Christmas, what an interesting time it is. Often so full of excitement and presents, and if you're a church goer, full of the christian story. Things can so often get so out of hand at Christmas time, that all we feel like doing at the end is just taking the world's longest nap! Well this year God has been teaching me about gifts amongst other things. Everywhere I go "Gods gifts" seem to be topic of conversation, if that isn't writing in the sky, I don't know what is!
I have been opened up to the aspect of submission. God has given me a fantastic gift of music, but it was only once I submitted that gift over to God and what he wanted it used for, that it flourished. God gave us the greatest gift anyone one could give, he gave us his son. But I firmly believe it wasn't until some sort of submission was made from some party involved that Jesus' talents and gifts were truly grown to serve the people. The wise men brought gifts to the newborn, but it wasn't until submission into following the star that the gifts were given over, and had a prophetic meaning. From right back when Gods Son was sent into the world, submission of gifts were made. Throughout this realization that has come upon me, I have a greater understanding of why I have been called to serve people through music.
I hope this Christmas God revealed something personal and special to you, that you can reflect on in your life to come, and that you remember the greatest gift that was given to us that we would be given the grace of God. Merry Christmas everyone, and I hope a safe New Year to you all!
Grace and Peace everyone.
Wednesday, 26 December 2012
Monday, 17 December 2012
3 simple words.
I know I usually blog about my music stuff, but fair to say that this has been on my mind for some time now but particularly today.
The dreaded question nobody likes to hear when they know things aren't going as well as they could be "How are you?" But there are such few people that actually ask that and mean it. I know in the job I am in, I ask it to every single customer that passes my register not caring about the response, just waiting for them to reply and for my standard, "that's good". Why is it that society throws the question around like its nothing?
I have the privileged of talking to a lot of people about whats going on in there life at the time and I can guarantee that every one of those people wants to be genuinely asked once in a while, "How are you doing?" As humans we crave interactions, but above that we crave meaningful interactions where people actually take an interest once in a while, where for once those 3 words are more than a passing statement.
I'm not sure what I hoped to gain by blogging this but I know that since being more aware, I try to actively ask people how things are.
Grace and Peace everyone!
The dreaded question nobody likes to hear when they know things aren't going as well as they could be "How are you?" But there are such few people that actually ask that and mean it. I know in the job I am in, I ask it to every single customer that passes my register not caring about the response, just waiting for them to reply and for my standard, "that's good". Why is it that society throws the question around like its nothing?
I have the privileged of talking to a lot of people about whats going on in there life at the time and I can guarantee that every one of those people wants to be genuinely asked once in a while, "How are you doing?" As humans we crave interactions, but above that we crave meaningful interactions where people actually take an interest once in a while, where for once those 3 words are more than a passing statement.
I'm not sure what I hoped to gain by blogging this but I know that since being more aware, I try to actively ask people how things are.
Grace and Peace everyone!
Monday, 10 December 2012
A Performing Career...
I know it has been a while since I blogged, but I was on holidays! Yay!! Anyway, down to business.
Last night I had another opportunity to stare into the dark of the crowd with the powerful stage lights booming down on me. And again, it was another magical moment in my performing career, I had the privilege to perform with a very close friend of mine which made it even more special to me. However, this time on the other end of the performance things were different. My emotions were different, my physical symptoms were different, I felt different. You see this performance was the very last time I would perform in front of my former school body, my peers that had helped me through the difficulties of year 12, and of course the teachers that had been a constant rock and supporting foundation throughout my whole schooling life. Things were different this time. For the first time I came of shaking, and my emotions told me to cry, not be on a "performing high". I felt bizarre. I'm sure I will come across some of these people in my performing career to come, but it signified a definite end of a season. For those who have finished school, know the feeling I am trying to convey, for those who haven't quite got there yet, your time is coming. But It got me thinking, this is going to be my life now, I want to set off on a career of full on performing, and sometimes it is going to be a hard trot, but what would I do without the people around me that support and believe in me?
I want to say thank you to all you for even reading this blog. The support I see by just the numbers on a page is immense and I greatly appreciate it. I hope and pray that you will be apart of my journey, because I can't do it alone and God put people in my life and yours to support one another, to be an encouragement! I am excited for what is ahead, but also nervous, but I know this is what God wants for my life, He is the reason I write.
Grace and Peace everyone!
Last night I had another opportunity to stare into the dark of the crowd with the powerful stage lights booming down on me. And again, it was another magical moment in my performing career, I had the privilege to perform with a very close friend of mine which made it even more special to me. However, this time on the other end of the performance things were different. My emotions were different, my physical symptoms were different, I felt different. You see this performance was the very last time I would perform in front of my former school body, my peers that had helped me through the difficulties of year 12, and of course the teachers that had been a constant rock and supporting foundation throughout my whole schooling life. Things were different this time. For the first time I came of shaking, and my emotions told me to cry, not be on a "performing high". I felt bizarre. I'm sure I will come across some of these people in my performing career to come, but it signified a definite end of a season. For those who have finished school, know the feeling I am trying to convey, for those who haven't quite got there yet, your time is coming. But It got me thinking, this is going to be my life now, I want to set off on a career of full on performing, and sometimes it is going to be a hard trot, but what would I do without the people around me that support and believe in me?
I want to say thank you to all you for even reading this blog. The support I see by just the numbers on a page is immense and I greatly appreciate it. I hope and pray that you will be apart of my journey, because I can't do it alone and God put people in my life and yours to support one another, to be an encouragement! I am excited for what is ahead, but also nervous, but I know this is what God wants for my life, He is the reason I write.
Grace and Peace everyone!
Tuesday, 27 November 2012
Update, update, update! :)
Last night I had quite an exciting little tea! I met up with my "manager", or as I like to call him, "partner in crime" and we discussed plans for Ashe Powell Music in 2013! We had a lovely dinner and we were up till quite late in the night discussing ideas, but as all true muso's, by about 11 we were both tired and had no more head space so we got out the guitar and just sang any random song that came to our head, from Missy Higgins all the way to Ke$ha! Was an interesting night on all levels!
Well what I can say is that there are two shows planned for early next year, soooooooo excited! Dates and details will be released after Christmas, so stay tuned! (I have secretly always wanted to say that!) We discussed quite a range of things, one thing he did ask me, (this is someone who knows me very well) he asked me whether my passion laid with recording or performing. I had to think for a minute but it was clear I preferred performing. I have been performing my whole life, I was fortunate enough to grow up with opportunities to perform all around me, from a child I grew my performance skills. But as we discussed it, it became clear to me why I loved performing. I love it because I get to show people God. To me, God is a lot of things, he is my rock, my guiding light, and the amazing saviour that stands right beside me no matter what I have done because he has unending love and amazing grace. But he is also my music, yes its my name against the songs that I write, but its all God inspired, he has given me the words, he has given me the ability to write the melody, to play the guitar, to decipher the musical code. It is because of God I write, and I am truly in awe of that! So for me performing isn't just getting up there and showing them what I got, its getting up there and showing them what I am all about, and I can tell ya, me and my music is all about Gods unending love and amazing grace! This is not to say that I wont be releasing an E.P, because I will, because I also see the value in being able to access Gods message at anytime, I cant tell you the amount of times the right song just happens to be playing at exactly the right time for me to get the God message!
So to wrap things up, exciting things await! I will be making a Facebook page for Ashe Powell Music very soon so that any news can be feed straight into that as well as on my twitter. So for those who are interested, stay tuned for lots more exciting updates!!
Grace and Peace, everyone!
Well what I can say is that there are two shows planned for early next year, soooooooo excited! Dates and details will be released after Christmas, so stay tuned! (I have secretly always wanted to say that!) We discussed quite a range of things, one thing he did ask me, (this is someone who knows me very well) he asked me whether my passion laid with recording or performing. I had to think for a minute but it was clear I preferred performing. I have been performing my whole life, I was fortunate enough to grow up with opportunities to perform all around me, from a child I grew my performance skills. But as we discussed it, it became clear to me why I loved performing. I love it because I get to show people God. To me, God is a lot of things, he is my rock, my guiding light, and the amazing saviour that stands right beside me no matter what I have done because he has unending love and amazing grace. But he is also my music, yes its my name against the songs that I write, but its all God inspired, he has given me the words, he has given me the ability to write the melody, to play the guitar, to decipher the musical code. It is because of God I write, and I am truly in awe of that! So for me performing isn't just getting up there and showing them what I got, its getting up there and showing them what I am all about, and I can tell ya, me and my music is all about Gods unending love and amazing grace! This is not to say that I wont be releasing an E.P, because I will, because I also see the value in being able to access Gods message at anytime, I cant tell you the amount of times the right song just happens to be playing at exactly the right time for me to get the God message!
So to wrap things up, exciting things await! I will be making a Facebook page for Ashe Powell Music very soon so that any news can be feed straight into that as well as on my twitter. So for those who are interested, stay tuned for lots more exciting updates!!
Grace and Peace, everyone!
Friday, 23 November 2012
The Deepest Part of Me
A question I get asked alot is simple one, but one that requires some in depth thinking to answer. "Why is it that it takes you so long to write a song?"
Mostly, it isn't that the song has taken me particularly long to write, in fact usually the song takes me an afternoon or sometimes less, but it is the enormous gap between songs that people misplace as the writing period. When I write, I am either in a very emotional state and I often complain to God, and he will respond simply by saying, write it down, or I have a sudden awareness that overcomes me like nothing else to write about a certain issue, usually for a specific person that God has placed on my heart, but those are the very easy ways to write, because of course the other alternative is that I am just not coping with something, that something is starting to infiltrate my emotions and I am really struggling to keep a lid on it or worse, struggling to keep the walls up that say to the world "I am ok!". Those songs hurt, because I have to admit that I am not ok, or that something is hurting me, but what I don't realise is that its only for that little period of time, and once I have let that out, I can move on. Its those songs that come from the deepest part of me, the place I was at at the time that God is calling me to use, because there are people out there that also struggle with the things I did or still do, and may connect with the words God put on my heart to help me through. God is calling me to make a difference through my music. I was scared but he is showing me that this is what he wants and he rewards faithfulness, day after day he is constantly showing me that he rewards faithfulness to his servants!
Last week I received a painting from a friend, that depicted a story, an emotional place, but also I see the painting as part of my journey through year 12, it was tough, but it got easier because you push through those type of things, but when my friend told me she was going to give me the painting I was speechless, I had previously seen the painting before it was finished, and I loved when I saw it, but the one thing I did say to my friend was that I loved the fact that it came from the deepest part of her and the emotional place she was at when she painted it. I saw the value in that, and I felt the value in that. God is showing me, day after day.
I don't want to hide my songs anymore, because what if one of them is meant for you? I am excited about the journey I am about to take, but I am also scared witless! I know that I have an amazing support network around me, and day after day its growing and that is so encouraging, little things are starting to change for me already, since starting this blog my friends who are aware of my plans that were never before, its helping to keep me accountable and helping to me to adjust to the change! I hope and pray I can be an encouragement to you and a witness for God. God is moving in mighty ways, people!
Grace and Peace everyone!
Mostly, it isn't that the song has taken me particularly long to write, in fact usually the song takes me an afternoon or sometimes less, but it is the enormous gap between songs that people misplace as the writing period. When I write, I am either in a very emotional state and I often complain to God, and he will respond simply by saying, write it down, or I have a sudden awareness that overcomes me like nothing else to write about a certain issue, usually for a specific person that God has placed on my heart, but those are the very easy ways to write, because of course the other alternative is that I am just not coping with something, that something is starting to infiltrate my emotions and I am really struggling to keep a lid on it or worse, struggling to keep the walls up that say to the world "I am ok!". Those songs hurt, because I have to admit that I am not ok, or that something is hurting me, but what I don't realise is that its only for that little period of time, and once I have let that out, I can move on. Its those songs that come from the deepest part of me, the place I was at at the time that God is calling me to use, because there are people out there that also struggle with the things I did or still do, and may connect with the words God put on my heart to help me through. God is calling me to make a difference through my music. I was scared but he is showing me that this is what he wants and he rewards faithfulness, day after day he is constantly showing me that he rewards faithfulness to his servants!
Last week I received a painting from a friend, that depicted a story, an emotional place, but also I see the painting as part of my journey through year 12, it was tough, but it got easier because you push through those type of things, but when my friend told me she was going to give me the painting I was speechless, I had previously seen the painting before it was finished, and I loved when I saw it, but the one thing I did say to my friend was that I loved the fact that it came from the deepest part of her and the emotional place she was at when she painted it. I saw the value in that, and I felt the value in that. God is showing me, day after day.
I don't want to hide my songs anymore, because what if one of them is meant for you? I am excited about the journey I am about to take, but I am also scared witless! I know that I have an amazing support network around me, and day after day its growing and that is so encouraging, little things are starting to change for me already, since starting this blog my friends who are aware of my plans that were never before, its helping to keep me accountable and helping to me to adjust to the change! I hope and pray I can be an encouragement to you and a witness for God. God is moving in mighty ways, people!
Grace and Peace everyone!
Thursday, 22 November 2012
Meet My Guitar!
I would like to introduce to you all, my guitar! For those of you who know me well, you know my guitar is my pride possession! I recently bought it this year as an 18 birthday present to myself! Cheeky, I know!
Growing up in such a musical family, it was hard not to pick up an instrument and dream of one day playing it. My dad was a keen guitarist in his day and owns some beautiful guitars, including a beautiful old Ovation. As a young child I remember only ever being able to play dads other guitar, the "bang around guitar" and once in a blue moon, he would get down the beautiful old girl and he would explain to me the how wondrous this guitar was, and I would gaze in awe and dream of one day being able to own my own guitar that was of equal value. I picked up many instruments as a child, and grew to love only a few of those. As much as I admire the drum-kit, hands down though, my guitar reigns supreme! As I grew older, I came to understand, the value of ones guitar is not just the price tag that was on it when you bought it, but the personal value, the meaning to why you play. To me my guitar is more than just an expensive piece of wood that has a sweet melody that pours out, it is a personal gateway into a solace place that I find peace and rest in Gods special place just for Him and I to share.
I remember not long ago hearing the words to the song His Eye Is On The Sparrow, and in particular, responding to the refrain. I leave you tonight with these words, and the words to the second verse that I hold dear to my heart, that one day or if you haven't already, find that place that is for you and God, where your soul is at peace. For me it is when I am writing or playing music, but for you it could be something entirely different. Search for him and you will find him!
Verse 2:
"Let not your heart be troubled,"
His tender word I hear,
And resting on His goodness,
I lose my doubts and fear;
Though by the path He leads me
But one step I may see:
His eye is on the sparrow,
And I know He watches me;
His eye is on the sparrow,
And I know He watches me.
Refrain:
I sing because I'm happy, (I’m happy)
I sing because I'm free, (I’m free)
For His eye is on the sparrow,
And I know He watches me.
Grace and Peace everyone!
Growing up in such a musical family, it was hard not to pick up an instrument and dream of one day playing it. My dad was a keen guitarist in his day and owns some beautiful guitars, including a beautiful old Ovation. As a young child I remember only ever being able to play dads other guitar, the "bang around guitar" and once in a blue moon, he would get down the beautiful old girl and he would explain to me the how wondrous this guitar was, and I would gaze in awe and dream of one day being able to own my own guitar that was of equal value. I picked up many instruments as a child, and grew to love only a few of those. As much as I admire the drum-kit, hands down though, my guitar reigns supreme! As I grew older, I came to understand, the value of ones guitar is not just the price tag that was on it when you bought it, but the personal value, the meaning to why you play. To me my guitar is more than just an expensive piece of wood that has a sweet melody that pours out, it is a personal gateway into a solace place that I find peace and rest in Gods special place just for Him and I to share.
I remember not long ago hearing the words to the song His Eye Is On The Sparrow, and in particular, responding to the refrain. I leave you tonight with these words, and the words to the second verse that I hold dear to my heart, that one day or if you haven't already, find that place that is for you and God, where your soul is at peace. For me it is when I am writing or playing music, but for you it could be something entirely different. Search for him and you will find him!
Verse 2:
"Let not your heart be troubled,"
His tender word I hear,
And resting on His goodness,
I lose my doubts and fear;
Though by the path He leads me
But one step I may see:
His eye is on the sparrow,
And I know He watches me;
His eye is on the sparrow,
And I know He watches me.
Refrain:
I sing because I'm happy, (I’m happy)
I sing because I'm free, (I’m free)
For His eye is on the sparrow,
And I know He watches me.
Grace and Peace everyone!
Tuesday, 20 November 2012
The Journey Begins!
Well, this marks the first day of the journey of what God has in store for me and my music!
It came to my attention that only the people really close to me new that I was a songwriter, and that God was calling me to get my music out there, and along with that realisation, came a sadness, I have kept it hidden, for more than one reason. I kept it hidden because I was scared of the world, scared of letting go of the songs that came from the deepest part of me. I wasn't sure if I could let others into that world. But, God showed me that the people that have heard the words and music he gave me, were passionate and believed that I was really meant to do this. I have always believed that every time God gives me words to a melody, it is for a specific person, and at the time, it was a one soul, but he is starting to show me that he works in more that one way, he is the ultimate multi- tasker!
My hope for this blog is to provide a personal link to you all who are interested, to watch and be apart of the journey I am about to embark on, but I know that I am not going on this alone, I have an amazing group of friends who believe in my music and I have God, my rock, showing me the way!
Grace and Peace everyone!
It came to my attention that only the people really close to me new that I was a songwriter, and that God was calling me to get my music out there, and along with that realisation, came a sadness, I have kept it hidden, for more than one reason. I kept it hidden because I was scared of the world, scared of letting go of the songs that came from the deepest part of me. I wasn't sure if I could let others into that world. But, God showed me that the people that have heard the words and music he gave me, were passionate and believed that I was really meant to do this. I have always believed that every time God gives me words to a melody, it is for a specific person, and at the time, it was a one soul, but he is starting to show me that he works in more that one way, he is the ultimate multi- tasker!
My hope for this blog is to provide a personal link to you all who are interested, to watch and be apart of the journey I am about to embark on, but I know that I am not going on this alone, I have an amazing group of friends who believe in my music and I have God, my rock, showing me the way!
Grace and Peace everyone!
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