Prayers For Melissa

Sunday January 10, 2010

7:40am

(from my perspective)

“Amazing Grace was my favorite song. I used to like to sing it while playing. When Momma would hear me sing spontaneously, she would smile and say, ‘My, what a great singer you are!’ Momma LOVED having her home filled with music and praise!”

Throughout the twenty-four hours that the Espiritu sisters were all in one place this past New Year’s Eve Extravaganza, one thing was for certain: there was a COPIOUS amount of music and praise. As we got ready for family pictures, we jammed to pop songs of the decade at the top of our lungs. At points throughout the celebration, one or two of us would spontaneously break into song. As we rang in the New Year, we put our arms around one another and harmonized to Auld Lang Syne, a sister tradition that has lasted even when one or two sisters can’t be there. In the morning, the early risers sat at the table, did devotionals, and lifted our hearts together in praise to God with soft melodies and sweet harmonies. Then, if that wasn’t enough, we were fortunate to have the opportunity to put on a private family concert of sorts at my brother-in-law’s church. Dad played piano, Jon was on drums, Tabitha did flute and joined in with the rest of the sisters on vocals. It wasn’t for show, it wasn’t meant to be perfect, and it wasn’t for anyone else but us and Jesus. I’ve missed performing with my family, and it was a blessing to be able to sing praise music with all of them for the first time in several years.

Music was a huge part of Momma’s life, too. She composed and wrote songs with my dad way back in the day. She taught the kids in children’s church numerous hymns and worship songs. She had albums upon albums of Christian praise music stocked up at home. She taught her daughters several tunes to help them remember things from countries of the world to historical figures to verses of the Bible. She supported her daughters in choir and band. She put the little ones to bed with lullabies using her sing-songy voice (though I’m told that she was a bit pitchy). She woke us up with tunes of boisterous joy. She closed her eyes and lifted her hands up in worship during church. You could see her love for Jesus radiating off her every time she did so. She loved to incorporate music into our everyday lives.

Momma also would have loved all of what happened at the New Year’s celebration a couple of weeks ago. She would have smiled at all of us being silly as we danced and sang and had fun. She would have marveled at how each of her daughters had been blessed with varying levels of musicality. She would have been thankful that we could all come together to use those talents to praise the living God. And, as it says in the journal entry above, she would have LOVED having her home filled with music and praise.

-Sara Joy

~ by Sara Espiritu on January 12, 2020.

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