments to try to find the best combination of instruments for that particular song.

Once this is completed, then the song is exported to a wav file. That is then imported into a recording package called Audacity, which has had new upgrades, and so I am still trying to learn the nuances of the changes to that. Then, I begin the process of recording the song with my old rusty voice which has definitely seen better days, but it is what I have, and so that is what I use. And, God planned it that way, too. But, I may make an error and then have to go back and fix it, and there are just all kinds of things that can go wrong with this part, too.

Also, I often find that the blend (balance) of the 3 parts does not always sound the same on the song writing package as it does once it is in Audacity, and which it is once it is saved as an MP3, so there may have to be some tweaking along the way in this process, too. So, I often have to go back and forth between the song writing package and Audacity and the MP3 until I get the right balance between parts, which doesn’t always come out perfectly.

So, now I have the song written, and I have my voice recorded with the music, and now I have to put that MP3 into a PowerPoint slide presentation, which I also had to create at some point in this process, and that has its complications, too, for that also has had new upgrades I am still getting used to, and so there is some trial and error involved there, as well. And a lot of this is just tedious organizational work, kind of like data entry, and that can get very tiring, too.

Ok, so once the MP3 is in the PowerPoint slide, I must record the MP3 into the slide presentation, and things can go wrong with that, too, which they definitely did this time, as well as I had a big problem in the writing of the song, too, on that software package, when the instrument panel disappeared and I could not get it back. 

But all throughout this I just prayed, “Lord, this is your song. So, if you want this written, I pray you will help me to solve these issues.” And one of the things the Lord had me do, too, was to ask for my husband’s help, because he was in IT for over 40 years, so he knows this stuff, or he is really good at problem solving and figuring it out, too, and I greatly appreciate his help. And he did help me solve the two big issues I had this time. So, thank you so much, Rick! 

So, once the PowerPoint presentation is completed, then it is saved as an MP4 and then it is uploaded to Vimeo which then provides me with a link to the song so that I can then share it with all of you. Whew!!

It’s About Life!

But what the Lord was showing me through this whole process is that this is a lot like life. I mean, don’t we have all kinds of processes we have to do every day, and some of them go wrong? And sometimes we don’t know what to do? And oftentimes everything we try doesn’t work and we may even feel like breaking down crying or hitting something, depending on our personality makeup or whether we are male or female.

But this is also a lot like our walks of faith, too. Everything does not go smoothly, at least for me it doesn’t. Sometimes I hit roadblocks along the way which temporarily may keep me from moving forward in a particular direction. Sometimes the things that used to work don’t work like they did before. People get angry with us. We get rejected. We get hurt. We have to work through and pray through issues. We need help. We need direction.

But not only do we need to pray and ask God for his help, instead of getting angry or afraid, but we need to call on one another and ask them for help, too, and not feel that we need to go this alone. For, we are the body of Christ because we need one another. Not one of us has it all together, and we were not intended to go it alone. So, we ask for prayer, or for counsel, or for help, because we need that, and it humbles us, and that brings us together as a body, and it helps others to feel they are needed, too.

So, instead of becoming anxious, we pray, and we ask for help, but then we allow the peace of Christ to rule in our hearts. And we keep surrendering it all to the Lord, and we keep rejecting worry and frustration, and we put on trust, faith, peace and joy, instead. 

We don’t let these roadblocks or these obstacles stand in our way or to take us out, but we pray them through and we trust the Lord with them, and with whatever it is we are hoping to accomplish. We remain steadfast in faith, unwavering, and we hold unshakably to the hope which we profess, no matter what goes wrong, and no matter what opposition we may face, because we know that our God is absolutely in control, and he has this handled. We just have to believe him, and cast all our cares on him.

Unshakably

An Original Work / November 29, 2018

Based off various scriptures

Cast your cares upon your Lord.

Come to Him

All you who’re weary.

Know that He will

Give you rest.

Take His yoke upon you

And learn from Him

And you’ll find your rest.

For His yoke is easy

And His burden’s light.

It’s His to bear.

Find the peace of Christ in heart.

Let the peace of Christ

Rule in your hearts,

And be then

So thankful. 

And, the peace of God

Which is beyond all

We can comprehend

Will guard your hearts

And your minds in Christ,

For He is Lord of all.

Hope in God will not betray.

Let us hold

Unshakably to

The hope that 

We now profess.

For the One 

Who promised hope

Is faithful to

His ev’ry word.

Therefore, with minds

That are sober,

Set your hope

On Christ’s return.

https://vimeo.com/304024613