Ghost Writer #1-Name that Tune

 Alright everyone, I have the entries for the contest, every other day I will post a New Ghost writer Entry. The writers are anonymous to encourage those who are to shy to write!  Hope you all enjoy this entry! :)

Maybe I’m aging myself a bit with that title, but when I was a kid we used to play Name that tune. You would hum or whistle the tune to a song and then everyone would have to guess which song it was.

I am not typically a person who listens to music. I like to spend my time thinking and hearing my thoughts and processing the world around me, so music is mainly something I listen to while I drive. However this past week I was at a restaurant and I heard a song that I had not heard in a long time and I turned to the person I was with and said..”This was a favorite song of mine” it was Annie Lennox Walking on Broken Glass. As I listened to the words I thought to myself she is singing about being hurt in a relationship and so the song goes and it got me thinking about why that song had been such a favorite to me. Before I gave my life to Christ, I was someone who relied too heavily on the attention and love of others to fulfill the gap in my heart that only God would be able to fill.

Sometimes I hear a song and it takes me back to a specific time in my life. Whether the memory is one I care to hold on to or not, a song can take me there right away Smiliar to the way Vanilla Fields takes me straight to Grade 9. I can find myself with a smile growing or tears rolling down my face all depending on the song that is playing. Have you ever felt as though your life is an album of music, compiled into chapters of your life like a juke box?

My soundtrack is inspired by so many different genres of music, which is funny for a person who has no real interest in music.  SO here is what came to mind:

Pop goes the world: would take me to the first Christmas I can remember as a child. It was playing in the background while my sister and I played with her kitchen set. I can remember the smells, conversations, and most of all the feeling of family & connection. That was also the year my brother told me about Joseph & Mary & baby Jesus. He had made a craft and we used to play with the people under the tree.

Matchbox 20- 3am takes me to middle school, sitting in my friends room after school and talking about whatever it is 14 year olds talk about.

All for one- I swear. The song I requested on Pillow Talk Radio AM 640 to a boy in my grade 8 class. Let’s just say that’s a horrible memory.

Toni Braxton-My first Heartbreak CD. I was sitting beside the creek near my house feeling every lyric as though Toni & I were feeling the exact same pain. Un-break my heart….. lol

Tony Rich project-Next heart ache song….

Shy Guy- no idea who sings it….but yeah that was in there too…

Tea Party, Green Day & Smashing Pumpkins- These were the artists I related to as a teenager. I was angry and melancholy in my youth. I felt misunderstood and lonely. I was at a concert surrounded by thousands of people and yet I felt like a single tree amongst a forest. I closed my eyes and the lyrics would relate with my heart. Music is like that for me. It’s a powerful tool of influence but it is also the very channel that helps me cope with things in my life. Perhaps that is why I eventually clung to country.

Alan Jackson is able to take me straight into the end of my teens and right up to my salvation, Country music taught me to soften my heart. I learned an entirely different culture and way of life through this genre of music.

As much as angry rock music was my way of coping while living alone and dealing with an array of confusing situations in my life, I came across Sarah McLaughlin, her and I shared a moment with one of her CD’s. It was her album that God spoke to me through to show me that my life without Jesus was headed nowhere. “How stupid can I be”…… He broke me down with her music and made a place in my heart that was ready to welcome him in.

Daughters-John Meyer- Well let’s just say that song had much to do with God grasping my heart and confirming that he knew what I needed to hear.

When I got saved some of the songs or artists that moved me into the next chapter of my life were: Jacki Velasquez and some compilation CD a brother made for me.

Chris Tomlin was the artist who basically formulated the songs that brought my husband and I together.

You & I were made to worship…..

It’s funny to me that I have no proper appreciation for music individually. I don’t buy cd’s typically. I have the radio. The variety & Variation are something that I need. I’m not someone who can be conformed to a box or a narrow way of thinking. I need to allow my mind to experience the world around me. The smells, scents and sounds of life. Those moments were the stepping stones to working my heart to a place where I could hear from God. It’s strange to me that it’s through music I was prepared for his word, even though I am not a musical person and would much prefer sitting in silence then ever turning on a radio or cd.  

God is able to use any form fitting to him to reach us. So next time I play name that tune….The song is Jesus lover of my soul- answer: October 15^th 2004