The story of Trust

  It was bedtime on a cold winter night in February of 2001, and my then 6-year-old daughter Lindsay-Grace used her charming wiles to convince me to stay after lights out to listen to one of her favorite Bible story tapes with her. The selection of the evening was Frank Peretti's (aka Mr. Henry's) rendition of the story of Abraham and Isaac. (Genesis 22:1-18) While she laughed at the one-liners and sound-effects, I was profoundly struck by the thought of, "What if I were tested by God, and had to choose between my earthly joys and comforts versus following the Lord (with the possibility of losing my child)? At the conclusion of the story, I kissed my girl good-night and (quite choked up by this time) went to my music room and penned the words to the song Trust.

A few days later, we moved to a new home across town. Lindsay-Grace, blossomed in her new surroundings and made many new friends. Throughout second grade, she became close with a sweet girl named Rebecca who lived right around the corner. Lindsay-Grace was sad when Rebecca moved away the following summer, but was thrilled to receive an invitation to her sleepover birthday party on January 17th through 18th, 2003.  It was bedtime on a cold

My wife Karen drove Lindsay-Grace an hour and a half to the party that Friday evening and gave her a quick peck on the cheek good-bye as she darted through the house with her friends. Little did Karen realize that was the last time she would see her alive.

The next morning, we heard the news that is every parent's nightmare: As Rebecca's father was driving Lindsay-Grace back from the sleepover, the car crashed and our daughter and Rebecca's precious sister Amanda were killed instantly. Both girls were only 8 years old.

We were numb. It just did not seem real. Lindsay-Grace was such an integral part of our family and we just could not fathom how our lives would be without her. However, in the midst of being at the crash site, identifying her body and giving her our last kisses in the hospital, and planning her memorial service and burial, we were just filled with a sense of calm, with an uncanny peace that transcends understanding (Philippians 4:7). My wife and I are Christians, and although the love for our daughter and two sons has always been intensely deep, our children have never been the total center of our universe nor the foundation of our lives. That place of honor belongs only to God, my Rock and my Fortress and my Deliverer...in whom I take refuge (Psalm 18:2). Consequently (as it says in 2 Corinthians 4:8-9), we are hard-pressed on every side, but not crushed; perplexed, but not in despair...struck down, but not destroyed.

We had an incredible Celebration of Life service filled with worship music, sharing, slides of our happy girl, balloons and even goodie bags for the kids. I played the song Trust that morning (how appropriate it had become) and have since been overwhelmed by the requests to get copies of it. Thus, this CD was born. Amazingly, we went through 1,000 CD's in the first two weeks, another thousand in the next nine months, and a third thousand in the following eighteen months. We are now into our fourth thousand of these CD's!  Donations poured in which enabled us to build a community playground at Cedar Ridge Community Church in Spencerville, MD. Additional donations were accepted which were enough to start and maintain a relief program (in conjunction with “World Relief”) for poverty-stricken children in Sierra Leone, Africa. Through God's grace, this song has touched many lives with hope -- hope that this life isn't the end, and hope that God can bring immeasurable good out of the most heartbreaking tragedies.

Although tears are often shed, we are constantly filled with profound joy as 1) we know that Lindsay-Grace is in heaven and 2) we are seeing how the Lord is using the impact of this situation to bring people to Him. Our prayer for those listening to these words is that each person will build their lives solely upon Jesus Christ (the ROCK) before the storms come - and discover the peace, joy, and hope that come only from a friendship with Him. (John 3:16 and Matthew 7:24-27).

If we let Him, God will take us places here on earth we never imagined, use us in ways we never dreamed of, through circumstances we would have never asked for.

If we let Him.

Please visit "The Music" section of the site to download and listen to Trust for free.

Phil Lazo

Trust

If I had to choose between my child and my God...
and if the Lord said, "Obey and Sacrifice."

How would I react, and what would I say?

How would I respond, and what would I pray?

Chorus:

I'd pray "Yes, Lord, I trust You,

no matter how hard it might be.

Yes, Lord, I trust You,

even though I'm blind and can't see.

You are my God and you know the way;

No matter what happens, with You I'll stay...
and trust."

If all my hopes and dreams, were somehow stripped away;

And if my world collapsed and fear gripped my days;

How would I react, and what would I say?

How would I respond, and what would I pray?

Chorus

When the lightening flashes and when the thunder rolls;

When the ocean crashes, in on my poor soul;

I have nowhere else to turn and nowhere else to go

But to the arms of Jesus, the only Savior that I know...

Chorus