CM Music Feed

Lay Me Down

Admin — Wed, 17 Jun 2009 17:21:00 +0000

Here is a video from the house concert. We kicked it off with 'Lay Me Down'

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Praise the King with Travis Cottrell

Admin — Tue, 09 Jun 2009 15:36:00 +0000

Hi there,
just wanted to let you guys know that my good friend Travis Cottrell just released his new live worship record that I blogged about a while back.... it is such a great record full of inspiring moments. I know you will love it! It was so fun to do Praise the King with Travis and to meet Beth Moore. She was so wonderful. I know will be be inspired by her words on this record and be moved by all the great songs, a few old ones with fresh arrangements.

Enjoy and congrats Travis!

Buy it now:

House Concert Photos

Admin — Mon, 08 Jun 2009 06:00:00 +0000

Here are a few images from the house concert. Enjoy
ps. Video coming soon

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Fun House

Admin — Mon, 25 May 2009 17:31:00 +0000

Hi all,

Well we drove to Alabama and were very warmly welcomed into our winner's Kara and Joseph's cozy cottage... they had an awesome spread of appetizers and desert ( including some red velvet cupcakes with white icing and red birds on them). So, we hauled in all manner of instruments, African drums and all sorts of bells and whistles from Matthew on percussion, Cara and her cello and me with a keyboard, guitar ( my first time to play a guitar in front of people!) and my dulcimer in front of their fireplace all aglow with candles. We had a lot of laughs and stories and good hang time afterward.

I have to say, house parties are my new favorite thing because you can speak so freely, mess up and laugh and it's ok.

Anyway.. wish we could have brought you all along for the fun... maybe next time:-) We did take pictures and video that will be shared very soon though.

Happy Memorial Day.... we are gonna go to the river and be a little red in the neck. ahh yeah.

Blessings,
Cindy

House Concert

Admin — Fri, 22 May 2009 14:30:00 +0000

Hey there,

So we are very excited to be driving down to Alabama today for the long awaited house party.... it will be fun to meet Kara and all her friends... we will be doing some videos and pics from the party so keep checking in for that. I will twitter any interesting things along the road trip.

Have a great day and I hope you enjoy a little quote below that I borrowed from a friend of mine..... it is something to shoot for.

Blessings,
Cindy

"Life is not a journey to the grave with the intention to arrive safely in a pretty and well-preserved body,

but rather to skid in broadside, thoroughly used up, totally worn out, and loudly proclaiming: Wow!! What a ride!"

Our Deepest Fear

Admin — Tue, 19 May 2009 14:55:00 +0000

Hi there,

I love this quote.... hope it inspires you today:-)

Blessings,
Cindy

Our Deepest Fear

by Marianne Williamson
from A Return To Love: Reflections on the Principles of A Course in Miracles

“Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure. It is our light, not our darkness that most frightens us. We ask ourselves, Who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous, talented, fabulous? Actually, who are you not to be? You are a child of God. Your playing small does not serve the world. There is nothing enlightened about shrinking so that other people won't feel insecure around you. We are all meant to shine, as children do. We were born to make manifest the glory of God that is within us. It's not just in some of us; it's in everyone. And as we let our own light shine, we unconsciously give other people permission to do the same. As we are liberated from our own fear, our presence automatically liberates others.”

Down the Aisle

Admin — Mon, 18 May 2009 16:57:00 +0000

Hi there,
It is Monday morning and I woke up thinking about summer time, as it is almost upon us. My two daughter's birthdays, as well as mine, are both during the summer, so it always brings a flood of good memories to mind.

Yesterday, Savannah awoke like she does on every Sunday, early, around 7:30 am and ready for church by 7 :40... every sunday she wakes up and is excited about going to sunday school and church. It must be in the genes, because for a time when I was about Savannah's age, I did the exact same thing. This was at a time during the summer that I turned six, when my family was going in different directions, in terms of who went to church where or if we went. My solution was to attend the church that was (literally) in our back yard. The First Baptist of Harrogate. I attended solo which might seem strange, but at the time, it seemed like the thing to do.... here is a little memory that took place right before my 6th birthday..... the birthday that Savannah is about to have.... all crazy, curly hair, just like her mom. I am so thankful to be her and Olivia's mom... it is the most wonderful gift from God.

OK..... here's the story....

Down the Aisle

I remember the summer of my 6 birthday, attending a church that was just over the fence of our back yard. It was The First Baptist Church of Harrogate. It was just what you’d imagine, a small church with a large white steeple full of nice ladies in their best dresses, their husbands in their Sunday suits looking hot and uncomfortable. That summer was a lean year for my family, my dad often having to work on Sundays to keep food on the table and my mom often away from home traveling as a singer. So many Sundays I attended the church in the back yard, by myself. It was on such a Sunday that I sat in a back pew, listening to what the preacher was saying about God’s love and that when you hear His calling you shouldn’t turn away. It was as though I could hear God whispering to me.. come, come and follow me.. When the pastor gave the call to the altar my throat went dry and my palms sweaty at the thought of being noticed by all those nicely dressed people but nothing could have stopped my feet from walking down that aisle. It was a very sweet and sure feeling to know at that young age for whatever else in my life that seemed unsure, that God was sure, and still He is today.

God Is Good.

How You Live

Admin — Fri, 15 May 2009 15:37:00 +0000

How You Live

Making the most of life..go out and buy a red dress, kiss your mom and dad.

You’ll feel Good.

Cindy

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Cave exploring

Admin — Tue, 12 May 2009 03:32:00 +0000

Hi there,

Hope you all enjoyed your weekend and the mother's day Sunday.

So, we decided to go with our two little girls to a place called Kentucky down under. Very nice, low key spot where you can go pet a kangaroo, emu, feed a baby sheep, walk a mountain trail and lastly, explore a cave. Cave exploring was something I had a vague memory of as a child but yesterday, well, let's just say there are some things that you don't know how you'll react to until you do them. For me, cave exploring opened up a whole can of fear and claustrophobia i wanted OUT of there. But alas, we kept going down, down down, then up, up ,up. I was never so happy to crawl out of that hole. There is no doubt that it was kind of wondrous in a Alice in Wonderland nightmare kind of way. Nothing against all you spelunkers out there, but you can keep it. I like the trees, grass and the wide open sky.

Blessings,
Cindy

Happy Mothers Day

Admin — Sun, 10 May 2009 13:59:00 +0000

I am sitting on my deck in the sun on the glorious morning. I can hear the sound of my girls with their dad getting my mother's day present wrapped. Being a mother is so wonderful and scary and all consuming. Aside from my salvation, it is the greatest joy of my life. I was thinking of this piece I wrote a few years ago and thought of all you mothers and fathers....

Hope you enjoy the day with the ones you love and those who love you.

Blessings,
Cindy

In The Dark

It is the middle of the night.

It is the middle of my life.

And I find that I have more questions now than I ever had answers.

I watch my two girls breathing in their sleep. The easy rise and fall of their tiny frames is hypnotic. With golden hair and fair complexions they are like tiny angels sent down from heaven to us. They are the most wonderful thing I have ever seen in my life. Sigmund is sleeping, oblivious to my worries and wonderings. I go downstairs and sit in the dark to think and there in our living room, surrounded by the things of our life I am struck with a most certain truth.

They are growing up.

I think back on my own life, how anxious I was to get away, to move out and discover my own path, unaware of the heartache my parents were going through as they watched me drive away in my little yellow Volkswagen Beetle. I remember my dad staying awake nights worrying and wondering if I’d made it home safe from the many trips I took to sing. I never understood why he worried so much, I never understood why my mom always tried to give me advice about life and men, much of which was unwelcome. I never understood why they wanted me to come home on weekends or stay home instead of going out with friends.

But here in the dark it occurs to me what they must have felt because I am starting to feel it too.

I was growing up.

And so are they

So what is so awful about that feeling? Is it that we start wondering if we have indeed done the things we meant to do. Taught them the things we were suppose to. . . have we failed them and ourselves.

In that way, it feels more about me than them and I wonder if my motivation though understandable is coming from a place that God has not called me to.

For instead of trusting.. I fear.

I fear what will happen when I am not looking, I fear what they’ll do when I can’t be there to say “ look both ways” or say please.. thank you. Watch your step, eat your veggies and on and on and on.

Do I fear that they will do all the right things or do I fear that I will no longer be there to remind them and the biggie.

Do I fear that I will no longer be needed?

A few years ago I was visiting a prison for Women that I used to go and sing for on Sunday nights..

One of the inmates was a very nice young girl. She was in her mid twenties. A former elementary teacher . To look at her or talk with her, I could not imagine how a girl like this could end up in prison. One of the other inmates that I’d known for a while told me her story. She had been charged with having sex with a minor. One of her students who was a young teen. Yuck, strange right? But then you hear the background and it all starts to make sense.

Her parents, very well thought of people in their community were very determined to shelter their beautiful daughter.. At 25 she was still living at home, her parents still read her bible stories every night before bed then hand-fed her a bedtime snack while they tucked her in every night.. Her every need and thought were under their constant supervision.

They had simply removed the need for her to make decisions for her self or slowly learn the concept of life choices and consequences.

Still, she was a young woman with raging hormones like the rest of us and in the moment without a track record of making her “own” right or wrong decisions, she made a choice that cost her dearly.. and nothing her parents could do could change it.

I guess there is a hard and painful truth.

We cannot stop it.

It will happen. They will grow up.

It should happen

The first smalls cuts to the apron strings, the tiny cracks in smashing the golden cord that connects us.

That part of us that needs to be needed. The part of them that needs to break out .

I have a song on one of my records called “ mother”. It is a very personal song about my own struggle with my mom growing up. It is a song that has taken my lifetime to write and will probably take me another to fully understand.

One of the verses says:

For nine months you carried me softly inside you
And harbored me there safe and warm
And picked out my names and bought new picture frames and I’m sure
Only God loved me more
Kicking and screaming I came to life dreaming
And loving the sounds of your words
But pretty soon I had a mind of my own
And a voice speaking out to be heard.

It was written at a time when my mother and I were not speaking. It was a time when I felt very alone and I remember then like now I was sitting up in the dark thinking about my mother and now I wonder if my mother must have felt the very same way for a long time.

Alone.

Afraid.

In the middle of the night, trying to hang on. Trying to make sure everything is o.k. That I was safe and warm and that no harm will ever come.

But something about the silence speaks the truth… we can’t hold and we can’t keep them from all the pain..

We just have to walk through the pain with them, holding to the only hand that truly is in control, the only hand that can keep us from harm. The hand of God.

Yet the everydayness of being a mother carries on and being a mother does not always win the popular vote because so often it is about saying “no” when they are begging for “yes” saying “I’m disappointed in you” when you’d rather say, “ let’s go get ice cream”, Being a mother as I have learned is a constant battle of balancing love and discipline, safelty and exploration, yes and no.

I know now why my mother was always preaching and Bible-beating me. Why she was always telling me what I “ should” do and that was simply because she wanted to protect me . It is so hard to watch your kids be hurt in any way. Our two girls are so bright, brimming over with a great deal of curiosity and independence very much like Sigmund (especially Sigmund) and myself. It is in their nature to want to explore, to try new things. It is holding on and letting go. It is falling down and getting up. It is life that we must prepare them for and in the end what both separates and connects us all….. is the hand of God.

So here I am in the middle of the night worrying about them moving away, driving ,marrying the wrong man… guess how old they are? 6 and 3. How pathetic am I?

I am reminded of a well worn page in my bible, Matthew 6 :25:

Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink: or about your body, what will you wear. Is not life more important than food, and the body more important than clothes?....... Can any one of you by worrying add a single hour to his life by worrying?.... oh you of little faith? So do not worry, … But seek ye first His kingdom and His righteousness and all these things be given to you as well. Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself.

So what can I do?

What is the opposite of worry?

Trust.

I must trust that where we leave off grace takes over. Though our attempts to parent are flawed and imperfect.. I must trust that the mornings and nights we spend reading bible stories and answering tough questions will be blessed.

I must trust that as much as we love them, God loves them more.

I go back upstairs and I watch them sleep and suddenly I am filled with a sense of peace and awe that God would have loved Sigmund and I enough to watch over these two little beams of light. I kneel by their bed side in the dark and whisper a prayer of thanks and go back to bed and sleep in the arms of peace.

He is With You

Admin — Thu, 07 May 2009 14:50:00 +0000

I was so glad to be joined on this song by a great talent and close friend, Ronnie Freeman. Ronnie and I wrote this song on a rainy day in Franklin Tennessee after a conversation about people we knew going through a lot of heartache and loss.

This song was recorded by Mandisa. She did a beautiful job. Here is the the simple, broken down, songwriter version from Tin Pan South.

Hope you are lifted up and reminded of the ever present hand of God in our lives.

Cindy

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I Wish

Admin — Sun, 03 May 2009 17:44:00 +0000

It was a great night at the Dove Awards. Phil Madeira and I were so thankful to stand with the POG girls and accept the dove for Country Song of the Year.

My personal favorite performance of the night was hearing Reba Rambo and her family trio , (who sounded EXACTLY like the original Rambos) perform ”Mama’s teaching Angels How to Sing” -- They were awesome. If you have never heard them and you like a little Blue Grass Soul Gospel... find it.
It will move you.

God is good... Oh so good.

Cindy

(photo courtsey of http://www.christianactivities.com/)

A Better Place - Mays Free Demo

Admin — Tue, 28 Apr 2009 06:00:00 +0000

Mays free demo song is up now. Login or register and on the front page you will see a link to 'Downloads' in the main menu bar.

Enjoy the song 'A Better Place'.

Dance me, Daddy

Admin — Mon, 20 Apr 2009 10:10:00 +0000

Dance me, Daddy. Dance me around.
Don’t let my feet ever touch down.
There’s nothing better than being your girl.
If I am your princess, then you are king of the world.”

This picture book by singer and songwriter Cindy Morgan sparkles with the joy of childhood and the blessings of families. Sing along with the CD performed by Point of Grace and listen to Cindy Morgan read the book version of this song that celebrates the joy in all stages of a child’s growing years, from the time his little girl dances on his feet until they dance at her wedding. A great celebration of God’s love.

Find out more and listen to a sample clip

Fork in the Road

Admin — Thu, 16 Apr 2009 16:58:00 +0000

Hey there,

I wanted to tell you guys a little bit of the history behind the song that is on the video player, two roads...

This is the first and only song that I have collaborated with my mother on.. My mom did a bluegrass record a couple years ago and had a great song on there called, you guessed it" Two Roads" it was very Oh Brother Where Art Thou old school Bluegrass, which I loved. The Chorus ( there are two separate choruses in this song) is... "Two roads stand before you... which one will you choose.. one leads to destruction one leads me Lord to you" I was so inspired by the chorus that I asked my mom if I could write a song around her chorus... she was really happy with how it all turned out. we flew a sample of my mom singing the chorus from her version on the record( she comes in during the turn around after the first chorus). I was very proud of her and the record she did and thought it would be so fun to be able in a concert to say.... Here is a song I wrote with my mom:-)

Tin Pan South ... the night you see on the recorder ... what a great night Francessca Battiselli, Ben Glover and Eric Bledsoe and of course Matthew Burgess the percussionator... laying down the groove in the background. Such amazingly talented people. It was so fun to be a part of that night.

Ok... Hope whatever you're doing... you have a smile on your face.

God is good.

cindy

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