Taking time to tune up ...

Do you know I play the guitar? Not many people know. I sort of kept it a secret. I'm kind of a "closet player." I've thought about why I don't tell or really USE my playing (thus it needs some work) much, and I've come up with a few fairly lame excuses ...

• When I would play my guitar, my mom would burst through my bedroom door, clapping her hands and stomping her feet in a 1 woman rendition of the Virginia Reel, shouting things like, "Pick it on out, Billy Boy!". For a tween, this is the equivalent of water boarding. ;) (Many years later, I can remember these images and smile fondly.)
  
• I've been busy doing things like raising two children, moving around the world, making dinner, and teaching Bible studies. (That sounds like a huge EXCUSE)
• It could be pride ... maybe I don't want to hear myself sounding like a novice at something ... in front of other people.
  

Whatever it is, God convicted me last year that I was wasting something that was HIS resource, and I felt ashamed of myself. So when I prayed about my goals for this year, the Lord pointed out that I need to reconsider how I'm using the RESOURCES He chose to weave into my life. That's the "R" in "CRIMP," if you read about my goals for 2010 here. And what does that look like? Well, my first step was to get the guitar out and start taking a couple of lessons each month from a sweet gal I met named Emily. We play. She's patient. She teaches. I fumble. I learn. I listen. I grow.

Today God showed me something while I was tuning my once phantom guitar. Before I play, I take out a tuner and tune my strings, so they sound the way they need to for making beautiful music. Here is where I have mastered one rule: to tune each string I have to be in a quiet place where I can hear the tones, make slight adjustments, and turn the strings (tightening or loosening) into the position they need to be in. As I do they blend to produce the music they are meant to produce, peaceful sounds. But it has to be quiet so I can hear the sound for what it is. And then you have to bring the strings into position to match the tuner, the standard and reference point.

It's the end of February. Two months since I set down goals for this year. Did you make resolutions? Did you reevaluate and plan for how to make progress? If you're like me, you probably need to go to a quiet place and listen really closely without distraction, so you can hear how in tune your life is and figure out what adjustments need to be made for the music of your days to be all it's meant to be, to produce a song of peace. And as we listen, let's compare the vibe of our life to the standard of God's truth, the reference point for the song He wrote for us.

This weekend, after I have some quiet time, I think I'll burst through my middle school son's door and dance the Virginia Reel. "Billy Boy" will roll his eyes and die laughing. ;)

I hope you'll tune up this weekend. I'll be "pickin' it on out" .... ;)

How are you doing with your goals for 2010?