The Only Time I Was in Control—Or So I Thought…

Friends! How many of you could perhaps, sometimes, maybe not every day, but only now and then strive to be the one in control? Yep, I’m one of those too.

Many moons ago, I had the opportunity to be completely and 100% in control. It was the scariest, most fun thing I ever got to do, creating a profound appreciation for any music conductor on the planet.

At the time, I was a fretting, fearful, fourteen year-old. By some miracle I became President of the Central Kentucky Youth Concert Orchestra (still going strong today—checkout www.ckyo.org ). When a student becomes President, you get to go to Board meetings (Yawn—I was too young to understand what was so important to keep this organization rolling.), and you get to perform a solo at the season’s end in the orchestra’s final performance, and….DRUM ROLL…You get to conduct the orchestra’s final song in the concert.

What? I learned how to read the score to the piece we were playing—I have no recollection of which piece it was…All I remember were the many, many, many lines on the score, each representing one of the instruments in the orchestra: strings, winds, horns, percussion, etc. Wildly fascinating with a huge degree of difficulty. (Akin to patting your tummy and rubbing your head if you were an octopus.)

And the best thing? I got to hold the baton—tapping it on the podium to get the orchestra’s attention…all eyes, sounds boastful, but yes, all eyes were on me. Here we go…Gulp.

Somehow we got thru’ the piece, and yes, I took a bow—LOL. (I think my parents about fell out of their chairs.) I had the time of my life! If you don’t think conductors enjoy their jobs, just watch them.

One of my favorite conductors to watch is right here in Louisville: Teddy Abrams. Teddy’s the conductor of our Louisville Orchestra. He’s also a composer, a pianist (you should see him play the piano) and a clarinetist. He’s known to be “a tireless advocate for the power of music.” Watch him closely the next time you go to a Louisville Orchestra concert! www.louisvilleorhestra.org

The scarier part of my position as President was playing a solo in front of the orchestra and in front of the audience. I played clarinet back then and we played a lovely piece by Mozart if I recall correctly…

So, what’s my point? Well, while it felt like I was in control, maybe yes, I was conducting the orchestra, but it was by God’s grace He placed me in that orchestra (you had to audition for a spot—students from all over the state of Kentucky came to be in the orchestra), and somehow I made it and became President of it…Oh, but God was always the one in control, blessing me with that opportunity. And sadly, I remained clueless, enjoying my five minutes of fame.

This point became super clear to me thanks to a message last week by Louie Giglio called, “Jesus is Our Lead Story.” Louie tells of the time when he was in high school. He and another tennis buddy had their picture in the local newspaper. They’d won a pretty big tennis match and the article went on to say they’d be playing tennis at Georgia State the following year.

Louie showed us the article, admitting they were probably in the paper because his buddy’s Mother worked for the paper! He added he was President of his class among other leadership positions.

But, if you were to ask any high school student from the year Louie was President what they remembered about him, he admitted they probably wouldn’t remember much and they sure wouldn’t say, “He was part of Fellowship of Christian Athletes, or anything else Christian.”

Ouch—I realized the exact same could be said of my fourteen year old self. I was, well, forgettable.

So in Louie’s sermon, he strongly encourages us to leave a legacy. Don’t we want people to see Jesus in us? Is Jesus your Lead Story? Are you leaving an imprint?

My better two-thirds, John, and I have only recently become grandparents. By far, by far, by far, this is our favorite season together. It’s kind of like a do-over in parenting—to which we all shout a resounding, “Amen!”

Our grand angels call me “Lolly”. It makes me so happy. (John is known as “Poppy.”). Not all of them can say, “Lolly” yet as I never considered how difficult it is to learn to say the letter “L.” (When Claire was not even two, she called me, “Oddy” which ironically, is appropo’ as I can be ever so slightly odd from time to time!)

John and I endeavor to weave the Lord into our conversations somehow— each time we’re with the babies. We want them to learn to talk about their faith just as easily as they would talk about their favorite toy.

Our grand angels now range in age from six months to almost four and a half, three boys and two girls, with another boy coming November 6th, Lord willing. I know you’re begging for a picture, so indulge me:

I’d like to close with a new favorite Scripture I’m trying to learn/memorize. I believe it’s a fantastic tool to help us make Jesus our lead story. It’s Colossians 2:6-7 which says,

“And now, just as you accepted Christ Jesus as your Lord, you MUST CONTINUE TO FOLLOW HIM. Let your ROOTS GROW DOWN INTO HIM and LET YOUR LIVES BE BUILT ON HIM.”

Then, look at the two promises that follow:

“Then your faith WILL GROW STRONG in the truth you were taught, and you WILL OVERFLOW WITH THANKFULNESS.” (NIV)

Lord, please help us to follow you daily. Help us to grow our roots in you and build our lives upon you, growing strong, and overflowing with thankfulness SO THAT our children, and grandchildren, and those whose paths we cross will SEE our love and trust and faith in you. Amen and Amen.

‘Til next time!

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