Check it at http://mikehankinsmusic.blogspot.com/

Mike

This song was written in a Laundromat in Alabama... just when things felt like they couldn't get any worse... I call it Life... but the song is called "Crowned"...

Crowned

(Hankins 2008)

I've taken bullets…

In this battleship called life…

And I've been taking on water…

Tryin' hard… just to stay upright… and

Through it all made promises…

Sold my heart and soul…

Owning everything… just to keep control… now,

I've been lost...  I've been found…

I've lived alone, without a home and somehow stuck it out…

I've been in… and I've been out…

I've known friends - and on one hand… I can truly count…

So I stand alone… on this hillside of my heart…

Redeemed… for-given… a brand-new start…

Amazed – that His mercy it resounds… I've been...

Crowned.

I've known the lonely…

The lost… the broken down…

And regret it is relentless…

As it sweeps across your bow… and

Through it all made promises…

Sold my heart and soul…

So I'm handing over everything… I'm – giving up control… 'cause

I've been lost...  I've been found…

I've lived alone, without a home and somehow stuck it out…

I've been in… and I've been out…

I've known friends - and on one hand… I can truly count…

So I stand alone… on this hillside of my heart…

Redeemed… for-given… a brand-new start…

Amazed – that His mercy it resounds… I've been...

Crowned.

You see His peace is unrelenting – more powerful than ships…

And His grace is everlasting… and redemption it's etched… on His lips… and...

If you believe that He will hold you – and never let you down…

You can weather… any storm… as you're forever Crowned…

I've been lost...  I've been found…

I've lived alone, without a home and somehow stuck it out…

I've been in… and I've been out…

I've known friends - and on one hand… I can truly count…

So I stand alone… on this hillside of my heart…

Redeemed… for-given… a brand-new start…

Amazed – that His mercy it resounds… I've been

Crowned… oh, oh, oh… Amazed that His mercy,,, it resounds,,,

I've…. Been… Crowned…

Fathers' Day

(Hankins 2008)

It's almost midnight…

And I open my eyes… to realize…

Good intentions have passed me by… again…

And as I drift away… I think -

He'll be ok…. It's just the way…

We've always been…

Like Father, Like Son…

Look at what… we have done…

Set me free… from this legacy… this legacy…

It's Fathers Day… again…

It's just another Sunday, just another Sunday…

As we live our lives we pretend…

That it's just another Sunday, just another Sunday…

Waiting for the phone to ring…

And as they day goes by… I start to wonder why…

I wasn't worth the fight… again….

And as I drift away… I can see…

The time… the day… the way…

He left us… way back then…

Like Father, Like Son…

Look at what… we have done…

Set me free… from this legacy… this legacy…

It's Fathers Day… again…

It's just another Sunday, just another Sunday…

As we live our lives we pretend…

That it's just another Sunday, just another Sunday…

I packed my bags and walked away… never wanted it this way…

And now the price I have to pay… for leaving them that way… is…

It's Fathers Day… again…

It's just another Sunday, just another Sunday…

As I live my life... I pretend…

That it's just another Sunday, it's just another Sunday…

Time of My Life...

(Hankins 2008)

May brings butterflies…

And God's Glory in full bloom…

As Spring surrenders… Summer sometimes comes too soon…

A broken branch – from our family tree…

Jesus must have needed a hand…

To paint the starlight…

Daddy's girl… Momma's world…

You made us smile…

And I had the time of my life…

Watching you twirl…  In the twilight…

And I had the time of my life…

Bedtime lullabies…

Sung simply to you…

God's gift in our eyes… is how we'll remember you…

A broken branch – from our family tree…

Jesus must have needed a hand…

To paint the starlight…

Daddy's girl… Momma's world…

You made us smile…

And I had the time of my life…

Watching you twirl…  In the twilight…

And I had the time of my life…

Oh… Adonai…. No need to reason why…

Oh… Adonai…

May God be glorified…

Daddy's world… Momma's girl…

Up in heaven…

Having the time of your life…

(Ending is first verse instrumental of "Be Still and Know" by SCC)

May is typically one of my favorite times of year – there is so much promise as Summer arrives… today would have been my brother's 40^th birthday – except that in May of 1997 – he was murdered at the age of 28…   and on May 29^th we quietly celebrated what would have been his birthday. I remember going back home to Atlanta wishing I had done more, tried harder, called more, been there and said more… but it was too late… regret was everywhere... so I dusted off my Piano and wrote a song called Sanctuary – I hadn't played in 6 years… that healing end was a new beginning and I have been writing and playing ever since - and every May, I know that there are a few days that I will purposefully take time to remember him, call Mom and reminisce… make sure she's ok… and pray that somehow he made it to heaven…

A week ago, after 6 long months away from home, I was loading up for the move from Alabama to Georgia – listening to the local Christian station… and it just seemed surreal to hear that the Chapman family had lost a child… I mean – how could it happen to them – didn't God know who they were? What they have done for children – for adoption – for families… I remember actually being "mad" at God for allowing something so tragic to happen to such an incredible family… I kept hearing the last words of SCC's beautiful song, Cinderella – thinking how unfair it all was… being a dad, having daughters – one adopted - I was just so wiped out by my inability to reason "why"… nothing was adding up and it was in this moment that I realized – God knows the "why" – it's all His plan and that in some way this will all make sense somehow… he will be glorified…

In May of 2000, a friend handed me a CD – "you should check this out… you'd like it.." – and that's how I found SCC… "Speechless" was my intro to Christian music… it stayed in my CD player for years… every song was incredible in it's own unique way… and nothing could have been more important in my life – as it changed my perception of "Church"… I was going through a divorce, wasn't a Christian, my stepfather was quickly dying of cancer… times were tough. And when he passed away, for some reason I felt it necessary to play "The Journey" and "Be Still and Know" at the end of his service… not sure there were many (if any) Christians there, but it was my attempt to insert reverence into his final moments of remembrance… "Speechless" was full of amazing songs and touched the lives of our family... I remember listening to "With Hope" and thinking how graceful it was that SCC could craft a song of encouragement for families grieving the loss of a child…

And so, on the long drive back home to Atlanta, I started thinking about how when things happen in our lives, we associate them with a time of year, a taste or smell, a season, even a particular day… and I thought about how I feel every May – dreading the fact that feelings will arise that need to be dealt with – and yet, cherishing the wonderful memories that seem to rise to the top… and that every May, the Chapman family will face a birthday with an empty chair at the table… and then a time of remembrance full of emotion, tears, and laughter… and so again, I wrote a song – and it was just there, waiting… I almost stopped the idea because how do you write a song for someone who's worst attempt would seem a masterpiece to most? Who am I to give to someone so great… but SCC was there for me in a time of need and I felt compelled to give back… and God reminded me that… these are all His songs anyway… I smiled, pulled my piano out of the truck and finished what I had been hearing all the way home - "Time of my Life"...

May brings butterflies...

And God's glory in full bloom...

As Spring Surrenders... Summer sometimes comes too soon...

A broken branch... from our family tree...

Jesus must have needed a hand...

To paint the starlight...

Daddy's girl... Momma's world...

You made us smile...

And I had the time of my life...

Watching you twirl... in the twilight...

And I had the time of my life...