Spring and Warfare

It was a dark and stormy night and that's not just a story line. Big storms with high winds and rain dumped water in the Rowdy Girls room when shingles came loose. CB walked into a puddle of water, thinking 'someone' dumped her pj's and princess panties during the night and didn't quite make it to the potty. Grandpa climbed into the attic and found the damages. Meanwhile Rowdys, CB and I dressed for winter, because the wind is howling and the temperatures are about 40 degrees lower than yesterday, which was beautiful and warm. Such is spring in Texas.

Now we are all watching Princess and the Frog on DVD. I love the music--New Orleans jazz, all original by Randy Newman. The story is classic good versus evil, and evil is portrayed very graphically through black magic and voodoo. It's easy to see that is a counterfeit to God's goodness with all the dark masks and skulls and crossbones and other symbols of death. The tricky part is the white magic/voodoo, which is the counterfeit Light. Just as in "real life" those choices present themselves to us. Usually not in the form of black/white magic or good/bad voodoo, but as more subtle temptations.

I love the lightning bugs in the movie, always there to show just enough light to choose the correct path. May God give us eyes to see and ears to hear so we always have His Way and His Voice guiding us. May His Word be a light to our feet and a lamp to our path. I thank Him that the weapons of our warfare are powerful to pull down strongholds and to war against an enemy that does not always show up in darkness, but masquerades in light. Most of all I love that the movie shows that Love is the power that overcomes. It is the power that raised Christ from the dead! And raised Ray the lightning bug from being squashed underfoot to his destiny as a light in the nighttime.

On this first day of Spring, when we begin to celebrate new life in nature, enjoy some Princess and the Frog and some of Jesus' power too.

The Organ Recital

Some events, moments, or seconds in life are so extraordinary that one wonders if one really experienced it. Or was it a dream? An invention of the mind? Wishful thinking? I once saw a completely vivid double rainbow while in an isolated area of Colorado. It was so brilliant that a camera could not capture the color, the stillness, the vibration of two, side by side rainbows over Great Sand Dunes National Monument. It is captured in my mind as a gift from God, that I was in that place at that time in that circumstance with eyes to see.

Two years ago we were driving down a rutted mudcaked road in the Ozarks, trying to find blueberries when we saw a brilliant blue bird flying right in front of our car, as if he were leading us into the field. Once again, a camera would not capture that experience, but it is etched in my memory.

Last week I received an email from a musician friend about an upcoming organ recital at First Baptist Church on Friday, March 5. The Nichols-Simpson Organ was installed there just two years ago and many fine and well trained organists from our area and from far away have performed on it. I had the extraordinary experience of getting to tour the organ right after it was built. Harmony Club had a meeting at the church, and the late Dr. John Campbell played on the organ and then led us up the narrow flights of stairs, through the extremely narrow passage ways behind the great pipes to view the crawl spaces and see the tiny pipes. It was like peering into God's closet! I felt as though I were invading a sacred place where music is formed in the depths of the earth--like a place where babies are made before they are conceived or something absolutely secretive and awesome is revealed to only a select few people.

Muffin and I went to the recital last night to hear Nathan Laube, twenty-one year old organist extraordinaire. It was an experience that rocked my world! I feel like slapping myself to see if I'm still here after hearing that performance on that organ. He played Die Fledermaus. I have played that many times in an orchestra. All the parts were there. All the voices of all the instruments were there. Every nuance of every phrase was in the performance. He played Bach. I thought I would weep. I closed my eyes and just drifted up to the throne of God and worshipped as he played on and on and the Holy Spirit and I climbed into waterfalls of sound and facets of light and ribbons of color. I thought I couldn't stand any more.

Then Nathan played Jongen, Mozart, and Durufle. The sonata ended with a toccata that was perfection. After many ovations Nathan honored us, and the memory of Dr. John Campbell who died exactly one year ago, with an exquisite Andante by Widor that was so sweet it did make me weep. At the intermission of the recital I saw one of the organists who teaches at a local university and asked her how this music was even possible. Was I really hearing something so extraordinary? Was he actually playing as flawlessly and musically and expressively as I thought he was? Was it actually possible to have memorized over two hours of music so complicated and intricate and have just given us that gift? Her response is that she thought Nathan might have four brains. The technical skills combined with the memory and musicality of such a monumental work left me stunned. Almost no one spoke or moved for several seconds at the end of the final performance. Thank you Nathan Laube for your gift of music. Thank you God, for your gift of Nathan Laube.

Doing Everything as Unto the Lord

Four weeks ago I couldn't wait for a break from teaching. I was approaching burnout and was so very tired. I felt that the families who come on a weekly basis to violin lessons were exhausted beyond the point of trying to learn anything new and just needed to chill out. So we played a recital and had a barn party, courtesy of one of the sweet families who has a barn on their property and generously shares it with youth groups and adult organizations and violin studios. After the barn party everyone seemed to perk up and want to learn more, but I had already announced a summer break beginning in mid May. I received so many requests for summer lessons that I only took a two week break and started teaching again, and the difference in attitudes was amazing.

Five of my students are attending summer camps or institutes and wanted assistance in preparing for those events. Another three took a five month break while their parents were employed as traveling therapists, and they all returned enthusiastically ready to dive in to music and perform. The family is planning a performance in two weeks at a town homecoming, and they will bless all who hear them.

One of the adults I teach brought her husband to her lesson today. She is excitedly anticipating buying a new bow--one that stays on the string much better than the current one and will enhance her playing. Another student is away at a state 4H event, which is her main interest in her teenage life, but she is making great progress this summer as a violinist. Another little guy just got a new violin (he had outgrown his first one) and began the process of adjusting to the new dimensions and weight of the bow and violin, the increased reach for intonation, and opening his arms to place the bow in the best possible position for good tone. If you think it takes time to adjust to new shoes, you should try switching violins!

A group of girls, ages 12-15, decided to come for lessons with some definite performance goals in mind--learning to play for events such as weddings and receptions. I planned three lesson times of two hours each, allowing them to bring a lunch along. During the lunch break I played YouTube videos of performances by string groups and let them watch and listen. We worked on Mozart, Bach, a Tango, and a contemporary fiddle tune, plus some theory, and lots of playing in ensemble pointers. It's amazing that you must actually tell students to write on their music what you are teaching them to do. In professional orchestras all musicians write on the music constantly as the conductor talks and gives instruction. We never trust our memory--it's considered insulting to the maestro to just sit there and not write.

Anyway, after six hours of practice I called a nice local retirement center and set a date for performance. We played a short program for about 30 people, got lots of compliments and kudos and our motto was that we "did it for God", just as Bach wrote on all his compositions--"to the Glory of God Alone". After the performance I treated those who could go to the yummy donut shop, and we visited for almost an hour. What we all noticed, when it was all played and the violins put away and the stands folded, is that people were touched by the music. One nice man stayed quite a long time to meet each of the girls. He has had a fiddle band for many years and will be playing with his band for the same crowd. Another lady who came and met each of the girls and thanked each one individually, commented that every time she hears the Bach "Jesu, Joy of Man's Desiring" that she is blessed and lifted.

That's what it's all about.