CD Review: A Place to Belong by Lisa Troyer

CD Description:

Every woman needs acceptance, love and a place to belong. That’s the underlying theme of the new music CD, A Place to Belong (Lifeway Worship), from singer/songwriter Lisa Troyer, president of Circle of Friends Ministries. Refreshingly authentic and dynamic, the companion worship CD to Troyer’s recently released book, A Place to Belong: Out of Our Comfort Zone and into God’s Adventure (Barbour Publishing), tenderly draws women into a place of true freedom and belonging in the very heart of God.

In her book,Troyer shares her own journey to acceptance as well as the story of a group of dynamic “women helping women” who call themselves the Circle of Friends. Troyer encourages readers to form their own circle of friends, a safe place of truth and love where women can develop lasting relationships and discover together the purposes of God for their lives.

Obviously noticeable in both the book and CD is Troyer’s passion to lead others into the bottomless love of God. This fierce desire compelled her to plunge deeply into the heart of the issues all women face, but most keep to themselves. With tendencies toward depression, anxiety attacks and an eating disorder, Troyer knows firsthand the bondage of secrecy and shame. “Living with a secret,” Troyer admits, “doesn’t make it go away. It doesn’t change your heart. As well hidden as your secret is, that is how deeply lonely you will be. I’ve been there. I know it’s true.”

The newly released companion CD reinforces her book’s admonition that there is complete freedom and acceptance to be found in the Father. “This CD was birthed out of the knowledge that music is so often used by God to solidify a written and/or spoken message,” says Troyer. “Dawn Yoder and I have been blessed by the friendship and songwriting partnership God’s given us, and songs like ‘Let Us Bow Down,’ ‘Lifting My Praise Up’ and ‘I Found Grace’ (Circle of Friends theme song) are reflective of how, by finding a place to belong, we are inspired to share encouragement, while keeping our focusing on worshipping in ‘Spirit and in truth.’”

The new Circle of Friends CD is available online at http://lifewayworship.com and iTunes. It can also be purchased through your local Christian retailer.

Bio & Author Website:

Radio personality, recording artist, speaker and author Lisa Troyer finds herself heart-deep in ministries that are changing lives forever. Her incredibly successful Circle of Friends women’s ministry, formed over a decade ago, is growing in all directions. With ministry and songwriting partner Dawn Yoder, Lisa and her Circle of Friends offer women’s conferences, leadership training, counseling services, worship music, life skills classes and marriage/family resources. No matter the outlet or the venue, Lisa uses her gift of encouragement, her influence and her resources to open doors for women everywhere to discover their significance and belonging through Christ.

My Thoughts: (I received a free download of this CD in exchange for my honest opinion)

I love the idea behind this CD – finding a place to belong in community in the body of Christ, relating with each other in the model of Trinitarian love, this is a message worth singing about.  The music itself is mellow and quiet.  Some might find it soothing.  There is nothing particularly standout or artistic about the music itself – it is standard, mainstream, christian praise music, yet, the words are worshipful.  I was particularly drawn to the lyrics of the song I Found Grace with it’s focus on journeying in community.  It’s honestly not my style of music, but I can think of a number of people who would love it.  (Music is harder to review than books as it is much more subjective to personal style).  You can check out more about the CD (and the book) and see for yourself if it’s your style of music on these websites:

~ www.findaplacetobelong.com<http://www.findaplacetobelong.com> ~

~ (Follow page links to download songs for free) ~

~ www.lisatroyer.com<http://www.lisatroyer.com> ~

~ www.ourcircleoffriends.org<http://www.ourcircleoffriends.org> ~