Twila Paris - Small Sacrifice

This week I received a highly anticipated package in the mail. I was asked to review Twila Paris' new project, Small Sacrifice. Let me say that I was absolutely thrilled to have the chance to review this project plus the opportunity to talk about it.

I have since played the cd through numerous times and I must say that I absolutely love it!

I have always loved Twila. Her voice sounds like an angel but more than her vocal talent, it is how the Lord speaks to her through the written word. Her lyrics are spectacular! I have always been the nerdy one that is so excited when I get a new CD because I can't wait to get the wrapper off and open it up to pull out the jacket and read the lyrics. Somehow the music means more to me personally when I see that the artist has written the lyrics.

I am excited that there is an entire generation that will be able to enjoy this wonderful artist. She has released 22 albums, amassed 33 number one singles, and was named Gospel Music Association Female Vocalist of the Year three separate times. This album is being released exclusively through LifeWay Christian Stores. It will also be available for purchase on Twila's website (http://www.twilaparis.com/) and through iTunes.

Twila is a pioneer in praise and worship music. As many of you know who visit this blog, I have one of my favorite Twila Paris songs, How Beautiful, that plays in the background.

I was very excited to hear one of her songs entitled I Can Do All Things. It is obviously based on Phillipians 4:13. This has been my life verse. I can remember learning to snow ski in Santa Fe, New Mexico and quoting this verse out loud all the way down the slope! The song did not disappoint!

The title track Small Sacrifice is beautiful. Twila says she called the album Small Sacrifice because she loved the scriptural concept that giving of ourselves as a living sacrifice is simply our reasonable service. I love the words to the CHORUS: What can You do with this gift of mine...So insignificant, so unrefined. What can You do with a simple girl. You can change the world. You can change the world. With one small sacrifice. I give You all my love. I give You all my life. A token for a prize. It never could be worth the honor You deserve. It's one small sacrifice. WOW! I love this song!

My all time favorite on the CD is a song that really touched my heart and I look for it to really make a difference in lives. The title is Not Forgotten. For ten years I waited on the Lord.Earlier in my life I waited for eight years for a child and suffered loss of four babies before finally being blessed with my oldest. I know that many wait for children, a spouse, a wayward child to come back to the Lord...whatever you are waiting for He has not forgotten you. This song alone touched a place deep within me that spoke to my heart.

So ya'll need to run out to your local Lifeway Christian Bookstore and buy a copy of this fantastic new worship CD or head over to http://www.twilaparis.com/ and pick up a copy. This is bound to be another great group of songs that we will be using in our churches for years to come. Some of the most powerful and well loved worship songs that are a constant in our churches today were written by Twila, "He is Exalted" and "We Bow Down".

I will leave you with one more quote from Twila that really sums it all up. "I want to encourage people to be faithful in what God has given them to do, however insignificant it might seem, because they have no idea how huge it could be in God's overall plan."