Hi, I’m Joni Eareckson Tada and I’d like to invite you to sing along with me, would you…
Amazing Grace how the sweet the sound
That saved a wretch like me.
I once was lost, but now I’m found
Was blind, but now I see.
Whenever I sing this song, I always, always think of Cindy, a beautiful, red-haired young girl with cerebral palsy – she and her mother attended a Joni and Friends’ Family Retreat and Cindy really wanted to be a part of the talent show. That was going to be a challenge since Cindy could not speak, let alone sing. But I noticed Cindy and her mom off away by themselves once or twice – they were obviously cooking something up for the talent show.
That night I was pretty impressed with some of the songs and poems… a few of the families brought guitars… one family put on a little play. Well, then it was Cindy’s turn. Her mother pushed her out onto the stage under the spotlight and then adjusted the little communicator attached to the side of her wheelchair (because Cindy can’t speak, she uses an electronic communication device into which she types words and then when she hits a button, the words play all of it back. It’s the way she talked to everyone at Family Retreat).
After her mother made some adjustments, she squeezed Cindy’s shoulder and walked off to the side behind the curtain. There was that young girl with cerebral palsy all by herself in the middle of the stage. Several of us were a little nervous for her. What was she going to do? With all her effort, Cindy then leaned forward and jabbed one of the buttons on her device with her finger and immediately we all could hear the mechanical voice from her computer, “Amazing grace, how sweet the sound, that saved a wretch like me.” I’m not doing a very good job of it, but this computer sang the words and Cindy twisted her body toward us groaning, reaching to us in the audience and began to mouth the words one-by-one, in time with the computer. She smiled that big smile of hers and continued, “I once was lost but now am found… was blind but now I see.”
All of us “saw” for the first time that night because never did we expect something like that from Cindy. I couldn’t stop the tears, I mean, we could have been watching a world famous mezzo soprano, the performance was that powerful. Psalm 144 says, “I will sing a new song to you, O God; on the ten-stringed lyre I will make music to you, to the One who gives victory to kings…” That’s exactly what Cindy did that night– she took a beautiful old spiritual and made a new song out of it… she made beautiful music through her computer and, in so doing, thrilled the hearts of us all.
Things like this happen all the time at Family Retreats and I posted a video on my radio page today to show you exactly what I mean. I’d also like you to visit the radio page today because I want to send you several brochures for our Family Retreat – maybe you know someone like Cindy and her mom at your church. These are just the families we want coming this year to our Family Retreats. So visit me today at joniandfriends.org or you can call 1-888-522-5664 and who knows, the day might be out before you find yourself singing a new song to the Lord Jesus too. Until next time, this is Joni on Joni and Friends.
Used by permission of
JONI AND FRIENDS
P.O. Box 3333
Agoura Hills, CA 91376
© Joni and Friends