I’ve been in a writing mode lately.  Songwriting, anyway.  It’s really been years since I’ve focused on songwriting, and it feels really good to try and formulate thoughts, emotions, and passions into lyric phrases.

One song I’m currently working on is called “When You Stand”.  Here are the lyrics, as they stand now.

I can’t wait until this is over
I don’t think I’ll ride this out
If I can’t talk to anybody
I’ll never get my feet on the ground

So won’t you be my crying shoulder
Help pick these thorns out of my crown
Will you be there when it’s over
And pick me up off of the ground

Cause we all fall down
Yet we all know how
To point and stare and ignore what’s there
We all fall down
And we wander around
We will find our way  when we stand

So I will be your crying shoulder
I will be there till the end
I will be there when its over
You will see me when you stand

The message of the song two-fold.  First, we all go through hard times in our lives.  We all mess up, we all feel guilty, and we need each other.  Yet it is human nature for us to point the finger at somebody else when they are down and totally ignore what is going on in our own lives.

In Matthew 7, Jesus addresses this when he says, “Why do you look at the speck of sawdust in your brother’s eye and pay no attention to the plank in your own eye? How can you say to your brother, ‘Let me take the speck out of your eye,’ when all the time there is a plank in your own eye?” (Matt 7:3-4).

The second part of the song deals with how I want to respond to people around me in need.  Rather than point out a spec, I want to be an encourager.  I use the imagry of being down on the ground as opposed to standing.  I want to be the person that lifts up rather than pushes down.  The last line states, “You will see me when you stand”.  It’s saying that if you are a person in need, I want to be there for you – to go through the battle with you, and to stand up with you.  When it’s all over, and you are back on your feet, I want to be one of the people that is standing with you.

I’m almost finished with the song, and hopefully I’ll get it recorded soon.

July is going to be a busy month.  Let’s see, there is a mission trip to Denver.  I’m preaching.  Oh yeah, and Angela and I are moving 1,209 miles to Durham, North Carolina.

About a month ago, Angela finished her doctoral program at the University of Oklahoma Health Sciences Center and graduated with a Ph.D. in Microbiology.  She’s been looking around for Post-Doctoral positions for a while, and found a really great opportunity with the University of North Carolina in Chapel Hill.  She’s accepted the position, and we are getting ready to make the move to Durham, N.C.  Our house here in Oklahoma City is under contract (it sold in 7 days), and we just got back from Durham where we found a great house, and we are finalizing the contract details currently.  It looks like July 31 is going to be our last day here in Oklahoma.

Let the packing begin.

So the EP (or EP’s) is starting to come together.  I’ve got a few songs recorded.  Three, to be exact.  A pattern is starting to emerge between all of them – I’m using two main elements in the recordings.  Acoustic guitar and orchestra strings.  Since I’ve got about half or more of an EP recorded with this format, I’m planning to release one called “Strings”

So, taking a break from the musical creativity of the project, I’ve put some time into the graphic creativity and come up with a few options for cover art.

Here we go:

1.  This looks just like one of the Acoustic EP ideas I had a while back.

2.  Now we’re using some actual stringed instruments on the cover.

3.

So, which one is your favorite?