My wife has been working on a Master's degree and as her first class came to a close this past week, she had a final to take. This was, understandably, a big deal and the whole family prayed that good results would be the outcome. Part me was half-expecting it to not go well. Not because my wife hadn't studied hard (she had), or not because she hadn't put in the time to learn the material well (because she had), and not because she hadn't sacrificed family time and sleep (because she had). But because for some reason, God didn't want it to happen--He had some higher reason or lesson to teach that would only come from failure. In this instance however, after she had finished taking the test, she got the results about 1/2 hr later and was told that she had passed.
Woohoo!
I found myself thinking the same thing about another experience that happened this week. My daughter was hoping to get into a better on-campus dorm for her first semester this coming Fall. She was told that housin changes could be made at 9:00 AM this morning. So she and I both got on the computer and right at 9 we logged in successfully. As Lydia was looking for the hall and room she wanted, she was suddenly kicked out with the message that the server had reached capacity and to try again later. So close and so frustrating! We sat there and refreshed the page over and over again for about ten minutes and while I still had hope, a part of me thought that God's will in all of this could lead to an outcome we weren't hoping for. I started thinking about how to console my daughter and give her the all-too familiar "speech" about how God does things for various reasons and that this was meant to happen and that things would work out somehow. But in mid-thought, I refreshed the page and was suddenly let back in. Lydia found the room and clicked on Submit and then it was done.
Double woohoo!
Now I realize that God's ways are often not our ways and His plan is perfect and all of the experiences we receive are ultimately for our good. Intellectually I know those things. But because I know them, I've come to expect that my will almost never equates to God's will and too often expect "the worst" (which, ironically, it actually "the best").
Anyway, the purpose of this post is not to delve into the mysteries of God's will. But rather to illustrate that sometimes things that you really, really want to have happen, actually do happen. Some times we actually do "catch a break" as they say.
Being in the Tabernacle Choir is demanding. And I've talked about most of those demands in this blog throughout the years. Mack and Ryan really don't waste even a second during rehearsals. Memorizing music is time consuming. Waking up early Sunday mornings is sometimes hard. Recording sessions are grueling. And sometimes for the basses, singing in-tune is nearly impossible to do. But every so often we catch a break. Mack or Ryan will let us out early. Or one week we won't have any music to memorize. Or the seating manager puts me right next to one of my best choir friends. Or I get to sing not three of my favorites pieces for the upcoming Music & Spoken Word, but all five! And in those rare moments, the basses might even hear the heavenly words "You sound good basses!"
God probably gives us a break much more than we realize or recognize. My hope is that we can have eyes to see them and be thankful for them.
Until next time, God be with you.
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