This morning I did something I’ve not done in a very long time. I played my oboe at a new church. My new friend, “D” and I have decided to hold each other accountable and get our “chops” back in shape by playing chamber music together. She is an amazing pianist who I met a couple of years ago and we recently reconnected.
I went to her church and we played four pieces throughout the service (she pushed me) J She’s coming to my church in a few weeks.
It felt so good.
Some performers are all about the result being “all about how wonderful they are,” but one thing I have found over the many years of playing music is that when I perform, for the right reasons, it never really goes wrong. Learning how to play oboe was one of the best things that ever happened to me because it gave me a way to express my faith and love for God in the church.
Of course it’s nice to be appreciated and told your music was wonderful. But when I play I think back to sitting in my bedroom in Galena Park, Texas, with the window cracked open, setting my water to soak my reeds on the peeling windowpane, and my dog howling as I played scale after scale. It’s those moments that make me remember who I am.
And as I prepare for my TED talk, I have truly embraced the same concept that it is about the message, the conversation, not myself. I have a message burning in my soul to deliver and have an amazing opportunity, and when I think about the moments where I felt like I was suffocating with my boys’ hemophilia it is almost too much to comprehend that we have come out on the other side.
I don’t ever want my music, public speaking, sermons, or women’s retreats to be self-serving. I want to truly use the gift God has given to me. I want others to find and experience hope the way I have and continue to see every day of my life.
God is good…all the time.
Today I Am Thankful For:
- The breeze before the evening rain
- Being ahead of schedule
- Having too much to do at work
- Compassion
- Friends
