Children’s Songs

Choose to Believe was written in June 2015. The house was quiet, my husband was out of town, and around 10 pm I sat down at the piano. My heart was heavy; there was a lot going on in my life that was burdening me, and I sought solace as I played.  I was playing Bach, and suddenly was struck with a bright, colorful, vivid “image” of a song for children or for youth.  A complete song– not a work-in-progress, not an idea, but a complete song.  I had three scriptures come to my mind in conjunction with the song:  Mosiah 4:9-10, Helaman 5:12, and Joshua 24:9.  Specific words from those scriptures came to my mind, and I had to go quickly to look them up in their entirety. This song is so sacred to me because of the powerful force with which it entered my mind. I feel it is critical for our children to “choose to believe” early in life, and to decide, and then live, what they stand for. We cannot, in this day in age, sit on the fence any more. “Choose to Believe” is a musical proclamation of courage, tenacity, and faith. The section in the middle of the song, set apart by piano interludes on both ends, makes reference to the infinite and glorious Atonement that Jesus Christ chose to make on our behalf. This song is dedicated to my four children and for the children of the Holladay First Ward.

I Know the Scriptures are True was written the following year, as I pondered the Primary theme for 2011, which is the song’s title. The bridge of the song, “Stories teach me what I can be…. Stories teach me truths that change me,” came first to my mind, and the verses and choruses were formed quickly the following day. I felt that the children in my Primary needed to sing about the stories that they learn in the scriptures, and that by grasping the idea that they are true stories written specifically for them, a desire to learn and love the scriptures would deepen. I still can hear my beautiful Philadelphia Primary children singing this song with gusto and fervor in my head whenever I hear this song.

My Baptismal Covenant was the third song to take shape. As I taught my own children, as well as Primary children, about baptism, the thought occurred to me several times that there needed to be a song that helped children remember the promises they make and receive at baptism. Pushing my baby Ruby in the jogger on a run near our home in Washington DC in May 2013, I heard in my mind a new song for children, based on the baptismal covenant that the people of Alma made in Mosiah Chapter 18, as they were baptized in the serene Waters of Mormon. There, they promised to “enter into the fold of God, and were willing to bear one another’s burdens that they may be light, and were willing to mourn with those who mourn, and comfort those who stand in need of comfort, to stand as a witness of God in all times, and in all things, and in all places.” They promised to “keep His commandments, that He may pour His spirit abundantly on them.” These words are sacred truths, placed in my mind in the form of melody, with a rhythmic structure, a key signature, and a musical form all in place. I went home and wrote down the song, and was emotional with gratitude. There was no artistic process on my end. It was a gift from Heavenly Father, who spoke to me through the scriptures. I dedicate this song to my son Jack, who turned 8 a few weeks after it was written, and who stood in his white baptismal clothing in front of the font right before he was baptized and sang it beautifully.