Music is so powerful !!

Music is incredibly powerful ! At times I am surprised at the memories that surface , the emotions that rise up, and how a song can take you back in time recalling details you thought were long buried. I had two major experiences with this on my drive to lunch with two different songs. The power this had over me was startling, one took me back to  a really happy day and one reminded me of a tragedy .  

 As  I seemingly went back in time and was overcome by emotions from long ago it made me realize that people who are trying to make positive changes in their life may need to be very careful in this area, in the music they listen to. For instance if you were a drug addict and there was certain music you always listened to while getting high , hearing that music  might trigger a desire to use  you because when you hear a song certain memories can flood your mind.  I had never really thought about  that before but it occurred to me today. 

Here’s what happened to me. I was driving to Market Street to get some grilled chicken and cabbage for lunch. I was flipping through the channels on my radio and stopped at 88.5 FM,  a station owned by Mesquite ISD  that  plays mostly 70’s music.  Normally I listen to music on my phone or podcasts but today I decided to do something different. The station was playing “Night Fever” by the Bee Gees and it immediately took me back to a Sunday afternoon during my junior year.  Leah was in my pale yellow cutlass supreme with me and we  were driving to pick up  Patti  to go see Saturday Night Fever  AGAIN. It was a sunny day and there was a lot of laughter. Three silly teenage girls having fun . After the movie we drove around White Rock Lake as we always did back then ………… It was as if I was transported back in time, I felt as if I was there . It was a sweet memory that made me smile.

The next song I listened to was “Heard it in a Love Song” by Marshall Tucker Band. I immediately went back to a Monday morning in my speech class during my junior year .   Kevin Clifton , who was a senior,  walked into the class with his cowboy hat on ( I can picture him perfectly)   and told us that a good friend of his was killed at a rodeo that weekend. His friend was thrown from a bull and the bull stepped on his skull. It was tragic and sad. My heart broke for the young life lost and those that remained behind.  “Heard it in a love song” was the boy and his girlfriend’s “song” …………………..I don’t recall recalling that speech class ever before but today I did . It was a memory that appeared without warning triggered by a song. The teacher was a small blonde , I can’t remember her name  and I don’t remember anything else about it but that song took me back…………………….The sadness I felt  as the song continued was overwhelming . I don’t know if it compared to how I felt that morning in 1978 or if the feelings have been altered by the experiences I have had but the memory brought tears to my eyes. It really made me think .

Music is so powerful.

The Dragonfly

The Dragonfly

Once, in a little pond, in the muddy water under the lily pads,
there lived a little water beetle in a community of water
beetles.  They lived a simple and comfortable life in the pond
with few disturbances and interruptions.

Once in a while, sadness would come to the community when one of
their fellow beetles would climb the stem of a lily pad and
would never be seen again.  They knew when this happened; their
friend was dead, gone forever.

Then, one day, one little water beetle felt an irresistible urge
to climb up that stem.  However, he was determined that he would
not leave forever.  He would come back and tell his friends what
he had found at the top.

When he reached the top and climbed out of the water onto the
surface of the lily pad, he was so tired, and the sun felt so
warm, that he decided he must take a nap.  As he slept, his body
changed and when he woke up, he had turned into a beautiful
blue-tailed dragonfly with broad wings and a slender body
designed for flying.

So, fly he did!  And, as he soared he saw the beauty of a whole
new world and a far superior way of life to what he had never
known existed.

Then he remembered his beetle friends and how they were thinking
by now he was dead.  He wanted to go back to tell them, and
explain to them that he was now more alive than he had ever been
before.  His life had been fulfilled rather than ended.

But, his new body would not go down into the water.  He could
not get back to tell his friends the good news.  Then he
understood that their time would come, when they, too, would
know what he now knew.  So, he raised his wings and flew off
into his joyous new life!


~Author Unknown~

The Butterfly

It is said that if we were to help the butterfly remove itself from the cocoon, the butterfly would not be strong enough to survive. It is the struggle that prepares the butterfly to become strong enough to fly. Without the struggle in the cocoon, it could not survive as a butterfly.

The Lord prepares each of us in similar ways. Some of our childhoods seem to have been harsh and born from a seemingly unloving God. However, the Lord knows our struggle and will make our life an instrument in His hand if we will follow Him with an upright heart. He does make all things beautiful in His time if we are willing to be patient.

This little butterfly is going to soar and I know her life  will be an instrument in God's hand. It already is:))

Gateways of HOPE

15 I will transform the Valley of Trouble[a] into a gateway of hope. NLT

Whenever God takes us through the land of affliction, He will do two things through that affliction: 1) He will bring such healing that we will be able to move past the pain, and 2) He will make us fruitful from the painful experiences.

God does not waste our afflictions if we allow Him the freedom to complete the work in us. His desire is to create virtue that remains during the times of testing so that He can bring us into the place of fruitfulness in the very area of our testing. He has never promised to keep us from entering the valleys of afflication, but He has promised to make us fruitful in them. He is the God who turns the Valley of Achor (trouble) into a door of hope (see Hos. 2:15).

Identity

Last week I took Riley over to Kenen’s before church , she is watching her for the day because Warner and I both had to work. They all were going to the second and third services. As I was running to my car after the 9:30 service I heard a high pitched little girl with a strong Texas accent calling “Momma, Momma” . I immediately knew that call was for me. I turned and saw Riley running to me and I ran to meet her . We hugged each other tightly. As we waved goodbye she smiled at me and said “I’ll see you tonight Momma”
Tears formed in my eyes as I walked to my car. Tears of joy as well as sorrow because I am now so comfortable in my identity as “Riley’s Momma”. This realization made me miss Alexis that much more. 

The thought of my identity reminded me of prison and how easy it is to forget who we were and how easily our identity can be changed. I thought back to the day I was walking from the library on my unit to the chow hall and I heard some inmates calling “Mrs. Washington, Mrs. Washington” I continued on my way because it didn’t even click that I was Mrs. Washington , in my mind I was Offender 1130254. The girls were persistent and I finally stopped on the white line I was required to walk on and paused wondering if they could be calling me . It then dawned on me that I was Mrs. Washington but I couldn’t really remember when that was who I was because I was usually Susan. Then it all came back and putting my hands on my head I said to myself “ I was Mrs. Washington when I taught school” I slowly turned around to see two of my former students running ( quite excitedly I might add ) to me exclaiming “ Mrs. Washington we are so surprised to see you here in prison “ ( Honestly I wasn’t that surprised to see them ). We talked a moment and then I advised them to behave better in prison than they did in middle school and I continued onto the chow hall:))


I laugh at that story now, honestly I laughed at it then. For some reason I thought of that today as Riley ran saying “Momma , Momma” , but today there was no hesitation I knew exactly who Momma was from the second I heard her little voice , it was just so natural . Then I began thinking of the many identities that I have and have had. But what I was so thankful for is in the moment I heard her little voice I knew she was calling me and there was no doubt because just a year and three months ago I would not have responded to Momma from her because I was Mimi. 

So many emotions rose up within me that I decided to stop by the crash site and say hello to Alexis Rose . As I looked at her beautiful memorial the realization soaked in that throughout our lives our identities and the hats we wear will continuously change but there is one identity that will remain the same , that I am a child of the one true KING.

 — with Alexis Rose Washington.