Page 8 - KOG Glory & Grace Issue 6 June 2022

PAGE 8
DR. SUSAN PETERSEN
Worship & Music Coordinator Songwriter
STAFF FEATURE
WORDS
WORTH
SHARING
When the weight of the world gets her down or the difficulties of being a physician threaten to overwhelm her, lyrics of a song will often pop into Susan's head.
When she's working as KOG's Worship & Music Coordinator and a song is difficult to sing or doesn't speak to her, Susan returns to the words, imagining a new melody. She challenges herself saying, "maybe I should give it a try."
At a small town church in Iowa, standing beside her mother, Susan learned to sing harmony. "Mom sang low," Susan recalls, "so now, I naturally hear harmonies in the music." Like many children, Susan started piano lessons in 2nd grade, but unlike others, she continued to play through high school. Earning both her undergraduate and medical school degrees from the University of Iowa, Susan later completed her Residency in Des Moines before marrying fellow physician, Dr. Jon Bullman, and moving to Montana.
After working as a physician, having three children, and juggling the demands of life, Susan started missing music. "I didn't do much music in undergrad, graduate school, or residency," she explains, so when a need emerged at church for a volunteer Sunday School accompanist she was excited to serve. That led to playing keyboard for worship and eventually for Susan to join the staff in the fall of 2014 as KOG's Worship & Music Coordinator.
"Music is a big part of my faith, it's part of my relationship with God," Susan shares. "Truthfully, music got me back in church and helps me to balance the joys and struggles of medicine."
"Sometimes I'll take a hymn and write my own version if I'm wishing for something that's easier to sing," explains Susan. Or if she can't find what she's looking for, Susan goes back to the Biblical text. "I put chords and melodies to the words," with hope that the music she writes might bring comfort to others as so many pieces of music have done before.
Susan Petersen works as a Physician, serving as the Family Medicine Medical Director with Intermountain Health Medical Group.
Dr. Petersen at her piano.
Physician
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