As the Video Turns

Is it dangerous to tell a story without having finished the book?  Yes, maybe. Could the plot change toward the end? Certainly yes. Yet today I attest to the thrill of knowing the Lord in the moment. However the story pans out, I account here for the joy He gives along the way. Last week, a couple of things happened that caught my attention. First, I sensed the Lord shedding some light on a video idea. On Tuesday it seemed the video text was starting to take form, at least enough to begin a Windows Movie Maker file. On Wednesday, as I played a new tune on the piano, I realized with a giddy glee that this tune would fit nicely as background for the video.  These were two occasions I considered answers to prayer, for as this video idea had recurred for months, I had wondered and prayed about the particulars of it.  All the more intriguing is the fact that I had found this tune called “Hungarian Song” at a library book sale just last month.  The tune sits on page 26 of a little book by John W. Schaum, which was probably unsuspecting to many, given an absence of bright colors on the cover that dons a mere 25-cent price sticker from Half Price Books.  Still this plain little book held such immense thrill for me.  Put together the developing video text and the fun piano piece, add the family Christmas video I’d made the previous day that set me in the mode for producing videos again, add my husband into the picture for the Lord nudging him to delve into the software for recording the piano part, and suddenly this video that had been nondescript for months was now taking shape.  And I don’t pretend to know how the video will finish, yet I hereby testify with great excitement as to how the Lord leads us along a path and fills in the blanks for what He calls into being.  Really the lineage of all this reaches even further back into the summer when the Lord connected me with a young friend whose love for classical music was my reason for looking for music books at the library sale in the first place.  Also the Lord used my family to suggest we drive to the book sale, and He used an occasion with church one year ago to prompt me into teaching piano at home, which thereby caused me to realize my lack of classical piano music, as most of my classical pieces had been for oboe.  On an even larger scale, actually our whole lives the Lord is connecting people and events all around us.  And I pray we always find thrill in knowing His presence.  

            

A trio of piano questions

Question #1:  A friend asked me, “Do you want to play piano accompaniments for some band students?”  Answer:  “Yes.”  And in fact, playing piano that first year led to playing multiple years.  In the process, I was blessed to find friendship with the band director and have fun interacting with the students and encouraging them.  Question #2:  Years later, this same band director asked me, “Do you want to substitute for my piano classes at the college?”  Answer:  “Yes.”  This was my first occasion to teach group piano, and it acquainted me with the community college’s children’s program that I hadn’t known existed.  Question #3:  One year later, this same band director asked, “Would you be interested in teaching the piano classes permanently?”  Answer:  “Wow.”  A flash of amazement led me to pause.  I retraced how one set of piano accompaniments had put this whole scenario in motion.  I remember praying with each step for the Lord to show whether I should accept or decline.  What I knew as joy for single events in single years had now multiplied for seeing how He had been orchestrating the larger picture all along.  Jeremiah 10:23 says, “…a man’s life is not his own; it is not for man to direct his steps.”  And now having finished the quite lengthy application process and formal interview, I look forward to January and the families I'll meet and the next step the Lord will direct for me.

A dragon of gruesome proportions

Revelation 12 reads differently now.  Last week I asked the Lord to prepare me to teach on Sunday, and soon He set my eyes on this chapter.  The verses describe some signs appearing in heaven, speaking of a child, a woman wearing a crown, and an enormous red dragon.  My best understanding is that the woman represents Israel, the child represents Jesus, and verse 9 tells plainly that the dragon is Satan.  It’s a fierce and bloody fight, with Satan waiting in front of the woman in order to devour her child upon the very moment of his birth.  The task I’d been given for Sunday was to update on pro-life issues, and as I stared at verse 4 particularly, my heart sank upon realizing a direct parallel with a gruesome current-day scenario.  Today’s abortion centers employ abortionists who wait in front of women to destroy their children, in the same way Satan waits in front of the woman in Revelation.  It’s as if Satan has been sitting at the end of generations of examination tables.  And in fact the detailed picture has been in the Bible the whole time!  The good part is that the Lord ultimately wins, as in Revelation we see God’s angels fighting and casting the dragon out of heaven.  God nourishes Israel, having carefully prepared a place for her, and in loud voice the power of Christ prevails.  We have suffered deep wounds in the fight, yet a battleground covered by the blood of the Lamb yields forgiveness and fresh soil to sustain a proliferating hope.

Weighing in

I knew not one soul.  I came this day because I hadn’t handled the issue on my own.  All these 20 other people have my same problem, and therein lies a comforting thought.  I'm not alone. I need help, and so do they.  Embarrassment wasn’t necessary, for I would find encouragement here.  And upon that point, I pondered.  Not only to WeightWatchers have I gone when I need help.  I go to the Lord.  In the house, on the bus, at work, on the street—we can find Him anywhere.  Many times He has spoken to me from within the church.  In fact, church is really just one big WeightWatchers meeting.  We’re there because when we’re honest, we all need help.  At some point, we’ve felt like we’re drowning, and we’re exhausted and without the capacity to save ourselves.  And actually anytime it seems we’ve saved ourselves, really it’s only a temporary fix.  I haven’t yet seen a WeightWatchers scale in the church building, but in reality we do all weigh in.  Some sort of weighty issue lands in our lap, and we're checking our pride at the door once again.  So glad the Lord welcomes us to His table.