Creating All Shall Be Well

This hymn collection was born standing on a slimy rock in the Sea of Galilee.

I led worship here in the Holy Land with a group of friends from the Telos Group. Heaven seemed to touch earth while we stood in the very water that Jesus walked upon. There, I was more aware then ever of how we’re invited every day to step into ordinary miracles - the hope for things still unseen becoming all the more tangible. 

And I needed a miracle. 

Releasing my record Wild Love had not gone like I’d hoped. Someone had told me that this record would define me as an artist and those words stuck with me. So when (in my eyes) the record failed, I felt like I had failed as an artist. I felt like a fool for trying. 

Being an artist is wonderful and joyful and lights me up - it’s in the fabric of my being - but it’s not easy. Up until then it generally had been easy. But I felt like releasing Wild Love brought with it many really hard and big ‘no’s’. 

Perhaps it wouldn’t have stung so much if we weren’t so close to some really big things. There was so much momentum going into releasing this music. Our video The Thank You Project had over 100 million views. Everything was literally effortlessly booming around me. Sharing this music which I created while thanking our heroes was (what I thought) the perfect next step. This was the record I’d always dreamed of making. I’m super proud of these songs and making it was one of the biggest gifts I’ve known - I worked with amazing musicians. So I thought it was sure to be well received by so many others - I thought for sure it would continue to ‘ride the wave’. 

We talked with the producers of the Today Show, Oprah and Good Morning America. We hired a publicist and reached out to every publication that had shared our story - which is well into the hundreds by now - everyone said no. I tried to book a tour. Everyone said no. 

None of it made sense. I was hurt. And I was ready to give up on my dream. My hope was crushed.  

And then I found myself standing at the Garden of Gethsemane, leading worship. How in the world did I get here? The gift and beauty of this place, the palpable presence of God filling the Holy Land - touching me. My hardened heart was beginning to soften. 

They say the olive trees in the garden are thousands of years old. They’re probably the very same trees that Jesus wept under before He went to the cross. And as I stood under those same olive trees, beautifully gnarly and worn from the years, I wept. My heart broke. 

I realized the reason my hope was crushed is because I was hoping in the wrong thing. 

I too realized that I had abandoned my savior in the garden. I too am in that number. And I wept there. And as I did, I was met with complete perfect love and acceptance - there... in the garden. 

Making music is something I’m called to do. I know it deep down in the fiber of my being. The gift I’ve been given is for others - to be shared and to help others. But with Wild Love I had made it about me. I wanted the attention, I wanted to be important. I had lost sight of what all of this was for. And it was in the garden that my eyes were opened and my sight was restored. 

The miracle happened in my heart. I was broken in all the beautiful ways I needed in order to truly be healed. Healing came flooding in. 

After this trip, upon returning to Florida a massive hurricane hit our town. The time without power gave me plenty of unplugged time to play lots of hymns on my ukulele and pray. The friends I was with in the Holy Land were asking me to send them my recordings of the hymns we’d sung together as we traveled. I’d used my ukulele because it was so portable and we were always on the go. I was planning on just recording a few tunes on my phone and emailing them over. But as I worked on these simple recordings and these arrangements grew so did my excitement to share them with more people, to take this music more seriously. I wondered if perhaps this was a gift meant for many.

My husband Ted and also our good friend John Arndt believed in this music before I did. They encouraged me to lean into these hymns and make a proper record. I must admit I was quite gun shy at the idea. But I knew this time it wasn’t about me. I’m not trying to sell a certain amount of records or reach some magic promo goal. 

These songs are just a simple offering of hope to whoever wants to grab on to it. No strings attached.

So I went in the studio and got to work. My heart was gradually being filled and awakened each day as I sang these words and truths over and over. Revival in it’s purest form began to bubble within me. Hope - not from me or in anything I could do - but true hope that only comes from God and being secure in His love and provision - grew. This hope cannot be conjured up, only received. What I hadn’t realized until then is that this hope had been offered to me all along. It just looked different than I’d thought. My eyes had been blind to it. God opened my eyes and my heart. The freedom He’s brought through making this hymn record is a huge gift. 

For me, the record has already done what it needed to do. I can share it now in freedom with you. My only hope is that it brings refreshment, hope and freedom to your heart as well. I’m not looking for numbers. Just hearts encouraged. And already I’ve heard enough stories of this happening as people listen to the music to know this is what’s happening. I offer this collection with open hands and so much love.

There is a power and beauty in listening to these truths. But I know there is even more beauty as we come together and sing these songs - lifting our hearts and voices. So I wanted to make it easy for anyone to do this with their friends and family. I created a companion songbook arranged for ukulele and voice (It will work for piano/guitar as well) which was a #1 New Release on Amazon! Even if you are new to the ukulele these arrangements are great for any skill level with lessons, chords and tablature included for every song from All Shall Be Well. You can learn, play along to the record, and lead others in worship, lifting our voices together in adoration of our Good Maker and in declaration of what is true.