THE GIFT IN ME. I THOUGHT YOU SHOULD KNOW

Hey friends

It has been a while since I updated anything. I have been quite busy. I hope that you have been well.  One of the reasons as to why I set up this blog is to share my thoughts and experiences with you guys. It seems I haven’t been doing quite a good job, have I? I guess things will have to change.

There is something that has been on my mind for the past few months.  As some of you know, I really love music. I think the word love is the best that I could find to describe this my feelings towards this beautiful language that God has given us: Music. For me singing has been my passion since primary school. I recall how I would imitate famous musicians and sing along with them. It was fun. It was effortless and enjoyable. It’s funny how memorizing the lyrics to a whole song took quite a short time. Getting the tunes was even easier. However, for a long time, I ignored this great gift that is in me. In class 5 I literally ran away from the school choir for two years, despite great persistence by the choir mistress, the late Miss Ogao. She was really on my case, especially since my elder siblings, Mwangi and Wangari, had been active participants under her leadership. They had even represented the school at the national level. My efforts to shun Choir were not fruitful, and I eventually became an alto then a tenor. It is at this point that I just have to clarify this: I DIDN’T LIKE ALTO ONE BIT!!! No offence to any altos. Strange thing, I really enjoyed singing in the choir during my last two years in primary school. I made friends(even with Miss Ogao), travelled a lot and even grew in my gift of music.

Then came high school. That’s when things really changed, for the better. I got a lot of  exposure to new music like Acappella, Plus One, Commissioned and many more. To be quite honest, before this time, I wasn’t such a fan of gospel music. I only knew the songs we sang in church, Chico and Brenda and the few songs we had heard on an audio tape my mum had, a tape that I recorded over using a radio we heard at the time. Otherwise,  I enjoyed listening to secular artists like Boyz to Men, Usher, Westlife and Backstreet Boys. Therefore , high school was the beginning of a good change for me. My gift grew as I started writing my own songs, which I sang a lot in the showers at 4:15 am, while walking, in class, in church, during CU. Music became a very big part of me. In campus, it was all about going higher in my talent and going deeper in my relationship with Christ. through guys like Chester Kolek, John Musyimi, Mwaka Mutsumi, Eric Gichuri, Benson Karimi, George Murichu, Mercy Mule and many more, I grew a lot in these two aspects. They took time to teach me and share with me what they have learnt over the years, as well as they vast music collections, which have been a source of great encouragement to this very day. How can I foreget my dear cousin  Ndung’u aka NDOUSCH, who gave me one of the greatest gifts ever: the Acappella discography(20 albums from 1985 to 2006). Be blest sana!!

However, I suffered a big blow in 2011 when my vocal chords were damaged. It was the most trying time for me. I couldn’t do  the thing that I loved most. Little did I know  that this was a chance for me to slow down and go even deeper in my relationship with the Lord. I learnt a lot during my time-out. The lessons are invaluable. As of now, I still can’t sing as I used to, but I’m improving slow.ly. I went back to songwriting, this time with more understanding.

I wrote this to encourage someone who has a gift but is not using it, and also to someone who is using their gift to keep using it to glorify God. I could have given up on singing in 2011, but I believe that God is not done with me just yet. I have a dream that one day I will travel to the nations and sing of this gospel that has changed my life forever.

I want to share with you the lyrics to my most recent song and I hope that the message, by God’s power, will ignite a passion in you to use the gift that our Father placed in you.

YOU SHOULD KNOW

Allow me to ask a simple question

And I hope that you will reply

Why does this life have this progression?

You go to school, work, marry, get kids then just die?

Or is all that we’re living for

Chasing after worldly pleasures,

Especially the ‘doe’

Deep inside, I know this one thing

There is certainly more than what I can see

CHORUS

There is more

To this life than what we can see with our eyes

There is more

Than chasing after the desires of life

You should know

Our greatest treasure is Christ Jesus the Lord

You should know

He is the reason for this life

Oh yes! You should know

It saddens me  what we have made to be

What everyone calls Christianity

It has become some other activity

When it’s supposed to define our identity

Do we know

That we are aliens and strangers here?

We should live

Our lives in holiness and reverent fear of the Lord

This world will pass away

But the Word of God will always remain

(Bridge)

You should know

All men have sinned , fallen short of the glory of God

You should know

The wage of sin is death, thus says the Word

You should know

For we like sheep have all gone astray

You should know

God couldn’t stand the distance, He made a way

You should know

For God so loved the world He gave us His Son

You should know

To redeem us to Himself and make us one

You should know

This is the miracle for you and me

You should know

Oh it’s not fiction, IT’S REALITY

(You should know, You should know, You should know

The love of God

You should know) x3

You should know!