Song Writing Progress People!

hey friends!

I have been writing up a storm today, I had finished the melody line for my first song I wrote over a year about a month ago, but I have been finalizing it today. I am still changing around notes and lyrics to make it perfect and I wrote the piano part today as well. God is good! He has brought me to the stage where I can hear a melody in my head and figure it out on the piano. A year ago I could not do that, so His grace is so good to me! So if you all don't hear from me a lot its because I am playing around with my new toy I got for Christmas Finale Songwriter 2010. Its a great program if you are writing music and want to create lead sheets and MP3's of your music. Oh and by the way this photo was taken with my new Ipod touch I also got for Christmas. I am so excited that I can take photos with it as well as listen to music! So don't worry I will keep you updated on my songwriting progress. Maybe I will even do a video of me singing and playing a finished song in the future. I can't wait what the Lord holds in store for this new year! May God bless you all as you pursue Him!

In Christ,

Rebecca

Jesus Lover of My Soul

I remember singing this song at church when I was about 16 and I forgot about it until now! I love that lots of the words are from the Scriptures, such as You set my feet upon a rock making my steps secure! Thats from Psalm 40! Praise God He is the only lover of our souls! He is always there even when the world falls! I wrote another song about it this and will post it soon.

Btw, got a lot of studying done today! God is so good! I believe I will be able to get through these next two clep tests. :)


In Christ,
Rebecca

You may be wondering......

where have I been for the past 11 days! :)

Well life is pretty full right now with many things I have been learning from the Lord, through family, friends, and acquaintances. Its hard to really know where to start this post. :) But I want to share with you all some Scriptures that have really been written on my heart lately and some songs that have come out of these words from my Lord.

sunset this evening! it was beautiful!

I have truly I will admit gone through a tough times these past days and hence no blog posts.But I have found a renewed joy in the Lord through these trials that came out of no where. God gives us these trials in His perfect timing and only for our good I have come to realize after pondering and trying to memorize Romans 8 for a few weeks now.
I have doubted if I am where God wants me to be in this life and I have cried out to Him literally as it talks about in the Psalms. I am serious, I do not believe we should just talk to God in our heads, we should verbally and out loud cry out to the God of our salvation. I believe this is good to do in times where we really just realize that we can do nothing without Him. I believe more often I should talk out loud to God on my knees. This makes us realize how small we are and how big He is I believe. Every time I do out loud talk to God I see Him talk to me through His Word and other believers time and time again. He always answers as it says in Psalm 40. 
40:1 "I waited patiently for the Lord;
he inclined to me and heard my cry.
2 He drew me up from the pit of destruction,
out of the miry bog,
and set my feet upon a rock,
making my steps secure.
3 He put a new song in my mouth,
a song of praise to our God.
Many will see and fear,
and put their trust in the Lord."

He has heard my cries for His help, because His is the best help. He drew me up out of the pit of destruction I was in( allegorically speaking that is) and now I am secure once more in His arms of mercy and protection. I was always secure in His arms, I just did not understand why there was pain while in His arms. But now I realize its because this is a fallen world, I sin and God does not. So many a time my sin blinds me from His goodness. I was reminded of this at church this morning from the Bible teaching (discipleship hour before our service) and the sermon.


I have also been very convicted lately about as I said earlier everything being for our good as it says in Romans 8:28-30, "And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, [7] for those who are called according to his purpose. 29 For those whom he foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, in order that he might be the firstborn among many brothers. 30 And those whom he predestined he also called, and those whom he called he also justified, and those whom he justified he also glorified."

I was so convicted because I thought that what I wanted to do in this life was the best plan, but even though I believed that doing college right now was not the best plan God knows its for my good and is in His plan. Its for my good that I pour over clep exam studying materials. I don't understand sometimes why I have to learn about things that don't seem to matter, such a psychology, which is interesting, but most parts of it don't interest me or are very humanistic or evolutionist and are not based on there being a God who has put the world into working order and created it from nothing. But praise God I can see what lines up with His Word and what does not. This studying subjects that have a liberal back bone is making me a stronger believer in God and His Word that they are living and active and sharper than a two edge sword. :)

My mom, sister, and I tried our hand at drying oregano and lavender today and yesterday. Can't wait to use the oregano in pizza and the lavender in our homemade soap!

Now granted that my life lately has been very much blessed by the Lord. I don't struggle to have food or clothing or enough money to live on as many people in the world today do. The Lord has blessed myself and my family immensely! But these trials I am going through may not be ones such as that, but its really helping me to see again that my old self needs to keep on being chipped away and the Holy Spirit inside of me needs to take over my earthly body so I can be more like my selfless Savior. So I guess to sum up these trials I have been through lately, they have been just me not accepting God's plan for my life right now, which is being at home and doing college plus and not just writing music all day long. :) I wish I could just immerse myself in music and sewing pretty dresses. But hey where would that get me! I would not be using my time in the way God wants me to! Without God helping me to stay disciplined doing the hard things in life which is submitting to His plan for my life I would not have joy! I would be a lonely gal wasting away on the inside and outside.:) But praise God I am wasting away on the outside, but the inside of me has the Holy Spirit of God which is helping me to see more and more my selfish desires of wanting to do what I want will not give me gratification! they will only give me temporary happiness, which is not joy! Only Christ Jesus our Lord ladies can give us true joy when we give our lives to Him!

Sorry this post is a lengthy one and I hope it makes sense. I just have so many things that the Lord has been teaching me! Life on this earth is too short and is passing away and if we don't seek to glorify Him now then we won't see the joy that is set before us and why Christ died for us, so that we could have fellowship forever with Him! We need to use these tough times of wanting to go back to our old selves before we were won by our Savior for sharing the Gospel and not sitting at home sewing dresses for ourselves and writing songs for ourselves. I guess what I am saying is that doing college plus has stretched me and made me realize that my life is not my own. I have been bought with a price! Christ died and went to hell! Yes Christ went to hell for me and you and everyone else that will ever live on this earth. And I want to use my struggles with my sin to glorify God in this life so many others will be able to be in glory with God in heaven someday soon. So ladies live your life not for yourselves but for the God who died and went to hell for you so you would be able to be in His arms forever.

Use your gifts and talents such as sewing, song writing, or whatever it is for His glory! I am really being stretched writing songs based on the Scriptures! I could have made many up with my own words, but the WORD of God really is so much better! I wanted to go to Nashville, Tennessee and record Cd's for what though?! For my own self glory! But now I realize that to die is gain and to live in Christ is eternal gain! So give up what you love to do and give it to God and He just may give it back to you as He did me. Now He is writing music through my fingers and voice, it just comes out from not me, but Him God. He amazes me daily as He puts melodies and harmonies in my head to write down. That actually correspond to Scripture I have read or am trying memorize. I hope these will encourage you and please realize that its not me writing it, its God the Lord of all creation.

Romans 8 Song
Verse 1
For He's the only lover,
Who gives and gives and gives,
Who does everything for my good,
because He cares for us!
Verse 2
For those in Christ are not condemned 
We've been given the Spirit of life.
We live in Christ in life and peace,
only because Christ died for us.
Verse 3
For God has done what the law could not do!
But sending Christ Jesus His Son,
in sinful flesh and for sin,
so the law might be fulfilled in us!
Verse 4
For Those in the flesh cannot please God.
Because they do not know God.
But if the Spirit is inside of You,
God dwells in you, and communes with you.
(more verses and chorus to come)

Gerber daisy my mom planted in a pot yesterday after we brought it home from the local farmers market.

 Psalm 34 Song


probably chorus
Be still before the Lord and wait patiently for Him.
Commit your way unto the Lord,
and always trust in Him.
He will act, He will act, commit your way to Him.
verse 1
Fret not yourself over the ones who prosper in His way!
Trust in God and do good and dwell in faithfulness.
Delight yourself in the Lord,
He will give you the desires of your heart.
Commit your way unto His righteous plan,
the Lord is good and faithful all your days
(this more in progress)

That quilt I had told you all about that I finally finished basting together with my sister 2 weeks ago! More pictures of us quilting it at our first civil war reenactment of the season to come. It was last weekend!

I will post a few more songs tomorrow. Its getting late. But I hope to have these finished being written out with the notes and everything by my next birthday. Thats my goal anyway. I mean all 15 songs I have written. I am going to try and post them over the next week, all the ones I have written that is. :)

I have been having so much fun with gardening lately! we planted a lot of peppers and tomatos yesterday and I dried some oregano from our herb garden with my sister and mother today. Here is a photo of it before the drying stage that is at the beginning of the post.

Here is our oregano patch in our raised garden beds. My mom made that nice little Oregano popsicle stick label yesterday. I just love the way it looks with all the dew after the storms we had this afternoon!

Sometime I want to get videos of me playing them for you all, but my camera does horrible recordings. So I will have to enlist a friend to help. I am sorry this was long and if you read the whole thing praise God! I hope it was an encouragement to you and I was not too wordy or boring. :)

In Christ,
Rebecca

I had to share......

these verses! they are so so encouraging to me right now! The Lord really put it on my heart last week that I was not serving others well! I read the verses in James 1 that says. "22 But be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves. 23 For if anyone is a hearer of the word and not a doer, he is like a man who looks intently at his natural face in a mirror. 24 For he looks at himself and goes away and at once forgets what he was like. 25 But the one who looks into the perfect law, the law of liberty, and perseveres, being no hearer who forgets but a doer who acts, he will be blessed in his doing."

My grandparents came last Tuesday from Texas to visit us for my birthday and just because we had not seen them since last December/November for my dads birthday. It was so encouraging to have them here! Therefore I did not get any blog posts in. :) I was too busy serving them and the rest of my family and having a good break with them. I took off from my studies and other projects until today. :) They left last night and I cried my eyes out, not because I won't see them again possibly, but with tears of joy because they really taught me a lot while they were here. I learned a lot while they were here to be selfless as our Savior was selfless dieing on the cross for us! 

I learned to do things even when I did not feel like it with joy so that others in my family would be filled with joy. That is my prayer for this new year of my life that I would serve others with joy! That I would do more things and be blessed by doing things for others. I have gone through a lot of depression in my life, no I don't take meds, I am not ill. :) I just go through times when I feel so discouraged that I can't do anything without grumbling or complaining. But I believe the Lord had convicted me of this sin and now I can be joyful even in times of uncertainty that this new year brings. 

I read the verses below in 2 Corinthians and I was once again convicted! Am I being a good ambassador for my Savior?! Which means am I being joyful and loving towards others because I am so joyful because I am alive and a new creation in Christ!?? I should be! But sadly I am not joyful all the time. Ladies I cannot say that this joy comes easily, you have to give up everything that you own, were, and are! You have to reconcile yourself to Christ! Give up your sins, possessions, gifts, talents, and give them all to Him! I confess that right now when I was a teen I thought I would be out of the house, have a job in in Nashville,Tennessee recording christian music with my band for the Lord! It was a selfish endeavor I dreamed about as a teen, I wanted to be in the spotlight and just add in the Lord to my music to make it seem alright. I love many christian artists, but I believe I was wanting to become one for selfish reasons. Now I am writing music almost every day! I have about 15 songs almost complete and I am in a much better place. I am where the Lord wants me! Serving my church, family, and friends and not spending all my time for myself. So ladies give it all up! The Lord may suprise you and give you your desire of your heart back! He has done this with me! I stopped writing music when I was 17 and now I am 20 and writing again! But this time with the Word of the Lord as my focus! Its so comforting and worth while and I know its only of the Lord. Praise God He turned my music writing into a way for others to hear His Word preached and not my thoughts preached. :)

Our Heavenly Dwelling

1 For we know that if the tent that is our earthly home is destroyed, we have a building from God, a house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens. 2 For in this tent we groan, longing to put on our heavenly dwelling, 3 if indeed by putting it on we may not be found naked. 4 For while we are still in this tent, we groan, being burdened--not that we would be unclothed, but that we would be further clothed, so that what is mortal may be swallowed up by life. 5 He who has prepared us for this very thing is God, who has given us the Spirit as a guarantee. 6 So we are always of good courage. We know that while we are at home in the body we are away from the Lord, 7 for we walk by faith, not by sight. 8 Yes, we are of good courage, and we would rather be away from the body and at home with the Lord. 9 So whether we are at home or away, we make it our aim to please him. 10 For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, so that each one may receive what is due for what he has done in the body, whether good or evil.

The Ministry of Reconciliation

11 Therefore, knowing the fear of the Lord, we persuade others. But what we are is known to God, and I hope it is known also to your conscience. 12 We are not commending ourselves to you again but giving you cause to boast about us, so that you may be able to answer those who boast about outward appearance and not about what is in the heart. 13 For if we are beside ourselves, it is for God; if we are in our right mind, it is for you. 14 For the love of Christ controls us, because we have concluded this: that one has died for all, therefore all have died; 15 and he died for all, that those who live might no longer live for themselves but for him who for their sake died and was raised. 16 From now on, therefore, we regard no one according to the flesh. Even though we once regarded Christ according to the flesh, we regard him thus no longer. 17 Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation.The old has passed away; behold, the new has come. 18 All this is from God, who through Christ reconciled us to himself and gave us the ministry of reconciliation; 19 that is, in Christ God was reconciling the world to himself, not counting their trespasses against them, and entrusting to us the message of reconciliation. 20 Therefore, we are ambassadors for Christ, God making his appeal through us. We implore you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God. 21 For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.

Have a lovely wednesday! I hope this was encouraging! More photos from my birthday week coming soon. 

Please do go over to the Thrifty 15 challenge over at http://lavieisbeautiful.blogspot.com/2011/04/winner.html
to see my winning photos. I was so suprised to be featured! Exciting! See more about my totally thrifted and homemade outfit over at La vieis beautiful blog.  

In Christ,
Rebecca 

Another song in the works

Hey everyone!

I thought I would share another song that I wrote recently over the weekend. I have been very encouraged while writing hymns based on Scripture as I know that this glorifies God and this is something He needs me to do only in His strength. I thought it would be great to post a song every couple days. When I first started this blog I thought it would be more about my music, but it turned out to be more of a sewing, cooking, and reenacting blog. Well those things are a big thing in my life, but music is also another huge thing in my life. Its my first love, the thing I have been doing since I could talk, singing. :) I also have been figuring the piano music with my mom on the piano. Its so awesome to see it going onto paper. Its taking a while though. I have been doing that to another song called Salvation Song. The song below is new and has not gone through that process yet, but I believe you all will still enjoy it.

I do not have a title yet, but the verses that I based it off of are 1 John 5:5 " For everyone who has been born of God, overcomes the world. And this is victory that has overcome the world, our faith."
I was reading that verse when I was going through my old journals on Saturday night when I was discouraged about a up and coming exam I have next tuesday the 5th. But then I realized everything is overcome by faith in Christ! I need to have faith that God will get me through all the studying that needs to happen. Hence, this song came into being when I realized once again how much I need Him. 


Praise the Lord all ye saints,
for He is good to us.
Even in hardships, He abides with us.


For He is steadfast in love,
and it endures forever more,
who can utter his mighty deeds?
or declare all his praise?

Blessed are the righteous,
who do justice, compassion, and care
for those who are needy
and weak in the flesh,
will be in the arms of the Lord.

Whoever is born of God,
overcomes the world
and this is victory all through Christ,
that by faith we overcome sin.


For His coming is at hand,
Watch out for your flesh,
be mindful of the enemy
and wash your hearts from all evil.

keep your life in Christ,
free from love of the world.
Do not love the ways of this world,
for it does not last.



Be content only in Christ,
not family, friends, or wealth
remember Christ died for us
and gives us an everlasting home.

For God says He loves us
He is the Lord of Lords,
He will never leave us,
forsake or abandon us.


By Rebecca Christ( well God really! :) )
(copyright 2011 Singing In His Name)

If you want to use the words please email me here, ra.stricker@gmail.com I would appreciate it if no one stole these words as they are precious to me and from the Lord. Please ask before using them. 

I used the following Scriptures for the verses. Verse 1-( Psalm 106:1 " Praise the Lord! Oh give thanks to the Lord, for He is good, for His steadfast love endures forever!")

verse 2- Psalm 106:2-3 " Who can utter the mighty deeds of the Lord, or declare all his praise? "


verse 3- Psalm 106:3 " Blessed are those who observe justice, who do righteousness at all times!"

 verse 4-" 1 John 5:5" For everyone who has been born of God, overcomes the world. And this is victory that has overcome the world, our faith."

verse 5- " James 5: 7-8 " Be patient, therefore, brothers, until the coming of the Lord. See how the farmer wants for the precious fruit of the earth being patient about it, until it receives the early and late rains. You also be patient, establish your hearts, for the coming of the Lord is at hand." 

verse 6- Jeremiah 4:14 " Oh Jerusalemn; wash your hearts from evil, that you may be saved. How long shall your wicked thoughts lodge within you?"


verse 7- Hebrews 13:5-6"keep your life free from the love of money and be content with what you have, for he said, " I will never leave thee nor forsake thee."
verse 8- same verse above, Hebrews 13:6 

I hope all of you can be encouraged by these words, even if they are not recorded for you to hear being sung and played yet. I was reading about other hymn writers and I said to myself there are not that many good songs out there that are written directly from Scripture any more. The hymns of old are good, but its hard to find contemporary christian music that is not written from thin air instead of the Word. SO my goal is to write from the Word and not my thoughts. That way God can shine through. I would recommend the book called 101 Hymn Stories, its a great read because you can read about what the author of them hymns was going through spiritually that brought them to write the hymn. I pray the next generation would be able to to say of me that I was writing from the WORD as many before me have done.

here is the 
book-http://www.amazon.com/101-Hymn-Stories-Kenneth-Osbeck/dp/0825434165/ref=sr_1_26?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1301404720&sr=1-26

Have a lovely Tuesday and may you be blessed as you commune with the Father today!


In Christ,
Rebecca

Grace

I came across this song when I was reading Melanie's blog http://foreverhisservant.blogspot.com/ and I can attest to being so much in need of grace! So many times I fall and He helps me get up again. Lord help me to be humble and in You alone put my trust! I let the Lord down so many times! Just as I did this morning with sharp words.

I wrote the song below yesterday based on a favorite Scripture and I am never going to get rid of those harsh words unless I let Christ have my life and my body and my mouth. Lord help me to surrender myself to You again today!

I have not titled the song yet, but here are the lyrics and please do not use these anywhere else without my permission!

Count it all joy, count it all joy, count it all joy, when trials come
That the testing of your faith, produces steadfast love
Be slow to speak, be slow to speak and quick to hear
Do not let anger overtake the temple
it does not produce righteousness
Put away all filth and wickedness,
and receive with meekness the implanted WORD
Be slow to speak, be slow to speak, and not in anger
,for the righteousness God requires is not attained by pain
But by Christ living in me that my words may speak hope
( words from James 1:2-4 and 1:19-21)

So anyway that's a start to another song. I have been writing since the beginning of the month and I have about 11 other songs that are also underway. I hope to post more of them soon and hopefully some recordings of my mother and I playing and singing them. The Lord has been so so good helping me to write music that is of the Scriptures and not emotions. That is my goal that they may be God breathed and from the Word alone.

Have a lovely wednesday!

In Christ,
Rebecca