Ever since I was a little girl I wanted to be a singer/songwriter and performer just like Amy Grant. I would run around the house in a tutu with a tape recorder and microphone in hand making up songs and singing to my hearts delight. Pursuing that dream has looked different during the different stages in my life and I went through a period where I had given up on it altogether. But God re-awakened that dream a few years ago when He reminded me that He loves me and has created me on purpose to be used for His purpose. And part of that purpose included those lost gifts and dreams.
Over the past few years I have been on this path of uncovering that dream and remembering who God made me to be. For a long time I wanted to record a solo album but the pieces just weren’t quite coming together. I came to a point where I knew I needed to lay that dream down again. I needed to pray and ask God what He wanted this dream to be. He has answered that prayer over the past few years in a very unraveling sort of way. It began with the resurfacing of songs that I’d written in years past and has ended up being so much bigger and broader than I had ever dreamed. Not only have I been able to record an album of some of my old and new songs, I have also self-published two books to go with it and have gotten to perform live, speak with a variety of women’s groups and have even lead a couple of small groups through my devotional book.
I have been given this amazing gift of seeing God put all these seemingly random pieces together in a way that totally fit the theme of the whole project. The main theme woven throughout is one of unraveling the exterior influences of life and seeking God to find our true identity in Him. The songs come from some of my personal journey with perfectionism, fear, learning to accept God’s love for me instead of striving to earn it and then finding my voice in it all.
My hope and desire now is that God would use the music and my personal journey to help others in their journey of faith. I pray that God would use my struggles to help other women know that they are not alone, they were made on purpose for God’s purpose and that God loves them personally and deeply.
The Unraveling project consists of:
Unraveling: The Album which includes 13 original songs about faith, hope and identity.
Unraveling: A Reflective Journey is a book that expands on the album by telling the stories behind the songs in a devotional style and has thought-provoking questions followed by lined space for the reader to reflect on their own journey of faith. It also includes key verses and coloring pages that relate to the song.
Unraveling: A Coloring Book is a simplified version of the Reflective Journey book for a younger audience. It contains coloring pages, shorter journal prompts, Bible verses and space for doodling.
I am so thankful for the opportunities God has placed before me to get to share my music and my story with other women in this creative way. If you or someone you know would like to begin the process of re-discovering your gifting, voice and purpose here are some ways I would love to get to share in that unraveling journey with you:
- Unraveling: A Girl’s Night Out – Host an intimate concert in your home, at your church, or in a small group setting where I would come and sing my songs and tell the stories behind them.
- Speaking Engagement – I would love to come to your women’s retreat or conference and sing a couple of songs from the album and share my testimony of rediscovering my gifts in the hopes that other women would be encouraged to start unraveling their unique, God-given, talents.
- Unraveling: A Women’s Retreat – I am currently working on creating a full weekend retreat curriculum for women that is centered around the devotionals in my book.
- Unraveling: A Study Group – This option is the most simple and maybe the most powerful! Just grab a few girlfriends and go through the Unraveling: A Reflective Journey devotional book together. You can take a good 13 weeks and discuss the reflection questions from one song/chapter each week or you could do a more condensed version that lasts 7 weeks where you would discuss two songs/chapters each week.
If you are interested in booking or just want to say “hi” you can e-mail me at info@denisechaneymusic.com. I would love to hear from you!