Stoke the Fire

Stoke the Fire “Let praise be a weapon that silences the enemy, let praise be the weapon that conquers all anxiety – Let it Rise, Let Praise Arise.”

I have a beautiful voice I want you all to hear. He is my cousin. He sang the songs we carefully chose for my brother. He did not hesitate to travel to come to our beck and call. His voice and his Godly spirit was perfect for us. He’s an angel on earth; and I usually only give that title to my momma. But he did amazing things to soften our hearts and let us feel what heaven and soft grace could blanket my Aussie with. His voice carried us from the funeral to the place we would gather after, Our children ate pizza and us adults numbly stared at each other. My cousin strummed his guitar and sang praise and my mom rested her head on my dad’s shoulder. They stared out – like we weren’t there. Could you imagine?

My brother had a wish he didn’t dare share, and it was one my cousin Dexter and him shared. A voice. My brother would give me candid glimpses into this soft, beautiful hidden side of him. He would sing softly at times, but then more loud as his confidence grew and I just knew he had a musical heart. He chased the chords of sound and the beats of music like it was his heartbeat. Oh boy, he chased it………and he chased it, and he chased it, and I am so mad it couldn’t have been louder. His eyes showed envy for those who could loudly sing- we saw his passion to let it out!. We just didn’t or couldn’t find the giant to break down the walls. I promise you, his voice if it would have gotten loud enough, it would have stopped you in your tracks- it was that beautiful. Stoke the fire. “Let praise be a weapon that silences the enemy, let praise be the weapon that conquers all anxiety – Let it Rise, Let Praise Arise.”

Flash forward to 1 year and 7 months, now my parents survive and profess their love for their children and grandchildren. In fact, they gather strength from who knows where. Most of you reading this have babies or kids you still call babies, and can you imagine losing one of them after 37 years? My brother didn’t imagine this for my sweet mom and dad; it wasn’t something that his soft soul had the capacity to withbear. Crisis moments are real – I am not sure how we can intervene at the exact right time. What I am thankful for as I lay awake so many nights is I know I told him I loved him, almost every night. Stoke the fire Aussie – I don’t want to go one more day without you, but I follow you and take these embers into a blaze to light a desire of what you wanted this world to be. Stoke the fire. “Sing your name in the dark and it changes everything”. Let it rise. Let Praise Arise.”

Let