You might have noticed that Wednesdays are my days to take a breath. To rest. Recharge. To work toward some super-awesome God-sized goals for 2014. So here is a blast from the past straight from the archives. Enjoy, dear friends… and thanks for the grace.
***
“TTWWWWWEEEEEETTTTT!!”
Click, click, click, click… “One, two, three, four…”
Oh, the glory days of marching band. Now, before you start the cracks about being a band nerd, know that my high school was kinda tiny. Tiny like I graduated with 18 people in my class. And had about 80 people in our entire high school.
Which meant you were either in the band… Or you weren’t. (And seriously– who really wanted to go to an extra study hall? Pshaw.)
So yes, I was in the band. Played the flute actually. From 5th grade to senior graduation. I wasn’t a stellar player. I mean, I showed up for band every day for 7 years, so I could play– just not awesomely. Oh, and I am really uncoordinated. Which is why MARCHING and playing the flute at the same time really caused some issues. (I tried to be a front line pom-pom girl or in the flag corp for most of my marching band career.)
Our tiny little marching band would hit up various local parades ever couple weeks from about September to the final Christmas parade in December.
We were a small group. Our band director Mrs. Buckle was incredible. And brave. She dealt with teenagers. With instruments. Which is probably why she yelled a lot. She had to contend with the trumpets and the bass drum. And those instruments tend to get a little noisy.
Plus, it turns out I wasn’t the only uncoordinated one in the group. Teenage boys and girls playing instruments, following music and trying to stay in step? Yeah, sometimes it wasn’t pretty. (Which is why we never had white shoes with our band uniform. Always black. Harder to notice when someone is blatantly out of step.)
Not a picture of our marching band. Our uniforms weren’t QUITE that nice.
I as I think about those fun memories, and Mrs. Buckle’s voice still resonates in my head:
“LEFT, LEFT, LEFT, RIGHT, LEFT!!!”
“HEY TRUMPETS, GET IN LINE!”
“STAY. IN. STEP!”
Fun times. But seriously. As I thought about my experience with marching band and the importance of staying in step, I couldn’t help but think about how important it is for us to stay in step today… With God.
We have to trust Him, knowing that He is walking beside of us. If we stop to look at our feet, we will lose our rhythm and mess up the whole formation He has lined up for us. We have to let Him set the pace, not falling behind Him or trying to gallop out in front. <<That would be me.)
Are you letting God direct your life like the a drum major or band director? Or are you trying to do your own thing? What does it feel like when you are out of step? In step? What steps can you take to make sure you stay in step with Him marching beside you? I would love to hear your thoughts. Leave your comment below!
We are all marching in this life. It doesn’t matter if you are lugging a tuba, a piccolo, snare drum or are a member of the flag corp. We all have to march. So the question is: Who is directing your band? Follow Him closely and you will always stay in step.
Marching to the beat of a heavenly drum,
SGK
“The very steps we take come from God; otherwise how would we know where we’re going?” ~Proverbs 20:24 MSG
