I Recently read an article about Steven Tyler of Aerosmith cancelling the tour because of his vocal injury. He is such an amazing talent. Such devastating news.
When your entire life is built around being famous for your voice and then suddenly it’s not there, what a painful loss to bear.
Same goes for Julie Andrews. She had a surgery and the doctor accidentally clipped her vocal cords, and now she has lost some of her vocal range. Celine Dion has a very rare disease that has robbed her of using her vocal cords. Randy Travis too. How devastating.
When our identity has been ripped away and that is all we have then what is left?
I can somewhat relate on a much smaller scale.
Since I was 7 years old my only dream was to move to Nashville and become the next country music super star.
I dedicated my life to the craft working hard and sacrificing with complete focus, starting with vocal and music lessons at the age of 10.
I started a band at the age of 15 and we played anywhere from a VFW hall to a biker bar. I then moved to Nashville to pursue the dream. I worked my vocal cords like a world class athlete. Never smoked ( although the smoky bars sure didn’t help), drank very little because it strips the vocal chords of moisture, didn’t even eat cheese 3 days prior to singing because it coats the vocal cords!
Worked the muscle daily making sure it was in perfect shape. Even took classes at Vanderbilt from world class doctors to make sure I was on the proper road to success.
Then I found myself nearing the age of 30 knowing I was going to have to pivot and find a new path. It was extremely painful and I felt like a complete looser asking God “Why Me?” But as time went by I healed and realized just because I stopped singing didn’t mean I couldn’t use my creative nature for a different purpose. I changed my attitude to gratitude thanking God and saying “Why Not Me?”
I can pivot and create something new. It took me a while to learn this truth but I finally got it! When you are grounded in Christ and your identity is found in Him, then you are free to keep creating knowing God is the ultimate creator.
So instead of writing songs I started creating cupcake recipes. Instead of creating musical masterpieces, I began creating a confectionery masterpiece.
Now that the cupcake era in my life has ended I took a few years to figure out what is next. What is something I can make from scratch?
Stepping into bold new territory isn’t for the faint of heart but knowing Gods got my back I’m open to something new.
APPLE BROWN BETTY by Gigi
INGREDIENTS: 4 Rome apples, peeled, cored and sliced - 4 Granny Smith apples, peeled, cored, and sliced - 3 teaspoons ground cinnamon, divided - 1/2 cup granulated sugar - 1 cup all-purpose flour - 1 cup brown sugar - 1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg - 1/2 cup butter (softened in the microwave for 12 seconds) - 1/4 teaspoon salt - 1 1/2 cups old-fashioned rolled oats
- Preheat oven to 350F. Grease a 9 x 13-inch baking dish.
- In a bowl, mix together the apples, 1 teaspoon of the cinnamon, granulated sugar, and 1/2 cup water. Set aside.
- In a seperate bowl, mix together the flour, brown sugar, remaining 2 teaspoons cinnamon, nutmet, butter, salt, and oats with your fingers until cumbly.
- Place the apple mixture in the prepared baking dish.
- Spread the cumbly mixture over the apples.
- Bake for about 35. minutes, until bubbly.
Let cool and enjoy!
recipe courtesty of "The Secret Ingredient" by Gigi Butler Copyright 2018 Simon & Shuster, Inc.
Editorial comments expressed in this column are the sold opinion of the writer.
