Music

I have written before about how I believe that there is a very special power in music. I believe that it has the power to influence people for good and even for bad. I believe that music has the ability to help people feel closer to the Saviour and to heal the soul. This was reiterated to me this past Sunday.
This past weekend was really busy for me. I had a lot of things to do on Friday and Saturday and even on Sunday. By the time Sunday afternoon rolled around I was exhausted! After church we had choir, and like I wrote last week I love going to choir now that I have Abby to go with me. In fact, we started a trend and now there are 3 other little girls that come out to choir. It was so much fun to see these little girls getting excited about music. Abby is the only one who is singing the alto part, but now she isn't the only child in choir. We even have almost all of our youth in our choir too. I was very happy to see this because I know that music helped me stay out of trouble when I was a teenager. I remember my cousin Michelle coming over and we would get out all of the music that I could sight read and we would sing church songs on a Friday night. I remember my Grandma Lee would be babysitting my family when my parents were out of town and she would come and stand in the room and start crying because she said that she was so lucky because her friend's grandchildren were out drinking and partying on Friday nights and her grandchildren were singing church songs. I didn't realize it at the time, but music really did save me from doing a lot of things.
Later in the afternoon on Sunday I was able to listen as Abby practised the cello. This is only the second year that she has been taking lessons and she is going to be taking an exam in June. I am so proud of her. As I listened to the beautiful deep sounds coming from her cello I felt calm and relaxed. The incredible music that she was able to produce from her instrument just melted all of the tension right out of my body. If I could convince her to do it I would just have her play the cello all day, every day.
Because I had spent so much time away from my family this past weekend I was hesitant to go to the rehearsal for Handel's Messiah. This is something that I sing in every year and this year I was going to not sing in it. Otto told me that I should just go and do it because I really enjoy it and so I did. The feelings of peace and happiness just flooded over me as I sang about the Saviour's life. I felt rested and loved and happy. I always love a good vocal challenge which is why I sing the soprano part in Messiah, and it was fun getting my voice back into shape in order to be able to sing those runs. I didn't try out for a solo this year and so I am able to just go and enjoy myself and have fun singing the music.
So you see, music is a very powerful force in my life. I have always tried to help my children to love music because I know how much it has helped me get through trials and enjoy the happy moment's. Music can uplift me and it can give me energy like no caffeinated drink can!!! I am truly grateful for the wonderful blessing that I have been given to be able to have music in my life.