The Guitar Lesson

This pencil drawing was done just before we moved away from my hometown 17 years ago. I drew it for a very special person whom I still love and admire today. I first met him in youth choir when I was only a babe in Christ. He was one of the leaders of the youth...we all looked up to him as a spiritual mentor for us. I am so grateful that God placed him in my life.

At the age of 14, I came to know Christ as my personal Savior. I was a heavy-set, extremely shy girl and very lonely...very unsure of why I was here on this planet. I
will never ever forget coming to that saving knowledge
of Christ; it was literally as if I had walked out of the darkness into the light! And THAT is exactly what I did!

Suddenly, I had purpose and meaning. Suddenly, the world became such a lovely place to me. I would find myself humming a tune or singing outloud...He really did put a melody within my heart.

I had loved music for as long as I could remember. I had always loved beautiful, sweet sounding and calming music. At the age of 12, I became a John Denver fanatic, first hearing his "Leaving on a Jet Plane" on the radio late one night as I fell asleep (Peter, Paul and Mary singing it.) There came a point though that those songs became empty...they just weren't enough to "fix" me anymore. Can anyone relate?

At the age of 15, I had asked my dad for a guitar at least a billion times. I guess that he just wasn't sure I meant business, since he had already invested in my previous musical whims: one year of flute in the band (never could hold my mouth just right!), one year playing the bass clarinet (very expensive mouthpiece and reeds), and he just had to wonder if he was going to throw some more of his hard-earned money down the drain when I started telling him I wanted a guitar. Finally, he purchased a guitar for me, but I guess that I hadn't specified the type of music I was interested in well enough because he bought an electric guitar and amp...I tried hard not to act disappointed on Christmas morning. There came a time though that I finally had to break the news to him that I needed an accoustic guitar. He finally gave in again...he sure must have loved me! This time he bought a "box guitar" and 9 months of lessons from a university student who came to the house each week...ahh, my first real crush as a teenager! He taught me all kinds of songs off of the radio and lots of John Denver's songs.

There came a point that those songs just weren't getting it for me though. As I grew in Christ and gained more and more friends who were also Christians, I began to desire to learn every song I possibly could that had something to do with my Lord and His Word. As I became more and more involved in the youth at my new church, I was learning songs and then going home and trying to figure them out on the guitar. I remember the joy of realizing that I was able to "play by ear". About the same time, I was blessed to take a few lessons from that dear brother in Christ that I mentioned earlier. He taught me lots of really neat picking patterns and runs and a lot of it I still remember today.

Looking back on my life, I see God's hand, God's fingerprint everywhere I look...

That same brother in Christ that had a hand in teaching me guitar, and mentoring me spiritually, sang at our wedding and then at our daughter's wedding several years later. He is the one who wrote the song that many of you Blue Mountain girls came to know me for: "Safe in the Arms of Jesus".

And thus is the story behind "The Guitar Lesson"...

What lesson are you leaving with others as you go about your living this life?