When I was in high school, Dad would drive us home from church and I would sit in the back seat singing the songs we had just heard, while Mom sat in the front seat singing the harmony. Dad was convinced [seriously] that Mom and I could be Naomi and Wynonna. He thought if the Judd's could make it big there was no reason we couldn't do it, too.
Bless his heart.
I loved those moments because Dad really enjoyed listening to us. I didn't grow up in a family that just couldn't wait to hear me sing. It was probably more that most of them couldn't wait for me to stop singing :), which is why it was always so shocking to me once I got to college that people would ask me to sing at the most random of times.
Freshman year I had friends on my dorm floor who would call down to my room after they had gotten all ready for bed so I could come sing them to sleep. Later, when I was off campus, I would have friends over and make them big dinners... and it became habit that after they were all full and dishes were sitting empty on the table, they would lay on the floor and have me sing to them while they relaxed and digested.
I thought they were crazy. But I also loved being able to do something so simple that made someone so happy.
So that one year, when I had the opportunity to record a few songs, I jumped at the chance knowing there were some friends who would enjoy it. My nieces and nephews were little, and I loved being able to give them a cassette tape of Aunt Sara so they could hear me sing to them whenever they wanted. My niece Anna used to sit in their basement with her little plastic tape player and sing along with me. I loved it.
But the one who clearly loved it most was Dad. How do I know this? Because every single time the family was home and one of the grandkids rode with him in his truck, they came back in the house saying, "Hey Aunt Sara, we just listened to you sing." I'd hop in the truck to ride with Dad to get a movie, he'd turn the key in the ignition and there I would be... singing from the cd player... and he'd start humming along.
He listened to me all the time.
I'm not sure I've ever been more proud than to see that he was proud of me.
All those years ago, I never imagined that creating a quick cd of music would have such a lasting impact for me. I never imagined that Breath of Heaven would play at my Aunt Judy's funeral when I couldn't travel home. I never dreamed the only presence I would have at Dad's funeral would be my voice that I recorded so many years prior. I had no idea how much it would mean to me to have something to offer when it was no longer physically possible to give.
Some of you guys have asked over the past few years if you could order a cd, but rather than go through the bother of all of that, I thought I'd offer it up as a YOU:create. Admittedly, I feel as silly about offering it now as I did singing to my friends after a good meal, but if it's a small way I can make you happy then I am all for it. I created it years ago... I sang one song after another without the opportunity to fix bad notes or lost breath, so there are many flaws and many mistakes... but I put my heart in it and I hope it blesses yours.
To download the songs, all you have to do is click on that download button and it will take you to the download page.
Hope you enjoy... Merry Christmas! 
I can’t wait to see what you guys came up with this week! Just click below and follow the instructions to link to your project. When it asks you to choose the web or a file for your thumbnail, choose web. Then it will take you to a list of the images on the page you are linking to and you’ll be able to choose a photo to represent your project.