The Seeds of the Blessing
History was in the making. It was the night of the 2003 CPRS Christmas Concert,
and the newly formed instrumental group was to play for the very first time. All
three of our children, Kari, Andrew, and Kate were to play with the orchestra.
When I got home from work, all three were making preparation for the concert.
Kate was practicing her French horn, wanting to play every note perfectly.
That’s when it happened; the string that controls the thumb slide broke. That
slide is the mechanism that allows the player to switch from the front horn to the
back horn that plays the higher notes. She tried to retie the string, but it wasn’t
long enough. She tried to use dental floss to repair the horn. Kate can tell you
that you can’t fix a French horn with dental floss, no matter how hard you try.
I tried to call a few people that I thought might be able to fix the horn, but could
only leave a message, as no one was home. As time passed, Kate became more
frustrated and more anxious. She had worked very hard, and wanted so badly to
play in this concert. I felt so sorry for her.
We stopped and prayed for help. I asked the Lord to send someone to fix her
horn in time for the concert, and I asked for the Spirit to help Kate be calm until
that time. So off we went to school, trusting that the Lord would send someone
to fix her horn. Kate was trying very hard to stay calm and to wait for the Lord’s
hand.
Kate took her instrument and joined the other musicians at school. I sat in the
sanctuary, praying that someone would come & fix her instrument. That was all I
could do for her. Soon the musicians filed in and took their seats. Kate was with
them, but she didn’t have her horn with her. My heart sank. A moment later,
someone walked up to the stage and handed Kate the horn, but I didn’t know if it
had been fixed or not. The students played their pieces, and the concert went
on.
After the concert I asked Kate about her horn, and she told me that Andy Quick
came to school as soon as he got the message, and fixed the instrument in
Richard’s office just moments before the concert began. It was his sister Lisa
that brought the horn to Kate. Prayers were answered; the Lord sent Andy, and
the horn was fixed in time for the concert (just barely).
Later that night Kate commented that the Lord had really blessed her in many
ways. Most obvious was that He sent Andy just in time to repair the instrument.
She identified that it was a blessing that the string broke at home during her
practice time, because if it had broken during the concert, there would have
been no way to fix it so that she could continue to play in the concert. So, what
had seemed like a trial at the time (the breaking of the string), was actually the
beginning of the blessing that the Lord had planned. Sometimes the seeds of
blessing are sown in the trials we face.
History was in the making. It was the night of the 2003 CPRS Christmas Concert,
and the newly formed instrumental group was to play for the very first time. All
three of our children, Kari, Andrew, and Kate were to play with the orchestra.
When I got home from work, all three were making preparation for the concert.
Kate was practicing her French horn, wanting to play every note perfectly.
That’s when it happened; the string that controls the thumb slide broke. That
slide is the mechanism that allows the player to switch from the front horn to the
back horn that plays the higher notes. She tried to retie the string, but it wasn’t
long enough. She tried to use dental floss to repair the horn. Kate can tell you
that you can’t fix a French horn with dental floss, no matter how hard you try.
I tried to call a few people that I thought might be able to fix the horn, but could
only leave a message, as no one was home. As time passed, Kate became more
frustrated and more anxious. She had worked very hard, and wanted so badly to
play in this concert. I felt so sorry for her.
We stopped and prayed for help. I asked the Lord to send someone to fix her
horn in time for the concert, and I asked for the Spirit to help Kate be calm until
that time. So off we went to school, trusting that the Lord would send someone
to fix her horn. Kate was trying very hard to stay calm and to wait for the Lord’s
hand.
Kate took her instrument and joined the other musicians at school. I sat in the
sanctuary, praying that someone would come & fix her instrument. That was all I
could do for her. Soon the musicians filed in and took their seats. Kate was with
them, but she didn’t have her horn with her. My heart sank. A moment later,
someone walked up to the stage and handed Kate the horn, but I didn’t know if it
had been fixed or not. The students played their pieces, and the concert went
on.
After the concert I asked Kate about her horn, and she told me that Andy Quick
came to school as soon as he got the message, and fixed the instrument in
Richard’s office just moments before the concert began. It was his sister Lisa
that brought the horn to Kate. Prayers were answered; the Lord sent Andy, and
the horn was fixed in time for the concert (just barely).
Later that night Kate commented that the Lord had really blessed her in many
ways. Most obvious was that He sent Andy just in time to repair the instrument.
She identified that it was a blessing that the string broke at home during her
practice time, because if it had broken during the concert, there would have
been no way to fix it so that she could continue to play in the concert. So, what
had seemed like a trial at the time (the breaking of the string), was actually the
beginning of the blessing that the Lord had planned. Sometimes the seeds of
blessing are sown in the trials we face.
| Testimony of Robin Neill |
