Category: Music

Strength for Today

I’ve been struggling MIGHTILY with fear about the future, so I have to constantly remind myself, I have strength for today. Should we face something more difficult in the future, God will give strength to face it then. The reason those horrible…

Our God Saves?

Have you ever asked God why? 

Why didn’t you save me?

Why haven’t you fixed them?

Why can’t you make them love me? 

Me too!  

We all struggle when life isn’t looking like we always imagined. 

But letting go of “why” is the key to finding our way. 


I grew up singing about Amazing Grace and Yes, Jesus Loves Me, but I didn’t truly experience that as a child. 

Don’t get me wrong, I grew up in a Christian home.  My mom, dad, brother, sister, and I were a close-knit family who attended church regularly.

But we were taught that God desired perfection and in order to earn His love you had to meet my Mom’s expectations.  It seemed like she was the one who determined from day to day whether you were good enough.

I worked very hard to be good enough. But it seemed like the rules were always changing, and never in my favor. 

For example, I would often sing in church as a child.

If I made a mistake, I hadn’t practiced enough and wasn’t God worthy of more than that?

If I did well, I was arrogant and showing off and not giving God the glory.     

So as I grew older, I began to question my faith.  I was confused because I would learn about a God who loved me unconditionally at church, yet I would come home to a place where my parent’s love was a reward, not an absolute.  

In high school we moved to the New Orleans area and I began to develop friendships with other kids my age. As I spent time with their families, I began to realize that some of my mom’s tactics for keeping me in line were abusive.  

I knew I should tell someone but that would mean shattering the perfect image of our family and I couldn’t do it. I tried even harder to be perfect but inevitably I would do something to upset her.  

My father came home early from work one day and walked in on my mother in the middle of a rage.  She was kicking me, calling me names, and spitting on me as I tried to crawl away to my bedroom.  

I was so relieved that my dad was there. I knew that he would do something to stop it now that he saw what was going on.  


I was wrong.  He told me it was my fault for upsetting her.

When I graduated high school I couldn’t wait to move away to college.  I felt like once I had some independence and we had some time apart my family and I could start to have a healthier relationship.  

I began to attend church and Bible study on my own and heard for the first time about God’s grace! I learned that God desired to have a personal relationship with me.

I began to realize that I had grown up trying to impress God and earn His love instead of building a relationship with Him and accepting His love.  

I still remember walking across campus and looking up at the sky.  I was hit by the realization like a lightning bolt—God loves me!  

I was amazed at the weight that was lifted when I found out that my sins were truly forgiven and forgotten.  I couldn’t wait to tell my family the good news—we don’t have to pretend to be perfect, God loves us just the way we are!    


That was a turning point in our relationship, but not in the way that I had hoped.  My family did not want to accept God’s grace and mercy.  

My mother in particular would not give up her desire to control my life.  She wanted me to report to her every day what I was reading in the Bible and praying about.  I wanted to have a personal relationship with God, not try to impress my parents with prayer lists and Bible readings.  

My family was interested in rules, not a relationship.  

Either I would live by their rules or I would no longer be their daughter…So after Christmas of my sophomore year of college, I left home to head back to school – without realizing it would be the last time.

My parents changed the locks on the doors and told me I was not allowed to come home again.  

I had no summer clothes and no money to buy any, but the most stressful need I was facing was that I had no place to live when school was letting out for Easter break.  I felt so hopeless and lost. My roommate and best friend Traci, recognized what was going on in my life and reached out.

I told her what was going on and she immediately said..come home with me. I was really grateful to have a place to crash during school break. But when I walked in their house, I knew it was not just a place I could stay…it was a place I could call home

It became obvious during my stay with Traci’s family over Easter break that I had nothing to wear and when I explained what had happened, Traci’s mom was incredulous. She called up my dad, thinking surely they didn’t understand the extent of what they were doing.

When he explained that yes, they weren’t allowing me to come home anymore because I wasn’t good enough she hung up the phone and looked me straight in the eye.

She said, “Well if they won’t take care of you then dammit, we will.” 

And then we went clothes shopping. 

I call that the best day and worst day of my life all at once. Because God had provided me with a wonderful loving family who took care of me,

but I also lost the only family I had ever known. 

♫ IN BETTER HANDS ♫

With the love and support of my adopted family 

~ I graduated college

~ Joined the navy as a singer

~ And married the love of my life

Yet I still spent a lot of time asking God why…

Even though my original family was abusive, I still wanted them to love me, especially on family holidays like mother’s day. And it was on one of those mother’s days when we were singing Our God Saves over and over again at church. 

I started asking God why.

Why didn’t you save me?

Why haven’t you fixed them?

Why can’t you make them love me? 

And then it hit me like a lightening bold. God said very clearly to me…

I did save you.

Do you really want to go back there?

When are you going to fully accept the people who truly love you? 

By holding onto the past, I was totally missing the present. 

Our God Saves…if we let him. If we accept it. 

♫ OUR GOD SAVES ♫

Whew! I wish I could say I never questioned God again. 

But that is not the case. 

Several years ago, my husband and I decided to start a family. When things didn’t happen we went for some tests. We got a diagnosis of infertility. 

It meant that no matter how many procedures we were willing to endure, or how much money we were willing to spend, we would never be able to have children the way we always imagined. 

I went right back to asking God why.

And for years we struggled with what to do. 

During that time so many people surrounded us with prayer. I remember many nights after music rehearsals, standing in the church parking lot and someone would say…you are going to be a mom. I just know it. We’re praying for you. 

I’m so thankful that others were believing for us when we didn’t have the strength to believe for ourselves. 

♫ AFTER ALL ♫

As the song says….God, you are only good…so my prayer became…

God, I know you would not give me the desire to be a mother without making a way for that to happen. 

So either take away this desire, or show me how. 

And then I got on Google…as you do when you are searching for God’s will.

I found out about embryo adoption. 

Everything just clicked! 

When couples have undergone fertility treatments they have unused embryos that remain frozen. Embryo adoption gives these embryos a chance at life. 

Our infertility diagnosis meant that I couldn’t get pregnant.

It didn’t mean that I couldn’t be pregnant. 

We found an adoption agency in Washington state and started the process. After many months of paperwork and home studies and background checks we were matched with a family in the United Kingdom with embryos stored in Boston.

In the summer of 2017, thanks to the generosity, efforts, and prayers of people all over the world, we became pregnant. 

♫ HE KNOWS MY NAME ♫

On April 12, 2018 Henry Joseph Ebeling was born.

Without the gift of adoption, no part of my family story would have been possible. 

There truly are no orphans of God.

♫ ORPHANS OF GOD ♫

I shared my story because we all struggle when life isn’t looking the way we thought it would. When things aren’t happening in the time frame you would like or coming the way you always pictured it. 

I pray that this has been an encouragement to you that instead of getting hung up on things happening the way you planned, to trust God’s plan.


Sharing this message of hope and healing is so important as we enter the holiday season, which is why I am making myself available to present this live in a few more locations before the end of the year.

Do you know of a group that needs this inspiring musical message?

Contact April directly for booking info:
https://www.aprilsingsalot.com/contact/

God is blessing you. God is saving you.

His mercy and grace are abundant and available every day. 


Additional vocals courtesy of Susan Meyer and Nick Garrison.

Fabulous piano accompaniment thanks to the incomparable Kenny Daniels. 

Top Tips for Vocal Recovery


I’m sharing my top tips for vocal recovery after dealing with a nasty cold that (of course) coincided with a week of important singing gigs.

DISCLAIMER: I am not a doctor, nor do I play one on TV. These are practices and products that have helped me and that I share as a service to other singing professionals. Certainly use your best judgement on what will work best for you!

Here are the high points, I strongly recommend watching the video for all the information.

~ Hum instead of sing to warm up your voice.

~ Do NOT whisper, instead avoid talking altogether

~ Drink hot tea, avoid lemon and add honey

~ Eat Lays regular potato chips (watch video for funny story on how I got this helpful tip!)

~ Gargle with room temperature water

~ Sleep with humidifier and use vicks vapor

~ Use neti pot morning and night


Some of the products mentioned are linked below. These are amazon affiliate links which mean that I may get a small commission if you purchase the items.


Pancakes or Parades?

Living near New Orleans, I’m very familiar with Mardi Gras parades. So when a friend asked me if I’d eaten pancakes on Fat Tuesday I was puzzled.

The Bow in the Rain

Let’s see how inventive we can be in encouraging love and helping out, spurring each other on toward love and good deeds. 

~ Hebrews 10:24-25, The Message (paraphrased)

Isn’t that a great verse? I love using The Message translation of the Bible because it’s easy to understand and more approachable than other translations I’ve used in the past. 

And that’s who God is. 

Approachable. 

“They won’t go to school to learn about me, or buy a book called God in Five Easy Lessons. They’ll all get to know me firsthand, the little and the big, the small and the great. ” 

~ Hebrews 8:6-13, The Message (paraphrased)

Church/religion/denominations often create rules and reasons to exclude people. 

These verses are a great reminder that God is about inclusion, acceptance, and love.  

My dear children, let’s not just talk about love; let’s practice real love. This is the only way we’ll know we’re living, truly living in God’s reality. For God is greater than our worried hearts and knows more about us than we do ourselves. 

~ 1 John 3:18-20 The Message (paraphrased)

Yet another denomination has decided to enforce rules to exclude people, when God is about inclusion, acceptance, and love.

It’s confusing, disheartening, and hurtful to so many people on so many levels. 

It left me wondering what to do and how to serve the God I love separate from the church that taught me how to love. 

During painful times in my life, I always turn to music as my source of solace. 

I believe God speaks and the Holy Spirit moves through lyrics and melodies.

When we feel powerless, we serve a God who is powerful

I pray that by using my talents as a musician to help encourage myself and others will make a difference.

Rainbow

Heal my broken spirit Do not pass me by

In You I find my merit Hear my humble cry

Finding sweet relief I seek Your face

Help my unbelief You save me by grace

In depths of comfort flow This is not in vain

Love will not let me go Grasp the promise from the pain

With me even when I’m low Finding the gain

Rest for my weary soul Is the bow in the rain

Only Make Believe

Have you ever felt completely at home in a new place, even though you’ve actually just stepped in the door? 

It’s a magical feeling isn’t it? 

And I don’t know about you, but for me, it doesn’t happen often! 

When I started my undergrad in vocal performance at LA Tech, I knew immediately when I stepped into the music building on campus that I had found my new home. 

A large part of that comforting feeling was meeting my voice teacher, Mr. Wylie. He was a great vocal coach who knew instinctively when you needed a kick in the pants and when you needed a pat on the back. 

He was also one of only two people in this world who could get away with calling me Fronzie.*** 

***Unless you want to be on the receiving end of my signature glare, 🔥do not try this! 

Where would we be without our teachers? ✏️

They create the magical spaces where we not only learn, but form lifelong friendships. 

So when I heard that Mr. Wylie passed away, it hit me hard. 

It got me reminiscing, reconnecting with friends from the shows we performed in under his direction and vocalists I sang recitals and duets with during our time as his students. 

I used some of the pictures from our time together to craft a tribute to this wonderful man and the musical memories he helped us create using a recording of one such duet, the song “Only Make Believe” from the musical Showboat

I hope this inspires you to reach out to someone who impacted you and let them know. ❤️ 

♫ Only make believe I love you….for the tell the truth….I do ♬