Monday, October 22, 2007

Posted by Erin Posted on 12:54 PM | No comments

Becoming a Songwriter

Well, It has been two months, a week, and 3 days since I was last employed. It hasn't been as hard as I thought. Of corse, there have been days that have been terribly hard, but I have been learning alot, getting to see old friends, making new friends, and writing songs. I use to write songs all the time but I've been in a drought for a couple of years. But the last two months have been great for my writing. I've written three full songs, one with the help of Kelly Nall, and two partial songs. The great thing is that they are "happy" songs....most of them.

First, there is "Perfect Love"(with help from Kelly). It's about those quiet nights when you can just sit with the Lord and be in love with Him. After that one came "Come Alive". It's fairly country. It came out of reflecting on hard days of my own and of friends and taking comfort in the fact that we can find joy even in the hard days because we have been made alive in Christ. Next came a partial song about a week ago. I need to finish it. I have heard a few sermons lately about Peter going fishing after he denied Christ and when the sun rose Christ was standing on the shore waiting to draw Peter back into His love. So that is sort of what the songs is about...letting go of old habits and running into the sunrise to meet the giver of life.

And then last night I wrote a parital song that would have to be sung by a male. I decided I need to try to write songs from other people's experiences and not just my own. So that's what this is. My first real attempt at that. It's a country song...must be all those years in junior high and high school that I listened to KILT.

And right after my country song, I wrote "Fair Days". It centers around a carousel and being content to stay on the same ride all day at the fair. I really like it. It's not a "happy" song. It's a reflective song, but I think it's pretty good.

I love writing. All sorts of writing, but particularly songs. Hopefully one day something will come of my songwriting and they won't just be songs in my head and on paper. I've written about 38 songs....of which only 14 or 15 are complete. I just love it. I love that I can pick up a guitar and express my heart better than if I just try to tell someone how I feel. My guitar has been a great companion these last several weeks and I am so thankful for the free time to write.

Wednesday, October 10, 2007

Posted by Erin Posted on 7:48 PM | No comments

Becoming Teachable

The following is taken from "The inner voice of love" by Henri Nouwen.


"You have an idea of what the new country looks like. Still, you are very much at home, although not truly at peace, in the old country. You know the ways of the old country, its joys and pains, its happy and sad moments. You have spent most of your days there. Even though you know that you have not found there what your heart most desire, you remain quite attached to it. It has become part of your very bones.

Now you have come to realize that you must leave it and enter the new country, where your Beloved dwells. You know that what helped and guided you in the old country no longer works, but what else do you have to go by? You are being asked to trust that you will find what you need in the new country. That requires the death of what has become so precious to you: influence, success, yes, even affection and praise.

Trust is so hard since you have nothing to fallback on. Still, trust is what is essential. The new country is where you are called to go, and the only way to go there is naked and vulnerable.

It seems that you keep crossing and recrossing the border. For a while you experience a real joy in the new country. But the you feel afraid and start longing again for all you left behind, so you go back to the old country. To your dismay, you discover that the old country has lost its charm. Risk a few more steps into the new country, trusting that each time you enter it, you will feel more comfortable and be able to stay longer."