November 26, 2010

• Birthday vids

  Asher’s party.
  

  Last Christmas Judah got a harmonica, together with a “Learn to Play Harmonica” book, which came with a CD of audio instruction. The other day i pulled out that book and he was keen to listen to the CD so that he could learn to play. Knowing the kind of kid he is i made sure to clarify to him that listening to the instructions would not make him an expert harmonica player, although the subtitle of the disc does say, “3 Minutes to Blues, Rock, Folk, Country, Classical, and Celtic Harmonica!” Wow! I know that he thinks he can apply himself to any given task for a total of 3 minutes (or less) and if he doesnt get it straight away then he’s bummed and gives up. So i looked him straight in the eye before putting the disc on and told him that learning to play would require a LOT of practice, that he wouldnt know how to play straight away, and that he shouldnt think he would be an expert on the first day. Wouldnt you know it though, after listening to the first 5 tracks with 65% focus he was annoyed at the time his lessons were taking and gave up entirely. bah. But i thought it was great fun, since the disc also supplies background music for the ‘riffs’ that you learn. Maybe seeing his mom tear it up on the stage with his harmonica will inspire him to try again soon.

  “iiiiiin, two three, out, in! two, three, four…”

  I was thinking of this encounter this morning while i was reading the Word and doing the homework for the Beth Moore study we’re on just now. Often we think that we can become spiritual giants just by asking for wisdom and then sitting back and hoping God will ‘apply it’ to us and then, voila, we are so in tune with the Almighty that we can see with clear spiritual sight, hear with clean spiritual ears and have the insight and wisdom to make amazing decisions and discern mind boggling spiritual truths. Ha. That kind of wisdom and clear sensibility, most assuredly, comes with focused discipline and applying ourselves, alongside the imploring of the Lord for his guidance and blessing and the searching of His word for the direction therein. Seeing others who are further along on the spiritual road than i am, who have experienced God in ways i hadn’t yet imagined, are great incentives for spurring me on in my own study and prayer life.

  • 6:24 am
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