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"Turn up the music, turn it up loud / Take a few chances, let it all out"

Inspired by the death of a wealthy man, veteran singer/songwriter Cindy Morgan could've used the opportunity to turn the hit "How You Live (Turn Up the Music)" into a sad, mournful requiem.

Instead, the acclaimed tunesmith wrote a rousing ode to life and family—a carpe diem anthem recorded by Point of Grace that later went on to earn Morgan Songwriter of the Year at the 2008 Dove Awards.

The song came to her after she attended the funeral of a friend's father, a well-to-do businessman whose memorial service was as colossal as his life's achievements.

"The funeral was massive," Morgan recalls. "There was a fleet of limousines. And they had to rent out the ballroom. And there was a multimedia presentation. It was an amazing tribute to this man's life. They talked about what he'd accomplished, his business and all the vacation properties he had, and how much he was worth."

But as a wife and a mother of two young daughters, Morgan kept waiting for that magical moment where discussion of the man's accolades would turn to something more meaningful.

"I kept waiting for that story about him with his kids," Morgan says, "that story about a man of faith. And for as many good things as were said, there was never anything about that."

With a weight in her heart, Morgan went back to her home in Alberta, Canada. After a few days of processing what she'd witnessed, the song began to unfold: "Wake up to the sunlight / With your windows open …"

From there, the heartwarming melody goes through a list of straightforward, everyday advice, as if an older, wiser friend were sharing insider tips on how to seize the day without letting go.

In the end, though, Morgan says the song's message is as much for her as for others.

"What I hope is that I could look at my life and ask, Am I making the most of it?" Morgan ponders. "Am I really living to the fullest, making the most of the gifts I've been given?"

"I always pray that God will help me be a good steward," she continues. "As Jesus said, 'To whom much is given, much is required.' I think all of us have been given so much. You don't want to feel like at the end you didn't give back, that you didn't make the most of it."

Andree Farias is a freelance writer and a regular contributor to ChristianMusicToday.com.

Copyright © 2008 by the author or Christianity Today International/Today's Christian magazine. Click here for reprint information on Today's Christian.

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