“I now sing from a new place of hope.” — Lauren Moore

 “He wants our hearts more than he wants to use us.” — David Moore

 

Back in April, after being struck with the debilitating condition of Guillain-Barré syndrome, which had left her partly immobilized and with intense nerve pain, Lauren Moore prayed for an Easter miracle: simply to attend Mass in person and receive Jesus without assistance. 

Seven months later, on Nov. 4, in her home city of Dallas, Lauren walked gracefully onto the stage of the Meyerson Symphony Center, decked out in a glittering, rose-colored evening gown, her beautiful voice, once threatened, golden and soaring once again. 

Lauren, who, with her husband, David, had helped lead thousands of Catholics in song as a cantor during the National Eucharistic Revival (NEC) in Indianapolis in 2024, had reached a height of her singing career that summer, only to be taken out by the condition just months later, following a bout of flu, as reported in the Register last spring.

It’s been an intense time of recovery, rehabilitation and, yes, resurrection.

In a Dec. 5 interview with Catherine Hadro for EWTN News In Depth, the couple described the fulfillment of a longed-for-but-seemingly-impossible hope following the November concert that welcomed Lauren back to the singing stage by an expectant crowd.

“It was like entering a place of just complete awe,” Lauren said, describing the evening as “a miracle.” 

“When I was in the hospital bed, I just felt the Lord saying, ‘I’m not done with your gifts; they’re going to still be used to glorify me,’” Lauren said. How that might happen was yet unclear, but she sensed God saying, “You’re my daughter and I want to show that joy — to show ‘the resurrection moment.’”

“And that’s what it felt like,” she said of last month’s “The Moore We Are” musical event.

David shared his thoughts, too, about what it was like to watch his wife suffer. “This year we learned that hope isn’t about crossing your fingers, but firmly planting your feet on the ground,” he said, adding that in a place of helplessness, and few answers, there’s only one thing left to do: “You exude the virtue of trust in God.”  

“Ultimately, I just had to hope and trust,” he said.

Lauren said she’s never felt so close to the Crucified Christ as when she was in the hospital suffering, but it helped her align with the suffering of others and learn that suffering is never wasted. “There’s always a bigger plan,” she observed.

Both spoke of the “total surrender” they had to offer God — and also the unexpected and precious intimacy with God and among themselves they experienced in the waiting. 

“This season forced us to focus our eyes on eternity and prioritize God and our family and our faith,” Dave said, adding that, as creatives, there’s a frequent drive to “bring an offering to the Church,” but in such times of suffering, that offering can feel wasted, “like fine perfume that gets dumped out on the feet of Jesus.”

By moving through this time of powerlessness and uncertainty, however, God accompanied them “through a forging of fire,” he said, and taught them that he will bless those who labor through suffering with a pure heart. 

“I’m so grateful that he used us to bring forth great fruit in the Church through the NEC, and I know that he has an incredible plan for the future, but he wants our hearts more than he wants to use us,” Dave said. “We’ve refortified our disciplines of faith, we’ve turned to the sacraments in a more profound way, and God has met us in our meekness this year.” 

Along with the hope of walking, and singing, again, Lauren had asked for another miracle several months back, if it be God’s will, naming it as her biggest hope: that their young daughter, Abigail, now 6, could know that the family hadn’t been abandoned by Jesus in this trial. 

Last month illustrated how present Christ was with them — and how he is offering newness, too, Lauren said on EWTN this week. “There was so much joy, and I just sang into this new place of hope — and that’s where I sing from now.”

WATCH THE FULL INTERVIEW ON EWTN