My accomplishment today

How I recognized the hand of God in my life today:
Have you ever had a calling that you just dreaded? That's my calling. We had a really good organist in our ward who moved out. We have a limited number of pianists in our ward and an even more limited number of organists. I knew I was going to be next.

A few months ago the Bishop and his counselor came over and I just had that uggh, dread feeling in my stomach, because I knew what they were there for. So, out of desperation, they asked me to be a ward organist.

Why have I dreaded having this calling? Here are some reasons:

1- I really don't know how to play the organ right, so I'm not confident. I had a summer of lessons in High School thinking that I would learn it quick since I played the piano. I was wrong; the more I learned the more I realized that this wasn't like a piano. It's a totally different instrument.

You have to play differently with your fingers because there is no sustain pedal. There are lots of different buttons and sounds to learn, and the worst part for me- You play the bass with your feet. Talk about multi tasking! Luckily, our organ has this little button that you can push, and it plays the bottom note you play with your fingers as a bass note (sounds from the pedal settings). Then I don't have to think about the feet.

2- When you make a mistake on the organ (which is easy to do just because the keys are sensitive), it isn't a quiet little mistake, it blares.

3- It's hard to take three little kids over to the church to practice.

4- I have to get to church 10-15 min early. (Luckily we have the 1:00 time, next year it's 9:00)

5- I don't like being in front of everyone. I know that is dumb, but it's true.

6- I think I'm in it for life.

So, now that I've complained about it, I'll be a little more positive. I keep trying to have a positive attitude about all of this. About a month ago, while I was practicing, I had the thought come to me, "Holly, this is a great opportunity to learn a new intrument and develope a new talent." Maybe God was telling me to quit my whining. Most people don't get this opportunity. So, since then practicing has been more enjoyable. I like trying new sounds and trying to keep the feet going. I've gotten better at playing the feet in practice, but as soon as I'm in sacrament meeting accompanying, it all seems to go out the window; I panic. Then I just push the little bass button- ahh :). But not today! I played the last song without the bass button and played with my feet! I was so excited! I played all the prelude with my feet too. I'm sure my finger technique slipped a little after focusing on the feet, but I did it!

I know this might seem like a minor little thing, but I was so proud of myself today. I think God is helping me with my calling, and who knows, maybe someday I will actually enjoy playing in Sacrament meeting as much as practicing and be happy that this is my calling for life :).


Here's a picture of an organ like our church organ. It's a pretty nice one I think. Look at all those buttons and pedals!