My daughter turned 16 last week. It was an eventful week with preparations for her party underway, and on her birthday she was singing & playing piano in front of the entire high school. It was very exciting to be performing on her special day. I wouldn't have missed it for the world!
The day of her birthday arrived, and after a morning of presents & celebrations she was off to school.
It was then that my day began to unravel.
We had borrowed a set of disco lights from a friend for her party. We discovered that morning that the fuse (or something more sinister) had broken & my job was to find a replacement. Easier said then done. 'Needle in a haystack' is the phrase that comes to mind. When the vital fuse was finally discovered after trips to Dick Smiths, Tandy's & every inch of the yellow pages, it still didn't work.
So we hired another set of disco lights. Problem solved.
I had been writing her a poem over the last week...my attempt to sum up the last 16 years of her life, which then morphed into a 24 verse epic. This became unprintable as my computer was obviously illiterate!! Her birthday would be over that night & it was so important to me that she got her poem - on her birthday!
After many more attempts to print the poem, I then sent my husband the unsaved original copy by mistake, so the wrong version arrived on my doorstep later that morning. You'd think getting a poem printed would be easy! Long story short the final (correct) copy arrived in my hands at 10.30pm that night, and then into hers.
Could have been worse. Another potential disaster averted!
After cleaning the house that same morning, I had intended to do a 'party food, decorations, prizes & games' shop, order the birthday cake & arrive with time to spare at her school assembly. Fuse & poem problems aside, I still had time!
Then the phone rang.
My youngest son had a medical ailment that needed immediate attention (the sick bay nurse informed). I realised then that I had given myself no room to move, as now I needed to drop everything & find a doctor. We had a long weekend coming up, and my son needed antibiotics & fungal cream ASAP.
Obviously the rest of Brisbane needed fungal cream, as no doctors in Brisbane were free, except one that I avoided calling (until the last minute) for reasons I remembered a few hours later.
I arrived with my son to a full waiting room, an hour & ten minutes before my daughters performance. I had just enough time.
We waited, and waited and waited. I then realised that there was one doctor to see everyone in the waiting room, and there were more sick cases arriving by the minute!! My frustration was shared by another woman who had enough when the doctor bypassed her for the second time. She was next in line, but he popped his head out & randomly chose a lady sitting closest to his door. As I watched the confrontation between her & the receptionist, who confirmed she had been the next patient, I realised that my chances of getting there were going to be very slim.
After an hour, we were the next in line! I still had 10 minutes before the assembly. It was then that the doctor took a toilet break. This lasted another 5 minutes. I wanted to run out but there was no room for the rest of the day, and my son's health had to come first.
When he finally came back, we were called in & I experienced the fastest doctor's visit of my 17 years of mothering. One minute & we were out the door, prescriptions in hand.
There are no words that describe the frustration of really bad timing on the roads. I didn't speed, but I did get every red light back to the school.
We finally got there, and I bolted through the doors, son in hand. My daughter was on stage playing the piano, and I arrived just in time.... to hear her last note.
It was a beautiful long note, one that I will always treasure, as that will be my only memory of her performance.
I was in the auditorium for no more than two seconds, when her song ended & everyone clapped & cheered. My husband raced over & tried to make me feel better.
"It was amazing!" "You would have loved it!!" Yep that helped.
I fought back the tears & tried to find something positive. I could have missed the last note. That is true.
Rach found me & was lovely as ever. She saw me come in right at the end. And she understood I tried my best to make it.
The rest of the afternoon I thought about the emotions I felt missing most of her song. I took my son back to the surgery for further attention, & realised that I had to choose between two of my children - my son who was sick or my daughter on her special day. Obviously my son's health was a priority.
As stressed as I was, I still saw the God moment in the whole frustrating episode.
The last note - so beautiful & worth everything just to hear it.
But I would have much preferred to hear the whole song.
How much of our lives does God hear? Is He hearing our song or just a few notes.
I often wonder if I frustrate God. The many times I go around in circles, trying to live my life properly - but not including Him in my plans. How many times do my plans not turn out the way I expected.
Is my life the song that God was waiting for??
I can almost see Him leaning in - listening for the notes, the beats & the beauty of the song He created me to sing. If not for anybody else to hear - but for Him.
You see - I missed my daughters performance - but He heard every note.
Each of us have a symphony to play for the One who hears. I don't have to be everywhere. I shouldn't put that expectation on myself. The world will still keep turning even if I don't show up once in a while.
My daughter sung her heart out, and I know it pleased God, as well as everyone who were blessed enough to hear.
And that one lovely note was a gift that I am so thankful to have heard. A little treasure to hold on to - also a reminder that the song I am singing every day - my life song - is for Him.
And the song you are singing - every kind word, every act of obedience, the small things as well as the big that happen every day - it's all for Him.
He hears it all.
