Pet mouseAn early post today. We have a Christmas Eve service that starts at 6:30 p.m. but I’ll have to leave here around 5:30 to make the drive and then get the chairs and sound system set up. Afterward we’re going out for pie & coffee with Steve, who leaves in the morning to join Michelle back in Michigan for Christmas with her family. Brrrr. Josh and Aubri will go home from the service for their family Christmas and then spend the better part of Christmas Day with her family. We’ll hook up for supper.
There you have our Christmas plans. Simple and easy, but with family time together - just the way it should be.
It’s Christmas Eve and I went shopping! Worse, I went to WalMart!
I would only do something like that for the kids of Pathway.
Some people are mentally incapable of talking on a cell phone and driving. Turns out, for some that inability to multi-task extends to driving a shopping cart. Same issues: going too slowly, oblivious to everything around them, bumping into others....
In my ongoing search for music we can use at Pathway I’ve come across Jeff Vincent. I can’t find anything about him outside of iTunes, but I like his music. Upbeat, easy to sing, good words and fun stuff. We’re going to use “Blessed!” this Sunday. Hey! Hey! Hey!
It’s just past 11:00 a.m., I’ve already eaten my lunch, AND I’M STILL HUNGRY.
Today is my mother’s birthday. I called her earlier, before either of us get too caught up in the day’s activities. She sounded good, for which I was especially thankful because she took a nasty fall last Sunday afternoon and there was some concern about an injury. She said she feels no lasting effects and had me on speaker phone so she could continue working in the kitchen.
One of the things that comes with ministry is being away from family, and when your folks reach the years when they need extra help that’s frustrating.
Mom turns 87 today. That’s remarkable even by current standards. It’s time for my folks to make some tough decisions about their living situation (past time in the opinion of most of us) but I’m sure thankful to have them here, even if “here” is too far away, and for the opportunity to talk on the phone.
The other big event in her life comes in two weeks when she officially retires as the organist at Berean Bible Church. She has been playing the organ there for the entire 45 years of Berean’s existence, but that’s not the remarkable part. She played the organ at Emmanuel, the church from which Berean sprang, before that, beginning in 1951. But wait! There’s more! She was the organist at a Baptist church before that. With the exception of a few months in between those churches she has been the church organist somewhere for over 70 years.
I know what some of you may be thinking. You’ve heard “church organists” who would have been kinder had they kept their efforts away from the tortured ears of a congregation. (I’ve had one or two of those in churches I served.) If you’ve heard my mother play you know that’s NOT the case here. She’s classically trained and has skills I don’t even understand despite growing up watching her work magic at the keyboard. Pastor Peterson would, at the end of his sermon, give her a nod and she’d go up to the organ. He’d begin praying and she’d start softly playing a hymn that fit whatever he was saying as he prayed (she had no idea before hand what he’d say, but she had the hymnbook pretty much memorized). She also knew what the closing song would be and would automatically put that prayer hymn in a key that either matched the closing song or made for an easy modulation into it.
Accompanying a soloist? They’d tell her the song and the key and she’d play it. If they didn’t know what key she’d play it in several until they found the one that worked best for them. I’d watch her write out music on manuscript paper for the pianist to play, too. And offertories were mashes of classical pieces (including Bach’s Toccata and Fuge in G minor) seamlessly intertwined with hymns of the faith - arrangements she put together on Saturday afternoons. My mother was the definition of all the best in church musicians. If you think I’m biased ask anyone who worked with her.
Berean will be acknowledging her years of service and her contribution to the ministries of that church as part of their morning services on January 10th. Her three sons are going to be in attendance as our effort to honor her example of using God’s gifts to serve him.
Happy Birthday, Mom! I’m looking forward to seeing you in a couple of weeks. And thank you for the example you’ve set for us - an example of excellence, service and faithfulness.
There you have our Christmas plans. Simple and easy, but with family time together - just the way it should be.
It’s Christmas Eve and I went shopping! Worse, I went to WalMart!
I would only do something like that for the kids of Pathway.
Some people are mentally incapable of talking on a cell phone and driving. Turns out, for some that inability to multi-task extends to driving a shopping cart. Same issues: going too slowly, oblivious to everything around them, bumping into others....
In my ongoing search for music we can use at Pathway I’ve come across Jeff Vincent. I can’t find anything about him outside of iTunes, but I like his music. Upbeat, easy to sing, good words and fun stuff. We’re going to use “Blessed!” this Sunday. Hey! Hey! Hey!
It’s just past 11:00 a.m., I’ve already eaten my lunch, AND I’M STILL HUNGRY.
Today is my mother’s birthday. I called her earlier, before either of us get too caught up in the day’s activities. She sounded good, for which I was especially thankful because she took a nasty fall last Sunday afternoon and there was some concern about an injury. She said she feels no lasting effects and had me on speaker phone so she could continue working in the kitchen.
One of the things that comes with ministry is being away from family, and when your folks reach the years when they need extra help that’s frustrating.
Mom turns 87 today. That’s remarkable even by current standards. It’s time for my folks to make some tough decisions about their living situation (past time in the opinion of most of us) but I’m sure thankful to have them here, even if “here” is too far away, and for the opportunity to talk on the phone.
The other big event in her life comes in two weeks when she officially retires as the organist at Berean Bible Church. She has been playing the organ there for the entire 45 years of Berean’s existence, but that’s not the remarkable part. She played the organ at Emmanuel, the church from which Berean sprang, before that, beginning in 1951. But wait! There’s more! She was the organist at a Baptist church before that. With the exception of a few months in between those churches she has been the church organist somewhere for over 70 years.
I know what some of you may be thinking. You’ve heard “church organists” who would have been kinder had they kept their efforts away from the tortured ears of a congregation. (I’ve had one or two of those in churches I served.) If you’ve heard my mother play you know that’s NOT the case here. She’s classically trained and has skills I don’t even understand despite growing up watching her work magic at the keyboard. Pastor Peterson would, at the end of his sermon, give her a nod and she’d go up to the organ. He’d begin praying and she’d start softly playing a hymn that fit whatever he was saying as he prayed (she had no idea before hand what he’d say, but she had the hymnbook pretty much memorized). She also knew what the closing song would be and would automatically put that prayer hymn in a key that either matched the closing song or made for an easy modulation into it.
Accompanying a soloist? They’d tell her the song and the key and she’d play it. If they didn’t know what key she’d play it in several until they found the one that worked best for them. I’d watch her write out music on manuscript paper for the pianist to play, too. And offertories were mashes of classical pieces (including Bach’s Toccata and Fuge in G minor) seamlessly intertwined with hymns of the faith - arrangements she put together on Saturday afternoons. My mother was the definition of all the best in church musicians. If you think I’m biased ask anyone who worked with her.
Berean will be acknowledging her years of service and her contribution to the ministries of that church as part of their morning services on January 10th. Her three sons are going to be in attendance as our effort to honor her example of using God’s gifts to serve him.
Happy Birthday, Mom! I’m looking forward to seeing you in a couple of weeks. And thank you for the example you’ve set for us - an example of excellence, service and faithfulness.
2 comments:
Thanks for sharing about your mom! I've really enjoyed listening to her play these last 3 years. We'll see you on the 10th!
Sue
Even more amazing, I learned a few nights ago that Mom actually began playing at Calvary Baptist at the age of 12 (they only had a piano then) and was paid $5.00 a month (she thinks it was to asssure she'd take the role seriously). That's 75 years of service. Wow. God blessed her with talent and she returned it to Him with Faithfulness to Serve. -Mark
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