Behind the Music

Made for This

I found myself about halfway through a generally successful career in Corporate America, and I was bored. Uninspired. Many times when I write a song, I have things on my mind for a long while and when I finally get some free time, I sit down and the words just pour out on a page.  Yes, pen and paper. It seems more real, somehow.

I remember standing on my back deck, looking out and thinking to myself, "Shut out the noise and say the most basic feeling, what's at the root of this?".  

"I just want to feel inspired" was the first line that came out. I was weighed down by the same thing every day, the meetings, the emails, the reports.  So many things that needed to be done, but nothing that felt like I'd actually "done" something.  

Next, I jumped straight to the chorus.

"I want to see mountains move; I want to see giants fall."

I don't think I'll look back after a long career and remember all the great emails I wrote, or the presentations I created. I am defined by more than just my job. "Is this what I was made for?  Just what I get paid for?". No! I want to be a part of something bigger. Something epic. "I want to work miracles." Why is it that only people in Bible stories get to do that? I want to have that faith, too. I want in!

Shortly after writing Made For This, I became a father. I said then, "This changes everything", and it was even more true than I could have predicted. Something inside a man transforms as he becomes a father.  

I now see in my son's eyes the things that I want to be. At this age, he believes that I can do anything. The mountains I move may be piles of sand at the beach. The giants that fall before me might be plastic dinosaurs or Lego robots.  

The faith that he has in me is real. Faith like a child. This is what I want my Father to see in my eyes when I look up to Him.  

I am inspired. My prayer in this song has been answered. I am experiencing His miracles every day. I still have the ambitions to brave great things for Christ, but I see these in a new light. I am no longer striking out on my own to face the enemy - I have a family to provide for, to defend, to teach, to enjoy.

This is my great work . . . I was made for this.