Encouragement

I am the type of person, that when you tell me I can't do something, I say, watch me.

And then I usually proceed to bend over backwards, half out of determination, half out of obstinance, to accomplish said impossible task.

Sometimes my stubbornness gets the better of me, and I wind up regretting that I set out to prove myself. Other times, I look at my results and say, check it out, world. I SO rocked that accomplishment. Who says I can't do it?

I find that I am irritated and insulted when someone tells me that they in fact know me better than I know myself, and they are certain I would fail at a certain goal. This especially gets under my skin when the offender is someone close to me, whom I respect and love, and whose affirmation and belief in me I desire very much.

I don't know if you struggle with this same thing. I am feeling somewhat discouraged and annoyed, but I want you to know that I believe in you. Whatever your goal may be, the only thing keeping you from accomplishing it is yourself. If there is something you want to attempt, you figure out what you need to do in order to accomplish it, and you go for it.

Don't ever doubt yourself. You may in the end find that something is honestly and objectively beyond your capacity, but you will be proud of your effort if it was honestly all that you could give. And that is always something to be proud of.

Don't let anyone tell you that you are not good enough, that you are weak, that you are incapable. God has created you with incredible gifts, with limitless potential, if only you will believe in yourself.

So go and do something you never thought possible. Believe in yourself. Believe in the One that made you who you are, because you are fearfully, awesomely, wonderfully made, with a purpose, to do greater things than anyone could ever imagine.

Need to Focus & Surrender (+ more new music stuff!)

I've been working on a music project for the past couple of weeks (hence, the sporadic blog posts). Not quite ready to announce what it is just yet (SOON I PROMISE), but I was reminded once again of how all my music is and must be Christ-centered. I was feeling rather frustrated in my efforts. Things were good, and maybe even really good, but they weren't right or perfect or just so.  

I couldn't figure out why I wasn't having the success that I thought I should be having. After all, I was trying my best to get it done. And then I realized that, with all my effort, I had forgotten to seek the Lord, to ask for His blessing and seek His guidance in accomplishing what is after all something devoted to His praise and glory.

It's so easy to forget sometimes the simple act of placing ourselves solidly in His hands, truly surrendering all our actions to His holy will. Even though the thing I was trying to do was something for His glory, I had forgotten to pray for His guidance, so that what eventually was accomplished would be according to His plan.

Lord Jesus, help me never to forget You. You have been so good and so gracious to me, that sometimes, because things are good, I forget to thank You, and I forget to ask for Your direction. You are my strength. You are my truth. You are the reason things are so blessed. You are all that matters. Please give me that grace never to forget You, even for just a second. I want You always to be front and center, the first one I think of when I wake and the last Name on my lips when I go to sleep. You are my everything. Amen.



Music Website Update
New videos are up on my website as well as new audio. There's a new video featuring the song "You Are Loved (Don't Give Up)" by Josh Groban - this is one of my favorite songs of his (See it here). Also I've added a 3rd audio playlist, featuring praise and worship anthems (the 1st player is all original songs of mine, and the 2nd is wedding specific). God bless you and to Him be all the glory.

Longing for More (+ More Music Videos!)

I got to see one of my favorite priests in the world today, as well as benefit from his extensive wisdom and beautiful sermons. He is the pastor of one of the local churches for which I provide music for funerals. It never ceases to amaze me how beautifully and perfectly he captures the fragility of our existence, and yet our profound tie to eternity, to God. Thank God for him and all the work he does for the glory of God.

His sermon today focused on the fact that we are made for more than this earth can offer. He made the observation that no longing or desire exists without an objective and logical satisfaction for that urge. For example, man feels the desire for food, and such a thing as food exists. A duck has the inclination to swim, and there exists such a thing as water. Birds have the tendency to fly south for the winter, and there exists such a thing as air to hold them up.

In the same way, as St. Augustine puts it, our hearts are restless, ever searching for something higher, greater, more perfect. Our hearts long for that Higher Being, and there exists a God who created us to love Him and only Him. He does not leave us in the absurd position of desiring the impossible.  Rather, He places within our hearts a need for Him, and waits with open arms for us to find our way to Him. He alone is the satisfaction we seek, the answer to our deepest questions, the fulfillment of our most basic desire: our desire to live. He is Life, He is Love, He is God.

I'm so grateful to be alive. I'm so grateful for life, for blessings big and small, for unexpected grace and unplanned hope. God is so good and merciful. Never forget to be grateful to be alive, and to tell the people in your life how very much you love them. For you don't know the day or hour when God will call you or someone you love home. Don't miss a chance to tell them how much they mean to you.

On a music note, I'm happy to announce that I have a few more new videos up on my website, as well as new audio in my song players. I hope you enjoy them all.

 + Shout To The Lord Video - a note about this one, I actually composed a second verse for this song specifically for weddings. This is another of my all-time favorites.

 + Breathe -  Another powerful praise and worship anthem, very dear to my heart.

Check back soon to www.gabrielafrei.com as I'll be adding new audio tracks as well as announcing some cool news. 

To God be the glory.

From This Day Forward and TWO NEW MUSIC VIDEOS

I will love you and honor you all the days of my life.

I love weddings. More than that, I love singing for weddings. I can't tell you how my heart simply exults to see a man and a woman stand before God, before family and friends, and profess to all how very much they are in love with and committed to each other.

I remember my own wedding, the excited flurry of preparation, the nervous waiting in the rear of the church, the timid glance up the aisle to meet the eye of my beloved. Ah, to live that day again and again... well, thank goodness for 2000 photographs and 8 hours of videotape to help jog my memory!

I had the blessing on Saturday past to sing for a wedding in a town not too far from my own here in Florida. The church was simply stunning. There was a gorgeous mural of Christ offering His Heart in love to the world towering over the altar.

He remains there in open invitation, beckoning all to come as they are, and leave better, stronger (to quote Glenn Beck). I fell in love all over again.

And then weeks of preparation and practice came to fruition. 20 minutes of prelude and 3 processional hymns later, the bride and groom stood before the altar of God and confessed to the world that yes, they had fallen deeply in love, enough to say "forever" to each other. Enough to profess in holy sacrament that through God's grace, they'd stand together through sickness, health, wealth, poverty, even monotony and especially child-raising (an arduous task, believe me!).

It makes my heart revel in the beauty of love, of life, of finding that person who makes your heart beat a little faster. As Emily Bronte put it, "Whatever souls are made of, his and mine are the same." 

I have the best job in the world. I get to be there, somewhat behind the scenes, a fly on the wall observing the happiest day of your life. Sometimes I know you, sometimes I don't, but I'm always tremendously happy and excited for you to begin this wonderful new chapter, this journey of companionship, growth, and deepened love.

Sam Keene puts it aptly: "We come to love not by finding the perfect person, but by learning to see an imperfect person perfectly." Perfectly, as in through the eyes of the only Perfect One, the Lord, who alone loves us fully and without our deserving it.

We must follow His example and look at our loved one not with rose-colored glasses, but with eyes wide open, a gaze purified by love and refined by grace, able to see past the imperfection, to the beauty within (and if you're lucky, without!).

I wanted to share with you two songs (and hopefully, more as I finish editing them) from this wedding. I hope you enjoy hearing something a little different from me, namely, praise and worship songs as opposed to my originals.

Here are Blessed Be Your Name and How Great Is Our God. Click on the name to link through to my videos. Enjoy!!

To God be the glory.