My Song



Timing in music has not been my strong point through the years. My piano teachers would work and work with me to get the rhythm and beat correct as I sat through endless lessons. My husband spent years leading music in church, timing is not an issue for him. It comes to him as natural as breathing. We have had more than a few conversations on how my timing was off as he was trying to lead the congregational song. Through the years, and with his coaching, I have gotten pretty good at rhythm and timing in music.






I have found that life, everyday life, has a rhythm too; and the older I get the more I love this timing that happens every day. Somehow watching this rhythm and being a part of this song brings a sense of awareness as security that the day is going as it should and all is well.



Something happens when the rhythm stays the same today as it was yesterday. When you get up each morning at the same time, turn on the coffee pot and get ready for you day as you listen and smell the hot jo awakening your senses to the new day before you. For me there is a sense of security and well being when I turn on the same lamp each morning and pull out my Bible as I sit on the couch and read today from His Word just like I read from it the day before. I love, that as I read, my little one comes slowly down the stairs and smiles at me through knotted and twisted hair. Longingly she looks at me and runs to me as I pull my Bible off the center of my lap and pat the empty spot that is waiting for her. I love the snuggle times that we get in the early hour of the morning before the sun has yet made it’s appearance. The quiet of the house engulfs us in the sweetness of the moment. Each day, every day of the week we have this special time. I love the rhythm of this music of life. The slow steady ballad that allows us to enjoy each other, take in each other and just be.



Then there is the morning routine when everyone is getting ready for the day. There is a thought I think every single morning when the kids are busy getting dressed and ready and preparing to come to breakfast: “Another bathroom would be nice!” The house is full of the sounds of the kids getting around for their day as they walk up and down the stairs, try to find things that have been misplaced and get around for the day ahead of them. All of these sounds create the music of life flooding my ears as I pour six bowls of cereal and try to pack Zak a healthy, gluten free lunch. It is often a loud piece of music and I must be honest, sometimes, I wish I could turn down the volume just a little bit! When I move away from the noise and have time ( and ability) to think, I realize that there will be a day when that music will not fill the walls of our home, and I will long for that song to be played again. On the good days I remind myself that the loud and fast music of life has it’s place and time and can be enjoyed for what it is – life being lived out loud. Sometimes the phrase ‘out loud’ is figurative; often it is literal.



I like it when the beat of life is steady and predictable. Predictability in my mind is a wonderful thing. I love taking Zak to school and seeing the same crossing guard, at the same corner standing there waiting for the children headed for school. I love to hear the bell to Rob’s store ring and watching him come out grinning knowing I am stopping in just after dropping Zak out for school. I love seeing the post man’s van pull up and park in front of our house to start the mail route on our street. I love that we get mail every day. Each of these predictable events is something to count on, to look forward to. A reminder, should we say, that says that life is going on as it should; and gives me the ability to hear the beat of life, though soft, is just continually there. The music of life continually being performed without the need for rehearsal because it is as familiar as the songs I learned in nursery school.



Every piece of music has rests. The song of music has rests and pauses too. I love the pause that a Saturday morning brings to the rhythm of life. I love that the coffee is brewed and enjoyed later in the morning, in the softness of my pajamas, with the sun shining brightly through my front room window. I love the leisure that the Saturday brings. Even the happenings in our little town show that the song of life, although having the same musical theme has moved to a different movement. I love that the local grocery store is busy with people and the smell of brats frying on an open grill gives the community an opportunity to support some worthy cause. My body and mind needs a break from the same song, and weekends seem to be able to give the reprieve and add their own flair to the piece of music I love to hear played. I find refreshment to my soul as the laziness of the day enables me to sit with a good book, go out for coffee with a friend, or have the time to walk with my husband to the little Chinese restaurant on Main street as we enjoy some time – just the two of us.



Then there are Sunday’s when the music of life is able to be reflective and purposeful. When I am able to sit in church and sing the hymns that have been sung on Sunday’s down through the ages. To listen to God’s Word as it is preached and be challenged by truth known but perhaps forgotten. There have been many a Sunday when I have left church challenged anew by the Holy Spirit. He is doing a work in my life and that this week ahead of me is an opportunity for Him to continue the work. The music of life on Sunday is meditative and reflective, a time when God is allowed to work and my thoughts and actions of the day are focused on Him. How messed up and purposeless my life would be without the life music of Sunday.



How thankful I am that God is a God of order and that He has placed within us as people a desire for things to be done in an orderly fashion. I finish this blog post and look at my clock. It is time for the laundry to be folded, dinner to be started and an evening with the family to fill the hours left in my day. I think about the schedule and the ‘to do’ list. Someday this music will stop, and life will have a different melody. When this song ends there will be a new song, a new season of life that will have a rhythm all its own; but I am sure that there will be a part of me that will miss this song. I am determined to listen to each line, develop each measure, and enjoy the piece of music my life is on today.






"Make a joyful noise unto the Lord..."



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