The Heart of a Wellston Tiger, Music in Junior High

My mind often wanders back in time.  I was in such a hurry to grow up but now I long for those days.  The days, of my growing up, were not nearly as complicated as I thought they were especially as a young teenager.  I remember fights with my siblings with fond memories now.  The school days that I thought would never end are now many years ago but linger often in my mind.

Today my mind traveled back to the seventh grade. It was a year of change. The first band ever for Wellston, Oklahoma, was formed that year.  Every year we always had singing and music but this year it became more organized. The  new music/band director was from the area and I knew his family. His mom had played the piano at a church I had attended as a child.  I remember they lived in  a nice house on a hill and they even had their own lake.

Today I was thinking about my first experience singing in an organized choir.  This was the first year that I remember that we sang in parts.  I had just always sang the melody so I thought I was a soprano.  I vividly remember that first concert.  The seventh grade and maybe the eight grade were singing the songs that we had practiced.

The choir director had pushed the choir to his perceived perfection and had a smile on his face as we sang.  Then as I hit the last high, very high note of the last song of the concert something happened.  My voice cracked!  I was embarrassed but didn't move a muscle in hopes that no one would know it was me.  The choir director knew though.  He looked straight at me with a smile on his face.  He never said a word to me about it but I wondered how he knew it was me.

That choir director didn't just know me, he knew what the sound coming forth from my mouth sounded like right down to the cracking of an alto trying to sing soprano!  He never said a word to me about my voice cracking but it wasn't long until I moved to the alto section.  He understood things about music and sound that I will never understood.  He knew when to push and he knew when to be quiet.

There is one though that knows me better than that choir director knew my voice.  He knows more about me that I know about me. He knows more about me than I will ever understand.  His name is Jesus.  He knew that my voice would crack on that song long before the song was ever sung.  He knew that I would miss my hometown of Wellston and that I would long for those days.  He knew that in my heart I would always be a Wellston Tiger but that I would be content and enjoy living in Enid, Oklahoma.  Jesus has bigger plans for me though.  He knew before I was even born that I would need a Savior.  He died on the cross and rose again for me.  He knew that one day I would long to spend eternity with Him!

He knows you too!  Do you know him??

Romans 6:22-23

New International Version (NIV)

²² But now that you have been set free from sin and have become slaves of God, the benefit you reap leads to holiness, and the result is eternal life. ²³ For the wages of sin is death,but the gift of God is eternal life in^[a] Christ Jesus our Lord.

John 14:1-3

New International Version (NIV)

“Do not let your hearts be troubled. You believe in God^[a];believe also in me. ² My Father’s house has many rooms; if that were not so, would I have told you that I am going there to prepare a place for you? ³ And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back and take you to be with me that you also may be where I am.