The heavens are telling of the glory of God/ The moon the stars, the sun, declaring what He’s done/Day and night, night and day, without words they say, they say as the champion His ways:

The Law of the Lord is pure/His testimonies sure/By them is Your servant warned/In keeping them great reward/The Word of the Lord is true/His commandments old, yet new/Sweeter than honeycomb/Giving life to the soul

Still who can know the whole of their wayward soul? Forgive my hidden faults and keep me from all wrong/May these words and these thoughts be pleasing to you oh God/My God, my Redeemer and my Rock

The Law of the Lord is pure/His testimonies sure/By them is Your servant warned/In keeping them great reward/The Word of the Lord is true/His commandments old, yet new/Sweeter than honeycomb/Giving life to the soul

I’ve seen Your grand design/I’ve seen Your Law give life/For the Word that saves is none but Jesus Christ/ The eternal Son to rise/Fulfilled in Him we find

The Law is pure!/His testimonies sure!/Making the simple wise/Illuminating the eyes/His Word is true!/ Forever old, yet new/ The Law of the Lord is life evermore!/It’s pure and true! Sure and new!/Sweeter than honeycomb/Giving life to the soul

So, this is a Psalm 19 song. I’ve always been so intrigued by Psalm 19. Why would a psalmist combine his wonder at the heavens and His adoration of the law in the same Psalm?

Well, the biggest discovery I made while studying this Psalm and then writing the song was this train of thought: Creation tells of God’s glory. But, it does so in such a way that we see it (and should acknowledge it – Romans 1). The Law reveals God’s glory – and we get to experience pieces of this as we follow it and learn how to live. And, God would get all the glory if those existed and we weren’t drawn to Him – but, as it is: He uses those to draw us to him! Wow!

This song will go on an album I am putting together from the Psalms, and on that album I aim to reveal the truth that every Psalm finds its fulfillment in Jesus. This Psalm was baffling me until a friend pointed out that it was so interested to see that the Law gives life and refreshment in this Psalm, but Paul describes the Law as bringing death. But, it is the fact that we can’t follow the law that brings death – if we could we would have life. But, enter Jesus. The fulfillment of all the Law on our behalf. He is the Word of the Lord that refreshes the soul, brings light to the eyes, wisdom to the simple, etc.

It was so refreshing to be steeped in this good word that the Law of the Lord is HIS GOOD for us, not just some check list we have to try to maintain. And when we cannot maintain it, praise be to our God and Father who provided His Son to maintain it for us.

Amen and amen!

Our Father in heaven, hallowed be Your Name/We bow in reverence for Your ways are not our ways/May Your kingdom come and Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven/And teach us today, our Lord, to pray, as our Savior prayed

Our Father in heaven, give us our daily bread/Your Word is our manna here in this wilderness/May our hungry souls learn to feed upon the Source of Life everlasting/As we trust Your will is to fulfill our deepest longings within

Our Father in heaven, forgive us our debts/As we forgive our debtors their trespasses/ May the depths of our Savior’s love for us incline our hearts towards repentance/And forgiven much may our response be to love like Him

Our Father in heaven, lead us in the right way/Lest our temptations entice us to stray/May the evil never overcome our Savior’s deliverance/ For Yours is the kingdom, the power and glory, forever Amen

I finished this song about a year ago and realized I needed to get it on the blog. It is the only hymn type song I’ve ever written and I can actually now say of one of my songs: it belongs in a worship setting.

I wrote this after attending a retreat where we focused on the Lord’s Prayer all weekend. The prayer, to be honest, was always very rote memorization for me. I learned it when I was young, and, depending on what church you attend, you may say it weekly! Because of that, it had gotten to the point that I didn’t think about the words I was saying – at least not very much.

After that retreat, I realized I wanted to write a song, and I had the opening line to the first verse, but even before the first verse ended, I realized I wanted it to be a hymn where every verse began with “Our Father, in heaven…” because that would remind me that each part of it is the Lord’s Prayer, and I can think of each piece of this hymn as I recite the Lord’s prayer: that He is in control of all things and we are to continually as for His will to be done. We are to be in a constant state of recognizing our need and dependence for His providence. We need to confess our sin, and be willing to recognize that confess and acceptance of His forgiveness should spark in us the response of forgiveness towards others. And, finally, in our struggle against evil, we should remember He is victor and rely on His power alone.

So much thought and Holy Spirit inspiration through His Word and His people went into this hymn and I’m privileged to sing it, and share it with you!

Felt the sadness like heavy rain/Saw it coming from miles away/Started running for the sun’s warm rays/But the rain overcame

What a silly thing/To think that I could outrun a storm/When inside of me/The lightning flashes and the thunder rolls/Long before a tear hits the floor

Are my emotions like ocean waves?/Ebb a moment to surge again/I tried to balance but the water’s to my waist/And the waves displace me

What a silly thing/To fear the feelings I cannot control/Who, by worrying/Can add an hour to the ocean’s calm/Or circumvent the dark night of the soul?

Awaken me in the garden /To pray with Thee through my sorrows/My flesh is weak, yet my spirit longs to be/A spirit of expectancy

Awaken me in the garden /To pray with Thee through my sorrows/My flesh is weak, yet my spirit longs to be/Willing to grieve 

Felt the sadness like heavy rain

Everyone has to write a sad song now and again, right? I think what makes this song interesting is that typically I (or I think other songwriters too) write sad songs in the midst of what they are going through. This song came more at the tail end of a season of sadness that had been about a year and a half long. Life circumstances had left me feeling lonely, and, quite frankly, I cried about it a lot. A few times to others, but most often by myself.

The first part of the song was written in the midst of the season, but I found I couldn’t write the rest of it. And, upon making my way out of that season, I found that on my way into the season, so much of my energies were focused on trying to not go down those roads. What I am about to say, I hope no one takes the wrong way and tries to dive into unwanted emotions (I think we are called to be joyful people!) But, I also think some things are meant to make us sad. God mourns over the hurt His people cause and the hurt His people go through. Jesus wept. And, Jesus, our forerunner and perfect example of living with all of these human emotions, did not try to circumvent them or the circumstances God the Father called Him to walk through. He saw the joy on the other side and endured both the circumstances and the emotions with them. Hence, the most powerful imagery in the song above is considering Jesus, in the garden, alone. He had asked his disciples to pray, and they fell asleep. Not only that, but he knew they’d abandon him in just a few hours. Yet, He chose the Calvary road.

If He can choose the Calvary road out of obedience to the Father, then certainly with the Spirit’s help we can choose to enter into seasons of sadness with grace. (The truth is, mourning will happen either way, most likely, whether we are trying to avoid it or not). And, we can place ourselves in a place of expectancy, like Jesus. We can choose to believe that the Father will deliver us out of it (even if by painful means), and He will use it for Christ’s glory and our good.

I pray that if/when this song is released, it can minister to your spirit too. Many blessings 🙂

Further Up, Further In

Lord, remember David and the oath that he swore from his throne/He said: “Why should the God of Jacob dwell in a tent while I’ve a palace of stone?/ No, I will not lay my head ’til my God has a place for His Spirit to rest!”/And so now within walls built my human hands, will You make Yourself a home?

Arise and come to us, Oh Lord our God/Inspire within our hearts this antiphon/”Come now in trust and in Spirit/Come worship our God where He is/Come further up, come further in”

Lord, for the sake of Your servant, remember the promise You made/You said, “If your sons keep my covenant, forevermore they shall reign”/Yes, light a lamp for David ’til all generations behold Your Anointed One/Lifted high upon Zion’s mountain bringing an upside down kingdom

Arise and come to us, Oh Lord our God/Inspire within our hearts this antiphon/”Come now in trust and in Spirit/Come worship our God where He is/Come further up, come further in”

We hear the music beckon to all who long to worship You/’Til not one was found within these sacred rooms/But now the chorus swells again for Your temple put on flesh/To seek out all those who could not enter in/So, let us follow Him/Further up and further in!!

Arise and come to us, Oh Lord our God/Inspire within our hearts this antiphon/”Come now in trust and in Spirit/Come worship our God where He is/Come further up, come further in”

So, this song is somewhat of a nerdy one. It is written from Psalm 132. Highly suggest you take a quick read! This psalm is a psalm of ascent. Jew would have sung it as they walked up to Jerusalem for their feasts. It is a Psalm commemorating David’s vow to the Lord to build Him a house, and the Lord’s returning covenant promise to build for David an everlasting house (of sorts…to build His family house). From David would come the promised Messiah. This Psalm also focuses on temple worship and God’s blessing to come to Zion’s mountain, the temple, Jerusalem, and all God’s people.

This Psalm is actually the first time I fell in love with how beautiful and interesting the Bible is. Verse 6 says, “We heard it in Ephrathah, we came upon it in the fields of Jaar.” What did they come upon? Words of praise calling God to visit His people and His people to worship their God in Jerusalem. Well, I found it interesting that Ephrathah is a region that I recognized: Bethelehem Ephrathah is the region David is from, and where our Savior was born. The fields of Jaar? This is where the house of Abinadab the priest was, where the ark was kept for a time? My mind was BLOWN when I realized their song called people from where the Presence of God was (the ark’s resting place before Jerusalem) and where the Presence of God would be (Jesus born in Bethlehem) to where the Presence of God is (at the that time, Jerusalem). Wow. [Side note: it also could be calling from where both the priestly line and kingly line where from and uniting them in Jerusalem, which Jesus also did. But like I said, super nerdy!]

However, that always blew my mind. I wanted to write a song about it, but it took a long time to take shape. And, it is hard to get that main idea across when in the current age of the New Covenant with no earthly temple – the Presence of our God is accessible all the time, to anyone who comes to Him through Jesus. Although, I think we could still stand to listen to the call to come into His Presence, because how often do we actually realize we have that privilege?

So my song became: “Inspire our hearts with this antiphon!” Antiphon is a song or a chant that is sung antiphonally, which means, call and response, or in a round. We want to continue to spur each other on to seek His Presence and come before Him. I believe that is also what the original song was doing when the Jews sang it on their way to Jerusalem – they were also beckoning the Lord to draw near.

The bridge speaks to Jesus. He is very evident in the Psalm, as the end references David’s descendent that will come triumphant and dwell in Zion. But, I have to imagine that for much of Jewish history, they were traveling to a Jerusalem where the temple was not in its former glory, it was occupied by enemies, or it was completely torn down. Where could the Jewish people go to encounter the Presence of the Lord?

When Jesus came, he said of Himself, “Destroy this temple, and I will raise it again in three days.” He is the temple. He is the Presence of the Lord among us because he was fully divine. When love for the Father waned and the temple was full of false worship and there was none left to sing His praise, Jesus came and sought out His worshippers. Those in John 4 that he says “will worship Him in Spirit and in truth” and location doesn’t matter. We can follow His lead in what it looks like to worship the Father, anywhere.

To wrap up, I think we still have “somewhere to go” in our worship of God, it just may not be physically moving to another space! We have so much to learn about repentance and humility as well as what right exaltation of God looks like. So, hence the call to “come further up and further in.” Was that stolen from C.S. Lewis’s “The Last Battle”? Absolutely. But, they were also in search for the true Presence of their Savior.

There is a lot of layers there, but I hope it is nicely wrapped up in a song that shows Jesus to be the fulfillment of the Psalm!

At the end of a dead end road that the fears of the past are chasing us down/ No escape to the left, right, front or back/Yet our God has given us no reason to doubt/And he won’t start now

Behold the salvation of our God/ Be still and know He is our deliverance/Then rise up and be strong as you say to your anxious heart/Oh, oh, oh, oh, behold the salvation of our God

Paralyzed inside a room with no windows/But no lock on the door can keep our the grief/Did we witness the death of our only hope?/Or does blood in the ground water the seed that resurrects beginnings?

Behold the salvation of our God/ Be still and know He is our deliverance/Then rise up and be strong as you say to your anxious heart/Oh, oh, oh, oh, behold the salvation of our God

The Red Sea/The Upper Room/No way yet, but yet a way through/To the promised land/To the empty tomb/Our God, is there nothing You can’t do?

Behold the salvation of our God/ Be still and know He is our deliverance/Then rise up and be strong as you say to your anxious heart/Oh, oh, oh, oh, behold the salvation of our God

So, I was listening to a podcast about the exodus a few months ago, right before I released Album #3, on a Sunday morning. While I was in the shower that morning, most of this chorus came to mind, and I remember leaving for church thinking, “I hope that becomes a song, it’s pretty cool!” It is definitely very poppy, as I was producing a lot of similar music at the time, so it was catchy.

When I came home, it was still in my head and I started writing the first verse. And even though I don’t mention the Red Sea or the Exodus in verse 1, it is my hope that that is where the listener’s mind goes. I was trying to capture this moment of: what happens when we trust God and we think things are going a certain way, but all the sudden, following the path God has us on, we encounter a dead end. That is certainly what happened to the Israelites. It made me think of comparing it to the disciples after the crucifixion, but before the resurrection. Surely they knew they were following the Son of God, the Messiah, as Peter had exclaimed. But, now what? He’s dead. If He is still actually the Son of God, what does that mean for us? What are we supposed to do…where are we supposed to go? So, I took those two ideas and morphed them into one song. The disciples are verse 2, but I let you know that those are the places that you’ve been sitting the whole time in the bridge 🙂

The chorus comes from Moses’ words to the Israelites before they saw the way through the sea. (Exodus 14:13-14) “Moses answered the people, ‘Do not be afraid. Stand firm and you will see the deliverance the Lord will bring you today. The Egyptians you see today you will never see again. The Lord will fight for you; you need only to be still.'”

The podcast mentions that this is the first place in Exodus that the word for salvation is used. Joshua (and then Jesus) are both forms of that word. “The Lord saves”. So, behold the salvation of our God, both then and now! Hope you enjoy it!

In Between

36 and 17/Stuck somewhere in the in between/I’ve been holding out, not slowing down/I’ve been trapped inside/A ticking time bomb called my life/Cut the wires, oh, I’ve tried, but I’m locked inside

Strike a math and watch the time burn away/Counting years and watching my dreams fade

I can’t tell wait I’m afraid of/All I know is I don’t want to wake up/20 years down the road unable to trust Your love when I don’t have what I want

I’m in overdrive/Took the left lane to save some time/Now I can’t stop passing my life by with my foot to the floor

Hit the gas and watch the miles illuminate/How far I am from the plan I had made

I can’t tell wait I’m afraid of/All I know is I don’t want to wake up/20 years down the road unable to trust Your love when I don’t have what I want

What I want/But what do I want?

Will I still be here at 36 years of age still keeping score of all the people who have what I want, but oh, I want so much more/ Don’t want to be left here chasing the wind again/ I just want to be content/Whatever that means, wherever that is/Will you hold my heart until then?/Will you teach me how to press in?

Will you hold my heart until then?

Will you teach me how to press in?

So, this song is the last blog about the album A Fork in the Road that will release 3/23/23!! It wasn’t the last recorded, however. I feel like the story of its being recorded and the writing of it are both significant, but I’ll focus on the writing process. But, if you want to hear the other story, let me know. God’s hand was clearly in the recording process too!

If you know me, most of you know I’ve been in several weddings. Seven, actually. The first round of weddings took place after college and all my college friends were getting married. That is when I originally penned this song – the first verse and the beginning of the chorus are from that time. The idea behind the song was overall this feeling of being “left behind,” so to speak. All my good friends were having this experience, and I wasn’t. But, I was still 25 after all, and I trusted God with my future, so I wrote the song and was able to tuck a lot of the “why not me?” questions away and just keep moving on.

Then, two years ago, I was in another round of weddings after meeting several of my dear friends in STL through Bible study (BSF). This time, I’m processing some of the same thoughts…but it has been 8, 9, 10… years later. And sometimes waiting makes it harder to trust God. I’m thankful that there are stories in Scripture where others had to wait (Abraham, Jacob, the whole Israelite people..) and perhaps not all waited well. I still hope God creates in me a pattern of waiting well, but I’m thankful that moments of impatience don’t disqualify us from His care and love. (Thank you Jesus!)

So, the chorus used to read “I can’t tell what I’m afraid of. All I know is I don’t want to wake up 20 years down the road to find I haven’t changed at all. 20 years down the road and still the same.” Which, this is still true. And the first time I wrote it, it was from the perspective of: “I really hope my life circumstances change, and I’m not feeling like the only one left out, etc.” But this time around, realizing that not many of my circumstances had changed much, and I don’t feel like it is in my power to change them (I think it’s in His), I had to ask myself, what do I really want to change?

Several good friends let me talk over these lyrics with them, and I believe it was their help that led to some of the best lyrics. (And the Lord’s work through them, of course!) As I was mulling over these thoughts, God was gracious to show me that what I am really afraid of is losing trust in His goodness and the goodness of His sovereign plan for my life even after all this waiting. Because I felt like after more time had gone by, I should have a surer faith, not a weaker one. But, it certainly feels like it is a weaker one. So, the song tried to capture my desire to still want a trust in the Lord despite undesirable circumstances. The words were turned to “I don’t want to wake up 20 years down the road unable to trust Your love when I don’t have want I want.” Which is so true. I want my desires to be transformed to His desires, but even if those aren’t met, I still want to trust His love.

And, the end of the song turned from “I just want to be content, whatever that means, wherever that is keep my heart and my mind open” to ” I just want to be content, whatever that means, whatever that is, will You hold my heart until then? Will you teach my how to press in?” Because I want more than a heart open to possibilities – I want a heart that is seeking His will, His good gifts, His gifts of fulfillment and contentment, even when it is hard.

End of story is – whatever you are facing and waiting on God’s timing for, I hope when this song comes out, you will roll the windows down and sing with me that you long for the comfort of our God.

The most 80s song coming to the new record A Fork in the Road:

Hearts and Mountains

Feel so helpless on my own/This worthless heap of flesh and bone/Try to raise up broken souls for You/But, I find I’m broken too

Oh, I’ve given all I have/Could it be that I’ve got nothing left/This heart, a rock, a stone, immovable/But, God, with you nothing’s impossible

I just want to move hearts, not mountains, Lord/But I can’t do either/ All this motion needs faith that I don’t have/ Make me a believer in what I can’t see/’Cause I want to believe, yeah

Want to see a people on their knees/I’m finding out that “people” starts with me/ My heart’s afraid to break, but it’s then You make the change/It’s then my doubts begin to fade away

I just want to move hearts, not mountains, Lord/But I can’t do either/ All this motion needs faith that I don’t have/ Make me a believer in what I can’t see/’Cause I want to believe, yeah

I’m becoming more certain of what I don’t yet see/ I’m becoming more sure of what I hope and dream

I just want to move hearts, not mountains, Lord/But I can’t do either/ All this motion needs faith that I don’t have/ Make me a believer in what I can’t see/’Cause I want to believe, yeah

So, this song I wrote a few years into my teaching and it has become the favorite of many of my Christian coworkers. It gets at the heart (ha! pun intended) of what we feel a lot of time. We want to make a difference that matters! But, how often does trying harder on our own strength fail? And, I find that most often my struggle is having a lack of faith. I truly want to believe that God can draw students’ hearts to Himself, but when I don’t see it, I lose faith.

So, this is a song about wanted to see God move, and acknowledging, like the father in Mark 9, “I do believe! Help my unbelief!” So, this is a call that not only do I want things to change for others, but I want to be different too!

This was the first song recorded for A Fork in the Road album, and it really set the stage for the whole album to be a fun, poppy album! My friend Lorna had to wait two albums to be on this one because it wasn’t Old Testament, but I’m glad it is produced and on this album, and for her (and others) excitement about it!

I’m about to go down and finish up recording for album 3, Lord willing! I have recently received back the final cuts from the songs I did back in August, and let me tell you: they are AWESOME! Since one of them hasn’t been a blog post yet, I figured I should get it up here!

Here is the story behind my song Strong in Love:

I have a good friend, who also happens to be my sister-in-law’s sister. No blood relation but we call each other our “sister-kind-of.” Several years ago, she had a friend tell her, “You know, you are too soft. You need to not be so innocent, so loving…it’s going to get you in trouble.” Now, my sister-kind-of is about the sweetest person anyone could meet! And, Jesus does say to be shrewd as snakes and as innocent as doves. Our God is not about people being stepped all over. However, that advice was quite offensive to me. This is because I believe love is the strongest force/power there is. That is because God is love. I’m not talking about romantic love, or love is love, or any of that. I’m talking about the force that sees through our mess, loves the unlovely, and finds a way to redeem. I think each of us, no matter our place in life or vocation, can agree it is actually harder to love than to hate. It is harder to respond in patience and compassion than to lash out. As a high school teacher – this is my experience. It is far harder to love the unlovely. It would be much easier to walk away.

Yet, this is what our God means by love. A love that never fails, never quits, because it is inspired and empowered by the only love that can do that – the love of Jesus.

So, I decided back then I wanted to write a song for my sister-kind-of to remind her that she is not soft, she is strong, as she loves well with the love of Jesus, and now it is a really hype song! I’m thankful God gave it to me and is allowing to be produced!

Strong in Love

Why is faith seen as weakness? When its harder to stand up for what you believe in than to sit down and join the crowd/Why is love seen as softness?When its harder to keep giving second chances to the masses, I am asking

Who said hate was stronger than love?  Who said faith isn’t enough?

There was a man, He had enough faith to reach Calvary/He walked the road for me/In His love, He is strong, strong enough to brave the tree/Crucified for victory

So be strong but strong in love/Only love can endure what’s been done and what’s to come/It conquers all/What more can I say? It’s by faith alone and not by my strength I keep moving on/I will fall, but He’s standing

Who says hate is stronger than love? Who says my Savior isn’t enough?

There was a man, He had enough faith to reach Calvary/He walked the road for me/In His love, He is strong, strong enough to brave the tree/Crucified for victory

We’ll see Him/He’s seated/Up on the glorious throne/On bended knee, all tongues sing/Faithful He reigns on  and on and on and on

What is this? What’s it like? This little taste of heaven left here by design/It’s abundant, but to my surprise, I can’t hold it for more than one day at a time

How can I know how much is right?/ Will I ever need more than what You’ve said You will supply?/As I gather it up at first light, I pray for the faith to trust You always provide

For to take and eat this sacred feast/Is to taste and see all I need/It’s to grow in gratefulness and to find Your faithfulness/Like manna in the wilderness

Do we hunger so that we know what it feels like to live on more than bread alone?/ For every word You have spoken sustains the life of each delighting soul         

From the garden through the desert sands/To the shores where You fed thousands/Lest I wander to what won’t last/Create in me a hunger for Living Bread/The Living Bread that came from heaven

I mixed it up this time and started with the lyrics instead of the story. One of my favorite memories of this song was playing the first verse (all I had written at the time) for a friend without any context. While they were listening they exclaimed, “This has to be about manna, right? That would be SO cool! Because manna means ‘what is it?'”

And yes, it was about manna. Over the last year, I’ve done a lot of big picturing pondering. A lot of friends in my life have “moved on” from where I am, so to speak. I’m still living that single life, and they are all married, having kids, etc. Sometimes I find myself telling God, “this would be so much easier if you would just let me know long term. Do I have to wait 5 years until my life “changes”? Will it never “change”? (I put quotes because our lives are always changing, I just fail to see that sometimes).

But, God doesn’t give me that 5 year assurance. He says, “trust me for today.” And then the next day, “trust me for today too.” And that’s just like manna. They weren’t allowed to collect food for a year, or a month, or a week, just a day.

And as I wrote the song, I was struck by the passage in John where it talks about how Jesus is the living bread from heaven. The Israelites ate the manna, yet they died. But, Jesus comes to offer us something greater. So, yes, I need God to provide my daily sustaining grace, but what I need most is the Giver Himself.

Easy to say. Hard to live into and acknowledge.

But, now I have a really nice ballad that encourages my heart to do so even when it is hard!

Sitting here in studio on August 9th, 2022! Starting to record this song! With three days in studio, and this in the middle – this is a blast! I will say, it is interesting to record a song that was 6 months old, and then start on this one which is 10 years old!

This song is one of the only songs I have written that doesn’t have much personal connection at the time it was written. It is a song about the transition that happens as one becomes a believer in Christ. As the gospel of John says: Everyone stays in the dark for the fear of their deeds being exposed. But, there is freedom in exposure and forgiveness. And, although I do identify with this song, I wrote it years after I would identify with the experience. It was written because of several students that I have interacted with – how they so clearly wanted to live without their lives exposed. However, they (we all) still feel such shame over them, even if they are hidden. That is not an accident. The Lord knows that it is not the way to live in freedom, grace, and goodness. But, once we experience that shame, we don’t think we can ever make it out. Which, we can’t on our own. That is the beauty of Jesus’ sacrifice. He takes on Himself the punishment, wrath, shame, humiliation and allows all who confess Him as Savior to walk into the freedom of new life.

That is what is song is about, and I’m going to let these lyrics speak for themselves!

Unashamed

Living life in the dark was a promise of freedom/Could do what we wanted, with no one to see us/I don’t  need a mirror to know what I’ve become/One look inside me would reveal a heart of stone

Such a lonely existence, longing to see the sun/Just want someone to notice, who won’t care what I’ve done/Look into my eyes and see me/The real me

Is there light out there somewhere, I haven’t found it yet/Is there Hope out there that someday, I can enter inCan I will walk into the Light of Day, Unafraid, Unashamed

I walk in the shadows, ashamed of my very skin/What once offered freedom is the jail I’m living in/I need someone to run into this darkness/To feel loved is all I’ve ever wanted

I’ve been watching, I’ve seen Him:  The Unapproachable light/He’s coming towards me/Nowhere to run, nowhere to hide/What if that man sees me like this, stains on my hands, stains on my lips

He reaches me, I fall to the ground, brace myself for rejection/Look up, no one’s around; just one lonely man, in Him I see my reflection/A different face with my filth and my stains, He shares in my pain, no longer afraid/I look down I realize He took them from me, I am free, I am clean

If there is light out there somewhere for me/There is light out there somewhere for you

There is light out there somewhere, I’ve seen it/There is Hope out there that someday, You can enter in/I will walk you to the Light of Day, unafraid, unashamed