This album was 10 years in the making. I rearranged my fist hymn 10 years prior to the making of this album. I never thought at that point that it would turn into this. I recorded a cassette single in November of 1993 at the gentle prodding of my friends, again, never expecting this to go any further. As I began to rearrange (or is it derange?) more hymns, it was then that I started receiving more and more requests to make a full-length album. So after 10 years, here it is. FINALLY.I AM A CHILD OF GOD: This was the first hymn I rearranged. This is what started it all. I remember I was at BYU my freshman year and I saw someone play something similar. As I watched him play, it didn’t look that hard. So I thought I would rearrange I am a Child of God. Ever since Primary, this has been one of my favorite songs. It took me about three weeks to come up with it and another three months to actually be able to play it well. It seems I had been ‘given’ this song—because it was well beyond my capacity to play it.TEACH ME TO WALK IN THE LIGHT: The reason I chose this song is because it is my mom’s favorite hymn. Mom, this one’s for you.NEARER MY GOD TO THEE: This was the second song I wrote. I was in the MTC and the choir sang an arrangement of this song that I really liked, so I dragged my poor companion into a room with a piano and pounded out the general idea in a half-hour. The idea sat for two years and I finished writing it when I got home.LEAD KINDLY LIGHT: Although this hymn is not that well known, it is one of my favorites. I hope I’ve been able to do justice to a song that is already beautifully arranged.I NEED THEE EVERY HOUR: I remember working on this one while I was at BYU. I taught at the MTC for two years and one of the lessons I taught was about talents and actively asking God to receive more of the talents that we have been given. This was a strong message to me, and I knew I needed to do more with the piano talent I had been given. This song took three months of praying to come up with, but is the first of a string of songs that came to me rather quickly after diligently putting to use the lesson I had taught.ABIDE WITH ME: I really like the way this one turned out. To me this is such a sweet and soft song that I didn’t even want to put any type of orchestration with it. It is one that stands on its own.OUR SAVIOR’S LOVE: I struggled the most with this one and decided to do something completely different than the rest. It was a painful process, but it is my wife’s favorite hymn, so it was well worth it. Janice, this is for you.I KNOW THAT MY REDEEMER LIVES: This song is another one that I worked on at BYU while I was teaching in the MTC. It is a direct result of asking the Lord to be able to grow the talents I had been given.SWEET HOUR OF PRAYER: I have to admit, I used to really dislike this song, so I saw it as a challenge to work with it until I liked it. I am pleased with the way this came out, although I don’t think I could ever get away with playing it in church. I wanted this to sound like it was being played with the large church bells.ANDY’S SONG: I wrote this for my MTC comp and BYU roommate Andy Morse as a wedding present. It was a duet played by our other roommate and close friend, Steve Miner and myself at his wedding. This song never really received an official title, and so by the time all was said and done, it had been called Andy’s Song for so long, it stuck. Andy, here is your official wedding present—FINALLY!AcknowledgementsFirst and foremost, I would like to thank God. Without His help this would never have been possible. He has truly given me this music, many times it being well beyond my ability to actually play it. Thank you.Thank you to my sweet wife, Janice, for always giving me an encouraging word, when I felt like I couldn’t go any further. Thank you.Thank you to my parents for their support and forcing me to take piano lessons as a boy. Although I never really learned to read music, I wouldn’t have developed this talent of playing by sound without the forced lessons I cried through. Without their help and support (and money), this would not have been possible.Thanks to my good friend, Stan Smith for compiling the initial cover design at the last minute.Thank you to everyone else that I will remember to have acknowledged after this is already printed.Finally, I wanted to be able to say thank you to my ‘fans’, but I realized that I’m not really at that level—wishful thinking! So, thank you to all who have requested that I make this album and even willingly listen to my music. This is for you.All music arranged, produced and mixed by W. Alex Mackey, III. Mastered at Midnight Mastering by Nancy Matter. Cover designs by W. Alex. Mackey, III. All rights reserved, 2000.