We all grew up loving the beautiful Christmas songs about Christ’s birth like “Away in a Manger” and “Silent Night.” One of my favorite songs has a question for a title, “What Child Is This?” It asks three questions in the song and it answers them. Could there ever be a modern Christmas song that could be written that would touch our hearts? I found this in the song, “Mary Did You Know?”
Authors of “Mary Did You Know?”
“Mary Did You Know?” was written by Mark Lowry in 1984 and Buddy Greene wrote the music in 1991. Mark Lowry does a nice job singing it. You can find his video on YouTube. I am not sure who I heard sing this song first, but when I heard it, I knew that I loved it. It is another song that asks questions, but the song doesn’t answer the questions.
Searching for a “Mary Did You Know?” Accompaniment
I wanted to sing this beautiful song for my church, the Redding Seventh-day Adventist Church, in December 2019, but I needed to find an accompaniment. After listening to many on YouTube, it seemed they all had some beat. Then, I found a beautiful accompaniment done by Michael Lining. I paid for his track and downloaded it on my phone. Next, I had to sing it over and over with him to learn the words and how to sing with his accompaniment. Then, I was able to sing with just the accompaniment over and over. I practice a lot.
Nervous Singing “Mary Did You Know?”
The day came for me to sing the song. My girlfriend, Tammie (The one who helped me to move and take apart my piano), videoed me singing. I wanted everything to be perfect. This perfectionism made me quite nervous. I got through the song without any major mistakes, but I noticed that I was frowning more than I would like. I frown when I am serious. She was videoing from the balcony, so after I finished singing, I had a long walk down the side aisle, then I had to go up the stairs. I was literally exhausted! It was all due to being nervous. I do not like getting that nervous. Sometimes, when I sing, I don’t get nervous at all. It all depends on my attitude.
Dress Worn to Sing “Mary Did You Know?”
You might like to know about the knit dress that I wore to sing this song. My mother knitted it. It was actually too long and she had to shorten it at the waist. I left it hanging and in my house with skylights and it got faded on one side. It was a lovely mauve color. I finally got motivated to fix it and bought a purple dye. It came out a lovely color and I could still wear the dress that my mother had spent so much time making. She is no longer living, so this dress has special memories for me.
Singing “Mary Did You Know?” With Confidence
The very next Sabbath, I got to sing this same beautiful song at the Whitmore Seventh-day Adventist Church. It is a smaller church and I convinced myself that this would be fun and that I would sing with confidence (that means no fear). I also determined that I would smile more. Unfortunately, the speaker was right behind me. The poor guy videoing tried to get him out of the video, but he couldn’t. The speaker needs to learn to smile more too. In fact, we all need to smile more. If you are in the congregation, it is your job to smile and look interested so the singer won’t be so terrified. It would help to also pray for the singer and the speaker.
Michael Lining the Accompaniment Creator’s Video
If you have now watched both of my videos I thank you. I want to give you a special treat to see the video that Michael Lining made of himself playing multiple instruments to accompany himself singing this song. He is so talented. His wife also sings. I highly recommend them if you want to hear beautiful godly music. If you would like to purchase his music, you can find him on Bandcamp at the following link. http://michaellining.bandcamp.com
I also have a few songs on Bandcamp that you could purchase. https://tamaraluevano.bandcamp.com/
To see more posts on music, click the following link. https://healthyhomesteadingadventures.com/category/music/