I grew up enjoying a plethora of music.  We had Phantom of the Opera, Amy Grant, Reba McEntire, even Paula Abdul.  We owned Michael W. Smith and DC Talk, even some Yanni was thrown in the mix.  So I suppose with a varied introduction to music, it shouldn’t be any surprise that it became a passion of mine.  Chorus was the highlight of my elementary years and I advanced to band for my middle and high school days.  I continued to either play my trumpet or sing on the church praise team throughout college and I am now looking forward to joining my new churches praise team.

Over the past year, I experienced a strange longing that I never knew was real.  I wasn’t a part of any extra curricular musical activities and when I was in the midst of praise or a performance, my heart ached.  I discovered some time ago that one of my favorite forms of worship is through music so I suppose that shouldn’t be surprising, but I never knew how much it gets into your very soul.

I was privileged to play with a band that was extraordinarily good.  If anyone has heard of the prestige of the Mid-West festival (an international music conference), my high school played there Dec 2003.  It was amazing to be known as a well accomplished musician and to realize that I was playing music that some lower professionals couldn’t play.  Now, don’t take this as tooting my own horn (no pun intended).  I was no where near the best player there, or even in my own section (trumpets by the way).  Simply, I learned to appreciate the opportunity that I had been given.

To make music well comes from the soul.  You hear about artists of all forms, painters and musicians and dancers alike and you discover that their imagination is vast.  To be a true master of an art, it has to come from the soul.  I suppose that is why I find music as my favorite form of worship.  I can’t sing or play praises half way.  If I do…it’s usually not very pretty or joyous.  But when I play from the depths of my soul, I feel as if I am worshiping alongside all the beings of heaven and that’s where I want to be.