The Power of Praise
Because our family just saw the anniversary of my first husband’s death, this story is close to my heart and mind. During his illness and subsequent passing we learned to lean heavily on the healing effect of praise music. The burdens of every day, no matter the size, seemed to shrink as I listened to the praises of our ever faithful and loving God. The problems and challenges grew smaller in comparison as my vision of a caring Heavenly Father expanded. Music became my breath of life as I inhaled God’s promises and exhaled His praise! It was my husband, Larry himself, who had set us firmly on this course.
Years earlier our large two-story house was becoming rather empty as the kids were marrying and leaving home, one at a time. The youngest of our four children was still living at home with us, and we thought it a good plan to have her move into the basement bedroom so we could return our second-floor into the revenue apartment it was meant to be. With a private entrance already in place there were minimal changes to be made.
We found good, dependable tenants and all went smoothly for a while. Our third renter, however, was found deceased in the apartment after a hot Easter weekend. He had died of a gunshot wound. In retrospect, some of us reminiscing on goings on in the wee hours of the morning, did not believe it was self-inflicted, although the police at the scene had quickly deemed it suicide.
Regardless of how and why, our family was in a mind-numbing shock for weeks and I might add somewhat paralyzed by fear. Our sense of personal safety had truly received a blow that was difficult to recover from.
My husband, being a strong man of God and a spiritual leader in our family, determined that the peace and joy in our home would NOT be stolen by Satan, the enemy of God and all that is good! He began playing praise and worship music constantly. As long as we heard the powerful words wafting through our home, the peace of Jesus Christ reigned. After a few weeks it seemed that home was indeed home again, a shelter of warmth in a sometimes cold, cruel world; a soft place to land when things ‘out there’ got hard.
So yes, he trained us well, and to this day I love listening to music, especially music that sets my heart in tune with my God and causes the Spirit of Christ to show up and walk with me through the challenges I face, on my way to the party!
Years earlier our large two-story house was becoming rather empty as the kids were marrying and leaving home, one at a time. The youngest of our four children was still living at home with us, and we thought it a good plan to have her move into the basement bedroom so we could return our second-floor into the revenue apartment it was meant to be. With a private entrance already in place there were minimal changes to be made.
We found good, dependable tenants and all went smoothly for a while. Our third renter, however, was found deceased in the apartment after a hot Easter weekend. He had died of a gunshot wound. In retrospect, some of us reminiscing on goings on in the wee hours of the morning, did not believe it was self-inflicted, although the police at the scene had quickly deemed it suicide.
Regardless of how and why, our family was in a mind-numbing shock for weeks and I might add somewhat paralyzed by fear. Our sense of personal safety had truly received a blow that was difficult to recover from.
My husband, being a strong man of God and a spiritual leader in our family, determined that the peace and joy in our home would NOT be stolen by Satan, the enemy of God and all that is good! He began playing praise and worship music constantly. As long as we heard the powerful words wafting through our home, the peace of Jesus Christ reigned. After a few weeks it seemed that home was indeed home again, a shelter of warmth in a sometimes cold, cruel world; a soft place to land when things ‘out there’ got hard.
So yes, he trained us well, and to this day I love listening to music, especially music that sets my heart in tune with my God and causes the Spirit of Christ to show up and walk with me through the challenges I face, on my way to the party!
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