God has preserved my
hearing and fingers so I can still hear and play the piano for my own
enjoyment. I started out as an 8-year-old, crawling through the window of the
church to play the piano. I played and made up tunes from tones I heard in my head
and transferred them to my fingers. I envisioned angels taking the sounds I was
creating to homeless people (we called them hobos) to make them happy. It's up
to angels to do their job. Maybe one or two of them will play their harp with me!
Now I just play for
myself and to entertain Muffin. She just lays there and listens and doesn’t
even care if I hit a wrong note. I had my first position as a church pianist at
12 years of age.
Through the years I have
served as the church pianist for several congregations from Pentecostal
Church of God to Assembly of God, Non-Denominational and Baptist. I committed
to playing Sunday morning, Sunday night, and Wednesday night with choir practice
after the service and a revival several times a year. I was like the postal service. I was there in the rain,
sleet, snow, ice, and storm.
In the sixties, I lived in Conroe, Texas, and scrimped and saved to buy a Wurlitzer
Console piano in Early American Furniture style. When I married Odis, I told
him I didn’t care if we lived in a tent, to just make sure there was room for
my piano.
In 1979,
my husband surprised me and had a Kimball black baby grand piano played by Johnny Paycheck delivered to my house for
Christmas. Sometimes while sitting at the keyboard, I remember how God has blessed me and tears flow
down my cheeks as I play. I don’t deserve the blessings, but I believe He remembers
the gentle, tender heart of a little girl at 8 years old and her love for God.
Sometimes
a tender heart can become hardened because of experiences, but we need to return to a child-like faith and let Jesus put a guard on her heart. Jesus had a special
place in his heart for children, and when the disciples wanted to push them back, He said, “Forbid
not the little children to come unto me.” I want to always be one of His
children with a tender heart for God.
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