The Power of Music

Ok, this one is another dream one because my life has just been way too good lately for me to think of any kind of obstacle or whatever that I have had to overcome.

This dream is kind of similar to the last post I had about recording. The bigger part of that is that someday I want to record church music. Not like hymns or anything (well I guess I could occasionally, or a rearrangement of them), but maybe some Sally DeFord music or Janice Kapp Perry or even do stuff like Providence. (If you haven't heard of these people, sorry!) To be able to record and sing about my Savior's love for me and His plan. Wow! Just wow, wow, wow!

I had never actually really considered wanting to that until my senior year of high school. My mom had always mentioned it to me but I just brushed it off because I was going into theatre or classical singing gosh dang it. I was asked to sing in church one Sunday so I went to the lady I always go to when I need to find a song for church and I need someone to play for me. She also has TONS and TONS and TONS of music so we have a lot of fun looking through a lot of her stuff to find something we both like for me to sing.

Well we were looking through a lot of her music because I actually needed two songs. One for YW Recognition Night and the other for Sacrament. We found "Prayer is the Soul's Sincere Desire" for the YW Recognition Night but since this was my last time singing in Sacrament for this ward we wanted something really special and beautiful for it. We ended up finding the song "(Jesus Was) No Ordinary Man." I fell in love with it! It was so pretty and the words were amazing!

Jesus was no ordinary man.

But there were some who did not understand.

They saw him working miracles,

but some were still deceived.

Why did they not believe?

When with few loaves and fishes

the multitude were fed;

when he showed them his pow’r to heal,

and even raised the dead;

when he walked upon the water

and he calmed the raging sea,

why did they not believe?

Jesus was no ordinary man.

But there were some who did not understand.

They saw him working miracles,

but some were still deceived.

Why did they not believe?

When his faith filled the fish-nets,

gave sight unto the blind;

when they saw at his bidding

even water turned to wine;

when he offered all he had to them

if they would but receive,

why did they not believe?

Jesus was no ordinary man.

The pow’r to bless and heal was in his hands.

They saw him cleanse the leper,

they saw him heal the lame;

they must have sensed divinity

and known from whence he came,

But understanding not his cause,

they crucified the Son of God,

And even then they did not understand

that Jesus was no ordinary man.

When I sang this song in church I felt the Spirit so strongly and I was starting to cry when it came to the line "they crucified the Son of God" and on the last line I couldn't even say the word man. I kind of squeaked spoke it. The feeling in my chest wouldn't go away. I knew that every single word I sang was true and that I meant them. After sacrament meeting a bunch of people came and thanked me and whatnot, but the one that meant the absolute most to me was Alan Osmond. Yes, I had an Osmond in my ward. He went out of his way with his extraordinarily painful muscular dystrophy to come and tell me that I did very well and that I had a gift.

It reminded me of a time in Missouri when I sang "Look Up" in my church choir's program with the choir singing the little back-up parts behind me. I had actually started the day out with a migraine and when I get migraines they are AWFUL, I actually had to get MRI's and other things as a kid to try and figure out what was wrong. Anyway, I felt awful but I needed to sing this song and do this program. My dad gave me a blessing and for the entire program I felt completely fine and afterwards I could tell I might throw-up sometime soon but the Lord gave me enough time to let this lady I had never seen before and never saw after that come up to me with tears streaming down her face and say "Thank you." Then she walked away and I booked it to the bathroom. I never saw her again but that moment will always be in my mind. I was shocked as a 13-14 year old. I hadn't really and truly understood the importance of music to the Gospel. I still didn't then, but it was the beginning of me understanding and it will always be ingrained in my mind. When this moment with Alan Osmond happened, this immediately popped into my mind.

That was the moment I decided that someday I would record church music. Maybe try to get a contract with Janice Kapp Perry (who wrote No Ordinary Man) or Sally DeFord or someone! I don't need to be famous with my voice, I just need to make sure that someone, somewhere will hear me sing about Christ and feel the Spirit and maybe change just a moment in their lives.