{"id":14,"date":"2024-11-04T21:46:58","date_gmt":"2024-11-04T21:46:58","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/godbreathedmelody.com\/?page_id=14"},"modified":"2024-11-15T13:39:03","modified_gmt":"2024-11-15T13:39:03","slug":"our-story","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/godbreathedmelody.com\/?page_id=14","title":{"rendered":"Our Story"},"content":{"rendered":"\t\t
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Our Story<\/h1>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t
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The director of Children\u2019s Ministry at our church knew that I was helping my daughter memorize Bible verses for\u00a0Sunday<\/span><\/span>\u00a0school by putting them to music. She asked me to share them with the kids at church. Since I was already leading the kids in worship it was easy to simply teach them a new song each month as the Bible verse changed.\u00a0 We all had a lot of fun with them and I found that as I would sit down to write the song for the next month, the tunes and accompanying verses would flow very easily!\u00a0 I really felt that God\u2019s hand was in this!\u00a0 The kids were memorizing the Bible verses effortlessly and we were all having a great time with the music! As the year progressed and more and more songs were written, I started to think maybe some day these songs would turn into something more.<\/p>

The next fall, my oldest daughter went on a month long missions trip to\u00a0Grace of God Academies\u00a0in Guatemala,\u00a0to help teach students English through art and other activities. \u00a0I accompanied her for the first 5 days. \u00a0My heart went out to all of the families and teachers there. \u00a0I was so encouraged by the loving spirit of the teachers and their devotion to serving God in all that they did. \u00a0I fell in love with the gentle, loving people of Guatemala and came back home with a desire to help bless the school. \u00a0I also came back to a diagnosis of breast cancer. \u00a0<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t

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Getting Started<\/h2>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t
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It was at this point that I decided to reach out to my good friend Chris Younken and ask him if he would be interested in this project to support the children and school in Guatemala. \u00a0Chris\u2019s heart was touched by my experience in Guatemala and offered to help without any compensation!\u00a0We began recording immediately as I was unsure how things would transpire after my surgeries. \u00a0First, it was going to be just me with my guitar, but Chris had other ideas.\u00a0He took these songs from a very basic beginning to something that you would\u00a0hear on the radio! \u00a0With every addition and nuance, I was further encouraged. \u00a0<\/p>

My surgeries came and went, and as accompanying treatment plans were walked through, these songs actually helped me stay\u00a0grounded in my faith! \u00a0I remember joyfully resting in the melodies of 1 Thessalonians 5:18, \u201cHe\u2019s got it under control\u201d as the MRI was loudly whirring around me. And the words of Ephesians 2:10, \u201cWe are God\u2019s handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works\u2026\u201d reaffirmed that I had a job and a purpose on this earth and kept me focused on His great will and purpose instead of on the trial that I was enduring. \u00a0As I was recovering from surgeries, actually much faster and easier than I had anticipated, I rested on the words of Ephesians 6:10, \u201cFinally, may the Lord make you strong, depend on His mighty power!\u201d \u00a0<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t

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In the Studio<\/h2>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t
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Recordings, additions, and re-recordings continued as we sought to perfect this work! \u00a0My own kids added to the project and one of my personal favorite female vocalists, Terri Parker fit in an afternoon to add her amazing voice! \u00a0In passing, Chris mentioned the project to Tom \u201cT-Bone\u201d Edmonds. He was amazed when Tom offered to help out! \u00a0Tom is a nationally recognized\u00a0Engineer\/Producer and has worked with many top recording artists such as Lenny Kravitz! \u00a0I couldn\u2019t believe it! \u00a0Another professional added to the project and all because they felt a desire to help outside of themselves!<\/p>

I remember laughing at myself when I got word that T-Bone was going to send a couple of songs to a professional musician\u00a0friend of his in California, Arti Funaro, to have him lay down a better keyboard part than the one I had put down. \u00a0(I\u2019m no keyboardist! But, I had attempted a very weak reggae part in 1 Thessalonians\u00a05:18<\/span><\/span>, T-Bone could not approve!) \u00a0A few days later I was blown away!\u00a0 Not only had Arti replaced my keyboard attempt on that song, he had added a Jerry Lee Lewis like part to Luke\u00a016:10<\/span><\/span>!\u00a0 And, he had replaced a couple of bass parts with his own!\u00a0 All of these additions were without any compensation!\u00a0 Improvements kept coming as Tom sent track after track for me to listen to!<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t

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Finishing Touches<\/h2>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t
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As the recording project came to a close, I turned to my daughter, Alea, for the artwork and my husband, Jason for everything else! \u00a0\u00a0They are incredible! \u00a0Alea is blessed both in music and art (the last song is one she wrote) and she has her own unique way of expressing joy through her drawings. \u00a0I asked her to design the album cover! \u00a0I love what she has done! My husband has a gift for all things business, art, and design, so the more serious matters were delegated to him! \u00a0<\/p>

It has been quite a journey to get to where we are. I am so grateful to both Chris Younken and Tom Edmonds for their willingness to spend countless hours churning over these songs and improving on them after I had already gone home! They are both incredibly talented and generous and I can\u2019t thank them enough! This project would simply have never happened without them. We are so proud of the final product and look forward starting on volume two. We are also keeping our eyes open for other God Breathed\u00a0projects. The CD project is just the beginning. We hope to embark on other efforts to spread God\u2019s Word and support God\u2019s work.<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t

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Ren\u00e9 Oakman<\/strong>\u00a0is a singer-songwriter, preschool music teacher, mother of four, and has been a part of many varied genres of musical performance groups ranging from choirs, folk groups\u00a0to a R&B band.\u00a0 She has a true heart for children and has worked in Children\u2019s Ministry for the past 20 years.\u00a0 Currently, she helps lead worship at local churches and events in her hometown. In addition to the Bible Verse Memory songs for children, she is also writing music for worship.<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t

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Chris Younken<\/strong>\u00a0has been a musician, songwriter, audio engineer and recording studio owner for decades. He has performed in symphonies, rock bands and in a duo as a singing cellist with a guitarist playing everything from the Beatles to Steely Dan to folk songs. \u201cI took on the \u201cGod Breathed\u201d project not only because Ren\u00e9 is a dear friend and I wanted to help the cause but also because we have performed music together for many years and I love her talent and endless amount of positive energy.\u201d [Photo by Patrick Redmond]<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t

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Tom \u201cT-Bone\u201d Edmonds<\/strong>\u00a0started his professional career in 1974, working with\u00a0Todd Rundgren, Albert Grossman, Levon Helm, The Isley Brothers,\u00a0The Rolling Stones, Lenny Kravitz, and dozens of others.<\/p>

\u201cMy first recording experience was at Bearsville Recording Studio in Woodstock N.Y. with Janis Joplin\u2019s \u201cFull Tilt Boogie Band.\u201d\u00a0I have been working with Lenny Kravitz and many others for the past 25 years.\u00a0\u00a0These days I mentor young artists and upcoming\u00a0producer-engineers, as well as mixing and mastering local talent. I met Rene Oakman through long time musician friend, Chris\u00a0Younken,\u00a0and was invited to\u00a0co-produce\u00a0the final mix and mastering of Rene\u2019s album.\u00a0I took on the \u201cGod Breathed\u201d project feeling it a very worthy cause\u00a0and was proud to be involved with Rene\u2019s project.\u201d<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Our Story The director of Children\u2019s Ministry at our church knew that I was helping my daughter memorize Bible verses for\u00a0Sunday\u00a0school by putting them to music. She asked me to share them with the kids at church. Since I was already leading the kids in worship it was easy to simply teach them a new […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-14","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/godbreathedmelody.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/14","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/godbreathedmelody.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/godbreathedmelody.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/godbreathedmelody.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/godbreathedmelody.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=14"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/godbreathedmelody.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/14\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/godbreathedmelody.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=14"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}