With an exuberant personality, strong vocals and superb songwriting skills, it's with eager anticipation that the music industry is waiting for Karyn Williams' national debut project on Inpop Records, Only You, which released to digital outlets August 28, 2012. The 11-song album features original compositions co-written by Williams. 

 

Karyn Williams has a pure and strong voice that immediately reminds me of Amy Grant and Bethany Dillon. She clearly loves our Lord and Savior Jesus with all of her heart and wants to celebrate that fact with every song. I have three young daughters and Only You is a nice, upbeat pop album with positive biblical messages--a great alternative to mainstream pop artists. Karyn brings her walk with Jesus into her songwriting which is truly a highlight.

 

The project's first single, "Rest in the Hope" was written in tribute to her father, Orlando Magic founder and executive Pat Williams, as he faced a battle with cancer that is now in remission. I had the great opportunity to interview Karyn about her touching song and here's what she shared with me.

 

Please share the story that led you to write the song "Rest In The Hope." 
 

The phone was ringing when I woke up on that Friday morning in early February of 2011. It was my brother-in-law, Tracy. When I answered, I could tell immediately in his voice that something was wrong. He asked if I had spoken to my dad. I hadn't. As we hung up, Tracy said, "You need to call him, he's talking to all the kids today." I didn't ask him what was wrong because I didn't want to hear it from anyone other than my dad, but there are 19 kids in my family, and there would only be one reason he was calling all of us on the same day—bad news.

For the next hour I called every number I had for dad, but couldn't get ahold of him. The more time that went by, the more anxious and upset I got over whatever was coming. I sat on my couch and tried to calm down. Finally, after what felt like an eternity, my phone rang—it was my dad. I could already feel my voice starting to shake as I answered the phone, "Hey dad, what's going on?" His voice was calm, reassuring. "Karyn, I went in for a physical a few weeks ago, and I need to fill you in on what happened…" he started. My heart sank. I knew my dad wouldn't be calling just to tell me his physical went well. He began to tell me about a diagnosis he had been given, something called "Multiple Myeloma" and the treatment he had already started--chemotherapy twice a week.

After hearing the word' "cancer" and "chemo", I think I sort of stopped listening. I heard him say something about how this multiple myeloma was in all of his bones except his skull, and then something about no cure, no surgery but our goal is to get it in remission, and we've got a 70-75 percent chance of doing that. Yeah, okay…remission….whatever, I'll process that later. For now, all I knew was that my dad had cancer.

 

I did my best to stay strong for him, but it was too late, the tears were already flowing. We both cried on the phone together until finally dad said, "Karyn, God's going to use this. I'm absolutely convinced of that." I have to be honest, in that moment my only thought was, "Let Him use someone else!" But I did my best to console my dad, and he did his best to comfort me over the phone. In a matter of just a few short minutes, my entire world had changed, and my heart was shattered.

 

During a visit home, I walked downstairs late one night and my dad was sitting up in bed. He had already begun taking a steroid twice a week, so sleep was something he was learning to live without. No one else was in there, so I curled up next to him and we just sat in silence for a while. It's one of the things I have always appreciated about our relationship—our ability to just be together, not have to say anything. Finally my dad started talking. He told me about how he was feeling, and how the shock of it all was finally setting in for him. Then he told me about his conversations with the Lord ever since his diagnosis. "I've asked God repeatedly, ‘Lord why did you do this to me? I don't understand. I've been serving You, writing about You, speaking for You my whole life," he said. "The only answer I've gotten back seems to be, ‘Urgency Pat, urgency. You haven't been urgent enough. I needed to get your attention. I'm going to pull you through this, but you've got to tell people with a sense of urgency that they've got to move'." I remember thinking, "My dad is the most passionate, energetic, urgent man I know. If he's not telling people about the Lord with enough urgency, then we're all in trouble!"

 

After a few weeks had gone by since learning about my dad's cancer, I sat on my bed one night crying and asked my husband, "Am I ever going to feel normal again?" It was that night that I realized I had a choice to make. I could either wallow in this news forever or I could choose to lay it all down and trust the Lord with my dad's life. It took a while, but I finally chose the latter. I had to stand alongside my dad and fight, that was really the only choice I had. Feeling sad and sorry for him wasn't going to accomplish anything. Being mad at God wasn't going to do anything either. I'm not going to lie, it hurt. It hurt bad….the kind of "heart hurt" that you can't explain. But I realized that while I may never understand why my dad has to go through this, the one thing I wasn't going to do was question it. God knew this was going to happen; He does everything out of love and He had a purpose for this too, even if I didn't like it. I had to reminded many times that God never promised us life would be easy. He never said we wouldn't experience pain or sadness. But He did promise that He'd be right by our side through it all.

 

As a songwriter, I tried several times to write a song about this experience, but I couldn't. I decided to stop trying and if a song was going to be born, it would just have to happen in God's time.  In December of 2011, I sat down to write a song with Trey Heffinger and my husband, Brian White. I began talking about my experience with my dad over the past year, and that day we finally wrote the song I had been trying to write for almost a year. At the press conference so many months earlier when my dad announced his diagnosis, he said, "I thought I was close to the Lord before, but now I'm sitting on his lap hugging Him around the neck." Ever since I heard him say that, I thought it was such a beautiful picture of resting in the arms of Jesus, and that day, my song "Rest In The Hope" was born.

 

Isaiah 41:10: "Fear not, for I am with you; Be not dismayed, for I am your God. I will strengthen you,

Yes, I will help you, I will uphold you with My righteous right hand."

 

... Matthew 11:28-30: "Come to Me, all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For My yoke is easy and My burden is light."

 

... and Romans 8:38-39: "For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord."

 

How can listeners apply that message when they listen to the song?
 

When I realized this would be my first radio single to the world, I was overwhelmed. This song is personal for me in a way that's hard to explain after walking through my dad's illness. What I've learned as I've traveled and shared this song is that everyone has a "cancer diagnosis" in their life; everyone has something they're struggling with, confused by, or questioning. As humans, when we don't understand something, we wrestle it to the ground when what the Lord wants us to do is rest. Rest in Him. Rest in His promises. Rest in His hope. This past year for me has been a powerful reminder of Who is really in control, and my prayer is that whoever hears this song will realize that the Lord is right there in the middle of whatever they're going through, and that they really can rest knowing that we belong to Him. This was the phrase we chanted over and over as my dad tackled his multiple myeloma diagnosis. "The Mission Is Remission." In early Spring 2012, my dad was able to announce that he was in fact in Remission!! Praise the Lord! Thank you for praying alongside us during this time.

 

 

Perhaps it's her insight and sensitivity that draws me to Karyn's music. She touches on issues of self-image and worry, questions of faith, and feelings of loneliness; her songs resonate with women and offer encouragement. For some reason, Christians including myself sometimes think if I'm following the Lord and doing the best I can, that life will be easy, and it's not. That's where grace comes in, and that's where we grow. We have the choice to live in fear, or to live in the hope that God is in every moment with us. We are called as Christians to believe in the freedom that we have in the Cross of Jesus. We are free from our fears, addictions, insecurities and perfectionism. Jesus came to die for us so that we can all truly live in Him.

 

This gorgeous song connects to multiple Bible passages. That's what Karyn is all about, loving God with all of her heart, expressed in one catchy song after another. God loves you so much. Lean on Him and He'll give you strength. This song is all for God's glory. When we are in communion with God, it is joyful and not a burden. I sing along with the truth of this song at the top of my lungs, and rejoice in the lyrics: "You are the truth that never changes / The God who came to save us / I am Yours." Amen!

 

(You can listen to this moving song here.)