I can hardly believe it

Well, this morning I did have a bunch of pictures to share; I was even going to try uploading a video of that music-making we did with the missionary family a while back.

But try telling my computer that.

Yes, ma'am, my computer has decided to take a holiday from uploading pictures, until further notice. Ugh.

Oh well. I suppose I'd better write about more pleasant things.

I hope y'all had a lovely Lord's Day. We did, though it was a busy one. Last night we had more music at our church. Squire Parsons, and the Squire Parsons Trio blessed our church with a visit. Listening to the singing was wonderful. Those men sure have some talent! The harmony was great - 'specially the bass singer. :) What's more, after the singing, Squire Parsons even preached for us!

Well, our little country church was packed to the bursting point last night. For the first time ever, Dad had to search for a place in the church parking lot to park our red 15 passenger van. We all got a kick out of that.

Two of the visitors last night were special friends of ours; you might call them our adopted Aunt and Uncle. They live in town, but we are only able to get together once in awhile. It was so good to see them! After the service was over, we got a chance to talk for a time.

After what we had just heard, of course the topic was music. Knowing they liked to hear my siblings and I play (they ask for songs nearly every time we're together), I told them about the group we young folks at church had formed; The King's Strings. I asked if they'd like to hear a song or two. They said yes with smiles.

Off we went into an out-of-the-way back room, after collecting everyone in the group. We sat around on the couch, chairs, and table, and started playing. We were just hanging out and having fun, playing for Aunt Jan and Uncle Phil. I could tell they were loving every minute of it, and I was glad. Our music didn't compare to the fancy stuff we had heard from up front that night, but we didn't care about that. We were having fun!

Well....out in the foyer of the church, Dad was well aware of what we were doing. He also loves to hear us play.

And he also likes to find audiences for us.

Well, it just so happens that Mom has a friend who is a personal friend of Squire Parsons. This lady also sings, and she is in charge of concerts and things...I'm not sure of all the details. I just know she sings, and she knows Mom.

This lady, with her mother (another singer, I believe), was at church last night; she had come to hear Squire Parsons and say hello to him, I guess.

And this is the lady Dad found, and asked to come back and listen to us.

And she did.

And she said that her mom had to hear us, so she went and got her.

Her mother said that one of the men who sang with Squire Parsons (his son), had to hear us, so she went and got him.

All of this was going on rather behind our backs. We could see people coming in the door and hanging around, but we were kinda focused on our playing.

Well, Squire Parsons' son came in and said (so we've been told) "Dad has to hear this," and then he....yes, you guessed it...went and got his dad.

So, the long and the short of it is, our little group got to play for Squire Parsons. I thought that was really neat.

Of course, by the time he got to that little back room, we had become wise as to what was going on, and knew very well that we were playing for an audience. An audience with a lot of talent, at that.

I don't know about the rest of the group, but I was so jittery, I could hardly play my fiddle. I don't think I did very well at all.

But Squire Parsons said he liked it. He was very kind to us.

Oh - I forgot something else. This lady - the one in the very beginning - is in charge of a concert that will take place some time in February. After hearing us play for awhile, she asked "Can you guys come up with 30-minutes-worth of music?"

We all just stood or sat where we were and looked at her.

She told us about the concert, and said, "I hadn't found any pre-concert music yet, and now I know why. The Lord wanted me to come here tonight and hear you guys. Will you play for me? You'd entertain the audience while everything was getting set up. Like a prelude. How many songs can you play?"

"Well, uh, we all play by ear, so we could basically play any song..."

"...But we have trouble of thinking of what songs to play..."

"...If we made up a list..."

Suddenly, we were all looking at each other with identical expressions. I still can't figure out if it was thrill, shock, or fright.

Us? Play for a concert? Little old us?

This wasn't the first person to ask us about something like this. On the way home from church, Curtis reminded us that a lady we know had asked for his phone number, wanting to know about our group, and if we'd play for an event. And I reminded everybody about a lady had I met several months ago who had wanted our group to come play for her church.

But we were still sitting in that dark van in shock. We had sorta purposely forgotten about the other requests; after all, those folks hadn't heard us play! If they had, of course they would have changed their minds, right?

But this lady had heard us play.

...Had we really said yes? And why in the world had that lady thought we could play well enough to do pre-concert music?

We are not that good of musicians! I can say that about all of us without being unkind, because we all tell each other that and we agree.

Well...except about our two lead players; my brother Curtis, and one of the other boys. They really have some talent (though they claim they don't). ...But the rest of us are just amateurs.

This is really going to cause us to depend upon the Lord. All seven of us are scared. We know that most of us aren't talented enough to do this.

I'm not one of those folks who spends hours everyday practicing music. And you can tell when you listen to my playing. I love to play, but I haven't devoted the time I should to become better at it. Perhaps this is God's way of motivating us. Maybe He has plans to use us.

I don't know. I do know God can use music, and I do know that in the past He has chosen to use vessels for His work that are weak, filthy, and despised by the world.

Well...weak and pitiful would describe us pretty well. Maybe we're in His plan. I'm praying that whatever the case, He'll give us all the ability to do what He'd have us do. Also the strength of character to do what He wants us to do - even if it happens to be something we're terrified of doing.

There are times in my life when I can see God working so clearly that I get really...well, not scared exactly,...but awed and trembly, with a knot in my stomach. Usually I feel that way when things start happening that have no logical explanation.

Things like someone liking music that isn't professional.

Things like several people in a row asking about the same thing.

Things like "coincidences" that aren't coincidences.

Things like people listening to mistakes and hearing music.

Right about now, I'm getting that feeling in my stomach.