Singing in the Rain

by Claudia Mitchell

“Singing in the Rain” is one of my favorite songs. I picture Gene Kelly and John Mitchell dancing to this tune while splashing through puddles during a rainstorm, Gene with his umbrella in the 1952 musical and my son John at age 11 in a special display in the Indianapolis Children’s Museum.

Music has unbelievable power. Research shows a melody can lower blood pressure, enhance sleep, and even reduce the need for anesthetic during surgery. Companies pay big bucks to hire psychologists to help select music to encourage shoppers to buy. Music can stir us; the National Anthem can bring tears, a Dixieland tune cause us to tap our feet, and Psalm 8:2 tells us that a two-year-old singing a praise song can silence the enemy!

Colossians 3:16 encourages us to teach each other using songs, so I sing to my two-year-old granddaughter all the time. London and I make up songs about everything from her dog, Bogey, to the peas rolling around on her plate. Last week London experienced her first cold. She was miserable, whiney and didn’t even want her milk. When I walked in the house she held out her sweet little arms for me to pick her up and said, “Sing with nana.” I asked her, “What do you want Nan to sing?” I gave her choices from our favorite song list. The Bogey song, the Doodle song (excellent selections), but London wanted the Jesus and Dada song. The original lyrics are “Jesus loves you and Dada loves you and that’s the way it’s gonna be; Jesus love you and Mama love you and that’s the way it’s gonna be.” We go through the names of everyone in the family so this is quite a long production. As I sang, her little body relaxed and she rested her head on my shoulder; I sang her to sleep.

This is the picture God gives us in Zephaniah 3:17. “The Lord your God is with you, He is mighty to save. He will take great delight in you, He will quiet you with his love, He will rejoice over you with singing.”

Is it raining today? No matter what storms we might have to face, we can open our umbrellas singing and dancing in the rain because as we sing, the God who was, and is, and is to come is singing over us! Wow, I wonder if He is singing, “God loves you, and Jesus died for you and that’s the way it’s gonna be.” Ha…I have a new verse to sing with London!

Posted in: Divine Lines