Gratitude. A thankful heart. A lens to view our days through, and a way of living that most of us need more practice at! God’s word tells us many times to give thanks, and it opens our hearts to recognize and wonder at His goodness that surrounds us. The songs on this album are personal expressions of worship, praise, surrender, awe and gratitude. Several of them contain the word itself, and the others concern blessings and truths that I am so grateful for. Wash Over Me Lord speaks of the pure cleansing water of the Spirit, represented in the cover photo, which also symbolizes for me, God’s life-giving Spirit pouring over and into us, and then flowing out through us – His eternal river which cannot be contained or stopped! That particular song emerged from one of the most profound personal spiritual experiences I have ever had, and it is intensely emotional for me to sing. I believe that comes through in the recording, as does the Spirit, Who so powerfully was present in the studio. All these songs have a backstory of lessons learned, inspiration given, struggles processed, and Divine words breathed. I share them with the hope that they will impact and encourage you as they have me, and with the prayer that God can use them to draw us all deeper into the Living Water and a life of gratitude.

This project was definitely a gift. Completely unexpected. And undoubtedly, orchestrated by the “Tapestry Weaver”. Everything fell into place so quickly and perfectly. And the many prayers encircling this project have been so obviously effective. There have been more than a few overwhelming moments (in a good way!) through this process, and it has been a further lesson in Gratitude

(For more details, see the earlier crowdfunding blog post!)

Once again, I am so incredibly thankful for my brother, Gene, making this possible with his financial support of much of the recording. I also appreciate contributions from others toward this album, and I am especially grateful to my husband, Dennis and our children for their encouragement and love. Always, I am humbled and in awe of what God has entrusted me with. He alone is worthy of praise.

Thank you so much to Steve for his incredible insight, musicianship, arrangements, vocals, mastering and ability to bring out the best with his easy-going demeanor and skillful studio direction. It is such an honour to work with someone of his calibre! Also, I again appreciated how Cole from Contrast Recording seamlessly handled the engineering, made the virtual recording session a breeze, and captured the vocals so well.

I am truly filled with Gratitude!!

It's DONE!!!! And I am so thrilled!  Really, it's been only a little over 3 months, start to finish, so another reason for me to be very grateful.  The official release date on most streaming platforms is April 28th, but it's available to hear on this site now.  

As I mentioned in my earlier post, I had one person guess the correct title.  So…here is a picture of me congratulating my friend, Elizabeth, and presenting her with a signed photo of the cover, a promise to send her the album download when it was ready, and a beautiful devotional by my friend, Grace Fox.  I sent off the download today, so that's taken care of!  Way to go Elizabeth!!

I will add the album notes, thank yous and credits in another post in the near future.

For now…I will just say Thank You Lord for orchestrating this whole project.  Thank you to all those who prayed with me….those prayers were so evident and effective! 

Thanks again to my brother, Gene, for making this possible, for Steve doing an amazing job, as usual, in helping me bring these songs to life, and Cole at Contrast Recording for capturing the vocals so well.

I truly hope you will be blessed and encouraged as you listen!!!

My heart is filled with GRATITUDE!!

Well, here it is - the album title is Gratitude.  Thanks again for all those who sent in their guesses.  As mentioned in my last post, several songs contain this word, and the other ones all concern blessings and truths that I am so grateful for. One song also speaks of the pure, cleansing water of the Spirit washing over us.  This picture for me also symbolizes God's life-giving Spirit pouring over and into us, and then flowing out through us - His everflowing river which cannot be contained or stopped!  And, expressing our gratitude is one way to keep the water cascading out of our lives.

I'm still waiting for the last few songs…..trying to be patient, as I so want to share them.

Stay tuned for more…will hopefully have those track clips up soon!

Hi again!  I thought it was time to do another update on the album's progress.  I was hoping it would be ready shortly after Easter, but that may have been a little too optimistic!   We're getting there, but still have half the songs in the final mastering stage.  By the time I get them and wait on the process of getting them through my distributor, it will likely be about 3 weeks (or a little less).   (If you really want to hear them a little sooner, I can provide early access with any welcome donation!)  

I am SO pleased with how the songs I've gotten have ended up, and again, I am super excited to share them.  All these songs have been born out of personal experiences and my journey growing in God's ways.  They  first speak to me, personally,  in the middle of what I am learning, and then I pray they will speak to many other hearts who will hear them, bringing encouragement, light, and maybe a little conviction.  As is typical for me, songs arise out of times of deep prayer, from being in the Word, during worship and in the middle of everyday life happenings.  I mention this in my website bio, but for me, songwriting is really how I process life.  It is therefore a reflection of what God is teaching me and all that I am learning about my own struggles to follow in His ways and be obedient to His voice.  

I am also happy to have received so many guesses at the album title!  Thanks to everyone for participating and joining in this fun little exercise.  I will give a couple more days before I post a picture of the actual cover, so you can keep guessing.  I have had one successful answer!  I was pretty surprised someone actually got it, although there were many great guesses that could have been applicable.  The picture is definitely symbolic of a general theme of the album, but is also specifically mentioned in several of the songs.  Thanks again for participating and don't hesitate to try another guess!

Here's a little more insight into this project.  I truly was not expecting this to happen at this time, but it would seem that it was God's perfect timing and opportunity.  In late December I was asked by my producer, Steve, if I was interested in doing another album.  I definitely was, but it wasn't financially feasible, at least not until a much later date.  In Mid-January, my brother informed me that Steve had contacted him, wondering if I wanted to go ahead with recording, since someone else had to postpone their project, and he would do it for a reduced price. Of course I was happy to oblige!  I am so very grateful for my brother's financial support of much of this project again - it would not happen otherwise.  

So…we went through the song-choosing process and Steve began to work on the arrangements.  We went through some interactions on those, and then he had to deal with a couple weeks of sickness, which slowed things down.  But by the 9th of March he had all the rough instrumentals done, and when we discussed going into the Saskatoon studio, and contacted Cole at Contrast Recording, it worked out so perfectly (and quickly!) for me to get in that following Monday, since I was already in the city.  We scheduled a 5 hour session, with Steve online, virtually directing everything, me in the little sound booth, and Cole at the controls getting the vocals recorded.  Having done this previously streamlined the process, and we finished capturing the 8 songs in only 3 hours!  There is  no doubt in my mind that all the prayers behind this, from many people, made the session go so well, and with such a sweet presence of God there.  The one song, “Wash Over Me Lord”, is especially powerful and personal. and there was a tangible anointing there as I sung.  A little overwhelming actually.  Steve had to keep checking if I was ok!

Anyways…this is all to say that the whole project has been orchestrated by Someone other than me!  And I am beyond thankful for God's divine hand in it all.  I truly feel these songs will draw people's hearts into a deeper spiritual walk and perhaps a renewal in their faith.

So…..stay tuned!  I am hoping to share the album cover in the next few days, followed by some track clips which you can listen to.

Thanks for joining me on this journey!

So pleased that the new album is getting closer to being completed!!  If all goes well, it should be released right around Easter.

I am really looking forward to sharing these songs with you.  They have encouraged and ministered to me, and I am praying they will do the same for all who hear them. And that they will help us all grow a little in our walk with Jesus.

Just for fun….here is a picture that is the basic background of the new CD cover. I have the real cover ready to be released, but for now…feel free to venture a guess at what the title might be.  Here's a hint…it’s a one word title.

I may have something special for anyone who gets the correct answer! (I know it’s a long shot…but you never know!😆)

Stay tuned for more updates and upcoming song previews here!  Hopefully I will have one in the next day or two!

In most things in life, there  is more to them than meets the eye.  And, like anything, until you experience it for yourself, you usually aren't fully aware of how much is involved, how much work it takes, and all the possible challenges along the way. Music creation is no different. 

To varying degrees, I have been active in making music for the past 40 years!  The early years mostly entailed writing and singing simple songs.  Then I began to share them on cassettes recorded in the most basic live sessions.  This continued for a number of years, with slowly evolving equipment and technical knowledge.  I learned from friends who assisted with this for some time, and then, as our family grew, and it became more difficult to arrange recording weekends, as well as  with changes in technology, that came to an end.  I was able to get set-up with our computer and music programs at home, so that I could record intermittently, whenever time and children allowed!  It was a huge learning curve for me, as I am not a very techie person, but with help from my brother's studio friend, I was able to learn some basics, and started recording CDs in our home.  Step by step and project by project, I have learned and grown in this, but I know I am only still scratching the surface of what these programs can do!  But…even with my limited knowledge, it has allowed me to share albums almost every year for the past 25, which I am so thankful for.  

Besides the actual recording aspect, over the years I have also faced the challenge of how to share the music with more people than just friends, family and our church family.  Once again, that has been a continuing journey of research, trial and error, and gradual expansion.  I'll admit that it has been very discouraging at times, and I've struggled with thoughts of “why bother” and “is it worth it” more often than I would like.  Alluding back to my initial statement - most people don't realize the amount of time, energy and money it takes to get your creative vision out!  As I've heard it expressed, this whole recording thing is an endless money pit!  There is always equipment and software upgrades that have to be done, which truly frustrates me.  I especially found it hard to have to purchase new interfaces simply because the software could no longer be updated or wasn't compatible with a newer system.  And, the whole process of sharing music is continually changing, so you can't just rely on what you may have learned or done in the past.  It's an ongoing challenge, BUT, the positive thing is that it causes you to keep developing your skills and knowledge, keeps you humbly seeking God for His help and wisdom, and helps you understand the range of options that keep opening up. 

I could never have imagined that simple songs of praise could be shared from my kitchen “studio” with people across the world!  It's a relatively small listening audience, but in numerous countries, I've had the privilege of expressing my heart and hearing about how it's had an impact.  To God be all the glory!  He makes a way when there seems to be none, and I continually pray that He enables me to do what I know I'm called to, and open doors where and when He sees fit, for that to expand.  I've told only a few people this before - but I truly feel compelled to share what the Lord has placed in my heart, and it troubles me that there are hundreds of songs sitting in my books that have never been heard.  I feel a bit like the servant in the parable of the talents - and I don't want to be guilty of burying what I've been entrusted with, in the ground!  I know that not every song is meant to be shared elsewhere - some are just to speak to me in a specific time for a specific need, or for some local situation - but there are others that need to be offered up.  Again, it just takes so much time and effort to accomplish this, and so I'm learning to be patient with the process and just listen to the prompting of the Spirit as to what He wants me to do, trusting His perfect timing and resources.

I will share more in a future post here about the challenges of learning to mix the recorded tracks, and how it has been SUCH a blessing (and break!) to be able to work with my producer/arranger, Steve on my first professional recording last year, and now with this new “in-the-works” release.

Stay tuned as I share this journey.  God is good, He is faithful, and He provides all we need to do what He asks of us.  I am learning that.  I have witnessed and experienced that, and I am ever grateful for His loving care and patience with me along the way.

Keep singing His praises, for He alone is worthy!