New Amy Grant Music, Fresh Thoughts

I'm a little behind the times here, but... I finally got to listen to Amy Grant's new album, Somewhere Down The Road. I'd had it for a few weeks but never got a chance to listen to it, despite actually carrying it in my purse in the hopes of catching an earful in the car. Life just was not conducive to listening to a CD all the way through, what with newborn babies arriving (not mine, relax), troubled teenagers to worry about, sick brother-in-laws landing themselves in the hospital, and - AS ALWAYS - car trouble.

I become a die-hard Amy Grant fan in the 6th grade, and that was a loooooooooong time ago. I have met her, I have spent an afternoon with her, and that mas made me an even bigger fan. It's one thing to write good songs and look pretty, it's another thing to actually be a really cool person. Anyway, as a 6th-grader, I loved Amy because I thought she was beautiful, stylish, and her music was fun. As I got older, I loved Amy because her music made me think and inspired me to write my own songs. Yes, I picked up a guitar when I was 15 because of her. And though I am by no means a musician at this point in my life, my writing is still inspired by her music. It is often in the background while I am working. Amy seems to have a song for whatever mood or season of life you are in.

Now, I will say this. When Behind The Eyes came out in 1997, I was an 18-year-old college student living in Nashville and I had hit a wall in my personal life that had me in a tailspin. I'd had a huge falling-out with a friend I loved dearly, I was having trouble making new friends, I was constantly sick and sleep-deprived, I began drinking heavily, and I was alone. I was constantly suicidal. Behind The Eyes was a pretty depressing album; I think even Amy would tell you that. The sad undertones of the album fed into my depression, but I didn't get all the relationship stuff. The I-Know-I-Should-Be-In-Love-With-My-Husband-But-I'm-Just-Not stuff really went over my head.

It wasn't until a few years later, when my own marriage was falling apart, that I "got it."

This album I "get". It's an album of reflection and I feel like I'm doing a lot of reflecting these days. I'm just a baby, I guess. Thirty-one certainly isn't old. But then I think... wait... I am around the age Amy Grant was when I became a fan, and that's just crazy. I don't have children; I don't know if I can have any. I am almost a decade into my marriage and I haven't seen my college friends in almost as long. Some of my demons have been beaten out of me and some of my demons still try to beat ON me.

On the other hand, I've seen my oldest nephew grow up, get engaged and enlist in the Navy. I've held my 3 youngest niece and nephews moments after they were born and prayed over them as they slept in my arms. I've been on national television, I'm friends with some amazing people I never would have guessed I'd be friends with, and I'm doing what I want to do for a living.

So, reflect away! The good, the bad, the ugly - it all serves a purpose. There is something to treasure in every season of life.

Amy Grant seems to think so, too.
That's what makes this a great album.
That's what makes Amy Grant great at what she does.

Can't wait to see what's a little further up this road. Pin It