I've got the music in me.....

Today’s devotional was so spot on for me and as I read it, I felt like I had written it myself. Music has gotten me not only through many of the trials in my life, it has just “gotten me through life” in general.

I have always loved music. One of my earliest memories of realizing this was listening to my mom sing in church. She didn’t perform solos but sang as an alto voice with the choir. But when the choir wasn’t in the choir loft and she was sitting with us, I loved hearing her harmonize to the hymns. (I think that is why to this day I sing the alto or harmonize to the songs in church myself, hardly ever taking the melody line.)

As a young person, I always had a radio on in my room. Music was my creative backdrop to life. And then in 7^th grade, when they did the instrument tests for band, while I truly wanted to play the drums, I ended up with the typical girl instrument, the clarinet. As I learned, and became good enough to be first chair, I had to learn how to appreciate the melody line, since the clarinet was typically a melody instrument. But it was also a harmonizing instrument on many pieces, just from the top soprano range, not the alto range. I learned to appreciate that, too.

But in high school, I was ready to play pieces that were quickly becoming my musical genre of choice….Jazz. I joined the jazz band and learned to play tenor and baritone saxophones, and my love for music deepened even more.

As most kids do that don’t choose a major in music in college, my playing fell away. But I never lost the love for the feeling of playing, the joy of making music with others, and the pleasure of just being a consumer of amazing works of art. Music is part of my soul. And like I did as a kid, having a radio on in my room constantly, there is, still, a radio somewhere in my home, playing constantly. These days, it is my favorite is a local university radio station that flips between Jazz and Classical.

Bringing this back to today’s devotional, I think about David and how he turned to music. I may not have lived through the kinds of things that David did, but my traumas were traumas still the same. Music got me through difficult growing up years, being teased and bullied. Music was a way for me to escape the feelings of inadequacy or unworthiness. Music got me through an abusive relationship. I can still remember specific songs that inspired me to persevere. Music got me through a divorce. I remember songs that inspired me to have hope. Music got me through recovery from open heart surgery. I remember the songs that helped push me through my physical therapy, inspiring me to see the light at the end of the tunnel. Music has been woven through all of the happy times, too, brightening my world with colorful imagery, inspiring a skip in my step, or making my smile just a little bit bigger!

I thank God for music! For the backdrop to life that it provides me. I am thankful that God has gifted so many, including our dear friend Marcia, and so many of you out there, to be able to share talents that we may be the beneficiaries as we listen. And I thank David and the Psalms for the reminder that there is hope in our despair, and there is joy in our celebration, and that songs and music bring praise in them both. 

Bless you all! And may you find your musical backdrop that brings you peace, love, and joy!

Xoxo – Lisa

#godandmygirlfriendsministries #godandmygirlfriends #music #psalms #musicisthebackdropforlife #ihavethemusicinme #womensupportingwomen 

And for your listening pleasure, one of my favorite covers from 1996... Point of Grace singing Sing a Song (Maurice White, Earth, Wind & Fire)