The Galaxy Cafe is a new addition to DesertSnow. This section will feature artists and their music, as well as different types of coffee and coffee products so that you can order items while you listen to music. You can also order an artist’s CD, as well as read the lyrics from songs and read interviews by the artist.

Stacey’s previous CD - “No Words.”

So pull up a chair and read about Stacey Dee, an artist from Georgia. She just released a new CD called “Learning to Love,” and you can play some of the music right from this page. You can also go to her page on CDBaby.com and listen to more of the tracks as well as order the CD.

Stacey has just finished a set at the Galaxy Cafe, and is enjoying some brew by candlelight. Her interview is found on this page, too, so enjoy!

Pictures are from CD release concert in Atlanta, Georgia. Courtesy of Stacey Dee/Ching Man Music (ascap) ROI Records

Click on the front cover of the CD to listen to all the tracks on CDBaby.com.

Interview with Stacey Dee

What prompted you to write the song, "Even Though?" - tell us the background of this song, and if you wrote the lyrics and the music by yourself.

I did write the lyrics and music on this song. It's one of the first songs I wrote on the guitar as well. (Most of my other songs before this were written on the piano.) This song explains not only the beginning of man but also the current state of man. It explains why we long for life, why we fight for freedom, why we cry at death, why we cringe as we watch and feel our own bodies age. We were not created for this! We were created for perfection and it is still written in the deep hidden pages of our souls. All of us feel it - whether on not we know what it is or why it's there. It's a common ache. This song speaks to that ache.

What is the hardest thing about relating to someone (the Lord) who from a human standpoint is invisible? Have you ever been thought of as "crazy" for doing that - have you been accused of making up an "imaginary friend?"

 I'll try to answer both of these questions together. Probably the hardest thing about not being able to see and experience the Lord in the same way that we see and experience the rest of our world and the rest of our relationships is that it's less familiar. But the more I get to know Him and the more I experience Him in my life the more real and tangeable He is - even more "real" than the "real" world! People that haven't experienced Him can look at my faith and my assurance in Him as a bit crazy or unrealistic. It's only natural that they would feel that way. But I think the ache they feel inside that can only be filled by relationship with our Creator is very real to them. And I believe God uses that ache to draw people to Himself. Especially when they have experienced a lot of this life and seen that none of it comes close to filling that ache.

All photos, songs & lyrics Copyright 2007 by Stacey Dee/Ching Man Music (ascap) ROI Records; used by permission.

To me, the song “Almost There” is about perseverance. It’s about believing that God still loves us even when the road seems to go on forever. And it’s about having a great destination and hope for good things in this life and the next.

But we can easily lose sight of the future, and lose our hope. This can lead to drifting away from God, and then having to deal with forgiving ourselves for mistakes we make. It’s not easy to forgive yourself.

But whatever happens, we can start at the beginning. Jesus said, “I am the Alpha and the Omega, the First and the Last, the Beginning and the End.” Revelation 22:13

We can start at the cross, where everything we have done wrong was judged. The cross was our judgement, our punishment, our sentence, our execution for things we have done wrong - past, present, and future. God poured our wrongs into Christ and poured Christ’s righteousness into us.

Think about Barabbas (Matthew 27:15-26), the prisoner awaiting execution when Jesus Christ was on trial. Imagine him sitting in his jail cell. He was a murderer, a thief, and was a leader of rebellion against the Roman authority. Suddenly, a Roman soldier walks in, and opens the jail cell. “You’re free,” the jailer says.

“FREE?...WHY?” Barabbas answers.

The jailer explains that someone else is taking his place.

Barabbas walks away...

Now imagine, Barabbas thinking to himself, “Someone else is being executed for what I did, but that isn’t enough. I am going to punish myself. I am going to stay here in the jail.”

And Barabbas initiates a self-imposed sentence.

Are you punishing yourself, after someone else was executed for what you did wrong? That is a slap-in-the-face to the person who died for you. Every time you hurt yourself you are saying,

“What you did for me wasn’t good enough. I need to add to it. I know more about justice than God does, and I am setting myself up to be the judge of what He has done to pay for what I have done wrong as well as the judge of my own actions and failures.”

During the Civil War there was a man with a family who was called into military service. Another single man volunteered to go in his place. This man went into battle and was killed. A death certificate was sent to the person who had the family.

Later, the military tried to draft the family man into service. But when they came to his house, the man showed them the death certificate and said, “I am legally no longer alive. You can’t draft me.” They couldn’t take him. He was legally beyond their reach.

“You have died with Christ, and been raised with Him”  Romans 6:3. This is our legal position. No one can take this from us, and we are not to be punished because we are legally dead to our former life. We are not legally obligated to repay our debt, because our debt has been cancelled.

“...He made you alive together with Him, having forgiven us all our transgressions, having canceled  out the certificate of debt consisting of decrees against us, which was hostile to us; and He has taken it out of the way, having nailed it to the cross. When He had disarmed the rulers and authorities, He made a public display of them, having triumped over them through the cross.”

Colossians 2:13b-15

So if you are still punishing yourself, walk away from the jail cell like Barabbas. There is nothing to stop you - unless you just want to stay in the jail cell. Stop accusing yourself and hurting yourself.

No one is expecting you to pay a debt that has already been paid!

The Master Key   You may not be able to be innocent But you can be pure By the blood of Jesus Christ You may not be able to change your history But you can change your life By the power of the Holy Spirit   You may not be able to start over in the past But you can start over in the present By the cross of Christ   The cross is the starting point For real living And real life And the Master’s key is what he did For you and me It is who He is With His perfection and purity It is where He is now seated On the throne of glory and power and authority Answering our prayers Guiding us even when we are unaware Speaking softly to us when we are alone When we are frustrated or discouraged Giving us hope and light in the darkness And truth when evil surrounds us Speaking comfort in times of distress When we are so troubled we cannot speak He gives strength and courage to those who are weak   The cross is where you can leave that which is Too heavy to carry Too difficult to answer Too far to travel Too hidden to find Too painful for your heart Too powerful for your mind And you can only find peace through the Master For only the Master has the Master key….

“...The one who comes to me I will certainly not cast aside.” 

   Jesus Christ   (John 6:37b)

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“Blue Ballerina” was written for those who have lost someone because of a crime.