I Am Shocked

I have heard of things “going viral” on social media, but I have never experienced it. Until now.

Two of our daughters, Olivia (10) and Annalise (8), played and sang together in a church service, we posted it on YouTube and, as of this writing, it has over 320,000 views and continues to climb. (You can watch the video at the bottom of this post if you would like to check it out.)

Here is a little background.

I came into the house one day and heard the girls singing the old hymn Are You Washed in the Blood of the Lamb together in the living room. Olivia was playing the guitar and Annalise the ukulele. I remember thinking that the girls sounded pretty good, playing for themselves, and even putting some of their own harmony together.

After their older brothers played an instrumental song in church, it seems the girls decided to try to learn a song on their own as well . We sing a lot together as a family, but this was quite unusual—choosing their own song, playing their own instruments, singing harmony—just the two of them. I told my wife that I hoped the girls would play and sing that song in church soon.

In the days that followed, they did practice, and more than a bit! It seemed like every time I came in the door they were practicing that song together. After a number of days of this, I commented to them that they needed to sing and play this song in church. After some thought and discussion about it, they decided they would do it. (Not that they really had very much of a choice in the matter, but we sometimes like to let the young-uns think they do. We do not run things by democratic process in our household, but by benevolent dictatorship, which is as it should be in a Christian home. 😉 But that is a post for another day.)

When the day came for the girls to sing in church, they nailed it beautifully and with confidence. They had practiced it so much it would have been hard not to nail it at that point. While they sang and played, my wife, who is usually accompanying us Hall family singers on the piano, had the opportunity to use her phone to video the girls. The church family seemed very blessed by it.

The next day, Jennifer decided to post the song on our little family YouTube channel called Hall Music Ministries, which has been up since time out of mind (well, not really, but seems like it to us, and at the time had 47 subscribers) which contained a mixture of rather rough home videos of our family singing, with a couple of more curated videos. Mainly, we wanted to preserve this video as a special memory, and to have for the girls in the future. So, without much thought, up it went, and on we went with our week.

A few days later, while Jennifer and I were taking an afternoon walk, she received a text from one of her sisters asking if we had seen what was happening on YouTube. We had not, and were shocked to learn that the video had around 25,000 views, and was climbing steadily.

Well, the views have continued to climb, and so have the subscribers to our little YouTube channel. And I am thankful for it. One of the things I am most thankful for is the song the girls chose to practice and sing that day. I cannot think of a better song to “go viral” within the online YouTube platform, a classic gospel hymn written by a minister from Pennsylvania in the late 1800s. In the last few weeks, hundreds of thousands of people have had the question pointed to them, “Are you washed in the blood of the Lamb?” There are hundreds of comments from all over the world from individuals who have been encouraged by the song. Many are praising the Lord along with the girls, giving honor to Christ, and giving testimony to the shed blood of Jesus for the forgiveness of sins. It is something to behold.

And really, I should not be so shocked. For this is the way God works. We struggle daily with sin and strive to be faithful and labor and pray and work, all as we should, and we worry and fret and spin, all as we shouldn’t, and we wonder how this wicked world is ever going to be reached for Christ. And quietly, somewhere over on the side, a couple of little children start practicing a song together. Then God sees to it that this well-rehearsed, Christ-honoring, gospel-proclaiming song ends up going out to hundreds of thousands, all over His world.

I have no idea if this video (and our little channel) might continue to grow. I also realize that within the grand scheme of online video platforms, this little video is still really a very small thing. But, as one of my older kids said, “It’s the most viral thing we’ve ever done!” Regardless, it is encouraging to be reminded of how the Lord can work when He so chooses. I believe Christ is subduing all thing unto Himself, ruling in the midst of His enemies (Psalm 110:2). And when He wants to, He can use a little child and a crazy online platform we call “YouTube” (that all belong to Him) and proclaim to many, “O, be washed in the blood of the Lamb!”

And he hath put a new song in my mouth, even praise unto our God: many shall see it, and fear, and shall trust in the LORD. -Psalm 40:3

We sing songs just like this one in churches and for special events through our Truth in Time ministry. We would love to talk to you about speaking/singing for your service or event. Send me a message to inquire about scheduling our family.

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