I wonder if you have ever been thanked for something you truly had not even thought twice about—something that perhaps came easily to you or was almost automatic? This happened to me on two occasions recently—and, with each one, it had to do with playing the piano, something I have not done seriously for many years.
The first occurred just before I was due to accompany our Village choir for their Christmas presentation in the nearby nursing home. Before the program started, I decided to play some carols softly, more for my own sake than anything else, to get my fingers working. I did not think many were listening—but I was wrong. Later, as I was about to leave, a lady stopped me.
‘I truly enjoyed your soft playing before the choir came,’ she said with some emotion. ‘It was so beautiful—it made me cry!’
I was quite shocked—but also extremely humbled. I had not really thought about those residents sitting patiently waiting—I was just running through some simple carols. Yet somehow God used my playing to bless one other person at least.
The second occurred a few days later at a Christmas gathering for our particular area of the Village, when a lady I had only vaguely seen in the distance prior to this approached me.
‘I want to thank you so much for playing those carols in your unit!’ she said. ‘My husband is not well at all and can barely get out of bed. But he wanted me to tell you how much he has enjoyed lying there, listening to you play. So thank you!’
This time, I was very shocked. I am always aware when I play my piano in our lounge area that nearby residents may hear me, but I did not think the sound would reach as far as the unit where this lady and her husband live. Yet in this case, what I thought might annoy someone intensely turned out to bless them deeply instead. Once again, I had underestimated God. Once again, even when I was not trying much at all and not producing any sort of polished performance, God used my playing to bless this sick man.
At first, these events almost made me feel guilty. I should have tried harder. I should have put more thought into my playing. But then I stepped back and decided instead simply to be grateful that something I could do relatively easily could bless others so much. And I remembered too my old music teachers of many years ago who schooled me so well in sight-reading and music theory. As a result of their efforts, I had much less trouble swapping from one key to another for each carol!
It’s kind of like the story of the loaves and fishes, don’t you think? An insignificant offering—yet the end result was something I bet that young boy whose lunch it was could never have envisaged (John 6). So in the new year, let’s continue to offer up and use our God-given gifts, even without thinking too much about them, and watch God do the rest!
Each one should use whatever gift he (or she) has received, faithfully administering God’s grace in its various ways. 1 Peter 4:10
Jo- Anne
Thank you. There is such simplicity and such profundity in this message. It warms the heart.
So glad this blog touched your heart, Geoff. God bless!
Love you thoughts here, Joanne. And our Heavenly Father always knows when we need these kind of encouragements. I call them, “God’s Hugs.”
Thanks, Mary. And yes, we all need those ‘God hugs’, whatever age or stage we are at. Hope everything is going well for you folk. God bless!
God’s hugs. Like that one Mary
Thank you for this post, Jo-Anne 😊
What a lovely reminder that no matter how small the act or gesture (in our eyes at least), it will always bless someone, even if we aren’t aware of it. We are doubly blessed when someone thinks to say ‘thank you’ 🌺
Blessings to you 🌺💞🌺
Thanks, Jo’Anne–so here I am saying thank you for your comment that you might have thought was just a small act, but it blessed me! Just yesterday when out shopping for fruit, a lady asked me to pass her a plastic bag from a roll near me, but I gave her my bag that I had just opened to put fruit in myself. I thought it was nothing, but she thanked me and then later in the store, came up and gave me a FOUR LEAFED CLOVER she had pressed out herself and put on a card–‘for being nice to her’, she told me! I felt sorry I didn’t get the chance to tell her that I put my faith in more than four leafed clovers, but it was a lovely moment anyway!