Rachel’s Voice

BREAKING PROTOCOL

-Our Journey of Sunflowers and Rainbows-

Volume 2

By: Angie Jennings

Originally Written February 19, 2022

“When you speak, your vocal cords create sound waves that travel through the air to reach your inner ear. … This means that your voice usually sounds fuller and deeper to you than it really is. That’s why when you hear your voice on a recording, it usually sounds higher and weaker than you think it should,” according to www.wonderopolis.org.

It’s funny how voices can change isn’t it? I never thought of myself as having a deep voice per se but I knew that when I sang it was certainly in a lower key then other ladies sang in. Researching I found that I was referred to as a “contralto,” or a female alto. When I first started leading praise and worship, someone had even told me it was hard to follow me because I sang so deeply. Honestly I believe that was because I was too afraid to broaden my vocal spectrum. Nevertheless, although still technically a contralto, my vocal spectrum has expanded. A tad amusing but a lady visiting our church for a weeklong tent outreach actually referred to my voice as sounding like a singer from the 80’s. Now whether I do or do not sound like the particular singer she referred to is totally awesome! (I could not help myself with the 80’s pun!)

But have you noticed how boys change their voices as they become young men? In fact with my boys it was a bit comical looking back how their voices would crack at the most seemingly inconvenient and embarrassing times! My girls were different though. My daughter Nicole had a higher voice but she did not use it nearly as much as her big sister. I think the truth be told, Rachel probably spoke enough for both of them.

Nicole‘s voice has remained higher than mine but downright beautiful, affording her to sing, speak, teach, and excel in her job requiring her voice to be firm at times. Rachel was different though. Going through trauma during birth, as well as ingesting meconium prior to delivery, Rachel‘s brain was deprived of oxygen for a short time. This resulted in a developmental delay in fine and gross motor skills as well as speech. After completing several years of physical, occupational, and speech therapies, Rachel did what was referred to as “plateauing,” where no more therapy was necessary or would change her abilities. The older she got, Rachel was self-conscious of her voice. Her mental capacity was sharp as a tack but her official diagnosis of ataxic dysarthria regarding her speech meant there were times that it was harder for her to speak as well as for others to understand her. Rachel did not let that stop her. In fact, she and her husband Fabio were part of First Priority, a faith based after school club, where she was a regular speaker at several schools. Should a student snicker at her speech, I was told she did not hesitate to put them in their place by addressing them “hey you want to know why I speak like this? I was born dead…that’s right. I had no heartbeat and I was not breathing. My Mom prayed for God to give me to her no matter what and He did.“ Inevitably, that would seize their attention; I mean how is that for an icebreaker?! I remember one time while she was working at a retail store in our local town she overheard a young woman rudely tell her mother “the cashier is deaf and can’t hear anything we say.“ Rachel went on to take care of processing their purchases but then addressed them with “Hey! The next time you talk about someone thinking they can’t hear you, make sure they really are deaf!” Well they exited the store quickly.

We all miss Rachel now that she is in heaven but isn’t it ironic that the one thing about herself she pretty much despised is the one thing we long to hear again…her voice! Now I do believe memories are a blessing and a curse combined. So why would I say that? Well I am so blessed to have the memories of all of my children in my heart and in my mind but when one of them pops up on social media it feels like a sucker punch to the gut. That happened today but it wasn’t quite as bad as I thought it would be and it even made me smile. I came across pictures of Rachel proudly standing with Fabio at a sectional youth rally. Not only was she on the platform with him, but she was holding the microphone speaking! For several years Rachel told me “I see myself speaking to thousands of women giving my testimony!” Of course I would assure her that she did not need some huge platform to reach a lot of people but she would get down right aggravated with me and insist “You don’t understand; I really see this!” It amazes me still when someone comes to me to tell me what my daughter shared with them, prayed with him, or even prophesied over them. God was using Rachel in ways that I had no way of seeing.

So how is Rachel‘s vision of sharing her testimony with thousands being realized? Her funeral was live streamed. As of today it has been viewed 9.6 thousand times. during her “Celebration of Life” service, her testimony was given, how God brought her from being born not breathing, not moving, without a heartbeat, and grayish-blue skin to a little baby girl that grew up to graduate high school, get a college degree, get married, have a baby, and even run her own business. Voices are unpredictable aren’t they? Sometimes you don’t completely hear them until the person passes to Heaven. Rachel had prayed fervently for her brother to return from his backslidden state, for her father-in-law’s relationship with her husband to be renewed, and for other family relationships to heal. Once Rachel went to Heaven all of these prayers began to be answered! Just like a voice that sounds full and deep, the results were higher than could have been imagined!