I had the privilege of working with at the annual vocal/instrumental solo & ensemble contest this past Saturday. A number of schools participated with hundreds of performances throughout the day.
I was a center manager for instrumental solos and ensembles. We started at 8 AM and finished at about 5 PM. In the process we heard dozens of trumpet and french horn solos, along with several brass ensembles. The students weren’t competing against each other, but for a rating. As with all contests, there were some OUTSTANDING performances, many GREAT performances, a number of GOOD performances and a couple of NOT SO GREAT performances. All in all the students did a great job and I was proud of all of them.
Each center has a judge that evaluates every performance, writes comments and instructions for improvement and then gives different aspects of the performance a numeric value. Add those numbers up and you have the final score and rating for the performance.
The reason I’m writing about this is because of the judge I worked with. His name is Jeffrey Agrell and he is a professor at the School of Music at the University of Iowa in Iowa City, Iowa. I had never worked with him nor even met him prior to Saturday, but from the very first performance in the morning I was deeply impressed by this guy.
There were two things that struck me about Mr. Agrell. First, he spoke personally with every soloist following their performance, and spoke to every ensemble following theirs. He would offer words of instruction, suggestions for improvement and some technical expertise. Second, and this is the one that really impressed me, he had nothing but encouragement to offer to every single performer. I watched him closely. He wasn’t just offering "empty words". He meant every single word he spoke and he was just as sincere with the final performance as he was with the first.
All of this made me wonder.....why aren’t most of us like that? I try to be positive and upbeat and encouraging, but I don’t always achieve it. So I’ve decided I’m going to work harder to obey 1 Thessalonians 5:11 which says, "Therefore encourage one another and build each other up, just as in fact you are doing."
Can I encourage you to do the same? Be an encourager. Mr. Agrell set an excellent example for me and everyone else who stepped into our center. I hope I can do the same for someone else.
God bless, friends! Have a great week!
Sunday, March 30, 2008
Monday, March 10, 2008
Created for "Choice Work"
I often tell people, "God has a specific plan and purpose for your life. Your job is to discover His plan and then fulfill it. Then, and only then will you have a fulfilling life."
The response I get is so often the same: "What good am I to God? How could He possibly want to use me?"
The problem is, so many people have such low self-esteem that they believe they’re worthless........even to God. But that’s not the case at all! Psalm 139:16 says, "Your eyes saw me when I was only a fetus. Every day of my life was recorded in your book before one of them had taken place." God created you just the way you are, and He did it ON purpose FOR A purpose!
Years ago a traveler visited a logging area in the Pacific Northwest. He watched with great curiosity as a logger, working alongside a mountain stream, would periodically jab his sharp hook into a log as it went past and separate it from the others. This visitor could not see any reason as to why the logger would grab certain logs and let others go by.
When the visitor asked the logger about it, he replied, "These logs may all look alike to you, but I can recognize that a few of them are quite different. The ones that I let pass by grew in a valley where they were always protected from the storms. Their grain is rather coarse. But the logs that I have pulled aside come from high up on the mountains. They were beaten by strong winds from the time they were quite small. This toughens the trees and gives them a fine grain. We save these logs for choice work. They are too good to be used for ordinary lumber."
Here’s what is so cool about God: EVERY person is created for "choice work". No one is "ordinary" with God. Not you, not your co-workers, not your spouse or you kids.......no one. God made everyone specifically how He wanted them to be made, and He has a purpose for every individual to fulfill.
And friend, when you discover that purpose and begin to fulfill it, you’re going to find joy and peace and satisfaction like you’ve never known it before. Let me encourage you to talk to God in prayer and seek to discover His plan for your life. I promise you, it will be the most fulfilling thing you’ll ever do!!
The response I get is so often the same: "What good am I to God? How could He possibly want to use me?"
The problem is, so many people have such low self-esteem that they believe they’re worthless........even to God. But that’s not the case at all! Psalm 139:16 says, "Your eyes saw me when I was only a fetus. Every day of my life was recorded in your book before one of them had taken place." God created you just the way you are, and He did it ON purpose FOR A purpose!
Years ago a traveler visited a logging area in the Pacific Northwest. He watched with great curiosity as a logger, working alongside a mountain stream, would periodically jab his sharp hook into a log as it went past and separate it from the others. This visitor could not see any reason as to why the logger would grab certain logs and let others go by.
When the visitor asked the logger about it, he replied, "These logs may all look alike to you, but I can recognize that a few of them are quite different. The ones that I let pass by grew in a valley where they were always protected from the storms. Their grain is rather coarse. But the logs that I have pulled aside come from high up on the mountains. They were beaten by strong winds from the time they were quite small. This toughens the trees and gives them a fine grain. We save these logs for choice work. They are too good to be used for ordinary lumber."
Here’s what is so cool about God: EVERY person is created for "choice work". No one is "ordinary" with God. Not you, not your co-workers, not your spouse or you kids.......no one. God made everyone specifically how He wanted them to be made, and He has a purpose for every individual to fulfill.
And friend, when you discover that purpose and begin to fulfill it, you’re going to find joy and peace and satisfaction like you’ve never known it before. Let me encourage you to talk to God in prayer and seek to discover His plan for your life. I promise you, it will be the most fulfilling thing you’ll ever do!!
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