(So, just in case you haven’t read the previous post, this is a short explanation of the stories behind the songs that appear on my debut album, “Home.” We’ve done songs 1-4; starting now on 5 . . .)
5) "Sacrificed": I don’t actually remember much about writing this song, except that it was made on the guitar, which I just picked up playing a few years ago. The guitar was a surprise birthday present from some good friends in Oregon, and has since been used as a blessing to both me and others. It is this guitar that I took with me to Africa and used to find the notes for the two African songs. The song “Sacrificed” is a simple poem, almost a psalm, about what Jesus gave for my sake and for yours.
6) "Home": This is the song that inspired the title of the album, “Home,” and it is an attempt to describe the reality of what a relationship with the Savior can look like. That it is possible to enjoy His presence the way you enjoy the companionship of your best friend. I think oftentimes we get distracted by the fact that we can’t see or touch God, and so we feel like we can’t really know Him. “Home” is a rebuff against those feelings. It is the result of trying to follow the words, “Delight yourself in the Lord.”
7) “Hope and Wait”: This is the song I wrote a couple days after my cousin, Scott Burkitt, was killed in a car accident late last summer. His death came as a shock to all the family, but we have come to a deeper understanding of the God who does not make mistakes and is never off in His timing. This same God is the One who does not desert us in death but welcomes all who are truly His into the place He himself made for us, the place we were made for. As Jesus said, “Do not let your hearts be troubled. Trust in God; trust also in Me. In My Father’s house are many rooms; if it were not so, I would have told you. I am going there to prepare a place for you.” I dedicate this song to Scott’s family.
8) “Lullaby”: This is another song with a dedication. Over the last few years, several close friends and sisters of mine have gone through miscarriages. I have come to realize that this is actually quite a common thing, but that doesn’t lessen the pain of it. As a girl who would in all honesty rather hold a puppy than a baby, I can’t pretend to know the pain of a miscarriage. Life is so precious, and it’s almost impossible to understand why the innocent are taken away. But our lack of understanding does not diminish the God who comes wrapped in love, even in death. This song is dedicated to Melody, Kayla, and Katie.
9) "Shatter Me": I put this song last on the CD because it is a challenge, a sort of personal application, if you will. The song gives us a glimpse into the heart’s conflict in the midst of the daily-ness of living with all its surprises, hurts, and hopes set against the command of the Lord who calls us to follow Him anywhere He leads. So often, God wants to use the very daily-ness we struggle and whimper against to draw us closer to Him. He calls it obedience; we call it surrender. But His shattering, when we truly fall on our knees before Him and allow Him to do anything He wills with us, brings about the joyful life we all so desperately long for. We can’t have it unless we will obey.
