God's Flute
Jenny
started the flute at age 10 about the time we went to India in 2002 to do
mission work. Daily she prayed for the gift of music to be able to help more in
meetings.
She practiced and practiced the hymns that we were going to enter the church singing carrying the ark. Her daddy hired flute teachers to help her polish up her performance.
The
first entrance event, she was shivering and so nervous. We always sang "I
sing the Mighty Power of God." The audience stood and prepared for the
entrance of the symbol of God's presence, the ark.
I carried the music and sang
with her to make sure all went well. It
wasn't long before she had her music memorized. The pianist practiced to make
sure all were in the same key. Then suddenly the chorister began in another key.
The pianist forgot all about Jenny and expected her to get in his key.
She was in tears. She tried to play in the same key and did her best. She had been training in reading her notes and now a totally new skill was in demand. She prayed for help.
The exit song was the same story with the key unexpectedly changed as we sang, "My Jesus I Love Thee.
In spite of all the challenges she kept on trying till it sounded nice in many different keys though she was never happy with key changes.
One
day on the island of Ciudad del Carmen, there was a mistake that brought us all
such sorrow. As it was getting dark, she took loads out to the pickup for
departure to meeting but she did not have a key. We were delayed in completing
the last minute things and hurried out the door after dark. On the black back
bumper the little black flute case rested next to the laundry bags. Jenny forgot
and I only saw the dirty clothes bags and threw them in as I took off in a
hurry. I had snapped a picture of the truck because it was next to a giant bus
and did not look like an elephante in comparison..
It was not till on the way home to America that a final picture had been taken of that flute.. Some little kid is probably learning to play the flute on this island.
A
music teacher came to clinic with pain at McBurney's point and I urged him to
see a surgeon. We kept praying for this man wondering what happened to him.
Unfortunately we did not write his name and address down. After surgery for appendicitis, I went to see him on Sabbath at
the hospital. He said he knew one gal who had done a concert with a flute there
on the island. He contacted her and she loaned her flute for the program.
This
was a little miracle for Jenny. She had a flute to play in the procession for the
golden vessel ceremony in the Feast of Tabernacles presentation. he had
spent so many long hours practicing for that one song on that last program the
Feast of Tabernacles. Now God had provided another flute. This was a special
miracle.
There were about five hundred people or more packed into the church for this service. Many were upstairs in the balcony. The children with their palm branches made such a festive scene as we enacted the symbols pointing to Jesus the Living Water. I started singing in the wrong key after she had given me a note to start on but as we went along, the second round, I was in the same key with her. I was totally unaware of the problem till the next day when she told me.
In the scurry of goodbyes and returning the flute,
it was realized when we reached home, that we did not even send
a note of gratitude to the gal. I wish we had put a little gift and note
in her flute case or given her a Passion book. We sent a note later by email. I
hope it reached her. We pray God will specially bless her for her generosity.
The music store on the island said it was impossible to purchase a flute there. One could be ordered but it would take perhaps a month to get there. It was suggested there might be one in Merida. The sweet brother and sister who were trying to locate the flute proved to us that it was even more of a miracle that there was a girl on the island with one. Think about how God prepared that event for us ahead of time. I wonder how long ahead that one was arranged.
The flute was so
different from what Jenny was used to. Jenny struggled to get pretty notes to come out
for the last few meetings. She was accustomed to keys without holes and the one loaned
had the type with holes. She really worked hard to be ready in a few
minutes for the procession where the ark was born in on the shoulders of four
men dressed in white.. God blessed.