I recorded my version of “Waiting Here for You” last month. Here’s what I wrote on my facebook page earlier that same day:
“Praying that God would use the music & the lyrics to draw the “sound guys” closer to Him. That the Lord would bless my voice & the session. That the people who will be listening to & working on the recording over the next few weeks will come to an undeniable awareness of the the presence of the Holy Spirit.”
I’ve been recording once a month for almost two years and due to multiple obstacles (professional mixing, funds for licensing, duplication and distribution), I haven’t been able to do anything with the music. It appears that God is teaching me patience.
Again.
But it’s also possible that the ministry of this music is centered on the recording sessions themselves.
Every session – every MONTH, I’m blessed with a rare opportunity: To sing powerful Christian lyrics in the willing presence of 4 to 7 non-Christians – for nearly FOUR hours! The sessions are totally vocal – no band, no other vocalists, just me, singing the lyrics to the same song over and over and over again. They usually need three or four complete melody tracks and three or four tracks of each harmony. I always prepare at least two harmonies, usually more. And you can bet I don’t ever get it right the first time around, so there are lots of “punch-ins” where I have to fix a line or a word here and there. This means I sing those lyrics so many times during the session that the sound guys can pretty much memorize them. Then, they listen to the music again and again over a number of weeks as they work on mixing the song. Then the next month, I get to do it all over again, with an entirely new group of people.
How cool is that!?
I pray about every song selection, that God would lead me to choose a song that at least ONE of those people NEEDS to hear at that time in their life. I pray for the people who will be at the session, that my offering can be of some use to God as He moves in their lives.
Last month, the Lord allowed me to see (or actually, hear) that I planted a seed.
It was a late night session, from 9pm to 1am and midway through, my voice was showing signs of fatigue. We broke for 30 minutes and I drove across the street to 7-11 for some warm coffee. As I was getting out of my van, I looked two cars over and saw four of the sound guys getting out of another vehicle. One started singing my song and the others joined in.
They had the song stuck in their head and the month of mixing hadn’t even begun!
That’s a seed.
I’ve been praying that it grows.
Now I’m also praying – even if I don’t get to see any evidence of it – that my session this Friday night will result in more seeds being planted.