An Unexpected Blessing

It's been over 5 years since I've had a piano in my home. I inherited my childhood piano when I got married but because our first house was so small, I had to get rid of it when Brooke came along. Though we moved into a much bigger house eventually, buying a piano has never really been a priority for me.

I'm our church's pianist (and have been since I was 12) so I at least get the opportunity to play every week. We have really turned into a worship team or praise band and playing each Sunday is one of my favorite parts of the week. I also play an offeratory every week and I usually end up pulling something out of a book at the last second... Literally. Sometimes even while the ushers are praying over the offering. I even get crazy some weeks and play songs that I've never even played before. I guess when you don't have a piano or an avenue to practice you just hope for the best!

I have wanted a weighted 88 key, hammer actioned keyboard for a long time now. Our church made the switch years ago and I've never longed for a "real" piano ever again. They're super nice because they sound and feel like an actual piano but they're maintenance free so you don't have to worry about strings breaking or keeping them tuned. Each Sunday morning at worship practice I joke that I hope our church's piano breaks so they have to buy a new one and give the old one to me.

You would not believe my shock the other day when I pulled into my driveway from picking Brooke up from school and saw three large boxes on my front porch. When I read the writing on the one box and realized that it was the weighted keyboard I had always wanted, I didn't even know what to think. The other two boxes housed the piano stand and the pedals. Tears came to my house and my hands started shaking. It was like those Publisher's Clearing House commercials when the people find out they've just won all that money. I lugged it into the house, screaming baby and all, and just stared at the boxes. Knife in hand, I didn't even want to open it because I didn't think that it could possibly belong to me. I mean, pianos don't just randomly appear on front porches! I had no clue where this piano came from and nobody in my family confessed to getting it for me. When I opened the box, I saw the gift giver's name on the invoice. This person had wished to remain anonymous and didn't realize that the invoice would give the secret away. I would love to go on and on about this person on here but in respect of the original intentions, I won't. All I can say is WOW! I mean, there are just no appropriate words here.

It's only been a few days since the piano has been in my home but I'm already enjoying it so much. Every spare minute that I've gotten has gone towards bringing out an old piece that's sat in a box for nearly 5 years. I have loved playing through old classical music that I worked so hard to perfect years ago. Those songs were my blood, sweat and tears at one point!

Brooke is already asking me to teach her to play but as much as I love to play, I'm not sure that I could really teach it to anyone. I think we'll start small and do a few basic piano concepts but eventually, a real teacher would suit her much better. I tend to break all of rules with the piano and play whatever I think sounds good and I would like for my girls to be more disciplined about their piano techniques than I am.

There are not words to describe how blessed I feel to have been gifted this piano. It's honestly a dream come true and I am so thankful that I will be able to fill my home with music once again!