I brought along my guitar today when I went to visit Grace at her home. When I checked in with her mother prior to the visit, her mom told me that Grace was having a very blue day. It was cold and dreary out, and the rain was just an annoying mist all day long. If there were any sunshine at all, it was hidden deep behind the clouds that seemed to loom over the neighborhoods today. I decided to grab my guitar and see if that might cheer my angel up a bit. So I grabbed my git-box, hopped in my ride, and headed for the end of the rainbow.
Something you should know about Grace and I, is we spend a lot of time talking about God and his love for us. I read passages out of the bible to her and then we talk about what each of us thinks the lesson is about. With neither of us having any formal training in the history of religion, we both have many questions on the story of Jesus and his journey through biblical times. I have always found it easier to explain things to people by using modern technology to provide examples of how things relate to our daily lives. With Grace I have always used music and lyrics to help her see the messages of the world.
I have introduced Grace to Christian music because I felt many of the songs in that genre related to how Grace felt about her time on earth, and her journey to heaven. For being eight, she had great insight to all that was good, and I felt she honestly had a better grip on all that was bad then anyone I could name, including myself. She is driven by the lessons in life that lead to happiness and beauty. She can take the clouds of a dreary day and push them aside so she can see the rainbow. I always told her she is the pot of gold at the end of the rainbow, even if her rainbow contained the colors neon pink and lime green.
Today I found her laying in her room, on her bed, and covered up tight with winter heavy blankets. It was in the 50's today, and even on the days it is in the 70s, Grace is cold. She was watching the newest version of Footloose that I had given her yesterday. She sees me with my guitar and turns off her movie as she greets me with a big smile and a tiny small half wave. "You are Glummy Gus today Dude." I tell her. "I know Jett, I wanted to be a Happy Harriet but I just have many things I am thinking about today." She tells me as she sits up on her bed, still heavily covered up to stay snug and warm.
I sit in a chair that has been placed next to her bed recently, no doubt to give a seat to one of her parents as they read to her, or watch TV with her, or just sit and watch her sleep. "I have a song I want to sing to you today Grace, and talk about the lyrics. It is a song about God and how he is with us always. In fact, it is titled HE IS WITH YOU." "Do I know the singer?" She asked me as if she was trying to place the song. "No", I tell her, "we have not ever listened to this singer before. She is a Gospel singer. Her name is Mandisa." She sits a bit taller in her bed. "Sing it to me Jett." I sing the song to her, and when I am done, I take out my notebook with the lyrics written on a page in it. We read the lyrics together, once, then again. She has me sing them to her again. Then she wants me to play while she sings the words. She rips the page out of my notebook and carefully folds it and puts it under her pillow. "I like Mandisa", she tells me, "she tells that song good. Thank you for sharing her with me today."
We mess around a bit more with me playing the guitar and Grace singing like a super star. A couple hours have passed and Grace feels like she needs to rest so she can spend some time with her parents tonight. "We are going to watch Footloose again, and have pizza and milk." I tell her I am happy she likes the movies, and purposely fail to mention how glad I am that I am not in her father shoes. I have a five year old nephew who is on his third copy of How to Train a Dragon with no end in sight. We have seen it countless times and we all know it by heart. It is time for me to go and we say our goodbyes. "I will see you tomorrow Happy Harriet, we will plan our date out for this weekend." I head out the door and when I am about four steps away I hear her TV go on and the music to Footloose begins. Great, now I have the theme song churning in my head. All the way home I am singing it but as annoying as it is to have a song stuck in your head, I can't help but smile. We made a new memory and for the rest of my life when I hear that song, or watch that movie, I will forever remember the 110 minutes of silence, laying on the sofa with Grace, watching that movie together. It was worth it, and I would do it all over again.
Grace and I would like to share Mandisa's song with our reader friends. Copy and past this link and listen to 'He Is With You'. I invite you to go through your day tomorrow, and when you lose a bit of faith along the way due to a struggle you face, remember ... He Is With You.
(http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F6hnmFbnGc4&feature=fvsr)
Something you should know about Grace and I, is we spend a lot of time talking about God and his love for us. I read passages out of the bible to her and then we talk about what each of us thinks the lesson is about. With neither of us having any formal training in the history of religion, we both have many questions on the story of Jesus and his journey through biblical times. I have always found it easier to explain things to people by using modern technology to provide examples of how things relate to our daily lives. With Grace I have always used music and lyrics to help her see the messages of the world.
I have introduced Grace to Christian music because I felt many of the songs in that genre related to how Grace felt about her time on earth, and her journey to heaven. For being eight, she had great insight to all that was good, and I felt she honestly had a better grip on all that was bad then anyone I could name, including myself. She is driven by the lessons in life that lead to happiness and beauty. She can take the clouds of a dreary day and push them aside so she can see the rainbow. I always told her she is the pot of gold at the end of the rainbow, even if her rainbow contained the colors neon pink and lime green.
Today I found her laying in her room, on her bed, and covered up tight with winter heavy blankets. It was in the 50's today, and even on the days it is in the 70s, Grace is cold. She was watching the newest version of Footloose that I had given her yesterday. She sees me with my guitar and turns off her movie as she greets me with a big smile and a tiny small half wave. "You are Glummy Gus today Dude." I tell her. "I know Jett, I wanted to be a Happy Harriet but I just have many things I am thinking about today." She tells me as she sits up on her bed, still heavily covered up to stay snug and warm.
I sit in a chair that has been placed next to her bed recently, no doubt to give a seat to one of her parents as they read to her, or watch TV with her, or just sit and watch her sleep. "I have a song I want to sing to you today Grace, and talk about the lyrics. It is a song about God and how he is with us always. In fact, it is titled HE IS WITH YOU." "Do I know the singer?" She asked me as if she was trying to place the song. "No", I tell her, "we have not ever listened to this singer before. She is a Gospel singer. Her name is Mandisa." She sits a bit taller in her bed. "Sing it to me Jett." I sing the song to her, and when I am done, I take out my notebook with the lyrics written on a page in it. We read the lyrics together, once, then again. She has me sing them to her again. Then she wants me to play while she sings the words. She rips the page out of my notebook and carefully folds it and puts it under her pillow. "I like Mandisa", she tells me, "she tells that song good. Thank you for sharing her with me today."
We mess around a bit more with me playing the guitar and Grace singing like a super star. A couple hours have passed and Grace feels like she needs to rest so she can spend some time with her parents tonight. "We are going to watch Footloose again, and have pizza and milk." I tell her I am happy she likes the movies, and purposely fail to mention how glad I am that I am not in her father shoes. I have a five year old nephew who is on his third copy of How to Train a Dragon with no end in sight. We have seen it countless times and we all know it by heart. It is time for me to go and we say our goodbyes. "I will see you tomorrow Happy Harriet, we will plan our date out for this weekend." I head out the door and when I am about four steps away I hear her TV go on and the music to Footloose begins. Great, now I have the theme song churning in my head. All the way home I am singing it but as annoying as it is to have a song stuck in your head, I can't help but smile. We made a new memory and for the rest of my life when I hear that song, or watch that movie, I will forever remember the 110 minutes of silence, laying on the sofa with Grace, watching that movie together. It was worth it, and I would do it all over again.
Grace and I would like to share Mandisa's song with our reader friends. Copy and past this link and listen to 'He Is With You'. I invite you to go through your day tomorrow, and when you lose a bit of faith along the way due to a struggle you face, remember ... He Is With You.
(http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F6hnmFbnGc4&feature=fvsr)
