GEMS (& Other Good Things!)

Lots of exciting things have been going on in the last few weeks. First, after singing at the GEMS leaders conference, I was asked to lead worship for the local GEMS group in our community. About 50 first- through sixth-grade girls meet at the church right around the corner from me, twice a month.

I have also had the joy of singing at Powerhouse twice in the last month. Always a wonderful experience and now that we are back to two services, there is time for band fellowship during the first service.

Tonight, the weekly Bible study in Franklin Lakes starts up again, and I promised to bring my guitar and lead worship. I've been going to this study on and off for 7 or 8 years now, and met many different and wonderful people along the way.

I have a few other things just getting started and I'm hopeful the opportunity to record a new album will present itself soon. Thanks for the prayers and support!

Sing Praise!

(See editor's note below)

I am determined to use my talents to further God's Kingdom. It is a decision I made on Sept. 12, 2001, when I cancelled the last gig on my calendar. It was scheduled for Sept. 14, somewhere in Connecticut with Roger Guimond's Bellydancer. With what the world was going through, there was no way I was going to cross the Tapan Zee bridge to spend the night in a smokey bar singing Bobbie McGee.

For the past decade, I have reserved my singing for God only. I've sang in different churches, learned all new songs, written a new album's worth of new material and met many amazing people along the way. My walk hasn't been perfect. And it hasn't been very fast, but if you put enough baby steps together, you can cover a lot of ground.

As I made the bold decision to leave my paying job, God assured me that He Will Provide. I know, it might sound like crazy talk, saying I asked the Creator of the Universe to give me concrete direction and he obliged. You might call it a coincidence — not more than 15 minutes after I asked God for a sign, I got an email inviting me to sing at the GEMS conference — but I've experienced too many coincidences to believe in random chance anymore.

I don't have a specific big goal in mind. I just want to use my talents to sing God's praises and to go where He leads me. If you need a singer, please think of me. And also, please like my new Facebook page. I hope to start posting songs and videos there soon. (For now it's just links to Rambling Rebecca!)

Thank you all for the encouragement and support!

**This post was originally posted on my main blog last month.

Introductions

Rebecca Abma is a Christian Singer Songwriter living in Northwest Bergen County.

She was raised in the Reformed Church of America, married into the Christian Reformed Church, and considers herself non-denominational today.

In her teens and 20s, Rebecca wandered from the fold and pursued a career in magazine publishing while moonlighting as a rock singer chick. She recorded her first album, Rebecca Koetting: The Austin Sessions in 2000.

In September 2001, she was convicted with the belief that her voice should be used solely for the promotion of God's Kingdom. She cancelled her last gig, scheduled for Sept. 14 in South Norwalk, CT and never looked back.

Since then, Rebecca has written an album's worth of material inspired by her walk with the Lord and all its struggles and triumphs.

She sings in difference churches in the Wyckoff area and is always looking for opportunities to sing God's praises.