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First piano lesson

photo: iStockphoto.com #3059874

The rules to this exercise are quite simple:

  1. Write for  5 minutes and quit…or let us know where the 5 minutes ended.  Keep the editing down to almost nothing.
  2. Link to the 5 minute Friday page on Lisa Jo Baker’s blog.
  3. Absolutely, don’t forget to leave an encouraging note for the person ahead of you there…and any others of course.

GO

I had to think about this one for a bit!  I’ll have to keep it brief…not my forte.

Under her influence, I learned to play the piano…and love music.  It was wonderful and was part of many friendships I developed in high school and college.  I was in choirs and even accompanied one.  For me, playing the piano was a wonderful release for stress …and a great way to relax.

Because of her, I learned to sew…and love fabric, good quality fabric!  She sewed…a lot and enjoyed it and I wanted to be able to do what she did, so I learned.  Of course, I thought I’d be better.  I’m not sure I was,  I think I was different.  She enjoyed making different types of things than I did.  If we had lived closer, we might have been able to become a team at something…but alas!  That seemed to be my life story.

Because of my mom, I loved to read.  She…and my dad, loved to read books.  When we were young, I remember her reading to us on the couch.  I remember it down to the smells.  Very few of my memories include the smells!  But I remember the closeness during those times, irregular, but sweet, that we sat on the couch and she read us stories…and the smell of her closeness.  the smell of her!  During much of my life, she was a school librarian…and was well suited to the job!                  STOP

She also loved GOD’s Word and in many ways, passed that love on to me.  She got that love from her mother, who started memorizing it in large chunks when my mom, the youngest, was 4.  She would quote it aloud to my mom as she memorized.  As a result, my mom also had large portions of Scripture memorized as well.

But the contrasts with my mom also made me.

They pushed me to be different from her ways that I had found to be harmful, even painful…or to improve on her strengths.  Now, my daughters are grown and married.  Surprisingly, their childhoods weren’t perfect either.

They have areas where they want to improve, do differently and even avoid pain from their childhoods.  My encouragement is that they don’t seem to have some of the same scars I do.  Theirs are different.  May this be the case with your children.

If you have had struggles in your life with your mother…or some other family member.  Take some time to think about the good things they brought to your life…particularly if it is a difficult exercise!  Even if you can only find 10%!  The exercise of finding the strengths of that person will help you.  It is a first step toward building the relationship.

 

PS.  the last 3 paragraphs of the article were added after the 5 minutes…to finish off an article that was dangling in mid-air after I deleted multiple paragraphs that did nothing to help it.  I told you this was a difficult article to write.  This is what is left…the basic 5 minutes plus a lot less than I originally added…and a more uplifting article for all.