Make your own kind of music, Sing your own special song!

((Big Mama Cass sang it years ago, but I bet she had no idea how true it actually was!)

Carrie and I had the awesome privilege of being guests at a mother/daughter brunch at Lighthouse World Outreach Center in Monroe, Georgia last weekend. The theme for their event was "Your Favorite Song!" They had volunteers sign up to decorate individual tables in the theme of their own personal favorite tune. Most of the tables told the stories of their song lyrics beautifully and even included lyric sheets. The table that Carrie and I chose, was themed "How He Loves Us" by Kim Walker. Drenched in red and adorned with silver Hershey's kisses, each setting at the table was marked with an envelope marked "read me." Feeling a little like Alice in Wonderland (which I love ha!), we opened our cards and read the darling promises of love and affection straight from God to each of us. Our table couldn't have been more perfect for both of us that day.

We ate an incredible meal (no SERIOUSLY! There was even a burrito tree!), made some new friends, and reconnected with some old ones. To open the program part of the event, Carrie and I sang a few songs and it went well. The women seemed sweet and tenderly receptive to what was about to happen. Carrie happened to be the guest speaker and she commanded the room with grace. Topic appropriate, she spoke on "Your life as a song."

Her first point was that your "lyrics" tell the story of your life. Lyrics must be learned and often re-rehearsed, meaning your story should be discovered between you and the Lord and then you and He should revisit that from time to time. (Where has God carried you? When did God save you? What is He crafting you for now?) Carrie made it very clear that the lyrics of your life must be shared, explaining that our testimony is the only real tool that we have for encouraging others and helping to win the lost and build the kingdom.

Secondly she touched on the "melody" of your life. The melody, as Carrie presented, is the attitude and tone that you live out. Not denying that it's human to have bad days, Carrie encouraged the ladies to look at their lives. She asked if they were people that others wanted to be around. (Were they life-giving people? Where they exciting and genuine? Did children flock to them?) If your life plays a melody that is in a minor key, slightly diminished, you can pretty much forget the love of Christ being heard through that.

Lastly, she shared that the "hook" of our life-song was to be the Holy Spirit. He is the only thing that can make our songs worth us learning, worth us sharing, and worth others repeating! He is the one who draws others to Christ and He is the one who makes generations after us, interested in remembering our life-songs. Carrie ended with sharing a glimpse into her story and the redemptive power of Christ. I'll let her tell that part herself, but the portion she was able to share gave such hope to the women in the room. We all, myself included, hung on her every word and for some, tears flowed freely. But it was more than the tears and the powerful, beautiful story that Carrie shared. It was more than the song she used to wrap the message up. The spirit of God was manifest in the room in a sweet and tender healing way.

Spontaneously, as leaders attempted to close the event, woman after woman would stand and ask if they could say something. Once allowed they would share a short portion of their story and let me just tell you, the snippets were vast and varied. There were women who had been away from church and rejoicing over family reconciliation. There were women who were facing severe physical illness either in their own body or that of a loved one. But there was one woman, a lean, tan, mother who stood and shared that she was a former exotic dancer and had been one for over twelve years. She teared up as she spoke but she approached the pastor's wife and hugged her tightly saying, "Thank you for leading the kind of church where someone like me can come and be loved on." Not only were the women testifying to the goodness and faithfulness of God in their life-song, like Carrie had just encouraged them to do, but they were inadvertently encouraging the spirit of their own church and the Christian Body at large. I want to be the kind of church were "someone like her" could come and be loved on.