Keep a Song in your Heart

Photo by Tirachard Kumtano

"I've found no matter what life throws at me; music softens the blow." Bryce W. Anderson

Music has always been a HUGE part of my life. Whether it was years of piano lessons, singing in various choirs, performing on stage as a soloist or with a group, or directing school musicals, if it involved music or singing of some sort, count. me. in. I even sang to my husband Phil at our wedding and to our kids, Tyler and Shannon, at their dedication services. It is just so much the fabric of who I am, and it truly made the ceremonies that much more special and memorable. 

That being said, I don't know if the hills are alive with the sound of music in my corner of the world, but I can certainly verify that my classroom is alive with the sound of music.

As a musical person, I love to incorporate songs into our everyday routines. As a primary teacher, I see the value of subject specific songs as part of our focus on the topics of study. The kids really enjoy them and it helps them commit important concepts to memory easily.

This year as mentioned in a previous blog we even have a class theme song called Chosen Family. The kids love it and sing it with their hands on their hearts with such enthusiasm. I have them sing it for every supply teacher and all my supply teachers have commented on how much they enjoyed hearing it. For more info about that and the topic of chosen family click here.

Photo by Breakingpic

When I worked as a substance abuse counsellor, I took an addictions course as part of my certification. I recall one activity that we had to do was a real eye-opener as to just how much music was ingrained in me. 

We were instructed to select a neutral habit that we had that was part of our normal and healthy daily routine. It was was not to be a negative habit or addiction. We then were told to make a conscious decision to exclude that activity from our routine for a week and journal our feelings about the experience.

Coffee is my g0-to in the morning and the thought of giving up my warm cup of morning inspiration was simply just too much to bear. For that reason, I picked something else that I thought would be easier. 

At the time, I had an hour commute, so immediately when I got in the car my routine every day was I would put on the radio. I LOVED listening to music to pass the time and make the drive more pleasant. For this experiment, I decided that I would refrain from doing that and would instead drive in SILENCE.

What was I thinking? By the end, I decided that forgoing my morning coffee, just might have been the easier, less painful option. I felt like I was going crazy. I would sing, hum and even talk to to myself on my commute. The drive seemed like an eternity and definitely silence was NOT golden in this case!

​When the week was over, I was so incredibly happy and relieved to have music, my constant companion back.

Photo by Caleb Oquendo

During Language Arts at school, we had a discussion about our favourite music genres. On the chart paper, I quickly wrote their many answers like rock, pop, country, hip hop and many more. I couldn't contain my excitement though, when one little guy said, "worship music." I work in the public system so that response was a very pleasant surprise. 

I echoed his enthusiasm. Worship music is indeed my favourite too. My favourite artists at present are Maverick City Music, Phil Wickham, Brandon Lake and Rend Collective. I have tickets for an upcoming Phil Wickham/ Brandon Lake concert in our area and I tell you I cannot wait.   

On so many occasions worship music songs have brought such peace and comfort to my soul. I LOVE to put on my headphones and just let the music and God's presence soothe my soul and wash my cares away. Worship songs speak to me in such powerful ways and have become such a HUGE blessing in my life. Even though the beat and music is enjoyable, it is the message of the lyrics that speaks the loudest to me.  Hard times have been plenty lately and the message of these songs has brought such healing to my brokenness. 

When my mom died unexpectedly, I cried out to God and asked him to give me something to stand on. I basically gave him a directive that he MUST speak to me in a worship song when I put on the radio. I needed to make sense of what the profound loss of my precious mother was all about. Bold I know, but I was heartbroken and desperate and I knew God understood.

​Of course, as soon as I put on our local Christian radio station, UCB Radio, the song God is in this Story by Katy Nichole was playing. I knew it was God speaking directly to me and I was so grateful. Time and time again in my trials and heartache, the perfect song would play for me that I needed to hear at the EXACT time I needed it.  I know that God faithfully speaks to me through music if I keep my heart and ears open. He can do the same for you too.

God has been so good to me. I can't help but sing praises to him. The gift of music is something I will always cherish.

If you have not listened to worship music, I encourage you to give it a try. It is very different than church music of the past. It is not old hymns, but upbeat, modern tunes with very relatable up-to-date lyrics. Christian radio stations, YouTube or Spotify have so many great options. I encourage you to listen in today. I know if you are open, God can speak to you as well and bring hope and healing to your heart through the compelling lyrics of these beautiful songs.

Well that's it for now. I hope I gave you something to at least think about in regards to how worship music can bring real encouragement to your days. 

​I wish you a wonderful, and blessed week!

Until next time,

​Dana

Psalms 89:1 ~ I will sing of your love forever.

Little Lesson Learned: Music is like medicine to a hurting soul. 

Author

​Dana Romualdi is a Canadian elementary teacher, author, social worker, blogger and speaker. She has a passion for helping others and spreading much-needed encouragement. She lives in Canada with her husband and two grown children. When she is not working in the classroom or writing, she enjoys drinking coffee, watching Netflix and reading great books.

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Tags: music, worship music, Maverick City, Phil Wickham, Brandon Lake, Rend Collective, elementary music, classroom music, music teacher, power of music, message of music