My Rachel,

I'm so happy that you're a musician. Watching Miley Cyrus perform on TV tonight, I was so disgusted. Look at what the music industry (not to mention, the feminine image) has come to. I don't like it at all. But I remember talking to Kristen during our last discipleship, and we were talking about not being a complainer because Christians get the bad rap of always complaining about things. She said instead of complaining, do something about it. Pray. Her example was, if you don't like what you hear on the radio, instead of calling and complaining about the song choice, pray that the music industry would change from the inside out. Pray for people like Rachel Fuhrman to make it big and to revolutionize music. And at that moment, like tonight, I thought to myself...thank God for Rachel Fuhrman.

Know what else I thank God for? Music in general. Sammy and I were watching this video -- http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KfH2BY5pdLw -- and it really got me thinking about music and how incredible it is. I mean, watch that video. Look at the musicians' faces. The joy and the peace there... it just blows my mind. Those guys, in that moment, are free. It's not just an escape from this world; it is a little glimpse of how the world was always supposed to be. And then, think about all of the instruments we have created to make music, the ingenuity and creativity there. And even the not-so-extravagant things... a wind chime, a ticking clock, the sound of a train passing by (shout out!). We find music everywhere. And even if we didn't have any of those things, we would still have the most amazing instrument of all: our voices. Think of the power of a human voice, what it does to people. I mean, I loooooooove the piano; as we all know, it makes me weak at the knees, but it pales in comparison to a singing voice. Look at how I reacted to that 4-year-old girl on that show! She was nothing special, really. But the sound of that little voice could move mountains...or at least make me cry, as Rachael Carr proved many a time. I just think it's soooo cool how God created us to have these voices. To make music. It's like a little piece of Him that can never be fully corrupted by this world, no matter what Miley does to it. Take away the show that we add -- take away the dirty dancing, take away the dirty lyrics, take away the costumes and the lights and the computers, and what do you have? What He gave us. And THAT is what's beautiful.

Love,
Becca :)