Favorite Hymns

Yesterday for Sacrament Meeting, instead of having regular speakers, they asked a few ward members to share what their favorite hymn is and tell why. They gave mini-talks and then we sang two verses of each song.

Emily Fletcher shared her favorite, which was "Lord, I Would Follow Thee".

Brother Royal chose "Praise To The Man" as his favorite.

Barbara Kellogg's favorite is "Because I have Been Given Much".

Brother Richardson picked "I'll Go Where You Want Me to Go".

Angela Ross chose "How Firm A Foundation" as her favorite.

Bishop Crozier culminated the meeting with his favorite - "Love At Home", which was the closing hymn.

I loved this Sacrament Meeting so much...but the whole time I was wishing they had asked me to participate. Alan was asked, but he couldn't accept the invitation because he was attending a dental continuing education course at Loma Linda.

If I had been asked to participate, I would have chosen "I Need Thee Every Hour" and my reason for picking that hymn is because it saved my father's life. That hymn, actually, was my father's favorite hymn. Around 1990, my dad underwent a hip replacement surgery. A few days afterward, he threw a blood clot and it went to his lung. He was hospitalized for several days and ended up on life support. He was so ill that we felt like he was sitting on the fence between this life and the afterlife. We really didn't know if this was his time to go or not. At one point, when all of his 7 children and my mom were in the room with him, we decided to sing him his favorite hymn - "I Need Thee Every Hour." I could barely sing because I was so emotional, but I remember how moving and touching that song was. The spirit was strong in that room.

I believe it was because of that song that dad turned the corner shortly after that. He decided to fight. He told us later that he felt like he was given the option whether to pass on or live. He chose to live. I'm glad he did. He lived long enough to care for my Mom as she fought and eventually succumbed to lung cancer.