Missed me? I haven’t felt well for the past week or so. Draggy. Sick-feeling. Sleepy.
Not-so-perky. I just couldn’t quite put my finger on it. After going to the doctor this
afternoon, I discovered I had a nasty sinus infection and potentially a kidney
stone still in my kidney. (Maybe it will stay there quietly.) At least
I can look forward to recovery sooner than later now that I have
medicines. Can you believe that it
has come to a time in this society when a person has to show an ID to get
Mucinex DM at the store?
Really? Sad. What I was getting to with this story
is that I have felt so not perky that I went immediately to sleep on the couch
when my head hit the couch pillow and have just woken up. And yes, now I have to get sleepy
again. I did not stagger off to
the bed in my sleepy state as I would have liked but woke up wide awake and nauseous. Since the other one who lives in my house is not wide awake
and the house is very quiet, it seemed a good time for a blog post.
I spent my morning at the church while the piano tuner tuned
two pianos there and then at The Girl’s house waiting while he tuned her
piano. I listened as the notes
clinged and clanged during the tuning and eventually just kind of “tuned” them
out, you know? When the tuner is
finished, he always begins to play to “test” his tuning skills. Let me tell you, The Tuner can play the
piano. I mean REALLY PLAY the
piano. I just close my eyes and
listen. With my ears and my
heart. After he finished the first
piano of the day, I began to look forward to his finishing the second. And the third just so I could hear him
play. It was beautiful music to my
ears. I told The Tuner today that
I could play like that. In my
dreams. He chuckled.
I am often reminded of my piano playing history and thought
it might a good time to share that story.
As you all know if you are a regular blog reader, I am a PK (Preacher’s
Kid). When I was nine years old,
the church where my daddy pastored lacked a pianist. My daddy bought a piano for our house—maybe he paid $75 for
it which back then was a large amount to pay for anyone but especially for us who
were not rich. Just in case you
wondered, we still are not rich.
It was an old, very large piano and I was quite taken with it. I’m sure that my being quite taken with
it was a result of prayers my daddy prayed that the Lord would provide a piano
player for the church.
Really. I kid you not. Ask my daddy. My mother purchased me a Thompson-learn-to-play-the-piano
book. It had pictures of the piano
keys along with where to put your fingers for that particular key along with
the lines and key signature. In
the meantime, I sat and played that piano a lot. With one finger.
I learned that I could actually play church songs. With one finger. Then I got smarter and learned that if
I looked in the old Red Back Church Hymnal with shaped notes and found a song
that had the same key signature as that particular page in the Thompson book and if I
played those shapes of notes, it worked.
I would tape the shapes on the correct keys of the piano either with
Scotch tape and paper or masking tape.
I kid you not. Those piano
keys with those hand written taped on note shapes were unusual to say the
least. I learned to play just that way. You might think I was pretty smart as that sounds very
hard. I will tell you that I loved
it but most of all it worked because my daddy prayed. And when my daddy prayed, the Lord provided. I could go on and on but will tell that
as I learned all the key signatures I could and applied them from that Red Back
Church Hymnal, my musical ear got to working with it, and I learned to move my left hand in time with
the music. That little church with
no pianist began to sing with my piano music. Granted we sang the same song or two every Sunday until I learned
more. I can’t say for sure, but I
imagine my daddy was smiling the whole service. Remember? He
prayed. The Lord provided a need for that particular time in life that has continued to be a joy to me even now.
Close to 50 years later, I still can’t read round notes
on lines and spaces. I need squares, diamonds, triangles, and circles. I can’t count time. It amazes me that The Girl and others can play the
piano by reading all the round notes that sit on different lines and counts the time and knows all
about music. I will say that when The Girl began to “play by ear” at age five, I put her in private piano lessons so she,
unlike her mother, would know what she was doing. And she can play beautifully whether she reads the notes or if she plays by ear. I would like
to think she got that talent from her mother’s side of the family. I try to imagine how it would be for
her if her mother had prayed like her granddaddy prayed. I can transpose and play songs that I
do know in whatever key you want as long as it’s not over five “b’s” or more
than one “#”--pound sign.
I can play the organ choir music that is all round notes and looks the same to me by
ear. I just look like I know what
I’m doing and no one is the wiser.
Until now. Admittedly, my mind works a lot
slower now than it did when I was nine so some days it’s a challenge.
That’s my gift from the Lord, I guess. I remarked this afternoon during the daily-routine-after-work-talk
that The Husband and I do now that I so loved hearing The Tuner play his music
at the end of his tuning session.
It made that three hours worth it somehow. I mentioned how I missed that sound of music in this house
since The Girl moved. The Husband
remarked that I still had that with my old piano here and my fingers and he was
right. I might only sound like The
Tuner in my dreams but when my heart and mind are willing, I can sit at the
piano and play for the Lord and sound just as good as Liberace. You see, God listens with the
heart and His Spirit makes all the
difference in how something soothes the heart in times that comfort and joy is
needed. I figure even the most simple of music can sound beautiful and reach the heart as long as it's touched by the Spirit of the Lord. I'm thinking, too, that doesn't only apply to pianos and music but to other efforts aimed to please the Lord. A touch of the Lord's Holy Spirit always makes a difference in everything.
So that’s my story and I’m sticking to it. It’s almost midnight and I will be
tired come 5 a.m. so I need to head toward my pillow again.
I’m thankful that God answers prayer, aren’t you?
“Make a joyful noise unto the
Lord.” Psalm 100:1
