Jessica's Sing Song

This weekend we attended an event at Abilene Christian University called "Sing Song." Students in social clubs and each class choose a theme and sing acapella with new lyrics associated with their theme to familiar tunes. My son, Matthew, was in the Frater Sodalis performance and my daughter, Melissa, was a singing and dancing usher. It was a great event. One of the hostesses was this girl named Jenna Lucado. She haS an incredible voice and presence. She has a great future if she can just get a break - maybe she has a contact.:)

However, the greatest performance I witnessed over the weekend was one by the daughter of the family Phyllis and I stayed with. Jessica, 21, is the daughter of my dear friends, David and Suzanne. David is a professor at ACU. Phyllis, Matthew, Michael and I, along with David, Suzanne, Jessica, David's mom and dad, sister and her family, were gathered around the table, holding hands for a prayer of blessing before we ate. Someone suggested we sing one of Jessica's favorite songs, "Lord, I Lift Your Name on High." The singing in that dining room was beautiful -- especially Jessica's. She knew all the words and didn't miss a note!

This "Sing Song" hostess may never perform for anyone other than her family and friends, and the other residents of the home where she resides. Her severe autism, mental challenges, along with echolaia, which is a brain disorder that causes a person to repeat everything being said to them, will keep her from being on a university stage. However, her greatest audience is the creator of the universe and his angels. When Jessica sings, it isn't an echo, she sings clearly and beautifully.

"God inhabits the praise" of Jessica (Psalm 23:3). It is not unusual for an autistic person to have moments of clarity. Jessica's moment is when she sings. What a precious gift!