The Story Behind 2-Year-Old Shiloh Singing Amazing Grace
/In the first week of October, we were home after church service was over.
Shiloh came up to me and started singing Amazing Grace. She loves to "sing" various hymns and songs in her own childlike way, but this was one of the first times she was really singing that hymn.
I was moved by the way she was singing that I started taking pictures of her like I've enjoyed doing for our family all these years. And then I took some video clips.
Shiloh singing amazing grace with her eyes closed that first time after church service. photography by franicia white
Sometimes she sang with reverence and deep concentration. There were a few short moments when she was being herself --- bright and joyful and even sometimes waving at me.
While she sang, she even took a moment to hug one of her five siblings. But most of the time she sang with her eyes fixed up above at the heavens.
There was a moment when she closed her eyes and lifted her hands up in the air in sweet worship to God. I was enjoying the moment and had stopped recording her long before that. It was so precious to witness especially because that's not how our family sings psalms and hymns to the Lord. I felt bad that I couldn't show her Daddy later on what he had missed but could at least describe it to him.
Encouragement for Dad
On October 15, I had sent a couple of text messages back and forth to Dad in Saipan as they were bracing for another tropical storm or typhoon. We had also been mentioning Mom that past week and how this coming Sunday would have been her 60th birthday.
Shiloh was dressed for bed that night. She was wearing the one childhood nightgown of mine that Mom had saved to one day pass on to one of my children. I wouldn't be surprised if it was more than 30 years old.
I told Dad about Shiloh wearing the nightgown and thought it would be a great idea to take photos of her to send to Dad by email. After I took a few pictures of her the music started playing. It was Amazing Grace.
Then she immediately closed her eyes, lifted her hands up in the air and her gaze Heavenward. She started singing along to the tune of the hymn. Though it was different and sometimes more playful as the first time she sung around me, it was still precious to see.
I stopped taking photos and decided to capture the rest on video which you'll see here.
We love singing daily to the Lord and it is a treasure to see how our very young children love doing that too. It has been a beautiful thing for us to witness and I can't imagine how beautiful it must be in the eyes of God Almighty!
"Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly in all wisdom; teaching and admonishing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with grace in your hearts to the Lord.
And whatsoever ye do in word or deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God and the Father by him."
-Colossians 3:16-17
