Tune in to hear how Shauna heard music from heaven right when she needed it the most. A loving reminder that music can lift your spirits and in your darkest moments – God will even send a literal harp!
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SHAUNA: Welcome to Joni Eareckson Tada: Sharing Hope. It’s so great to be here with you, Joni! I love talking to you on the radio – sharing stories and insights with one another.
JONI: We’re sharing a story about your daughter, Sarah, and her incredible love for music. And you know, I’m still smiling at the thought of not only what I learned about music therapy from what you shared, but Sarah’s God-given talents to make music unto the Lord. Good for her!
SHAUNA: Good for all of us. And it is wonderful to think, not only of how God has used music in Sarah’s life, but how He uses music to sooth all of us in our times of distress.
JONI: Oh, absolutely. You know, in my darkest times I sing to comfort myself. I sing my way through suffering; I give myself a hug and remind myself of brighter days ahead with the words of a beautiful hymn. And I think that’s what we see happening in music therapy, is that not true? Children with special needs, those who are over-stimulated, agitated, crying. So often it’s music that calms them down and settles their spirit – that’s music therapy, right?
SHAUNA: Oh, it sure is and Joni, God uses music to calm me down when I’m agitated as well. You know, when Sarah was born, she very quickly started dying. And in fact, we lived for the first three months of her life in the neonatal intensive care unit in the hospital. She was just so weak and could not even be removed from her life support system. And while Sarah was fighting for every weak, faint heartbeat, I was honestly fighting for my sanity. I mean, I was a strong Christian, or I thought I was a strong Christian before Sarah was born, but watching my baby die every day really put my faith to the test. And I know that Scripture told me in 2 Timothy 1:7 that God did not give me a spirit of fear, but one of power and one of love and one of a sound mind, which I held on to every day. But I was feeling like I was losing the battle in those three months. And at my darkest point in that journey, I remember just literally verbally crying out to God next to Sarah’s hospital bed and in that very moment it was almost as though I was watching a movie and right on cue the most beautiful harp music started to play.
JONI: From where?
SHAUNA: Well, it sounded like from out of heaven, but I thought for sure it must be a CD, but as I listened it just sounded too real to be a CD. I finally peeked my head out of Sarah’s hospital room door and lo and behold the most beautiful harpist was sitting not far from her room with a full-sized harp playing hymns in the neonatal intensive care unit.
JONI: Oh, my goodness! Now that’s an answer to a desperate prayer of yours, isn’t it?
SHAUNA: I knew it was God’s answer for sure sending that woman right at that very moment to be someone to calm me in my biggest storm. Years later, I went back to that same hospital and as I was about to get on the elevator, who should come to the elevator but that same harpist dragging a full-size harp with her. I was then able to tell her, “thank you for being the answer to my prayers so many years ago” and the two of us just stood in that elevator with tears in our eyes praising God for the way He unites the body of Christ.
JONI: So, God did a little bit of His own musical therapy on you that time, didn’t he?
SHAUNA: Oh, it really was a gift from heaven.
JONI: Friend listening, oh, my goodness, I pray you’ll find a creative way to use your gifts. Maybe like that harpist with her concert grand harp, dragging it into a neonatal unit – oh, my goodness. But however you do it, use your gifts to encourage somebody else today, right Shauna?
SHAUNA: That’s right Joni!
JONI: Friend listening please go directly to joniradio.org where you can find all sorts of opportunities to put your spiritual gifts into action today.
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