Give Thanks

After working on three successful musicals with Integrity Music ("God With Us", “God For Us”, and “God In Us”), the leadership thought it would be a good idea to create an orchestra series. The series is called “Integrity Symphony Series” and includes arrangements by me, Richard Kingsmore, and Jay Rouse.

One of the songs that I chose to arrange was “Give Thanks”. That song has been attributed to Don Moen over the years because he sang it so often at his concerts. However, it was actually written by Henry Smith in 1978. The song is very meaningful to me because of the theme of thanksgiving.

The best teacher of thanksgiving that I’ve ever had was my pastor, Homer G. Lindsay Jr. at First Baptist Jacksonville, who reminded us frequently about the need to have a thankful spirit. A thankful spirit keeps us from having a critical spirit. He often suggested that we write down 100 things that we were thankful for as a reminder of how good God has been to us.

Rhythmically I chose to use a bossa nova rhythm at the beginning with a light feel. It starts with a flute solo, which I often choose when I want the melody to have a lighter feel. The flute has the purist sound of any instrument in the orchestra. It eventually grows to a fuller feel in the middle and ends softly with the woodwinds.

I believe that this song is one that will stand the test of time.