Monday, October 10, 2011

RAIN!

So Friday I got up and got ready to do interviews. Started the day off with Matt Smith from the Cleburne Times Review. He was very nice and asked lots of questions and took pictures of all of us. Once he left I grabbed a bite to eat and then met with channel 5 and channel 11. They set up while we put the girls in the back room with toys and cartoons. In the middle of the interview Elise came walking in and wanting to sit in my lap. It was quite hard to keep a straight face for the TV while she was sitting in my lap playing 'peek a boo' and trying to get a reaction from me. Lol. Anyway, those interviews went smoothly. Channel 11 stayed behind a bit and got some shots outside and talked with us some more. Got to see the first interview segment air later that day and was impressed that they were able to do a good job and work around Elise ;) Channel 11 really went all out, I was very proud of that one. Went last night and got me a copy of the Cleburne paper and was shocked to see that he had put a picture on the front! As well as almost a whole page on the story inside. He used our words exactly as we said them, and if you know me well you can tell by the words I was nervous. Lol. The sentence structure and stuff was my 'nervous talking'.

Saturday had been marked on the calendar for a few weeks now as the night to celebrate my birthday. I kept having my friends ask if we needed to move it to another day so I could get rested up, but I was ready to hang out with my friends! We started the night off at Pluckers. I had never been there before and didn't realize it was a 'sports bar'. I'm not a fan of TV sports at all. Sorry to break any hearts out there. Although, I may could get into them now that I can hear the TV. Captioning on live things is always off and very frustrating, so I've never enjoyed watching sports on TV. Anyway, back to the story. Once we arrived at the place, it started raining! Lots and lots of rain! We've needed it so badly, so none of us even cared that it was raining on our night out. The Rangers were playing and it was soooo loud in there, but I was overjoyed that my ear wasn't giving me feedback, so I actually enjoyed the noise :) Our wait took FOREVER, but I was determined to get my hands on fried pickles. I wasn't leaving. Ha. We ended up getting seated on the covered patio, and there wasn't a wall at the end of our table, so we could hear the rain and cars along with all the noisy people. It was cool. Pluckers gives you tons of food. We all had tons left. Of course the night wouldn't be complete without someone insisting on me being embarrassed for my birthday. Here came the whole 'birthday crew' hollering and singing. I had to wear a 'beak' and use take out boxes to 'flap my wings' while they sang. I was a good sport. I'm not scared ;) We left there and decided to go to KG's in Mansfield. My girlfriends and I now love that place. It's small and we love watching people sing karaoke. I now enjoy listening to karaoke!!! Well.....most of it anyway. LOL. There were about 12 in our group and not long after we got there my friend Kady's husband Josh joined us. He has a band called 'Josh Weathers and the True Endeavors'. Check them out. I LOVE them. Their sound is eclectic and I'm all about that. They are local and play just about every night of the week. Josh brought his brother and a friend. Before the night's end we all danced our little hearts out. I think the rest of the bar was a little confused as to why I was jumping all over the place and our little group was so excited. I LOVED listening to the music and getting EVERY word being sung. It really hit home and I was running on pure joy. At one point in the night, a few of my friends sang a funny song to me. They were brave to do it! I felt special. To top that feeling, Kady and Josh came up with a song for Josh to sing to me and it was 'Sarah Smile'. I had never heard it before and it was really touching even though it didn't apply to me or us.........just to hear my name in a song and have someone sing it was so nice. The gesture was awesome. I cried. If I'm not mistaken, I think a few of the other ladies teared up as well. Night's end came and we all prepared to leave and it was STILL RAINING!!!! It was so loud in KG's I didn't have a chance to listen for the rain, so hearing it upon leaving was nice. It was dark so I couldn't see the tank on our place when I got home, but I was hoping it would be full by morning. Our poor little tank has been pitiful. It's been the lowest and driest I've ever seen it. Woke up the next morning for church and guess what? STILL RAINING! The tank was full and overflowing. Much like my heart. I headed to church with so much on my heart and mind and so much to be thankful for. I hadn't been in 2 weeks due to getting my ear activated, and then being in New York for the Today Show. The praise and worship was absolutely amazing. I knew our little church was loud, but WOW we are LOUD! Lol. I could make a distinction between instruments and voices. I could hear individuals around me singing. I could hear babies crying. It was overwhelming.

(For those who don't know, I have 'Hold Fast' tattooed on my wrists. I came up with the idea when I was pregnant with my youngest daughter Elise. My Father in Law passed away 3 weeks before she was born. It was a really, really, hard time in our lives. My Grandfather in Law had passed away the week before that, and so many things were going on. Our hearts were absolutely broken. They both passed suddenly, but with Ross, we couldn't get over the fact that we felt he had so much life left to live. He was the most amazing man I've ever met in my life. I could spend days talking about him and ways he touched my life and others. During this time it just seemed like nothing went right, things kept 'falling apart' here on the place. Stuff was stolen, things were breaking down, things were dying. It seemed like the world was wilting slowly like a dying flower. At church one Sunday I read the words from the projector for a song called "Hold Fast". They really hit home and struck a chord with me. I thought "I can do that. I can 'hold fast' and just trust that God will get us through. Get me through. He always has, and He always will. I just have to 'hold fast'." So once Elise was born I got that tattooed on my wrists.)

Back to church; Crystal started up the song 'Hold Fast'. I closed my eyes and sang. Followed every word, not from memory and hoping I was in tune with others, but because I could hear it and follow it in tune. I had 'held fast' and just like God promised, He got me through. He'll get Lari through, He'll get Sloan through. He'll get everyone who is willing to rely on Him 'through'. Sunday was a day of refreshing. The music. The emotions. The joy. The RAIN!

14 comments:

  1. The part about holding fast... SO SO true. God is always there, even when we sometimes struggle and can't feel His presence. He's still good and he's always there.

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  2. I'm glad you had a fantastic birthday despite all the bustle of the media!
    It's so touching to be reading what you did and know you could never hear it before. What a wonderful gift.

    & Girl, we're all in it together. We've all had our moments where we needed to be reminded to 'hold fast'.
    My song, that I guess does the same thing that song does for you, is 'Wonder of the Cross' by Vicki Beeching.
    I saw her play at a Christian Youth Conference when I was younger, and at my.. I guess you could call it... height of spirituality. I 'fell away' the year after that, and recently I've been renewing my faith and have been learning what I did before in a new light. That song has stuck with me, then and even now.

    Maybe you could take a listen to it? It's a wonderful song.

    Much love and prayers for you and your family,
    Kelly .

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  3. We should never lose the wonder of life, The Lord is using the restoration of your hearing to open eyes to the gift and glory of sound,........... stay on the joyful roll you are on, , your light is shining

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  4. Hope you had a great Birthday, about the "hold fast part" Go may sometimes put us through trials to test us to see if we really trust in him or not,it is by faith we overcome those tough times in our lives. By the way if the song you are talking aboutis Hold Fast by Mercy Me, then great song I just listened to it, and loved it.

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  5. I meant God, not Go on my previous comment

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  7. I have just watched your video which lead me to your blog. So emotional and makes us all realise how lucky we are. For me music is a great love, my daughter Charlese sings and I can't imagine what it would like to not to be able to listen to her. Your pure joy at something so many of us take for granted is why your video has been watched by so many, it has touched us all. So happy for you. x

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  8. I'm so glad all of this is happening for you. Every time I check back something else cool and amazing has happened. I'm sure all the hectic arrangements and nervousness is tiring, but each thing alone would be cool enough to be a highlight of the year for many, and you are getting lots of those moments all in a matter of weeks. Hopefully you'll consider writing a book about this whirlwind. Its your life and your privacy, but your 'public' story started with an amazing video and you've had more amazing and/or fun moments to add to it. It makes a lot of people smile to know whatever tomorrow brings, it'll bring something amazing for someone, perhaps again you :)

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  9. Sarah -

    I am a music producer and musician. Stumbled across your video and it was inspiring. I have thought to myself in the past that if I lost my hearing I don't know what I would do. Then after seeing your video I started to wonder, "what if I never had my hearing and now I have it." Perhaps God smiles a bit when discoveries are made like this. When you uncover the wonders of His creation. Bless you, Sarah and as for the new sense...enjoy some new music!

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fd02pGJx0s0

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  10. FYI -

    your video has more views than the Norah Jones video I sent you - a five time Grammy Winning artist. ;)

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  11. Sarah, thanks sister for testifying! As a music minister myself this post was really cool to read, I often said if I had to lose one of my senses, hearing would not be the one I would choose just because of music. God bless you. Thanks for taking the time to write your experiences so we can praise God with you!

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  12. I watched you on the Ellen show and watched your activation video on Youtube and was moved to tears. Truly awe-inspiring stuff. Very grateful to see glory to God for this. So excited for you and the things you will be able to get to experience!
    God Bless!

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  13. Dear Ms. Churman

    The TV show in Japan is looking for your photograph and video for Japanese TV show. Could you contact me at 212-581-1010 or our e-mail
    tak@broadwaycaprice.com

    Thank you so much.

    Tak

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