It has always been wonderful over the years singing songs in church written by HBC members, celebrating the skill God has given them to help me sing praises to God. Now our kids get this privilege too. In God’s good timing Newy am dad Andrew Wilson had written a song about repentance, and I found out about it just prior to a teaching unit on this very topic in our Gospel Project for Kids Sunday teaching program. Through the efforts of a few we were able to record, produce and film this sing-along version of the song with Auslan actions.. We’ve been singing and signing this song in Kids Church since October 2022.
Keep reading for what was behind Andrew writing Change My Heart.
AH: Have you always written kids songs?
AW:I have always loved music, and I've been writing music since I was a teenager. Songs have a unique way of helping me connect emotionally with important ideas. When Nicky & I became parents, I started writing lullabies and simple songs to help our kids remember important truths from the Bible.
AH: What inspired Change My Heart?
AW: It was pointed out to me that the Bible has songs that express a wide range of emotions and ideas - joy, praise, thankfulness, anger, sorrow and repentance. Christians these days sing great songs of praise and thankfulness, but very little about sorrow and repentance. I couldn't think of any songs for kids about repentance, and I know many kids (and adults) find it hard to say sorry. So, perhaps a song about repentance may be helpful.
AW: At the same time, Nicky and I were reading a book on parenting; one of the big ideas we learnt was that it is more important to work on training a child's heart, than training his or her behaviour.
Jesus said, 'A good [person] brings good things out of the good stored up in his heart, and an evil [person] brings evil things out of the evil stored up in his heart. (Luke 6:45)
AW: If we only teach our kids to behave well, they could grow proud and self-righteous. But if we help our child to think about what's in his or her heart, then we can create space for God to transform them inwardly. So, the idea of a song for kids, about repentance, with an emphasis on inward change was born.
AH: Who did you write Change My Heart for?
AW: I wrote Change my Heart with my kids in mind. It's difficult for them to apologise to one another, let alone confess their sins to their heavenly Father. They need help, and I need to model repentance for them. In fact, the song is as much for me. I get angry. I put myself first. I let opportunities to help people go by. So, I think the song has had a bigger effect on me than on my kids so far.
AH: What do you want kids (and adults) to get out of this song?
AW: I hope that kids and adults will find the song helpful in confessing their sins and asking God to forgive them and transform them to be more like Jesus. While repentance is hard, the Bible says we can be confident that "if we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness." (1 John 1:9).