C'est La Vie

A little background:
My mother claims that I emerged from the womb singing. My first words, in fact, were to the tune of Old MacDonald--that's right, E-I-E-I-O and all. So I knew from the first that music HAD to be in my future, somehow, someway. And then the Lord gave me a tremendous gift.

I was 14, and vividly remember a friend of my mom's proclaiming, "Gaby, you MUST write a song. You simply MUST start writing songs!" And I nodded my head with a grin plastered on my face, all the while laughing to myself, thinking, "Right, like I could ever write a song..."

That was ten years ago.

With nearly 40 songs under my belt, now I shake my head and marvel. I feel as though my songs express something eternal within me, experiences I know many others share. They are songs of hope, trust, faith, peace, or at least the effort to achieve these. They are my lifesong of love, written in harmony with the spirit groaning within me. At least, that's what my goal has been.

My songs are, to borrow a lyric I heard the other day, my diary screaming out loud. They are an expression of my journey in faith, from highschool through college now into marriage. Three chapters of my life, all so very distinct. I am not the girl I once was, and yet she is part of me still. I rejoice to see how far He has brought me. I rejoice in the victories won, and continue to carry my cross daily as best I am able.

I was prepared, in getting married and then having a baby, to put my dream of making music on hold. But I never once considered for a second abandoning ship. My music is my passion, a very deep part of what makes me ME. I kept praying to the Lord to provide, in His time, the doors and I would walk through them. Time after time, I found doors I thought were opening, being closed gently but firmly. It wasn't time.


I have always recognized that my music truly is a gift from the Lord. My lyrics are words I have felt Him whisper to my heart in the still, when I know that He is God. And so, I've tried my best to be patient and wait, wait for that right door to swing open, when He will call and say, "Look, little one. Here is the road that leads to My glorification through your gift of song." And man, will I run breakneck speed when that happens.

I feel like this Voice of An Angel competition might be just that. A potential opportunity to glorify above all the King of my Heart, the Bridegroom of my Soul. Honestly, I've been given so many beautiful opportunities to minister to broken hearts. I've been so grateful for every concert, every new song, every person that has been given some small degree of comfort from the Lord through my voice. And yet, I want more. I want to glorify more. I want to minister more.

There must be more than this. The Lord does not give gifts without a purpose. Lord, all I am is willing. I stand ready to do Your will. Be it done to me according to Thy will. Strip from me all prideful intention. Purify my ambition. Make my desires one with Yours. Only then will my gift be perfected. Ad Majorem Dei Gloriam. For the Greater Glory of God.