April 25, 2021
Dreadful. If you asked me to describe my entire morning, I’d doubtlessly choose dreadful. Nothing else could have gone wrong, honestly. But as I reflect on how the Father revealed Himself to me today, I can’t help but be captivated by His kindness and thankful for His faithfulness. Watch with me as these events unfold.
When I woke up this morning, knowing that I’d be leading worship, I fell into a posture of prayer. I find myself swelling with pride sometimes before I lead and need the Holy Spirit to clean that out before I go anywhere near a platform. As I moved about the house, I realized that I’d never cleaned up the extra length when I changed my guitar strings, so she looked like a wild animal and I needed to tame her. Living out of a backpack requires sacrifice and unfortunately for me, that meant that I didn’t bring anything to clip the extra when I changed my strings. So I’ve been using my toe nail clippers to get that job done. Weird, I know… But that’s just the reality of life on the Race. Hahaha
Once I’d found my clippers and removed the excess from my guitar, I stabbed my pinky finger and a small drop of blood dripped onto my shirt. Lucky for me, it wasn’t bad enough to change, (wardrobe changes are only warranted by the most extreme situations on the race.) so I went about my business cleaning up all the mess that I’d made with my guitar and my finger.
On this particular morning, there was some confusion about how we would be transported to the church for worship and when it was finally settled and I was running to meet our ride, I realized that I’d forgotten my guitar inside and had to go back.
When we arrived at the church, everything seemingly went well. Our practice earlier in the week was a little messy, but our run-through this morning was rather excellent. We were stoked about how we would surely see the Holy Spirit move and work in our service.
(Mary Grace and I leading worship)
Don’t get me wrong. The Spirit was stirring and He was changing lives in the room, but things continued to fall apart for me. I chose to use a technique while playing my guitar that I’ve not yet perfected and I happen to be so unskilled at it that the sound tech assumed that there was an issue with my guitar and that unearthed chaos that ensued for the rest of that service. I checked my own guitar and couldn’t seem to pinpoint the problem. We switched my guitar out for another and that didn’t resolve anything; we later learned that this was due to the volume knob being turned down and this guitar was foreign to me. We then changed the battery in my guitar and went on with the set.
Afterward, I had a conversation with my friend about the situation that left my spirit unsettled and I was worried about what was happening.
I was so confused about how these circumstances had even developed. I fell before the Lord to ask how He would have me pursue reconciliation with my friend and if He had anything to say about it all. Countless scenarios raced through my mind in that moment, but I knew that I had to get back on stage, lead worship through the last song, and then rejoin my squad for lunch.
The walk to and from our home to the church we partnered with was about a half hour and I didn’t wanna trek that with my guitar, so a few of us grabbed a taxi and made our way to the restaurant right next to our house for lunch.
Afterward, as we were walking from the restaurant, I finally realized that I never got my guitar out of the taxi. You can imagine where my thoughts were; how disappointed I was with myself for forgetting this piece that’s integral to the position that God has asked me to step into as a worshipper.
In an effort to reduce the number of words i’m using in one single blog, I’ve broken this story into two different pieces. ;P I’ll release Part 2 tomorrow, so make sure that you’re subscribed to receive that update when it comes!
I love you,
AWM
