Winds of Change

With Hurricane Sandy on the move, I can hear the winds of change.  I am praying for safety for all those in its wake, and encouraged by news reports of Americans coming together to prepare for the storm. Today, my husband and I are sharing some less dramatic, but very exciting, news.  

As of two weeks ago, David and I have decided to work together in our company, Joyful Noise, Inc., full time.  This is something we have prepared for and prayed about since we got married, three years ago.  

Joyful Noise is an artist management company.  Our current offerings are twofold:
My music (CD recordings, live performances, Catholic ministry events) and Chastity Force (day-long conferences for families, promoting sexual purity as a daily commitment for all ages and walks of life.)  

For the most part, I coordinate the performances and David handles the technical, business details.  But David is also a talented drummer, vocalist, and speaker, so when he has the time to prepare, he joins me on stage.  I also pitch in with the business details by getting to know new people and then connecting them with David.

What is so wonderful about this new decision is how much time we get to spend as a family.  During the week, we usually work from home, taking turns caring for our kids.  When we travel on the weekends, we can often bring our children along.

There is some risk running our own company while raising two young children.  There is no guarantee of a steady paycheck from week to week.  But there are over 365 passages in the Bible instructing us not to fear, and to trust in God!  Could that be because God calls us to live a great (and risky) adventure every day of the year?

Receiving more than $10,000 in pledges for my Kickstarter campaign has been such a confirmation of our decision.  At the time of this blog post, there are 51 hours to go in the campaign.  We will put any additional funds toward getting this project out to the world.    

One of my good friends is in New York City right now as the hurricane blows through.  She is well prepared with all the supplies she needs, sheltered from the storm with good friends.  The whipping winds sound frightening though, even for those who are well-prepared.  

The winds of change are blowing through my family’s life.  We are prepared for full time ministry!  Thanks for your prayers and support as we move forward in this Year of Faith, trusting in God to keep our family safe and sheltered in His will.  Woo hoo!

I Shall Not Be Moved

"Blessed are those who trust in the LORD;

the LORD will be their trust.

They are like a tree planted beside the waters

that stretches out its roots to the stream:

It does not fear heat when it comes,

its leaves stay green;

In the year of drought it shows no distress,

but still produces fruit." -Jeremiah 17:7-8

Growing up, my favorite songs were African-American spirituals.  I was a daddy's girl, always following my father around the house.  He would often sing the songs handed down by his African ancestors, beginning in slavery here in the United States.  So naturally, I learned a great love and respect for this type of music.

We are not certain which part of Africa our family came from, because they were brought to this continent in chains as slaves.  Although much of our history was not preserved, the spirit of our music lives from generation to generation!  It is a spirit of hope, perseverance, and even joy in the midst of tremendous opposition.  It is the Spirit of God, eternally alive.

My new song, "I Shall Not Be Moved" incorporates one of those songs we call spirituals.  I have been blessed to perform this piece live, inviting audiences of many different cultural backgrounds to sing with me.  There is something about the melody and the history that breaks past barriers of race and religion. Lord willing, this will be one of the new songs on my new album.

The choirs from Catholic Central High School in Grand Rapids will accompany me on the vocals of this song for my new CD. We plan to team with Peter Fox of Stone House Recording to capture their 80+ voices.  To read the lyrics for this song, or to make a pledge toward my funding campaign, check out my Kickstarter.com webpage.  Just CLICK HERE!

Peace,

Amanda  

Interior Gaze

During the month of October, I am running a Kickstarter campaign to record my fifth album, “Interior Gaze.”  Over the course of this month, I am going to share the stories and lyrics from each of the 10 new tracks for this CD.  I will simply start in alphabetical order.  Towards the end of the campaign, I will recap the entire project, explaining how the "Theology of the Body" inspired each song.

Here is the background story for the title track, “Interior Gaze.” 

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When my husband David and I started dating, we committed to having a relationship founded on God.  Neither of us knew what that would look like, exactly.  So we prayed, a lot.  I prayed for protection, specifically.  I knew we needed divine assistance to keep disrespect, indifference or lust from getting in the way of our newly-found care, trust, and commitment to each other.  Little did I know, the protection I prayed for would come to surround me like a shield.

A couple months into our relationship, David and I planned to go to on a mission trip to Mexico with our youth group from Michigan.  Together, we would serve an impoverished community, and I would give a concert for their community.  Shortly before our departure, our youth director received a letter that brought our plans to a halt.

The mission director wrote about the tremendous violence taking place in their part of Mexico.  He was concerned that if I gave a public concert, my very life would be in danger.  While I was grateful that he cautioned us, my heart was heavy with this news!  I felt for their dangerous condition, and that I could do nothing to help.  

As the trip was cancelled,  David and I had a block of free time to spend together.  One of the evenings, we went to Mass and then to a Mexican dinner at our church gymnasium.  After eating delicious food, we were surprised when they dimmed the lights and announced a dance contest!  We were invited to compete.

That was our first time dancing together.  The music was upbeat and Latin-inspired.  As the judges went around tapping other couples to leave the dance floor, David and I kept dancing!  Being rather competitive, I was intent on winning our first competition as a couple.  But then I looked at David, and the expression on his face made time stand still.

The way he gazed at me was as if nothing else mattered.  He looked so content.  Somehow I understood that he was seeing me.  Not just my smile or my body, but he saw my heart.  It was that moment when I realized how much he cared about me.  While we kept dancing (tying for first in the little competition -- woo hoo!), I kept thinking about the way he looked at me.

That night, walking back to my car, I remembered my prayer for protection.  I realized God had answered by keeping us out of the violence in Mexico.  I also came to believe that the love in David’s eyes could protect my heart.  To this day, the way he looks at me with strength and care protects our relationship from the lies of insecurity or pride that try to break into our relationship.

Months after our first dance together, I learned the phrase, “Interior Gaze.”  Pope John Paul II used those words to describe the look between Adam and Eve when they first see each other in the Garden of Eden.  They saw the exterior as a sign of the goodness inside.  That look of tenderness and love can point our hearts to God.  It is the look I receive often from my husband, and one I hope to pass on to everyone I see.  With the interior gaze, we see the image of love, of God Himself, through the eyes of another.  That look of love is a comforting shield of protection against any storm.  

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To read the lyrics, visit the updates section of my Kickstarter webpage by clicking here.  Would you like to hear this song in a studio recording?  Consider backing my project by making a pledge, and please join me in praying for success in this campaign.

More Story Lines & Lyrics, coming soon.

Peace, 

Amanda

In Real Life

During the month of October, I am running a Kickstarter campaign to fund my fifth album, “Interior Gaze.” Over the course of this month, I am going to share the stories and lyrics from each of the 10 new tracks for this CD.  I will simply start in alphabetical order.  Towards the end of the campaign, I will recap the entire project, explaining how the "Theology of the Body" inspired each song.

Here is the background story for song #3, “In Real Life.”

Photo from 2008, with good friends from my childhood...including my sister!  

This August, I was a finalist in the competition, “GR’s Got Talent,” in my hometown of Grand Rapids, Michigan.  While I did not win anything, it was a great opportunity to meet other local artists.  One act stood out to me in particular.  Afterwards, I felt compelled to write a new song as the final piece for my upcoming album.  

The performer’s name was Keegan "Seoul" Loye.  He presented two spoken-word and break dance.  His first poem addressed the mistake of confining our experiences and relationships by our technology.  For instance, is there not a world of difference between hearing someone say, “I love you,” for the first time, versus receiving the same words in a text message?

I have to laugh as I write this: I am trying to describe the insufficiency of technology through a blog post!  The dynamic beauty of trust, honesty, and vulnerability makes friendship so important to write about.  That real-life experience is what makes me want to blog about it, text about it, sing about it.  In my new music, I let my heart show more than ever.  I have developed this confidence through friendship.

The friends who know me best have taught me to be bold.  Their acceptance encourages me to keep improving.  Their love shows me I can try my best, without fear of failure.  Even when I do fail, they mourn with me, and then cheer me onward.  Maybe this is why Facebook is so popular.  Who doesn’t want to be surrounded by friends?  However, true friendship takes humility.

Keegan’s poem reminded me that, while we all desire to be known and accepted, we also have a tendency to hide our true selves.  Ironically, we can hide ourselves through the very things that appear to connect us (his examples were texting and social media).  By sharing my true self through my new songs, I hope to build bridges of friendship between people of different cultures, ages, and walks of life.

I wish I could become friends with every person who reads my blog or listens to my music.  I pray we will have an eternity to get to know each other in the future.  For now, I am thankful for the people who have shared the journey with me over the years.  In my most recent composition, "In Real Life," I'm bottling the confidence they have given me through the gift of friendship.

To read the lyrics for my song, visit the "Updates" section of my Kickstarter webpage, by clicking here. Would you like to hear this song in a studio recording?  Consider backing my project by making a pledge, and please join me in praying for success in this campaign.

More Story Lines & Lyrics, coming soon.

Amanda 

Cleaning and Scrubbing

During the month of October, I am running a Kickstarter campaign to record my fifth album, “Interior Gaze.”  Over the course of this month, I am going to share the stories and lyrics from each of the 10 new tracks for this CD.  I will simply start in alphabetical order.  Towards the end of the campaign, I will recap the entire project, explaining how the "Theology of the Body" inspired each song.

Here is the background story for song #2, “Cleaning and Scrubbing.”

Our daughter, Chiara

David and I were married in the Catholic Church.  We vowed to receive children lovingly from God, and bring them up according to the faith.  True to our word, our first child was born one month after our 1st wedding anniversary.  Our second child came just 18 months later.  Without a doubt, becoming parents has been the best and most challenging adventure of our marriage.  

As a young mom, the most popular comment I receive from more experienced parents is, “They grow up so fast!”  I am not sure if I completely understand the gravity of those words yet; our children are still just babies.  However, my (almost) two-year-old son, Jamal, recently learned to sing, “All done!” when he wants me to stop hugging and kissing him.  So, I might be catching on.

In my song, “Cleaning and Scrubbing” I hope to capture the gentle blend of joy and sorrow that seems to accompany the best job in the world -- receiving children lovingly from God and raising them in the faith.  I began writing it when I was pregnant with Jamal, incorporating a nursery rhyme my mom taught me when I was little:

Cleaning and scrubbing can wait till tomorrow
Babies grow up, we’ve learned to our sorrow
So quiet down cobwebs, and dust go to sleep
I’m rocking my baby, and babies don’t keep.
-Author Unknown

After our daughter, Chiara, was born, I completed the rest of the piece.  If we receive enough preorders for my new project, I will sing this for Chiara on the album.  At home, I often tailor the words for Jamal before we tuck him in for the night.  He usually gives me an encore.  The longer I sing, the longer he can stay up!

To read the lyrics, visit the updates section of my Kickstarter webpage by clicking here.  Would you like to hear this song in a studio recording?  Consider backing my project by making a pledge, and please join me in praying for success in this campaign.

More Story Lines & Lyrics, coming soon.

Amanda