The Promise

This weekend was a toughy! We sang at a dear friend's funeral. Have I mentioned that I sing in a southern gospel quartet? I have since I was 16! It's really all I know. My Dad has sung ever since I can remember and my mom has played the piano at church and for other gospel groups since she was 12. We've had several name changes and personnel changes, but right now we are known as Mercy's Bridge. (I'll place a link to the group website on the side - it's Stewart's project :)) The group consists of me, my Dad, Stewart, our friend Dallas, and some awesome musicians led by Dustin Kelly on keyboards. We sing 2-3 weekends out of the month all around North Alabama, Southern Tennessee, Georgia - anywhere we can drive and get back home in a few hours :)

Anyway - we and another group sang at the funeral of a friend. He was only 32 and his death was very unexpected. He had a beautiful wife and a loving family. His parents are dear friends of my family. His father is a minister who has literally held my hand and given me ammunition to fight the Devil during the struggles of the past couple of years. He helped me stand strong and know the Lord had not forsaken me and would help me realize HIS plan in our lives even when it seemed impossible to me. The funeral, as you can imagine, could have been a tragic event consumed with grief. But Grace stepped in! I have never been so encouraged or uplifted! As we sang and as the ministers talked, you could see the family allowing the Lord to comfort them, and then the Lord let the sweetest peace settle over that church. It was like He was sending that rushing mighty wind to comfort not only the family, but their entire church congregation as well. It was still tragic and sad, and he will be missed, but how precious that the Lord took something that could have ended with such dismay and instead left us all with immense hope and the comforting faith that only He can provide.

That's how He works. Who else could take the unthinkable tragedy and turn it into something that you look back on as a symbol of your faith and HIS love for us? Who else could take death and turn it into hope for a life to come? Who else could take the sadness and loss that grief brings and use it to inspire us to help others through it? Only God.

Here is a video clip of one of the songs we sang at the service. It's not us singing :), but just listen to the words. It has some powerful lyrics if you listen closely. It is entitled "The Promise", and was recorded by The Martins. I'm so thankful for the promises we have to depend on!