Story behind the Song: "I Am the Lord's"

My grandma sat in her chair in the living room, looking so different from the brave, joyful, and spirited woman I have known her to be all my life. 

The woman in the chair was tired, ragged, and weak. 

She had just returned from the hospital with a diagnosis of Stage IV cancer all over her body.  I was visiting from out of town for what I figured would be my last time with her.  It was. 

When I heard she was in the hospital the week before, I sent my dad the digital file of my song, "I Am the Lord's".  I told him to play it for her because I hoped it would bring her comfort.  And I wanted her to hear some of the music I'd been working so hard on.  Just in case... 

Now, days later, she asked me gently, "How did you manage to write a song that says exactly what I'm feeling?" 

I got goose bumps, but not because I was excited that she could relate to my songwriting.  You see, I had actually written the song 5 years earlier, with no possible way of knowing the effect it would have in 2015. 

Rewind back to 2010.  I had finished reading Psalm 18 and was so inspired by King David's words.  He was constantly facing battle after battle, yet as he sought the Lord, God rescued him every time and reminded David that he was His.  I was so inspired by those words that I began to piece together a flowing melody.  I also wanted to fulfill my personal challenge of composing a song in 6/8 meter. 

"I Am the Lord's" was the resulting song and it continues to comfort and inspire me every time I hear it.  When it was time to choose material for my "Make Something Happen" project, I knew this song had to make it on there.  It felt just as relevant to me in 2015 as it had when I put it together in 2010.  And apparently, it spoke to my grandma as well. 

 

H. A. Overstreet once stated, "I have my own particular sorrows, loves, delights; and you have yours.  But sorrow, gladness, hope, yearning, love, belong to all of us, in all times and all places.  Music is the only means whereby we feel these emotions in their universality." 

I think what he was saying is that music is timeless in the way it can make us all feel.  It is just as powerful of an emotion felt by a casual listener who hears the opening lines of Beethoven's "Fur Elise" as it was when he began writing the famous melody. 

Not that I'm comparing myself to Beethoven, even remotely, but I do understand that music affects us all in some way.  That's one of the reasons I love creating it. 

When my grandma passed, one of the first thoughts that went through my head was the lyrics to the bridge of "I Am the Lord's": 

"How merciful, how merciful, that His eyes would look upon me.  Perfect my way, call me saved, so that I could bring Him praise." 

I know she would be proud of this project and would be one of the first to buy it.  "I Am the Lord's" is her anthem and testament of God's faithfulness throughout her life and into eternity. 

"He reached from above and gathered me to Him, 
He pulled me out of many deep waters, 
And gave me the shield of His salvation, 
And called me His own, 
I am the Lord's" 


- Chorus from "I Am the Lord's"

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