Theatre license with a twist

Gasp!  Aahhhhh!  Only 2 driver’s licenses in my hand!  I left the car with 3, and what happened?  I retraced my steps down the hall, out the school and onto the sidewalk, across the parking lot and back to the car.  No license in the front seat where I’d been sitting.  Not in my purse.  Not anywhere.  Until my coworker exclaims, “Here it is!”  And slowing in near disbelief, I question, “In the backseat?!  How did it get there?”  My coworker adds, “I never saw it drop back here!”  It was by her feet on the floor on the passenger side.  And what really happened?  I still don’t know.  But each time I rethink this scenario, I ponder a larger picture.  Returning to the moment I realized my license missing, I remember inquiring of people along the way.  In the school office, I left a message, and one worker said she’d notify Maintenance, just in case they found something.  At the table of PTA ladies in the hallway, I stopped to ask if anyone turned in a stray license.  Afterward while still searching outside, I had one of the ladies so kindly approach me, “Did you ever find your license?”  I replied, “No.  I’m still looking.  I’m asking the Lord to show it to me.”  And after she left campus to go home, I kept wondering if this lady was going to have something come up lost in her future.  Could the Lord be speaking into her by illustrating with my scenario?  Was He preparing her to seek Him later for her loss?  Initially my panic over the license conjured nightmares of identity theft.  Waiting in line to replace my license would be such a hassle.  But that's all selfish on my part.  Sure, it’s possible the Lord mysteriously let my license land in the backseat, all for greater purpose beyond me. Sometimes we don’t see mysteries solve out because the greater purpose isn’t in our realm.  Yet even for the narrower view here, I love that the Lord came to my rescue.  This is one of many theatre trips with an interesting twist.  Luke 19:10 reads with broader meaning now, “For the Son of Man came to seek and to save what was lost.”

Valvoline: Deeper thought

Does anybody really work anymore?  Here’s why I ask.  Last week I drove over to our local Valvoline for the annual inspection on my car.  A bunch of us customers just started casually talking, and suddenly I felt my heart take a serious look into the way I live.  We all sat there for the same reason:  Because we preferred to pay Valvoline to do our work.  One lady said she also wanted Valvoline to change her oil.  Another lady wanted to find a good place to get her car washed.  Then came mention of locating a reliable lawn service.  Then still, someone was going by the salon to get her fingernails painted.  Add to all that, the fact that almost any place on the planet you can hear someone talking about eating out, and finally all this talk of paying other people to cook and clean and work for us became quite noticeable to me.  It's like buying clothes and realizing we're actually hiring someone else to do our sewing.  And the list goes on and on and on to the point of sounding like we don’t do any work ourselves because we’re always paying someone else.  When we buy books, aren’t we really paying someone else to write?  Aren’t we paying school taxes and tuition for someone else to teach our children?  And if we’re paying out all this money for other people’s work, when is it that we do any work?  The physical energy of work can be cleansing.  I remember the words of my aunt who taught decades of school children.  She told of the difference she saw when kids could no longer safely walk to school.  Students began arriving campus all pent-up because they just hopped out of the car instead of walking out their energy.  And it makes sense.  Second Thessalonians 3 tells us:  “If a man will not work, he shall not eat.”  So we know work can be a good thing.  And as this chapter 3 cautions against idleness and becoming a busybody, which is not a good thing, I've been looking introspectively to examine the types of work I do.  Sometimes my husband and I tackle a new project when we’re stressed.  Recently painting our kitchen cabinets, we knew the physical motion of taking out the paintbrushes and manually disassembling the doors helped us to unwind.  The process of rotating the screwdrivers and removing the hinges ourselves allows the emotions to release, much like the children whose walking helped them unwind before school.  And if we pay someone else to do all our work, we miss out.  In fact, our next home project is painting the fascia boards outside, and it’ll definitely involve some sweat, but it’ll also have that element of good in its physicality.  And so I wonder, how many other jobs should I consider doing on my own instead of paying someone else?  Could there be a a new task coming your way as well?

Musical redemption

What could go wrong?  It’s just a voicemail.  Just listen real quick.  But in actuality, the message threw me a curve.  It rattled me.  The delight I’d known 5 minutes ago had been invaded.  And the evening that began with thrilling moments musically now held tainted air.  We had met with friends for new music—new instrumentation, new combinations, new blends.  Having waited more than a year for this to happen, and having prayed about joining them on oboe in particular, I figure my giddiness showed.  Joy ran deep.  Would we also use piano?  What about voices?  Still some questions, yet we met, and things fell in place almost effortlessly.  Humility was key for setting such a worshipful tone.  But then after rehearsal was when the voicemail came.  A whole big complicated message that rattled the rafters.  So I stepped away to find quiet.  “Lord, settle my heart,” I prayed.  “Let nothing keep me from You.  If Satan is twisting and destroying this, may You prevent him.”  And what ensued was amazing.  Music restarted, and there was a point in one song where I played an F.  On oboe, it’s the F on the top line of the treble clef.  This F had something different about it.  The way the pitch centered.  The strength of air pressing in.  The nuances of the note I knew from having played thousands and thousands of Fs over the years.  The Lord gift-wrapped that F with the prettiest paper and glittery bow.  In that F, He returned to me the calm and intimacy I treasured before the voicemail.  All the while playing, my heart beamed for knowing His faithfulness in answering my prayer and coming to my rescue once again.  Romans 8:28 says, “And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose.”  May we never doubt Him.  May you and I both call upon Him.  May you experience His love today.  

Email revival

Emails.  Do they weigh you down?  I’m looking to click through mine pretty fast.  Get them finished.  But these certain ones have kept me in their grasp.  They’re from Messianic Bible.  They’re full of verses and Middle East current events and notes of Jewish life.  Very nicely written.  Wonderfully valuable.  And actually I’m the one who signed up for them.  But they’re long.  I have difficulty keeping up.  In time I have a heavy backlog weighing on me.  Then one day I gained new perspective.  I credit the Lord for resolving my problem, and really He must’ve changed more than my eyes.  He must've reached into my heart.  And what He showed was to look at these emails not as emails.  Sounds so simple.  Instead, look at them as time to study the Bible.  Just unplug the laptop and take it to the table.  Find a pen, open the Bible, and my mindset starts to ease.  In resetting the stage, or in moving to a different stage, I’m no longer hurried and pressed to click ‘delete.’  No longer is this a housekeeping task but rather a pleasure of the heart.  Psalm 26:2-3 reminds me, “Test me, O Lord, and try me, examine my heart and my mind; for your love is ever before me, and I walk continually in your truth.”  Just as David sought the Lord in these verses, so may you and I seek Him to keep fine-tuning us, to uncover even our smallest nooks and crannies in need of His perspective.  May He bless you and refresh your walk today.

MiniDisc mania

Gasp!  What just happened?!*  My whole body froze.  My theatre director and I looked at each other.  Yes, that was the Lord answering our prayer.  And in dramatic form.  All these years our MiniDisc player had stayed alive.  And when something keeps working, you tend to leave it alone and not interfere.  But now our theatre group felt a bit panicked.  Pressing as many combinations of the MiniDisc’s buttons as we knew, yet finding none to any avail, and rechecking our electronics across the board, we finally resigned ourselves to the idea of performing without music.  Saddened to think students wouldn't experience the full thrill of the chase scene, imagining them without music for the dances and songs as well, we needed to move forward.  I’d walked out front to explain to a teacher about lighting during performances.  I saw a single-file line of children approaching the stage area.  Time was tight.  We had reset behind the backdrop, yet while glancing at the MiniDisc player a final time, suddenly we saw something new.  The digital numbers for the music started counting off.  Music appeared to be processing.  We soon heard piano sounds overhead, and that's when my director and I looked at each other.  Yes, this is really happening!  The Lord breathed life into the old MiniDisc player we thought sang its last note.  And without thinking twice, all of who I was in that moment knelt before the Lord.  There in front of the MiniDisc player, I gave thanks for this sweet gift of the Lord.  It wasn’t that ours was any life-threatening situation, for we certainly could’ve performed without the music.  Yet He chose to answer our prayer.  I sensed it was simply because He loves to bless those who are His.  And how I love Him all the more for delighting to provide.  He is alive.  He is our Father.  In the form of Christ, He walked this earth and is our Savior.  As the Holy Spirit, He is our constant Counselor and Comforter of the heart.  Jesus tells us in John 14:19, “. . . Because I live, you also will live.”  And as I smile to relive these moments at this school, and as I love to re-experience the burst of joy becoming my own gasp, I testify that the Lord enlivens me.  May you and I recognize the blessings He bestows upon us today.

TurboTax

Taxes.  What to do?  Where in TurboTax do you enter this one last tortuous number?  That was us in our living room a couple of weeks ago.  Frustration rising.  On the verge of screaming.  And actually TurboTax has been good to us.  But somehow this year we had one spot of trouble related to foreign tax.  Noticing my husband's anxiety about to erupt, I inquired, “Have you asked the Lord?”  His answer:  “No.”  So I prayed.  “Lord, help!  Please point us to the section we need in order to finish these taxes.”  And then we kept hunting.  Not here.  Not there.  Check again.  Still not here.  Still not there.  A gruff mumbling burdened the room.  But then an interruption.  I looked up to a stunning glow upon my husband’s face.  A radiant beam of relief, of immense thanks, almost unbelief.  That seemingly endless string of computer clicks and searching all around had now sorted.  It was solved.  Finished.  The Lord had shown us where to enter that last number.  And there my knee hit the floor to offer Him a truly huge thank-you.  How easily any of us can fall into the danger of tackling a task on our own.  Then when the unexpected problem hits, we sink into feeling weary, leaving us blinded from inviting the Lord's presence.  And so I am humbled by this experience with our taxes.  And I wonder too for your sake, how does this story translate?  Are you facing a problem?  Some kind of dreaded task staring you down?  I encourage you to seek the Lord.  Proverbs 19:23 says, “The fear of the Lord leads to life:  then one rests content, untouched by trouble.”

Learn Russian?

Why learn Russian?  Will I ever use it?  The idea hit months ago.  And I asked the Lord.  I enjoy reviewing my Russian language notes from our trip to Israel in October.  Our translator taught me words like privyet and spasiba, and when I talk with her on Skype now, I try to still use them.  One day I dialed up YouTube and learned menya zovut.  When I checked it with my translator friend, she verified that it does mean 'my name is.'  Then my theatre group performed at a local school, and as we met the cafeteria staff providing lunch, how fun to meet a man from Russia and be able to tell him spasiba (thank you) for the meal.  One day with church, I smiled to say privyet to greet my Russian friend and was pleasantly surprised to learn we have a new family too with ties to Russia.  And as recently as this Friday, I was at the grocery store and heard a man and a woman speaking a language that could’ve been Russian.  Seems I keep asking the Lord, and circumstances keep me in earshot of the language.  Certainly nothing's felt discouraging in any way.  So still, as much as I’d love to return to Israel, will the Lord call me again to visit the Holocaust survivors there who speak Russian?  Or could He be connecting me with an entirely new group of Russian speakers?  Yesterday I ordered my public library’s only Russian language book:  The complete idiot’s guide to learning Russian.  I’m diving in.  No set schedule.  No pressure.  And I'm happy about it.  May the Lord keep my eyes open.  And how exciting if all this leads up to meeting someone new at the library too.

Flecks in the paint

Be patient.  Don’t touch.  If a little fleck flies into the paint, just leave it alone.  Later when the cabinet door is all dry, the fleck lifts out in a snap.  We’re using oil-based paint for our kitchen cabinets.  Too many times already, I’ve tried to fix a spot and felt that dreaded drag of the brush.  But today we had warm weather, and I lined up 7 new doors.  A new batch.  A new outlook.  My mission:  Don’t try to touch up.  Let the imperfections sit.  It’s much easier to touch up after the main coat dries.  It’s kind of like life.  Every fleck of discomfort we want to fix.  Every unknown we want to figure out right then.  But sometimes it’s good to wait.  See what God has in store.  Ask Him to give wisdom and show what to do.  Isaiah 30:18 says, “Yet the Lord longs to be gracious to you; he rises to show you compassion.  For the Lord is a God of justice.  Blessed are all who wait for him!”  May we remember He can have good reason for those flecks to sit a while.  He might incorporate those flecks into a new and beautiful blessing.

Sickly haircut

It can happen in the humdrum part of life.  Even when you’re sick.  Somehow when we’re least expecting it, God shows us new purpose.  Case in point, I recently walked into Supercuts.  Having been stuck at home for 4 days with allergy problems, I finally ventured out.  Just happy to see the outside world, I sought simply a haircut.  But then the stylist asks the question, “So how did you get into theatre?”  And right there I paused, realizing I needed to drum up energy in order to answer.  While she’d first asked only what my job was, now I needed to explain.  Actually more than just needing to do this, I honestly wanted to retell the story.  And as adrenaline started to move, I knew the Lord supplied it.  The heaviness of my eyes lifted.  My posture straightened.  I sensed Him rejuvenating me in order to fulfill this call.  I began to recount the story about the summer the Lord kept speaking to me about theatre, and in the mirror I could see the stylist smiling.  It truly was a grand occasion of the Lord bringing to pass what I didn’t know was possible.  And on top of the allergies and the fatigue, I’d been frustrated with a new diet my doctor had given, yet none of that was hindering this moment for the sake of the stylist.  First Peter 3:15 says, “But in your hearts set apart Christ as Lord.  Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have.”  So when we're depleted, we look to the Lord to supply.  He is our preparation, giving meaning to every new moment.  For you and me both, a visit anywhere can be much more than what we think.  A trip to the doctor’s office can be more than medical.  A trip to the school or the bank or the dentist can be occasion for the Lord to open a door for us to share the name of Christ there.  So may He keep us aware.  May He give us joy in seeing and hearing and sensing the circumstances He orchestrates. We all need His inspiration.

Playing the Palace

How does a small town host blessings so bountiful?  We arrived on a Monday and found the Palace staff so welcoming and kind.  Situating sound equipment and unloading props and costumes was much less a burden because of how friendly and helpful they were.  Playing piano would be a new role for me on this trip, and in asking the Lord to lead me through, I soon saw Him using this sweet setting to help ease my nerves.  With the piano staying at the edge of the stage, I loved seeing up-close how intently children interacted with the whole performance, answering the story characters and pursuing the chase.  I heard their depth of laughter as if sitting in the seat next to them.  And I love to remember this little boy who threw his jacket over this face when he laughed so hard!  Even when children exited toward their buses, new amazement came for how they recited our songs with hand motions and all.  What a blessed 6 performances.  Simply my heart runneth over.  But how does this blessing in smallness happen when most of our world looks more toward the big lights and the big stage?  It’s the presence of the Lord showing up as He sees fit.  Maybe I've never heard anyone speak of Corsicana, Texas, as a hotly sought vacation spot.  Yet the Lord decided to bless us here, and we loved it.  What a pleasure to ask my fellow performers to join me in thanking Him.  Jesus says in Matthew 11:28, “Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest.”  Such utter contentment we find nowhere else.  May He satisfy your heart today.