How to Give Stellar Treatment to Your Guests

Another Youth Alive has come and gone.  It was a great one!  I'll do a full post in the next day or so.  When I'm a little less brain dead...
 

Last week we were privileged to have Jen and Michelle stay with us.  They are just as sweet as can be. We gave them the "guest suite" which is a bedroom with twin beds and a full bath.   I made pumpkin muffins and told them to make themselves at home.

On Thursday evening, I made dinner for all of us.  Baked Ziti Pasta with Meatballs.  Just as we were sitting down to eat, me trying to be the hostess with the mostess, putting out a yummy meal.  And the chair Jen sat in COLLAPSED!  The entire thing absolutely fell apart and sweet Jen landed on the floor!  The look on her face.  PRICELESS!  She was so stunned and I was so embarrassed!!  Les told her that it was rigged.  But it really wasn't!  We couldn't have pulled this off if we tried.  This is what you call a Classic Mary Moment!  But it happened to us instead!

And that's how you give stellar treatment to guests!

Humility

On Friday night of camp, Bro. Kerr made a comment about humility.  He said, "When you start thinking you are humble, you are NOT humble."  Well let me tell you, if you have trouble keeping your pride in check, I have one suggestion for you:

Become a Musician!!

Being a musician will keep you humble.  Here's my latest "humbling."

I had to rearrange musicians for Friday night's service.  Bro. DeAro was the worship leader, so I had Sis. DeAro play the organ.  Pastor White was the service leader, so I played the piano to be ready just in case he needed a chorus.  Keep in mind, Sis. DeAro and I played together Friday morning, too, without any problems.

We started service and our lead praise singer started with the wrong song.  We were going to sing "We've Come to Magnify the Lord" and they sang, "I Came to Magnify the Lord."  Same theme, no biggie.  Except one song is in E minor and the other is in E flat.  I went to E flat, but we seemed to limp through that song.

The second song was in the key of G.  Doesn't get any more basic than that.  "Look What the Lord has Done."  I hit a G chord and knew immediately that something was wrong.  I looked at Sis. DeAro, "Are you in G?"  "Yes."  Well, one of us was not in G!

I quickly transposed the keyboard down a half step.  It sounded right part of the time, but there were times when it didn't!  If I kept my hands near middle C, it seemed okay.  But when I played lower notes on the keyboard, it seemed off.   Ugh!  It was a tough song service.

I was thrilled to move out of the way when the choir came up.  But poor Les, he had been praise singing and didn't know what was going on.  When he started playing his bass for choir, he was out of tune (the organ and keyboard were close because the keyboard was still on transpose.)

Apparently, due to excess moisture in the air near the ocean, the organ got out of tune some time on Friday.  Unfortunately, it was not a full half step off, but somewhere between a half and a quarter step. There were quite a few humble musicians on the platform that night.  So if pride is something you struggle with, start taking music lessons, the day will come when your pride will be knocked off the platform!

How about it fellow musicians ~ care to share a humbling story of your own?

Making a Joyful Noise... Or at Least Trying

After I posted on Saturday about playing the piano, I received a comment from Mary that said, "Didn't know you could play the piano..." I guess I've never written about that. Before I tell you how it came to be, I will tell you that I in no way considered myself an accomplished or talented musician. This is not a post to brag ~ believe me, I know my shortcomings when it comes to playing and they are many. I love to sing and am happiest when I'm in the pew doing just that, but sometimes there is a need...

When Les and I were first married, Sis. White was the organist for our church. She did, and still does, a great job playing and keeping the service flowing. I wasn't the least bit concerned about the music in Burbank since she had it covered. Until one Sunday morning in August when Pastor and Sister White were gone to Senior Camp. There wasn't anyone else who stepped onto the platform that Sunday to fill in...


You have to realize that I grew up in Truth Tabernacle in Fresno. There have always been several piano and organ players. When I was a little girl, the Layne family was there and they could all play. Hermon Lindley, Bekki Cantu, Pam Gregg, and many others, filled that role while I was in Truth Tabernacle. I never felt the need to learn to play. I was completely happy just singing in the soprano section of the choir, singing an occasional solo or in a trio.


So back to that Sunday morning... On the way home I asked Les, "Doesn't anyone else play?" "No." "Doesn't anyone else want to play?" "I guess not." That Fall found me enrolled at Moorpark Community College taking Class Piano on Monday nights ~ at the age of 27. Flats, sharps, middle C, scales, whole steps, half steps, or many other new terms were filling my brain.


At this point, Sis. White did not know I was taking piano. I didn't want her to know. I wanted to learn how to play first! Eventually she found out and before I knew what was going on, I found myself sitting at a little keyboard trying to play in church! How in the world did I get here? I was terrified. I wasn't ready. Fortunately, I wasn't plugged into the house system, I just had a little monitor next to me. A monitor that I kept turned down so low I couldn't even hear it myself!!


I kept at it and slowly (VERY slowly) saw improvement. I have had a lot of help along the way from some very kind people. I still have a long way to go, but here I am 20 years later still playing. There have been plenty of mistakes, wrong chords, flat notes that should have been sharp, but God has somehow used the little I have. During these 20 years, Victory Tabernacle has been blessed with many musicians that have started at a young age and have progressed to the point that there are many that play much better than me! Since I am now the choir director, I am very appreciative of all their work and talent.

One of the most rewarding things about learning to play is helping others. I have students from a neighboring church. At some point, I hope they'll need another teacher because that will mean I have taught them all I can and they are going to be better than me, too! My favorite times to play aren't on Sunday night or during a special service, but at home, when it's just me and God.

I am glad I learned to play. Through the mishaps and embarrassing moments aplenty, I've learned that God still wants me to give Him my best. When I have a really bad night and can't seem to play anything correctly, I go back to the reason why I started playing in the first place ~ to be a help to our church. I give it all back to God and ask Him to help me do better next time.

Be careful when you sing, "If you can use anything Lord, You can use me... take my hands, Lord, take my feet..." He might take you up on it.