Stories Behind The Songs..
[pause/play] It is really frustrating when you feel that someone is not listening to you properly. This was written at a time when I was continually sending stuff through to my one time manager, and was waiting for his reaction, waiting for that phone call. It’s a cry to be taken seriously!
[pause/play] I can remember really clearly the turmoil of emotions when my husband first asked me to marry him. This song describes a little of that experience, but also more generally touches on the extremes of emotions I can often feel within a short space of time, from elation to despondency for example and the sometimes apparent contradiction of these emotions!
[pause/play] My husband and I spent some years touring the country speaking and singing in full time Christian ministry. At one point we were exhausted and discouraged, and whilst I was in this place, I started to think about whether God could love me any more or any less for what I was doing. I came to realise that I couldn’t make him love me any more, because He loves me completely already. This was such a revelation to me, and his unconditional love completely captivated me again. It changed my whole perspective.
[pause/play] A friend once confided that she couldn’t trust a word that her son said to her. I was really saddened by the total breakdown in this relationship, and it got me thinking about the vital component of trust in any relationship or friendship. This song seeks to remind us of this, and to challenge us to guard that trust, because once it is broken, it is so very hard to restore.
[pause/play]Some of my best friends took the verse from the Bible, Ecclesiastes 4:12 as the theme for their wedding. Perhaps despite and because of the foul wet December weather, the ceremony in a pretty drab school hall, and very glamorous wedding banquet of baked potatoes and chilli it was possibly the best wedding I have ever been to! The service was so full of love, and God’s presence was almost tangibly present, that I sought to write a song that captured what they had so movingly in their lives; That a marriage with Jesus in the centre as that third strand is far stronger than a marriage of two. This song remains special, as it became the theme song for my own wedding, and still remains the theme of our marriage.
[pause/play] I have been married long enough to know the power of temptation, and this is something that my husband and I seek to share honestly with each other when it comes our way. Joseph has always really impressed me, as he was a young gorgeous man, who had a beautiful older married woman throw herself at his feet. However, although it got him into more trouble, he ran, and did everything in his power to get away. This song is my determined expression to run whenever temptation comes knocking at my door.
[pause/play] I have moved from place to place so much in my life, and each time I have had to say goodbye to friends and family, it has been really hard. Life can sometimes feel as though it is full of goodbyes for many different reasons. Mostly when we think of heaven we have such undesirable images in our heads, that it doesn’t seem a very attractive place at all. I suddenly thought one day about the reality of no more farewells, and what a joy this will be…To live in a place where it’s always hello, and never goodbye sounds a pretty good place to me. Of course the only goodbyes will be to the suffering and pain in this world, which will make it even better and ultimately it will be time to meet Jesus face to face which for those of us who love him will be amazing!