"Make it your ambition to lead a quiet life and attend to your own business and work with your hands........" 1 Thessalonians 4:11

Wednesday, October 11, 2017

Placed away............for years.............

my fingers taken up with a needle and thimble, 
my hands busy with chickens and gardening,
my guitars have waited in the quite dark..........
untouched.........unheard.
That all changed the other night when this almost 80 year old
set of hands brought one of my guitars back into the light
and woke up it's strings.
There is a line of musical talent that runs along in 
my family tree........not worldly known......
only known to family..........and friends.
Aunts, uncles, and grandparents........playing and singing.
I bought my first guitar at the age of 14 .........
dreamed of being as good as John Denver
and dreamed of going to Nashville.
While in college......I joined a singing group and
bought a guitar, which took me 8 weeks to slowly pay off...........
Didn't go to Nashville......... instead, 
became a "wedding singer"..........
and then turned into a "lullabye singer"
and eventually put my dreams and guitars
far away on the back shelf.
Later my dear aunt gave me my late uncle's guitar
which I played.......but also placed away.
It has been years since I have seen my aunt Fern.
While visiting, this week, she asked if I still had the old guitar.
I dug it out of it's dark place...........a bit ashamed at 
how ragged and worn the case was ........
and handed the dusty instrument over to the 
aged, talented hands.........that has played along
with bluegrass and country pickers.
As a mother would straighten her child's hair and brush lint off of his clothes,
my aunt gently wiped down the guitar and tuned it's strings. 
Wonderful old forgotten songs sprang forth
from those aged fingers that strummed and picked.
The next day.........our home was filled with the 
sound of those well loved hymns from our old piano, 
by that same pair of aged, talented hands.
What a blessing and what a sense of joy she brought to 
our home!
My aunt inspired me not only  to pick up and peck out 
a note or two..........someday perhaps.
She taught me most to not completely forget 
the other things that I love to do, even if life has swayed
me to another path.  
There is joy in everything  that we try to accomplish.
Now, I have found  a new place instead of a dark closet
for these guitars to rest.......
ready for someone to pick them up and 
fill the house with music once again.