I Am Thankful For Music

If thou art merry, praise the Lord 

with singing, with music, with dancing, 

and with a prayer of praise and thanksgiving.

Doctrine and Covenants 136:28 

Sometimes I have to give up and recognize that my kids and I aren't speaking the same language. Sometimes I have to admit that whatever obscure language they ARE speaking, I can't even identify it. Sometimes this happens with adults too. I'm just not on the same wavelength with most people most of the time. I often struggle in social situations and I struggle to communicate with my peers. At times like these, I am so very grateful for music, which I consider a universal language.

When Kyle and I were dating, he wasn't even entirely sure if he was interested in being with someone long-term at first. I fell in love with him much more quickly than he was ready to be in love at all. Our first Christmas together, I was at a loss for what to give him. I agonized and thought and pondered and finally settled on a couple of homemade CDs of some very difficult-to-obtain video game soundtrack and orchestrated score. Pretty much the Ultimate Nerdy Mixtape. I knew it was going to be a nostalgic, happy gift, but I thought it would just be a silly, fluffy, "yeah, I didn't know what to get you either" kind of gift. I was as wrong as could be, because I found out a few months later that when he first played the CD, it was the moment he realized he was in love with me, and he was keeping me.

Music brings me closer to my kids when I don't understand them or they don't understand me. Music connects me to my mother, and Heaven knows there have been enough times when we didn't understand each other either. Music reminds me of my dad, who taught the family home evening lesson that sparked my earliest genuine interest in pursuing it as a hobby. I feel the Spirit through music; I feel my Heavenly Father's love through music; in fact, there were times in my life where I felt nothing at all, except through music.

Today, I am grateful for this musical world, and ears tuned to hear it.