East Franklin resident Leann Trapp has been singing all her life, which just came naturally to someone who grew up in a very musical family.
Like many children do, Trapp said she would dream of one day recording a CD that many people would listen to but she knew it was just a dream and not something that would actually happen.
But Trapp said God had other plans for her life’s journey – plans that have taken her through her lowest of lows and some of the highest of highs, all leading up to the CD she finished recording in Nashville this past November.
In September of 2011, Trapp was carrying on with her life as usual. She was an elementary teacher at East Franklin Junior High and a devoted wife and mother to her husband, Brad, and her children, Noah and Daylee Grace.
But in a single instance, her life was turned completely upside down.
On Sept. 17, 2011, Trapp received the phone call no parent ever wants to receive.
Her eight-year-old son Noah had been involved in a four-wheeler accident and had passed away as a result of his injuries.
The entire East Franklin community mourned with the Trapp family because Noah had been a beloved part of his school and his church. He loved everyone he met and always wore a smile on his little dimpled cheeks – a smile that made others smile just by looking at him.
Trapp said the grief she experienced was indescribable because no parent ever anticipates having to bury their child, but when the grief started to overwhelm her, she turned to the Lord.
“Things were hard at first, but after Noah’s accident, I began trying to figure out where God was leading us and why He had brought us to this point in our lives,” she said.
“September 17 wasn’t a surprise to God. Noah was a special child with unconditional love for everyone, and God loaned him to us for eight years to teach us how to love people the way Noah did and to show the love of Christ wherever we went.
“I prayed that God would show me how to pick up where Noah left off.”
Trapp said about a month after the accident, the Lord began to bring words to her mind that she started writing down.
Those words turned into song lyrics and Trapp said she began writing song after song as part of the healing process she was going through.
“I would wake up in the middle of the night with these words on my heart and would have to get up and write them down right then,” she said.
“Several songs had come together, but for me, it was just a way to cope with the loss I had gone through and a way to express how the Lord was helping me through it. Actually recording those songs never even crossed my mind.”
Trapp said she ended up with 11 songs that dealt with her loss and the Lord’s faithfulness to sustain her during the difficult days.
Even though she was content to just allow the songs to minister to her heart in her time of healing, her husband, Brad, thought they were worth sharing with others.
“Brad contacted a family friend, April Potter Hollimon, who works in booking in Nashville,” Trapp said.
“After he contacted her, things just started falling into place and she was able to connect us with Nashville recording producer James Gordon Freeze, who started guiding us in the process of recording an actual CD.”
Trapp said the process was overwhelming at first, especially since she had never anticipated sharing those songs with anyone other than those who were close to her.
“It just took a lot of prayer on my part because, even though there is nothing more amazing than singing praises to my Father and Lord, it completely takes me out of my comfort zone to be in the public eye or be the center of attention. I’m just not used to that.”
But Trapp had a purpose for the CD recording that she said trumped her aversion to attention.
“When I prayed about making this CD, I prayed that if it was God’s will, that he would use these songs to minister to people and to help those who have been in our shoes – who have suffered a great loss or have gone through a very trying time,” she said.
“I prayed that He would use our testimony to heal hearts and ultimately to give Him honor and glory for all He has done.”
Trapp first began work on her CD in April of 2012 and had the CD, which features seven of Trapp’s original songs, completely finished by November.
Once the CD was finished, Trapp and her husband decided all proceeds from CD sales and the local concerts she would do in the future would go towards the Noah’s Legacy Foundation, which was established by the family after he passed away.
“Noah took the Bible verse to love without hypocrisy to a whole new level,” Trapp said.
“He loved without regard to what a person looked like or where they came from. He loved the way Christ loved others, and he’s the example of what we want the ministry of Noah’s Legacy Foundation to be – to spread God’s love to others and let them feel his love through us.
“If someone doesn’t know God, I want them to see Christ in us in all that we do and hopefully it will make them want to know more about the God we serve.”
Trapp said Noah’s Legacy Foundation, which is greatly supported by her home church, Pleasant Hill First Congregational Methodist Church, will be taking its first mission journey in June to Guatemala.
“Noah’s Legacy Foundation was established to spread the gospel to the world and to be the hands and feet of Christ,” Trapp said.
“We’re planning to go on a mission trip through the Village of Hope, which is an orphanage that supports special needs children.
“Noah was a special needs child so this really spoke to our hearts. Their goal is to build family homes for these children to live in where they will have a mother, a father and will receive Bible-based teaching. They don’t want these children to be institutionalized all their lives just because they are special needs.”
To help raise money for the mission trip, Trapp will be having a concert on Saturday, March 30, at 7 p.m., at Pleasant Hill FCM Church on Highway 81 in the East Franklin Community.
There will be no charge for the concert but a love offering will be taken and donations will go towards the mission trip.
“It is such a great feeling to know that these songs are touching people’s hearts,” she said.
“When someone comes up to me and says that one of my songs has helped them during a difficult time or that they can feel the presence of God when listening to them, it makes making the CD worthwhile.
“I just hope God will continue to use it in the lives of others and to help us spread His love.”