A few months ago my wife and I decided we were going to take a vacation trip in October to visit my family and see my Grandson, Preston. Part of the trip is going to include spending some time with my Grandmother who has not been in the best of health recently. She has always been a big supporter of my music, and as a special gift for her I decided I would record a music project with music I use to lead church Worship services with.
As I prepared to start the project I looked into various ways to make it better and more listenable. Although I own some recording equipment, and every instrument short of a drum set, I wanted this to be special. So I started out with some rhythm tracks. These are backup music tracks that are minus a few parts and you add in what you want to do the instrumental accompaniment. It didn’t take long for the musical perfectionist to kick in and see that “yes” I can do this, but “no” it’s going to take longer than I have.
So then I started looking for studio accompaniment tracks. Now I know what you’re thinking, Karaoke. Well, there are some Karaoke tracks out there, but what I was looking for was the truest representation of the original studio soundtracks. That was harder to find than I anticipated as well. But I did find “some not all” of what I was looking for.
So the session began. The first night was horrible. I sectioned off a small area in my house between the master bedroom and bathroom area with blankets and towels to deaden the sound. I used my trusty SHURE Beta 58 microphone instead of my low impedance studio microphone. The end result was horrible. I struggled and strained with every line trying to make the music sound right. It wasn’t because of the microphone, but because I was trying to just “sing” this music that I have so long used to praise God our Father in heaven. And it sounded like it in every note.
I realized at that point that this may not come to fruition at all. So I took a couple of days to pray over it. I realized that the place I am the most comfortable in spite of the acoustics is my office. So I went to Home Depot and picked up some sheets of styrofoam. I padded the wall areas and only window in the office with it. I then put foam insulation around the door where it would barely shut. And the final thing was I draped a blanket across in front of me with a picture of a Jack Russell on it (reminding me of my dog Pete).
My next attempt at recording was much better. Not because there was an ounce of improvement in the room but because I had invited God to be a part of what I was doing. It became a Worship experience for me. I closed my eyes just as I have done hundreds of times before in church, and just sang my heart out to God. Although it wasn’t human perfection, it was as authentic of Worship as I could give.
Then, two weeks into the project, I was involved in an automobile accident. It was a full attack on my spiritual life, my physical life, and my psychological life. But I continued to pray to God for strength and courage to face the events that occurred. I asked the Lord to relieve this burden on my heart and mind, and give me the peace I needed to finish this project.
Within a couple of days, it was moving forward relatively quick. I realized that this recording project wasn’t as much about the gift I wanted to give my Grandmother, but about restoring the faith in God that has been so much a part of my life over the past 12 years. So I backed off some of the wild ideas and anxieties I had, and decided that what God really wanted was for me to use this as a way not only to restore my faith and heal myself, but give others a way to achieve restoration in their lives as well.
So yesterday, even with a head cold, I added what is to be the final two tracks of this project. No, they weren’t contemporary worship songs. One is bluegrass and the other a southern rock ballad. But both have a distinct spiritual message. Were they perfect? No. But they were raised in christian excellence to our Lord and Savior.
This story started out about me doing a music project. But in reality, it speaks true for every single thing we do in life. God wants us to seek Him in all things. We worship Him by our actions, by being hard and obedient workers, and by glorifying Him in everyday tasks. Seek Him in the hard stuff. Seek Him in both the good times, and the bad. He is there in all things. Praise Him for the small things in life, not just the big stuff. Praise Him in tough situations, that He kept it from not being worse. Give Him Glory for all we have and all we are. In Jesus name, Amen!
Psalm 66:2-20
2 Sing the glory of his name; make his praise glorious!
3 Say to God, “How awesome are your deeds! So great is your power that your enemies cringe before you.
4 All the earth bows down to you; they sing praise to you, they sing praise to your name.” Selah
5 Come and see what God has done, how awesome his works in man’s behalf!
6 He turned the sea into dry land, they passed through the waters on foot— come, let us rejoice in him.
7 He rules forever by his power, his eyes watch the nations— let not the rebellious rise up against him. Selah
8 Praise our God, O peoples, let the sound of his praise be heard;
9 he has preserved our lives and kept our feet from slipping.
10 For you, O God, tested us; you refined us like silver.
11 You brought us into prison and laid burdens on our backs.
12 You let men ride over our heads; we went through fire and water, but you brought us to a place of abundance.
13 I will come to your temple with burnt offerings and fulfill my vows to you—
14 vows my lips promised and my mouth spoke when I was in trouble.
15 I will sacrifice fat animals to you and an offering of rams; I will offer bulls and goats. Selah
16 Come and listen, all you who fear God; let me tell you what he has done for me.
17 I cried out to him with my mouth; his praise was on my tongue.
18 If I had cherished sin in my heart, the Lord would not have listened;
19 but God has surely listened and heard my voice in prayer.
20 Praise be to God, who has not rejected my prayer or withheld his love from me!
