A Song of Praise in the Midst of the Storm

My best friend from college lives in Tyler, TX. Her parents live in East Texas near the Beaumont area. This is her story from the aftermath of Hurricane Rita:

My parents had a truly terrifying experience. Mom stayed up all night Friday just praying. She could hear the trees outside cracking and falling...she could hear shingles ripping off the roof...and she could hear loud bangs from large debris slamming into the house. We were all praying that God's hand would protect their home (where both my Grandmas and sister were also taking refuge). There is no doubt now that our prayers were answered...there is devastation all around them, and yet the house was relatively unharmed...and they are all safe and sound!

Sunday I had an opportunity to sing in church, due to the fact that a musical group we had booked was unable to get to Tyler. When the Worship Minister called me Thursday afternoon and asked if I knew what I could sing, I immediately said, "Through it All." It is an old southern gospel favorite of my dad's. There is a line in the song: "I thank Him for the mountains/I thank Him for the valleys/I thank Him for the STORMS He's brought me through.../Through it all I've learned to Trust in Jesus..." Even before I knew HOW He would bring us through the storm, I felt such a strong compulsion to share that message Sunday morning (if we were even able to have church).

Most of Tyler never even lost power, so we did have the joy of gathering for worship. At 7:40 Sunday morning, I arrived at church for a sound check and when I walked through the doors I could hear the Praise Team practicing. The spirit was so incredibly dense in that place you could almost see it. Everyone was smiling and saying "Hello..." There was just a general sense of jubliation, thankfulness, and humility. When I sat down to continue listening to the Praise Team, it occurred to me that my mom & dad would looooove to hear this music, and they were trapped in their home without power. They do have a phone line that works, however, so I decided to call them and let them listen through the phone. No sooner than Dad answered, though, I was called up on stage to start my sound check. I asked Dad if he wouldn't mind holding on for a while, then I passed the phone off to our Orchestra Minister and asked if he would mind holding it up while I sang.

Of course, he agreed. Also, the Worship Minister agreed to let me sing the ENTIRE song for the sound check. Green Acres holds three services each Sunday. Out of the four times I sang the song that day, the sound check was the absolute finest moment. When I got back on the phone, my mom was sobbing. "We weren't able to make it to church today," she said, "but we just had church."