Music Video Miracle: I Am Thankful (The Sunshine Miracle)

In my profession, I've been abundantly blessed with what I like to call "Music Video Miracles." I'm immensely grateful for each one of them, but I've never felt more assured that God was keenly aware of me and my work quite like the "Sunshine Miracle."

The day before we were scheduled to shoot, "I Am Thankful," we checked the weather app one more time. We had our eyes on the forecast for the location of our shoot for several days, and we were hoping that the prediction would change from thunderstorms and rain to sunny or partly cloudy. It hadn't.

As I was talking to James and Joelle about concerns and brainstorming alternative plans, I mentioned that three of my outdoor shoots this year were almost canceled from rain, and I wonder how many more favors I could ask from the Weather Man. On the other side of the country, Florida was getting pounded by terrible weather, and I felt selfish and guilty asking Him to move mountain-shaped storm clouds for us.

Joelle's immediate response was, "God is gracious." Her faith lifted me when mine was sinking beneath the waves of doubt.

We put our prayers on overdrive, sent out a request for prayers on social media, and waited faithfully for God to calm our hearts and his skies. Nothing changed.

The next morning, I cleared my schedule, and my mom and I went to scout out a new location on the south end of the valley that would hopefully miss the worst of the storm. We found a beautiful location with plenty of parking and aspen and maples that were just starting to put on their yellow and orange clothing.

I sent the new location to the videographer and all of the parents whose children would be participating, and, as everyone drove up the canyon, the bright blue skies turned gray and filled with threatening clouds.

Just before we started filming, our group bowed our heads while James offered up a final prayer. When he finished, several of the children remarked that they had started feeling raindrops. We started filming anyway, electing to capture the gratitude signs first in case the rain got worse (chalk+rain=dissaster.)

scroll through to see more of these cute kids

The rain and clouds continued as we collected footage of the children holding their gratitude signs. One of the final signs said "sunshine" on it. We searched the sky for any signs of light and started filming in the "sunniest" possible position.

As Josh started filming, our jaws literally dropped as we witnessed the heavens open, creating a sun-sized hole in the clouds directly around the sun that covered our group in light.

the surprise that filled her face was exactly how we were all feeling

The clouds had parted in a perfect circle right around the sun.

Immediately after Josh had finished filming her sign, it closed back up as quickly as it had opened, covering the sun entirely. This moment told me that our shoot was going exactly as God intended, and He would take care of the details if we had faith and trusted in His power and grace.

Later that afternoon as we started filming the choir parts, the sun did find its way back into our shoot, and we were blessed with beautiful sun flares peeking out from behind the trees. I'm not sure if they would have meant as much to us if we didn't have those scary weather moments earlier.

The "Sunshine Miracle" might not sound like the biggest miracle, but it will always mean so much to me and the other people present. The details were way too specific to be random, and it was as if God was telling us, don't worry, I've got this; your walls are continually before me.

This shoot felt holy, and the words surely the Lord is in this place kept running through my mind. He is aware of our individual needs, and not even the smallest details are beyond his concern and control. He is a God of miracles, grace, and abundance. Next time you are in a bind, let Joelle's words of wisdom raise you above the waves of doubt:

God already knows what the weather will be, right??

He's known all along how this will work out.

Not to sound cliché, but let's pray about it.

the "Sunshine Miracle" in real-time