Love of Music

I started memorizing songs at a young age. I have always loved music and have a broad range of music I listen to. Anything from 80's to country to classical. The past few months, we have noticed this same love of music in Chloe. She has lots of songs memorized (too many to count) and is always making up songs of her own. When she is in a room alone she sings to her babies and blanket. I love sneaking in the hallway just to listen to her sweet little voice.

When Chloe was born we started singing "I Love You Lord" to her at bed time or when she was fussy and needed cuddles. I still sing it to her before bed when she doesn't have a special request. The other night, we were rocking and she asked me to sing it to her. Her favorite line is "Take joy my King, in what you hear. May it be a sweet, sweet sound in your ear." She belted it out with such an honest joy to be singing this song. I am not sure that she understand the king we are singing to is God, but watching her make sure she got every word just right and the smile on her face when she was singing, reminded me that I need to have the faith of a child. Chloe doesn't understand all of the aspects of faith, but she does understand that God loves her and protects her. She understands that her also wants her to obey Him (and Mommy and Daddy). It has been a privilege to see her learn about God. I am excited for the personal relationship she will have with Him. I've always had a hard time understanding how kids could accept Christ at the age of 3 or 4, but now watching Chloe I get it. We are all born with a hole only God can fill. It's so important to show your children faith at a young age. For Chloe, it's a part of life. Her week isn't complete if she doesn't get to go to Sunday school. If we don't pray before bed, she can't go to sleep. When she thinks there are monsters in her room, sometimes the only way I can get her to calm down is to pray for her and let her know that God is protecting her. I feel so blessed that God has trusted Phil and I to guide Chloe as she grows her relationship with Christ. There are times when we feel like we don't know what we are doing, but God knows what He is doing. What an amazing thing to see Him working on such a young child!!

Within the past week, there have been two people who I knew in high school that faced the question of faith. Do you continue to place your faith in God, or do you walk away from a faith you have know since you were a small child? While these people aren't really a part of my life today (except through Facebook), I can remember fun times with both of them. Times that we were surrounded by our identities in Christ. One made the choice to cling to the grace that God has given her. One, we will call her Samantha to protect the innocent, chose to walk away. I guess this situation made me try to imagine my life without Christ. I can't do it. Samantha said she has never been happier in her entire life. Those words lead me to believe that she never truly knew God. Was she following the ideas and "rules" of other Christians? I guess there is only one person who can answer that question. I think of times in my life when I felt like I was at the bottom. The only reason I was able to stand back up was because God was there to lift me up. This is probably the 4th time in a week this idea of "Christian rules" has come up for me. The thing that I am realizing is, it's not about a score. It doesn't matter how many things I "get right". It's about a relationship. The things that I do after that (reading my Bible, following God's commandments, praying) are a result of that relationship. My prayer is for Samantha's daughter. I pray that God sends an amazing person to show her the true love of Christ. I also pray that the scales will be removed from Samantha's eyes. I know she feels like this is the end of this subject in her life, but I think it's just the beginning. She knows the truth, and I hope that makes it so she can't sleep at night. I pray that God grabs her heart and shows her His true self. Not the ideas other Christians have given her, but true love, grace, and acceptance. I also am praying for other friends that may be at this same place. Sometimes we don't know what is truly going on inside a person. This is my reminder. It hurts when someone turns away from God. I cannot fathom how He is feeling today.