The gift of music

In case I forgot to mention it in previous posts, I joined my church choir about two months ago. This officially makes me an old lady now, as is going to bed at 9pm every night wasn't enough. But oddly enough, singing in the choir has been SO GREAT. True, most of the people there have white/grey hair and are old enough to be my parents, if not my grandparents. But there are also a few parents of young families, and one other girl in her 20s, so it is an eclectic yet fun group. By now, it feels like home. I join right in making fun of the bald old men and let them joke about how I should join the bass section instead of the sopranos since I don't know what I'm doing. And at the same time I feel like I'm getting free music lessons each week. The choir director is FABULOUS. Having degrees in both nursing and music, she definitely knows what she's doing. Plus she's just the sweetest thing (and it helps that her 4 yr old daughter seems to have a taken a liking to me). We had our Christmas cantata last Sunday night and it turned out wonderfully. Plus, it was just so fun to sing in! I don't really know how to sing, and never really had the idea that I was any good at it, but MAN is it fun! We've been talking in choir practice about how music somehow bypasses the head and goes straight to the heart. This is something I've been doing some thinking about, and it really is true. There have definitely been times when there have been spiritual truths I have been sure of, yet it was not until I sung them or heard them sung that my heart had understanding and was really moved by it. What a gift music is! If you have ever read the young adult novel "The Giver", you also are aware of the wonderful gift of music. I don't think of music as a necessity in life, yet for some reason God decided to create it, to bring more beauty and joy to the world. What a wonderful Creator He is--creating things simply for our enjoyment, simply to bless us, simply to enrich our lives. Take a minute to think of life without music (especially during this holiday time!) It would be a bad life, but a large something would definitely be missing! Thank you Lord for your unnecessary yet beautiful gifts!