Good morning…
I have been fascinated with the talented little female who sang about our Savior in Saturday’s blog post, Children Sing Our Song. Researching I learn that the seeming limitations of shy Kaylee Rodgers, both autism and ADHD, are being overcome by the development of her God-given singing voice.
“Kaylee Rogers, 11-year-old girl from Donaghadee, Ireland with autism sings a moving rendition of ‘Hallelujah,'” says the headline I discovered on Saturday afternoon. Listening to Kaylee sing, who knew that human limitations could birth such a gorgeous gift?
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Article from Kaylee’s personal website
The young girl at the age of 10, a student at Killard House Special School in Northern Ireland, who suffers from autism and ADHD, stunned the online world with a choir rendition of Leonard Cohen’s “Hallelujah” recently. Colin Millar, the school’s principal, told BBC News that Kaylee is often shy — but not when she sings.
“All my kids have talents, as well as barriers, and this is hers.”
“She’d be a very quiet little girl, but when she sings, she just opens up,” he said.
Kaylee started attending Killard House a few years ago, in order to help her address learning delays. She’s overcome some incredible challenges to share that voice with the world and singing has helped her build up her confidence
“For a child who came in P4 (7 to 8 years old) and wouldn’t really talk, wouldn’t really read out in class, to stand and perform in front of an audience is amazing. It takes a lot of effort on Kaylee’s part,” Millar said.
“Hallelujah”, written by Leonard Cohen over the course of five years, was recorded by dozens of famous artists. But, Cohen passed away in November, just weeks before Kaylee Rogers’ rendition of his most famous song was released. Somehow, we’re sure that Cohen would approve of this stunning remake.
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Kaylee has not only performed with her classmates, but she appeared on a talent show with the famous singing group the Pentatonix. With the expansion of “Hallelujah” into our cold and broken world, we see God’s Spirit pour through the voice of one girl who could have been broken by her human weaknesses. Instead, God’s power rises up to reach and teach us a calming, creative way forward.
At first I didn’t think of it as a gift, and begged God to remove it. Three times I did that, and then he told me, My grace is enough; it’s all you need. My strength comes into its own in your weakness. Once I heard that, I was glad to let it happen. I quit focusing on the handicap and began appreciating the gift. It was a case of Christ’s strength moving in on my weakness. Now I take limitations in stride, and with good cheer, these limitations that cut me down to size—abuse, accidents, opposition, bad breaks. I just let Christ take over! And so the weaker I get, the stronger I become (2 Corinthians 12:8-10, MSG).
As we head into the holidays with challenges of many kinds, let’s be inspired by this shy, autistic girl with ADHD as we watch the strength of the living Christ move in on our own unique set of weaknesses.
…Sue…
