Sarah loves music. She sings more than she talks. In fact, as I type this she just sang a phrase from “High School Musical.” (This is interesting, since she hasn’t seen that movie in months.) I have used this to help her learn her address and phone number and it has worked. In fact, the whole family learned our phone number this way. Jack recently shared with me that when he was in kindergarten the teacher asked for his phone number. Without skipping a beat, Jack sang it back to her. He said the other kids looked at him and he thought, “What? Doesn’t everyone sing their phone number?”

Music reaches Sarah in ways words alone can’t. If she is happy a tune is bound to break forth. It is delightful to hear her sing and it can be quite comical when she sings the wrong words to songs.

Other times, music helps you see into her heart….

Sarah has amazing aides at church that allow us to attend the church service.  (One day I will write a blog about these amazing people! It brings me to tears with their selfless gift!) One aide, Joan, was watching Sarah on Wednesday night church. Knowing that Sarah loves music, she took Sarah into the sanctuary where the Praise band was practicing for the following Sunday’s service. She and Sarah sat together as they played, but she was taken back when she looked over to see tears streaming down Sarah’s cheeks.  Joan wondered what was wrong.  Sarah wasn’t upset; in fact, she was listening intently to what they were singing. When the chorus was sung again, she saw another tear trickle down Sarah’s cheek. Joan was so moved and she took out a piece of paper and wrote down the chorus to share with me.

The piece of paper read:

He knows my name
He knows my every thought,
He sees each tear that falls
and hears me when I call.

(“I have a Maker” (He knows My Name) by Paul Baloche)

Psalm 56:8, “You keep track of all my sorrows.
    You have collected all my tears in your bottle.
    You have recorded each one in your book.”  (The New Living Translation)

If you know me, you know I cry. Autism has certainly made my heart a tender mush which actually is a good thing and I am thankful to Him for it.  I tease, though, that when I read this verse that He must have a pretty big bottle with my name on it!  It is not a bottle; it is more like a vat! 🙂  I’m thankful that even with autism; Sarah knows this truth, too.  The Lord knows our Sarah and each tear she cries. He knows what she is thinking when we don’t have a clue. His eye is always on her and He hears her (and me) when we call out to Him.  That is music to my ears!

**August Praise and Prayer Requests can be found under the Praise/Prayer tab at the top of the blog–thank you for praying!!