Oh the piano

I can’t believe it’s November 26 already.  SO crazy.  I get to see my family in 16 days.  I can FINALLY play the piano.  That is one of the things that I’ve missed the most.  Normally I play piano almost every day, even when I’m busy with school.  It’s fun, it’s a great emotional outlet, it’s a way to worship, and it’s simply an extension of my hands.  I’m certainly no prodigy (believe me, I’m really not) but I have played for 15 years and there’s some amount of ability that comes with that longevity.

This was at a composition festival when I was somewhere between 10 and 13.

Without a piano to play, my hands are often restless, and several times throughout the semester I’ve done some really random crafts with whatever I could find around my room, including folding and taping together a miniature Christmas village out of index cards (previously decorated with Latin America history facts) and hand-sewing a doll out of an old tank top .  I’ve done Sudoku, origami, recorded myself singing very mediocre harmonies with myself, attempted to draw, journaled and prayed, and cried when I just wanted to play.  It’s been good to not have a piano because as hard as it’s been, I’ve been forced to come back to God when nothing else is fulfilling my piano-playing needs.

I’m currently in a middle of an interesting little autobiographical book written by an army chaplain, who took literally the idea of giving thanks in every situation—except he changed it a little bit, and I disagree with his approach.  He gave thanks, and instructed others to give thanks for the negative and hard things in life.  If a soldier came to him because he wanted prayer for his impending international employment and the fact that his wife was suicidal, they thanked God for these unfortunate situations.  For this army chaplain and the people he ministered to, this approach worked.  God answered many prayers by changing mindsets, healing situations, and increasing trust—and much joy was the result.  However, it’s confusing to thank God for the negative things in life—and that’s not what the scripture suggests.

In 1 Thessalonians 5:16-18, Paul and friends write:

Be joyful always; pray continually, give thanks in all circumstances, for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.

Give thanks IN all circumstances.  God allows hardship in our lives, and I don’t think He expects us to be joyful that our family member passed away without knowing Jesus, or that our best friend has cancer, or that we got in a car accident.  However, He does expect us to trust that His will for our life is greater than anything we can understand, and He teaches us through our experiences, whether good or bad.  When I struggled with illness throughout my entire spring semester, God taught me a lot about letting my joy be dependent on Him and not on my circumstances.  This semester as I grew accustomed to living in a new place and making do without the things I’m used to, God taught me more about being thankful in all circumstances.

Joy is not a new concept for me :)  Oh childhood.

At home in the US, I have a phone and I can call my friends or my family when I need to talk or have a question.  I have easy access to a broom, mop, and sponge for cleaning, and bedbugs and dengue fever aren’t really plausible possibilities.  I can take a shower without keeping my mouth tightly shut to keep the little buggers out.  I can take the car and drive somewhere.  I always have a piano readily available.  I live with my best friends.  Guatemala has been a wonderful experience, but I’ve had to make do without all of these things.  But instead of detracting from my trip, they’ve improved it—because I’ve grown closer to God in the process, and learned yet again that my joy is dependent only on Him, and He doesn’t change.

PS: The next couple weeks I will have lots of free time and I’m really in a blog-post-writing mood.  So, to my myriad of readers (just kidding I don’t think there really are that many), is there anything you would like me to write about?  I’m assuming most of you already know me pretty well and wouldn’t care to see a “10 things you wouldn’t guess about me” post, and as much as I wish I could write like The Everywhereist, another favorite blog (beware: if swearing offends you, don’t visit), my sense of humor is usually not satisfactory for a comedic post.

But still, I want to write.  And I want to write what you want to read.  So please comment and give me ideas—I’m open to anything!!