"Praise, Prayer, Grace” 

I don’t remember exactly what event it was, but a local church sponsored a guest speaker for two days and my wife and I attended. It turned out that several attendees were a bit more vocal with their enthusiasm about the preaching than I was used to, and there were scattered “Amen’s” and “Praise God’s” throughout the sermon. 

Having recently finished “Thank You God” it was natural that I decided to write a song to actually praise God instead of just saying the phrase. Unfortunately, I got self-righteous about it and stalled after the first verse. A few months later, I was reading in the Old Testament and came across one of the patriarchs saying “praise God”. There was a sinking feeling. An hour later, I’d been all over the bible and it turns out that lots of people used the phrase (or a reasonable facsimile, depending on the translation). There was Sound Biblical Precedence, and my self-righteous bubble was thoroughly popped. 

That turned out to be a good thing, because it gave me the last verse with no trouble at all. And the “isn’t” theme of the first and last verses sparked the two in the middle and the song was essentially done. The only problem left was that I had written two different bridges. Eventually I chose one and put the other out to pasture in my song bits archive. 

I started out calling the song “Isn’t” but got talked out of it. The new title is much better.

With All You're Going Through

 I couldn’t think of anything better to write here than the notes and dedication from the score sheet: 

Notes on the composition: 

The first verse describes how my wife felt during a major depression, and so should be sung as to a wife or adult daughter. The high point of this verse is the phrase “I, who lived that you might live”. 

The second verse is more about my own feelings during a major problem of my own. It should be sung as to a husband or adult son. The high point of the second verse is, of course, “I, who rose up from the grave”. 

The reprise of the chorus should be sung gently, as to a small child that may not really understand, but who needs to be comforted anyhow. 

_____________ 

Dedication: 

This song was originally inspired by some friends of mine who were going through a VERY rough patch. They had significant problems in their: relationship, finances, health, housing, work and insurance all at the same time. I wanted to do something to support and encourage them, and started in on a song. During the time I was writing I became much more aware of the many people I know that have severe problems, often several at the same time. Whether my friends, or their friends, people were dealing with lost jobs, death in the family, alcoholism, infidelity, terminal illness, physical and /or emotional abuse, drugs, prison, car accidents . . . and the list went on. It still does. 

Everyone didn’t have the serious times all at once, but over the roughly five years that it took to go from concept to finished song, just about everyone I knew, including myself and my family, went through something major. And the people that I had originally wanted to encourage had dealt with their old problems and were on to - thankfully fewer - new ones. 

And so, whether your problem is just starting, just finishing, or you’re in the thick of it, I would like to dedicate this song to you. No matter who you are, or what it is that you are going through. No matter how bad it is, how crushing, or how much is falling apart around you. Remember: God is with you . . . right now. 

Thanks, and enjoy the music. 

David A. Collins 

06/29/12

Before We Even Ask

Once upon a time there was a churchgoer who occasionally took notes in verse, and ended up with a condensed sermon in the form of a poem. In this case, the pastor was doing a revisit of the original sermon and passed out copies of the notes / poem at the end of the service. 

I made a few revisions, wrote the tune and got permission to publish from the family and here it is.

Christmas Time

This song is about how I felt at Christmas 2009, a year after my mother died. The celebration of Christ’s birth is a time of rejoicing, and the anniversary of someone’s death, particularly the first anniversary of the death of a family member, is a time of introspection and mourning. The overlaying of the two felt very odd. 

This song is for you, Mom. 

------------- 

Monica Collins, 09/16/1919 – 12/30/2008 

When I was a boy, my parents had a summer cottage about two hours drive away from home. Mom taught us to sing as a way to keep some semblance of order in the car as we drove back and forth each weekend. We spent anywhere from 30 minutes up to the full two hours each way singing. Hymns, folk songs, show tunes . . . and Girl Scout songs. All four of my sisters went through Girl Scouts, and Mom was a troop leader, so I probably know more Girl Scout songs from the 1960s than any other guy you will ever meet. 

Eventually, scar tissue from a tonsillectomy made her voice squeak in the upper portions of her range. She rarely sang afterwards. 

Nevertheless, she brought up four girls and a boy who all have reasonable singing voices. Not to mention a deep appreciation for music.