Sunday, Sunday, Sunday!

So this was me, this morning. Out of my comfort zone.

But what a ride!

I was really nervous last night - I practiced, a lot. Playing piano comes to me as naturally as breathing - but playing guitar is a different story.

It was a challenging morning for a LOT of reasons; folks called in sick, we split to two bands running simultaneously, we had a relatively inexperienced band and ran out of time to rehearse them. We had to cut a song. The song I planned to lead on guitar had a video in it after the first chorus and we had some tech issues to resolve with that to ensure that it would work. It was the closing piece and closely tied to the message, and it really needed to work.

When 9:30 comes, all that's left to do is pray and have a good time worshiping God. That's what we did. And He always comes through, with power.

It was very cool, being up front with the guitar. While I was very stressed about my fingers hitting the right spots (which usually isn't an issue on keys), I was so comfortable standing with the band and able to move around a bit. It was very cool!

This was a personal goal of mine for the year, and I'm really happy that I pushed through the fear and accomplished it. Woo hoo!

Two other parts to the day that were actually even better:

Sarah led worship today with us. She is such an amazing talent, so focused already at such a young age. I see so much of myself in her, and yet I believe that she is miles ahead of me in so many ways - her faith, her family connections, the compulsion she has to create art and music. Last night she babysat for our friends the Gordons, and when she got home around midnight, she headed straight for the guitar. She played and worked on a song for two hours before she finally went to bed.

I am so proud of her, and it's one of the greatest joys of my life when we are able to lead together.

My mom and dad came to the second service; I told them Sarah was leading, and they didn't have Sunday School at their home church, so they stopped by. I'm always happy to see them. They know so many people at our church and it feels very homey to them.

When the service ended and I finished the Melissa Etheridge tune with a reminder that we would pray for everyone there this week, that they would ask God to show them how and where they needed to move, to change, to shake up - because God loves all of us too much to let us stay where we are - Mom came up to the front. I figured she was just saying goodbye, but in the midst of rolling cables and tearing down our stuff, she grabbed me and hugged me. "That was so powerful, that song," she said. "I am so proud of you."

I am so proud of you.
So, I did my job today, I conquered a personal challenge, we worshiped God, we presented a powerful message, my daughter sang. But you know what I really took home from the day?

My mom is proud of me.

I pray that I'll never forget what a powerful gift we give others when we let them know we're proud, we care, we love them. I pray I'll always remember to be that kind of mom.