I have always had a passion for music.  I think it has always been a part of my life.  I remember sitting on the couch when I was a tiny little girl and listening to records and following along with the words on the back of the cover.  Singing my heart out.  Crying sometimes because the music seemed to touch a deep, deep part of my heart.  I remember wishing that my life had a consistent background of music playing, like a movie, to emphasize the emotions appropriately.  I sang with my brother Jeff in church, in school choirs and ensembles and eventually as an adult I have always enjoyed being part of a worship team.

I have always joked that my passion far outweighed my talent.  I would always be the alto who would blend with everyone and anyone, but was never a soloist.  But it never mattered.  Because I loved harmonizing and making the beautiful sound of someone else’s voice sound a little richer and fuller.  Every song I hear, I hear the harmony for, without even thinking about it.

God has used music to speak to me over and over again.  The blend of words and music take His message to a deeper place in the soul.  The place where heart and soul and body unite. The deepest place….

Today, I learned where my love for music came from.  Where my love for harmony came from.  My precious grandma wrote me a letter sharing things about herself that I had never known before.  It fully made me cry.  I want to share some excerpts from it (hope this is okay with you, Grandma.  It is just too sweet not to share.)

Here you go:

“I now have many hours to think about my life and why I love certain things and run from others.  I definitely run toward music…Have I heard that babies can hear their mother’s voice while they are still in the womb? …I remember (my mother) teaching us to sing ‘Jesus Loves Me This I Know’ from an early age.  I loved to hear my grandma sing in her beautiful alto voice each Sunday…”

“I…was able to have nine months of group piano lessons in a class where each of us was given a cardboard keyboard…We had an old pump organ in our home and I spent hours pumping that organ.  The Great Depression claimed any extra money for piano lessons, so what I did learn came through a desire for more music.”

“When my family came along, I was determined that each of my four little ones would have music lessons so I ironed for others, picked grapes, helped my dad at harvest time in the peaches, worked part time jobs…I wanted them to have that music education that I longed for…”

“Through the years, when I am praying, I find myself singing one of the beloved hymns to bring comfort, courage and peace to my heart and mind.  By singing an appropriate song, I find some of the sweetest fellowship with my Savior at night when I am unable to sleep…God has taken my tough situations and through music, has brought unexpected joy and blessings.  I see God’s hand moving in my heart and life through this wonderful gift to me…I have been able to sing through joy, through sorrow, through pain, through loneliness, through rejection…in all of life’s circumstances.  I am reminded daily through song that God is sovereign and that He is in control of my life.”

“When I moved to Ponderosa (an assisted living facility)…I was completely unaware of any music program, especially in an assisted care center.  Those were old people who have lost their way and interest in life.  Wrong…wrong…wrong!! What an eye-opener for me to discover three musical programs…A friend told me that Dewitt Mcabee and I should be singing duets together.  I had no idea who he was except that he was a retired pastor who always led the morning and evening blessings and that he loved to sing.  So we decided to sit beside each other so that we could harmonize…Dewitt has challenged me over and over to sing acapella with him and then to recall ALL verses of the song from memory.  I have come to appreciate this further step and it is so enjoyable to not have to look at the printed page, but to sing from the heart…Quite often, when we are waiting for mealtime, chapel, we will suddenly start singing..in the halls, the elevator, or when we are walking outside.  Our latest venture has been to go to four nursing homes where former residents are now living and sing just for them.  It is difficult for us to continue singing when we see tears streaming down their faces as they listen.  At 90+ and 98+ (grandma and Dewitt’s ages) we are still able to share Christ with these friends with our visits, prayers, hugs and songs.  The response has been overwhelming.  So as long as we are able we hope to continue this ministry.”

“…I guess you can do anything you want to when you are 90 and get away with it.  I hope some of my grand/great grandchildren will follow my shaky footsteps…it is so rewarding. ”

And then grandma included this song in her closing:

I have a song that Jesus gave me, it was sent from heaven above;

There never was a sweeter melody, ’tis a melody of love.

‘Twill be my endless theme in glory, with the angels I will sing;

“Twill be a song with glorious harmony, when the courts of heaven ring.

chorus –

In my heart there rings a melody, there rings a melody with heaven’s harmony;

In my heart there rings a melody, there rings a melody of love.

I love you, Grandma.  Thanks for the beautiful heritage that you have given me.  A love for music.  A love for harmony.  A love for ministry.  A love for Jesus.  I love, love, love you!!!!