I also love some of the old hymns that I grew up with. When I was a young girl our church had a senior citizen choir. I will never, ever forget the Sunday they got up and sang "God Will Take Care of You". There were about 20 senior citizens that had lived anywhere between 65 - 90+ years of life. Most of them had walked with God for most of their lives. I'm sure they had all been through times of overwhelming heartache, loss, disappointment, stress, loneliness, sadness, etc. When you live that long you've pretty much seen it all. But there they stood with their strong conviction and faith and sang out so beautifully "God Will Take Care of You". They had lived it and believed it to be true. God had proven himself to them over and over again. It spoke volumes to me as a young girl and I still remember it as clearly as if I'd heard it yesterday. It brought tears to my eyes then and does even now as I remember it.
I also remember as a young girl going to a mostly black (now African-American) church in Seattle with my grandparents. They sang "Yes, I Know" like I'd never heard it sung before. Boy, did they sing with rhythm and enthusiasm! I didn't want the song to end. You knew when they sang it they truly believed that "Jesus blood can make the vilest sinner clean".
I know people don't like to think or talk about death, but when I die I would love someone to sing "My Jesus I Love Thee" at my funeral. I love that song and feel like every verse is a testimony of my faith and beliefs. I think it's my all time favorite hymn. Once in a while Molly will sing it during a worship set at our church on Sunday and she always sings it ever so beautifully. I always feel the presence of God sweep over me when she sings it. I could listen to it over and over again.
Some of my other favorite hymns are "Amazing Grace", "Be Still My Soul", "Nearer My God To Thee", "Near The Cross", "He Leadeth Me", "Old Rugged Cross", "His Eye Is On The Sparrow", "Close to Thee", and the list could go on and on.
As some of you know, Ryan is the worship leader at our church. I love that he incorporates some of the older hymns into our worship on Sundays along with the newer worship songs. I am always blessed by that. It shows such a respect for those songs of old that have touched so many of our hearts and still have such meaning today in this "contemporary" world we live in.
Kevin plays on one of the worship teams at Mars Hill Church in Ballard. I have a recording of him singing "Amazing Grace" during one of their worship sets that I listen to quite often. It always touches my heart to the core when I listen to it.
In the meantime, I will continue to be moved and immensely blessed by the newer worship songs. God continues to put new songs into the hearts of many talented song writers these days. These songs will continue to bless us all in profound and meaningful ways. God uses different kinds of music to speak to us all in so many different ways. I believe that music truly is medicine for the soul. It is for me. I am singing melodies in my heart to Him even now.
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