Music for the Soul, Inc.
Stories

Dear Friend - As ones eager to be good stewards of the vision that God has given, we at Music for the Soul prayerfully seek God’s call and leading every step of the way.

Living in the rigors and demands of the day to day it is often difficult to see God’s hand at work. That’s why it is so important to reflect on the journey from time to time; to remember what God has done. For it is through the stories of a ministry like Music for the Soul that one can see God’s faithfulness in weaving together something more beautiful and surprising than could ever be imagined. I hope you’ll enjoy reading some of these stories and seeing the miraculous way God has inspired us, encouraged us, and sustained us.

Additionally, we have been blessed with many wonderfully thoughtful, creative, wise, and passionate friends. From time to time to they have shared their thoughts with us on a wide range of subjects having to do with music and ministry. Some of these are archived here as well. We welcome your thoughts and comments on what you read here. And we pray that you will derive joy in sharing with others – whether through song, poetry, essay, film, art, or the spoken word - the stories of the miracles that God has done in your life!

Steve Siler
Music for the Soul

More Beautiful Miracle 2002

When Music for the Soul incorporated in December of 2001, I asked my friend Marty Wheeler, who had previously been my song plugger at Starsong Music Publishing and McSpadden-Smith Music, to join the board of directors of Music for the Soul.

In late 2002 Sandy and Marty Wheeler were expecting their first child. During the seventh month of her pregnancy Sandy discovered a lump that turned out to be cancer.

At the time we were still trying to discern what topic we would tackle first at Music for the Soul. I was thinking we needed to do a project on the subject of grief over a death in the family.

One day I was driving down the road listening to some music in my car. Suddenly out of the blue the phrase, "No one has ever been more beautiful to me," landed in my head as a complete thought. "Oh my gosh!" I thought. "That's for Sandy and Marty."

I switched off the radio, stopped the car and pulled a pencil and some scratch paper out of the glove box. It was almost as if I was taking dictation. The next thing I knew in less than ten minutes I had written the whole song – lyric and melody - right there in the car!

A few days later, a group of us met at a mutual friend's house to pray for Sandy and Marty. I brought a rough piano/vocal tape of the song. At one point I asked Marty if I could speak with him privately. I somewhat apprehensively gave the tape of the song to Marty and said, "I think this is for you." I told him if it wasn't helpful to throw it away and we never needed to speak of it again.

The next day after listening to the song Marty called and left a message on my voice mail. "These are the words I have wanted to say to Sandy but couldn't find." He later told me that he had decided to wait to play the song for her, feeling like there would come a time in the future when she would especially need to hear its message.

Subsequently she had a C-section and underwent a double mastectomy. Their baby was a beautiful, healthy girl, and they named her Hannah. Immediately after Hannah was born Sandy began treatments to eradicate the cancer.

A few weeks later I stopped by Marty's office. He closed his door and told me, "Last night it was time." Sandy had come home from a treatment the evening before, suffering from multiple side affects, and had told Marty, "I feel like a monster." That is when he played her the song.

It was then that Marty said to me. "Steve, I think this song is the first Music for the Soul project."

God had given me a song for a friend – not to start a company, but for my friend. Finding that it had met a deep need for him and his wife encouraged me to know it would bring hope to others. With that, the More Beautiful project was born.

On the cover of More Beautiful is a photograph that Marty took of Sandy and Hannah soon after Hannah's birth. The courage, strength, and determination in Sandy's eyes still move me every time I look at this picture.

This creation of this song and its subsequent unexpected path to creating the first Music for the Soul project was just the first miracle that God would perform on this project. I'll share more at another time.



Phone: 1-877-214-7703 Email: inquire@musicforthesoul.org P.O. Box 159027, Nashville,TN 37215-9027
Music for the Soul is recognized by the Internal Revenue Service as a 501(c)(3). Donations are tax deductible.
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