Nightbirde and her sister Kate (Courtesy: John Wesley Reid)
America’s Got Talent star Jane Marczewski, known as Nightbirde, took the world by emotional storm with her 2021 performance of “It’s Ok.” The heavy lyrics sang by the late cancer patient earned her the Golden Buzzer Award from a somber Simon Cowell.
Cowell also wrote the foreword for the Nightbirde Foundation’s Poems in the Dark, a collection of poems written by Jane during her battle with cancer.
Nightbirde’s selflessness was unmasked at all times and she never missed an opportunity to serve others. In 2021, while weak in her illness, she recorded a video for a 16-year-old cancer patient, Riley Blue, to encourage her to continue living her life to the fullest.
Nightbirde passed away on February 19, 2022, but her inspiration had only begun to take flight.
Since then, covers of “It’s Ok” have graced the internet and even reappeared on the AGT stage.
But among the many touched by Nightbirde’s global inspiration is her younger sister, Kate Marczewski. A registered nurse by trade, Kate leads worship at Cornerstone Church in Duncan Falls, Ohio, and has been a musician since childhood.
On December 29, Nightbirde’s birthday, Kate released “Life is a Gift” on Spotify and several other platforms. Kate originally wrote and sang the song for her sister’s memorial service in 2022.
An excerpt from the song reads:
“In the good and the bad times
God is the one who stays
Close to our hearts
And near to the pain
We can’t wait for the bad times
To all go away
Before we decide to let joy in again.
Life is a gift that we’re thankful for
We’ll take miracles as they come
Stand in the darkness with hope and joy
In the morning that comes
Some day our tears will all pass away
Pain will be something that’s lost.
The strength that we find to walk through each day
Is found at the foot of the cross.”
Kate told CBN News that writing “Life Is A Gift” was God’s way of comforting her after the loss of her sister.
“After Jane passed away, I was at a loss for words but overflowing with emotion. How does one put words to the deepest grief? My family asked me if I wanted to speak at Jane’s memorial service, to which I replied, ‘I’m going to ask God to give me a song to sing instead,’ and the next day, He did. I woke up the next morning and sat down at the piano. Every lyric, line, and melody fell perfectly into place. It was the easiest song I’ve ever written. This song is God’s gift to me to help me process through my grief.”
The purpose behind her talented work reflects her sister’s: to encourage people.
“My hope for this song is that it helps people the same way it helped me. Since its release, people have reached out to me. They tell of how this song has touched them in their pain, in their grief, and in their struggles through the holiday season. The people we come in contact with on a daily basis are often internally battling against something that they don’t talk about. We all need reminders of the grace that God gives in the midst of pain. He so graciously offers us hope.”
Kate emphasized that while the song helps with the pain, the song is ultimately about Jesus.
“We could say that this song is about me, or about Jane, or the Marczewski family. We could even say that it’s about loss or grief. But it’s not about any of those things. This song is all about Jesus, and about how He walks with us every step of the way.”