There's A Sweet, Sweet Spirit

There was definitely a "Sweet Sweet Spirit" in the house tonight.  And I'm SO blessed we got to be a part of it.

Several weeks ago, one of the other moms from Grace's preschool class told me she and her husband wanted to have a benefit concert for Grace.  And I was moved to tears by their generosity.  

Tonight's "Singing for Grace" concert was amazing.  Our friends Matt and Kay are such a blessing to us.

At the time, Kay was expecting their third child, Edward Matthew, so she told me the concert would be after he was born in March.  Shortly after he arrived, Kay sent me a message and said she and Matt were ready.  Their church, the Christian Church of Litchfield, agreed to host the concert and the date was set for May 9.

As they started planning the event, Kay asked me if there were any songs that Grace really liked. I told her that I always sing "Sweet Sweet Spirit" and "Amazing Grace" before I put Grace to bed each night, but I confessed that it was probably more because I liked them than Grace did.

Matt and Kay Raffety "Singing for Grace" tonight.

It's hard to say that Grace really has any favorite songs since she can't really tell us, but she's always really liked music. So, we knew she would love the concert.

When we got to the church tonight, they had everything decorated princess-style.  It looked fabulous.  They even had a table with Grace's name on it, and some of her favorites, helium balloons!  As we made our way to our seats, Kay brought some extra special goodies for Grace, a new tiara, a sparkly wand, a flower necklace and a princess badge. She wore her tiara and played with her wand the entire concert.  She might have even been trying to direct the music a time or two.

Princess Grace LOVED the concert.

Then it was time for the concert to start. And the whole thing was beautiful.  Matt and Kay's voices just blend so well together, and it was such a blessing just to share in their joy tonight.

Although we didn't know many of the songs they sang, you could tell they handpicked the selections just for tonight. I especially liked "Try Not to Worry" and "Press On."  They also sang the most wonderful version of "Amazing Grace" we've ever heard.  That's always a favorite of ours, and it brought tears to my eyes tonight.  Another favorite was the Louis Armstrong classic "What a Wonderful World."

Matt helped the kids sing "Jesus Loves Me."

During one part of the concert, they asked all the children in attendance to come up front and sing "Jesus Loves Me."  I brought Grace to the front to sit with all the other kids, and though she couldn't sing along, I know she liked being a part of it.

On our zoo trip on Thursday, Matt asked us if we had a montage of photos of Grace they could play during the concert.  While we do have thousands, and I truly mean thousands, of photos of Grace, we didn't' exactly have anything like that put together.  But we managed to pull something together, and they played "Sweet Sweet Spirit" in the background as our life story sort of unfolded in front of our eyes.  It was one of my favorite parts.

Kyle had a chance to share our story during part of the concert.

It seems like I have written that a lot tonight that I had a lot of favorite parts, but it's just because it was such an awesome experience, and we feel blessed Matt and Kay shared their talents with us. We also felt so blessed to have many members of our families and friends present at the concert with us tonight to share in blessing with us.  I know each and every person there tonight was blessed beyond measure.

Two of my favorite princesses, Grace and her friend, Mia (Matt and Kay's daughter).

We continue to be humbled and amazed by the outpouring of support our community has shown to us since Grace's diagnosis.  And with everyone's help, we will find a cure for INAD. 

MLH