Many, many years ago a woman was called out in a little Pentecostal Church and a prophecy was given. The preacher said that God was going to give the woman a song. For years to come the thought of her prophecy would come to mind and she tried to write a song. Years passed and the woman and her husband had 2 children who blessed the now widowed woman with grandchildren. The 2nd granddaughter was a Mommy's girl... Ezrah Noelle was not at all content with sitting in the pew with Daddy or her Grammy when her Mommy was called to the stage to sing her solos each Sunday morning. When Ezrah was nearly 2 years old her Mommy injured her back and was no longer able to hold her while standing and singing so she told her she could walk on stage and stand on a chair next to her. Ezrah would walk up on stage with her Mommy and either sit on the alter in front of her Mommy or stand on a chair next to her. Each Sunday her Mommy would hold the microphone and let her sing a little song until one Sunday morning when they were called to the stage Ezrah put her hand out to her Mommy as if to say "STOP!" Her Mommy was in shock and as quiet chuckles were heard throughout the church 2 year old Ezrah made her way to the stage alone for the first time. She sang "Jesus In The Family, Happy, Happy Home" in english and spanish. She sang "Jesus Loves Me" and "I Got Da, Joy, Joy, Joy, Joy Down in my hawt" only she kept singing it over and over again until I (her Mommy) sang, from back in her pew, "to staaaaay!" I would have loved to of had that first Sunday on video.
Ezrah's whole life revolved around singing. We played a game where I would sing a note and she would match it perfectly. We did the same thing on the piano where I would play a note and she sang it. Ezrah loved the movie "Annie" so I took her to a store/recording studio called "Singer's Choice" to buy her the karaoke cd to the movie. She was singing "Tomorrow" in the store when the owner came out and asked if he could record her singing. He said he couldn't believe a 2 year old was singing a Broadway song on perfect pitch like that! He told me about American Kids (www.americankids.com) and told me I should get her involved in the organization. I called them, we joined and at 2 1/2 years of age Ezrah was singing in local malls, for walk-a-thons in nearby cities and of course still in church.
When Ezrah turned 3 she entered their competition with the songs "I Am A Promise" and "Jesus Loves Me" and both songs qualified for Nationals.
Nationals were held at the Hamner-Barber Theatre in Branson, MO. It was a huge beautiful stage. By the time Nationals rolled around I realized Ezrah had outgrown her dress shoes but she asked to wear her ballet shoes so I agreed. They looked adorable with the bright yellow butterfly dress her Grammy had spent days working on, sewing beads and sequins on by hand. Ezrah walked out on stage on her tip-toes and when the music started she began to dance. My stomach turned flip-flops... well, it could have been Ezrah's baby sister inside me turning flip-flops but either way I was nervous. In the past she had just stood on stage in one spot and sang but now she was moving and I was afraid she would quit singing and just dance with the ballet shoes on. She didn't... she sang her heart out... she sang FROM her heart... when she got to the part "I can climb the high mountains, I can cross the wide sea, I am a great big promise you see-hee-hee" she reached out and up as far as she could... up on her tip toes almost floating up in the air.
At the Awards Ceremony I sat with her.. she was only 3 and I wasn't sure if she would sit with the other kids for the duration of the ceremony or if she would cry for me. It was a good thing I sat with her... she had to take 2 potty breaks! LOL When they called her name for "I Am A Promise" in the Vocal Popular Category she won a "gold with honors" medal. She jingled as she bounced across the stage with the medals around her neck. She won "gold" for "Jesus Loves Me" also. I thought we were all done as they handed out the Overall trophies and cash prizes. The kids are given medals for the age categories but also judges as a whole so she actually competed with kids 18 years and under. I heard them call Ezrah's name so I told her to go back on stage... I had no idea what they had said before that as I was trying to keep her and her clinking medals quiet. She bounced up on stage once again and they handed her a beautiful trophy and an envelope. She had won Overall in the Vocal Popular category for the song "I Am A Promise!" I was in shock! She came running to me and handed me the envelope. I opened it and it was a check for $150! The trophy was beautiful and I was so proud of her. She asked me for a pen so that she could draw on the back of the check. LOL
Ezrah continued to sing anywhere she could. When we were out with her Grammy she would ask Ezrah to sing for strangers in the store... she would brag on her and tell them of her accomplishments. One time Ezrah didn't want to sing (stubborn 3 year old) so a lady gave her a quarter and she sang for her. We still have the quarter. Ezrah sang at the State Fair and a lady came up to her afterwards and gave her $5.00! She was thrilled but all she really wanted was to sing and dance.
At the age of 2 and 3 sometimes I would have to pull her off stage. She wanted to sing more. I never had to bribe her or coax her to sing... she loves it.
When Ezrah was 3 Ezrah was asked to model in a Bridal Show and to provide the entertainment to open each of the 3 shows. She sang and modeled for them. She looked like a little princess in that dress and twirled on stage, bowed and blew kisses. When I asked her why she liked to sing her response was "I wike da people cwap!" Good answer... who doesn't like to be applauded?
At the age of 4 I decided that it was time she learned that what she has been given is a Gift from God and that she needs to use her talent to give back. We taught her that God gave her, her little voice and that he wants her to sing to make people happy. I told her that there might be a sad person in the audience, a sick person, a grumpy person who needs cheering or a child who is crying.. and that her singing could make the sad person happy, the sick person feel better, the grumpy person chipper and the crying child soothed. I told her that she can be a blessing to people and that she should always pray before she goes on stage and thank God for her voice and ask him to help her to be a blessing to the people in the audience. I told her it is ok to like the applause and that people will love her for her singing but that the will notice something extra special about her if she has Jesus in her heart.
She took our little talk to heart... she re-worded the prayer to go something like this (ya gotta love 4 year olds!) "Dear God, thank you for my beautiful little voice. God please help me to bwell dose people dat come to hear me sang. Please God hewp me to make the sad people happy, the mad people not mad anymow, the bad people not be bad no mo and the sick people to feew beddew. And God please bwess Mommy and Daddy and Gwammy and evewybody God. Amen and God bwess."
Her words varied a bit from time to time but she prays her prayer out loud where anyone backstage can hear her and she's not a bit shy about it.
While in Branson, MO for her 2nd National Competition with American Kids Ezrah and I stayed up late watching a St. Jude's Research Hospital special. She had SO many questions about the sick kids... one little girl in particular who had no hair, no eyebrows or eyelashes. Ezrah wanted to know why she wore makeup and earrings. I explained to her that little girl was very sick and the medicine they gave her made her lose all of her hair. I told her the makeup and earrings were her way of making herself look like a little girl. As I stroked Ezrah's long, thick, wavy strawberry blonde hair I thanked God to myself that she is healthy. I couldn't imagine what those parents go through. At the end of the special they told that the little girl with the makeup and earrings lost her battle with cancer. Ezrah cried... As her little chin quivered and tears fell down her face she said "Mommy, I want to go sing for those sick kids at St. Jude's... I want them to feel better." I can't tell you how proud I was of her at that point.
There's no way we can afford to take her to St. Jude's right now but I called our local Children's Hospital several times and haven't heard back from them. I don't think that some people believe how serious a 4 or 5 year old can be about singing and wanting to be a blessing to people. But, we will keep calling and offering and maybe one day she will be able to sing for the children at St. Jude's.
Ezrah kept on singing... she sang at American Kid shows in the mall, for the State Fair, at Hurricane relief fundraisers and for a 100th Anniversary of the State of Oklahoma. She has never turned down the opportunity to sing and has often argued with me when she was ill and I had to cancel something.
One afternoon she was on stage in the mall singing "Jesus Knows Me This I Love" and she had always sang it beautifully but this time she sang it with such emotion and tenderness. Watching her I was touched, I had goosebumps and I just felt like she was feeling a touch from God as she sang it. I looked to the right of me and 2 older ladies were wiping tears from their eyes. Ezrah's Grammy (my Mom) was on the left of me and she was tearing up... Ezrah's little sister (and biggest fan) Rosie watched her big sister sing in silence. I couldn't hardly hold back my tears at that moment. After her performance my Mom told me the story of the preacher who gave her the prophecy. She said that all of these years she thought that God was going to give her the words to a Gospel song. She thought the prophecy meant that she would write a real song. She said she realizes now that Ezrah is the "song." She said Ezrah is her little song.
Later that night, upstairs in bed Ezrah asked me "Mommy, do you know how it looks all sparkly outside really, really early in the morning?" I told her yes. She said "Well, when I was singing Jesus Knows Me This I Love I felt like God was making me all sparkly and that he was blessing me." I gave her a hug and told her that God DID make her all sparkly and that he was blessing her and that she was a blessing to everyone who heard her sing that song that day. That to me, was confirmation that my 4 year old baby felt a touch from the Holy Spirit and I can't describe what a blessing like that feels like.
Ezrah Noelle is a tender-hearted little girl. She's sweet and sassy at the same time but has a heart of gold. She is compassionate and kind but not always as patient as we would like. She gets her feelings hurt easy and doesn't speak up as often as she should to defend herself but she will defend her family and friends without thinking before she speaks. She is strong and soft at the same time. She prays from her heart and when she sings she can't hold her feelings in. She's been described as "bubbling inside" when she sings. She's a normal 5 year old who loves school and often gets into trouble for talking too much and eating her cookies at lunch before her chicken leg. Her older school mates tell me they hear her singing in the bathroom during the day. At home she will practice a song and learn it quickly (often in one day) IF she likes it.
Ezrah's Grammy makes nearly all of her costumes and I bling them up for her. Ezrah often takes part in the costume design with her sketches and ideas. The twirlier dress and more sparkles bring out the best in her performances.
The bigger the stage the more she smiles, the louder she sings and the better she dances.
Ezrah has taken dance classes since she was 18 months old. It was a Mommy & Me class and her first recital was at 22 months of age. She loved it but I am clearly NOT a dancer. LOL
She choreographs her own songs. I've made suggestions in the past but she has her own ideas of how she wants to dance to her songs so we let her do what she wants to. Once she decides she seems to remember well and makes the same moves everytime. At home she rarely dances to her songs when she practices so we are always surprised on stage and often times my stomach flip flops just as it did the first time she started dancing at the age of 3. She still wears ballet shoes with her costumes when she is on stage. They seem to give her that something special... sort of like Dumbo the Elephant's feather.
Ezrah is a typical 5 year old girl. She loves to swim, play with her friends and swing on her tire horse swing that hangs in our den. She loves kindergarten and baking brownies and cupcakes. She loves any occasion to make a card for someone and is extremely thoughtful when birthdays roll around. She doesn't like to wear jeans but loves dresses and anything with twirl-ability. She loves her baby sister, her Daddy and Grammy but she is a Mommy's girl. Nearly every picture she draws at school she writes "Ezrah loves Mommy" on and I save them all. She's a snuggly little girl with the sweetest blue eyes you ever did see and a heart made of pure gold. We don't wish for fame for her and we don't plan to move her to Hollywood or New York. We just pray that she follows God's will all her life and lives out the plans he has for her. We pray that she will be as much of a blessing to others as she is to us. And we thank God for her every single second of each and everyday.
I hope you've enjoyed reading about her and please come out to see her perform if she's ever in your area. You will be blessed and you will leave the venue with a little "song" in your heart.
UPDATE ON EZRAH NOELLE:
Ezrah is now 6 years old and continues to sing every opportunity she gets. She has been on the ROXY THEATRE in Muskogee, OK stage several times and will be singing at the RODEO OPRY in Oklahoma City, OK soon. She sang the National Anthem at her first Rodeo this month and got several more opportunities to sing it at other functions in the area. She will be singing at the Relay For Life Walk-a-thon June 2009. She recently competed for her 4th year in the Oklahoma Kids Local Competition and won Runner Up in the Musical Theatre and Gospel categories, competing against kids nearly 3 times her age. New videos are up on youtube.com if you will search gecheek. I believe there are 7 new ones up now. Please keep Ezrah Noelle and our family in your prayers. Her Grammy continues to have health issues and needs your prayers also. Ezrah Noelle loves to sing and perform and says she likes for God to Bless people when she sings. I hope whatever doors open for her in the future she is able to walk through the one that God has intended for her.
Thanks for listening, reading and being a fan.
