Songwriting

Ever since I was little, music has always been a huge part of me. It has been something that has gotten me through whatever season I was in. When I was 7 years old I would listen to Mariah Carey's songs on tape. I would buy the singles because saving up for the whole album meant saving up my lunch money for 2 whole weeks (and I wasn't willing to eat packed lunches for that long). Anyway, the Singles always used to have the song on the "B" side without the words, so I would "re-write" the song with my own lyrics! HAHA! Then when I was fourteen, I wrote my very first song, one the piano, with my very own lyrics. It was for my boyfriend at the time, and went something like, "I love you with all of my heart, now I know we'll never part, you showed me the way, and to you all I have to say is that I love you, I love you, I love you....With all of my heart..." HAHAHA! The words were pretty basic and the melody reminiscent of a Brian McKnight song, but I was young and naive. Ever since then, I would write songs to express what I was feeling. Fast forward 9 years (and a few more "I love you, I hate you" songs later) I was inspired to write a song for my fiance (who is now my husband). He had no idea, but I recorded it in a studio, and played it on our wedding day. We danced to it. It was our first dance song. Fast forward 2 1/2 years later. I was very pregnant, resembling an elephant, waiting for our son to come. I wrote a song the very morning before my water broke. And that song, which I sang in my head, during and in between contractions is what got me through 10 hours of a drug-less labor and delivery.
Do I think I will be the next Alicia Keyes? Probably not. Will my songs win a Grammy? Probably not. But I am grateful that God has given me this, to enjoy. I'm glad that when I sing, when I write I can be absolutely who God has called me to be, without apologies.