Matt is my only sibling. We’re only two years apart – almost to the day. He’s a fantastic older brother and role model. Like me, Matt is also a worship pastor. He’s one of the most talented people I’ve ever met. I watched him start taking piano lessons, and it inspired me to take piano lessons. I watched him start playing basketball, and it inspired me to play basketball. I watched him join the band in 5th grade (French horn) and it inspired me to join the band in 5th grade (tuba… well, actually trumpet first… it’s a long story). The list goes on and on.
Our love of music comes from our mother’s side of the family. She’s the youngest of six siblings, and I’m the youngest grandchild of sixteen grandchildren! As a child, those family gatherings were always filled with music. During the Christmas season, after dinner the room would suddenly be filled with acoustic guitars and vocal harmonies. Beyond those family gatherings, my two piano teachers during my childhood were my own cousins. My mother was the organist at the small church where we grew up. She was also a wonderful singer. Before I move on, my dad was our greatest encourager. He’s supported our musical journeys way too much to be left out of this story!
Ok, now back to Mom: she began teaching us to sing when we were very young. It’s probably my oldest memory – singing around the piano in our music room. The three of us would learn songs together and then sing occasionally at our church. Mom was a real trooper throughout the years. The keys of our songs continued to drop as Matt and I worked through drastic voice changes. Mom was a soprano, but she spent our teenage years mostly singing at the bottom of her range.
I have vivid memories of us recording songs on a cassette player – not to sell or duplicate, I think my mom just wanted to keep a musical scrapbook of our childhood. There was no editing feature, which meant we had to sing and play the song correctly from beginning to end in order to have a good take on tape. It took a few tries on some songs as I recall! I imagine that she still has those cassettes somewhere.
As I think about those memories gathered around the piano, there are several gifts that come to mind…
Quality Time
The idea of quality time wasn’t a concept I thought much about until I got married and took the “love languages” test (if you know, you know!). However, it perfectly describes what happened in our music room. Our family was together with minimal distractions, all working towards the same goal and enjoying being in the same room. Making music is a wonderful way to spend time together. I don’t remember a time visiting my grandparents when we didn’t take time to play piano or sing for them. Before my grandmother (my mom’s mom) passed away, one of the last things we did was sit around the piano singing some of her favorite hymns. She battled dementia, but she could still remember her alto part to the hymns she sang all her life.
Discipleship
It’s no secret that singing songs is a wonderful way to learn truth and memorize scripture. Without realizing it at the time, those songs I learned as a child were saturating my soul with biblical truth and helping me think rightly about God – about His character and attributes, about His Son who came to save us. While my main focus at the time was locking in the right harmony, God was using those songs to lock His Word into my head and heart.
The Joy of Music
I really think those early years gave me a love for music that still lasts today. If you’ve ever taken a theory exam or sight-read by yourself in front of your ear-training class in college, you’ll likely agree with me that every musical part of your journey might not be filled with joy. But those formative years put me on a path to truly enjoy making music – especially music that guided my affections towards the Lord and His Church.
It will come as no surprise that both my brother and I chose to make music a central part of our homes now that we’re adults with families of our own. We each have four children – my parents never dreamed they would get eight grandchildren from their two crazy sons! Neither home functions for very long without some instrument playing or voices singing. Just like mom recorded us, we do the same. It’s just on an iPhone now instead of a cassette recorder.
Psalm 92:1 says, “It is good to give thanks to the Lord, to sing praises to your name, O Most High.” I have found this verse to be true anywhere – at church, at home, on a road trip. It’s always good to give thanks to the Lord and to sing praises to His name. And it’s always good to bring the family along.
