Weathered. Gray. Hollowed out. Taken out. It's what happens when life hits sometimes. Divorce. Bankruptcy. Cancer. You name it. We all face it. This side of heaven, it's hard to understand sometimes why life happens the way it does, especially when we feel like we've done all we can do to follow God and serve Him with all our hearts. Sometimes it's just out of our hands, and all we can do is surrender to the grieving, the breaking, the loss, the hollowing out of our souls...but somehow, mysteriously, in the hollowing out, God is filling those vacant places, where we now have room for more of Him. Over the last few years I have faced my fair share of weathering. There were moments I honestly wasn't sure I would ever recover. There were times the music seemed absolutely silent in me. But then, all of a sudden, it's like the music began again. A new sound, a new honesty, a new vulnerability to tell my story. Through the encouragement of friends, family, and my church...songs rose out of the gray bleakness. Songs written on my most difficult days. God met me at the piano on those days, and he helped me be honest with Him as I sat and strummed the guitar. Just when I thought all the music inside me was dormant, it's like a little green shoot rose quietly into bloom, and new life came, new songs came, new courage came to tell my story. I've had this picture in my heart for a long time of an EP of songs titled "weathered." Songs about life, love, loss, brokenness, hope, and redemption. I feel like now is the time to share some of these songs with the world. If I've learned anything lately, I've learned that life is short, and I don't want to waste a moment. I always tell people that writing songs, recording them, and making CDs always makes me feel like I'm that kid with only a couple loaves of bread and fish in my hands, offering them to the Master humbly, knowing that what I can offer would never be enough....but knowing He is the God who can make something out of my nothing. So, once again I humbly offer Him what I have, knowing that if He so wills, He can multiply my efforts and potentially use it to bless thousands. That is my heart's desire. -Sheri Carr "Hollow like an old and empty oak tree, taken down by lightening in the storm. Weathered by the years that time has eaten away. Lying in the shadows, wondering how it ended up this way. Can you see me when the darkness surrounds? Can you find me when I want to be found? Can you hear me when I sing through the storm? When I'm weathered & worn, can you hear me, Lord?" - from "Weathered" by Sheri Carr & Duffy James