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9 Therefore God also has highly exalted Him and given Him the name which is above every name, 10 that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of those in heaven, and of those on earth, and of those under the earth, 11 and that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father. Philippians 2:9-11 NKJV
LIFE SONG
Ashley, at age 2, sat beside me. It was just days before Christmas and she sniffled with a cold and leaned against me. Grandmas are good for that, she had already learned. I shifted her nearly 1 year old brother in my lap, aimed a bottle into his mouth, hit the remote to put on a channel belting a Christmas music program, and put my arm around her, in rapid, smooth succession.
Six kids, six grandkids, and 57 Christmas seasons under my belt brought, I thought, a certain rhythm to these things.
The TV folks began singing “Silent Night.” Caleb smiled up around his bottle. Ashley sniffled. I began mindlessly to sing the age-old words, barely above a whisper.
At two, Ashley’s vocabulary was a bit late flourishing–the song beyond her–but in the next moment, I heard a tiny voice begin singing the single word “Jesus” over and over to the tune of “Silent Night.” Over and over she sang on tune and soft as a prayer, that single word, “Jesus.”
Tears filled my eyes. How often I have felt my shortcomings, my life’s attempts to serve God fall short of my hopes— yet, if I too can only whisper the single word, “Jesus” over and over with my life…..maybe it too, will be miraculously on tune…and bring Him joy.
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EPILOGUE
Dear Readers: I wrote this quite a few years back. Ashley is now a devoted Christian. She is 19, and entering her senior year at a Christian university, where she is studying to become a Christian counselor.