My Two Incubators
You may not know, but I couldn’t breathe when I was born. My
life in this world began in the life-sustaining environment of a baby
incubator. Every time they tried taking me out of that safe place that kept me
alive, I turned blue and they put me back to keep me alive. This continued for
three days until they were able to take me out and I was ready to thrive
independent of life support. Today I write this to you as I celebrate that same
birthday, 44 years later. God is so good!
Growing up I was captured by all the beautiful sights and
sounds around me, and couldn’t help but sing about everything I saw, making up
songs about the birds, the trees, and how amazing God was in everything He had
made. I sang every chance I could, and was in church and school musicals and
choirs. I even went to Liberty University for a little while and minored in
Music. However, that was short lived, and it seemed that the enemy of my soul
had a penchant for wanting to stifle my voice and throw me off track from
walking in the gifts God intended for me.
I have always felt called to sing songs that have meaning,
but more of a desire to resonate within the hearts of those listening so it
would impact and make a difference for the better for them, breathing hope,
life and encouragement into their soul. Once I became a Christian, my deepest
heart’s desire became to reflect God’s compassionate heart, be an instrument of
encouragement, a beacon of hope and light to guide them out of whatever abyss
they may be trying to climb out of or make sense of.
I have been privileged to play in multiple worship bands, a
Christian rock band with my husband, and a country band. However, the past six
plus years I hit a severe drought of opportunities and doors closing. I
painfully wrestled through what seemed like a never-ending dry season, crying
out to God, trying to understand why this was happening. I finally reached the
point of being willing to let it go and was even willing to stop trying; but
God would not let me let it go. I continued to have this nagging sense that God
wasn’t closing things down, but that I just needed to trust Him and continue to
wait on Him with a willing heart. In the mean time He also provided an
incredible opportunity for me to get my Bachelor degree in Music Business
during this time of waiting. Now I had also laid a strong business foundation
to operate within the music industry.
Enter…Incubator. I
knew about business incubator companies that help “startup” businesses during
their infant and developmental stages, but wasn’t aware there was something
like that available for music businesses, let alone music ministry. I was
curious. As I continued to explore, I got excited and wondered if this group
could help me actually develop my own personal music ministry.
They provided extensive complimentary education and training
based around teaching how to have a music ministry operating as a small
business to create a sustainable ministry over time, and focuses predominantly
on meeting the needs of individuals instead of crowds. This approach is
completely different from the typical music industry. A lot of the business
concepts resonated with other things I had learned in school and independently,
and so I knew instinctively I was on the right track. They could also provide
management, further artist development, objectivity, and accountability, along
with many others things.
While I had been working on my degree program, I discovered
there were other talents I have, like creating podcasts, visual presentations,
writing, and speaking, just to name a few. With so many expressions available
to use, I came to realize that Incubator is able to teach me how to utilize all expressions in ministry, in ways
that would allow God to use me as a conduit for His blessings in others lives.
They have taught me how to discover what is special and unique about my
ministry, and can guide me and keep me on track with how to stay true to that
calling.
Hope arose in me again after such a long drought, and I
wondered further if this could really be what God has intended for me all
along! I began to see this would give me the opportunity to be able to have the
support and guidance I was needing towards establishing my own music ministry
in a way that is functioning independently from having to be a part of other
bands or projects. I even told my husband that I had this gut feeling that it
was quite possible that doing this through Incubator was a part of what God had
created me to do all along!
So I decided to go through the extensive audition process. I
am so happy to say that after a year and a half long process of us getting to
know each other Incubator asked me to join their roster as an Incubator artist
and offered me an A&R management deal on April 15th! Of course I accepted,
and what I am most excited about is that I now have the management and guidance
I need to help me operate not just out of my musical talent, but also out of a
multitude of those additional expressions God has given me – using all of who He made me to be, which is
such an amazing thing! All for the purpose of blessing and benefitting anyone
God wants me to minister to and reach with the message of his hope and love. I
can’t wait to see what God has in store and sharing in this journey along with
you! J
To Life…L’Chaim!
Ellyn
