Loving God, Loving Each Other

There's an old Gaither song that goes, "Loving God, loving each other, making music with my friends...loving God, loving each other, and the story never ends."

If I had to choose a social activity I enjoy the most, it's jamming.  I come from a musical family.  We sang with each other all the time.  Everyone in my family could play the guitar and sing.  Mom could even play the piano - took lessons at one point enough so that she could play hymns if need be.  I took lessons too - but only for a short time.  (Long story, not gonna go there today.)

I started playing the guitar when I was 10, more to have something to share with my brothers than anything else. Dad had an old Barrington guitar with the strings about 1/4 inch from the fret board (OWCH!) and he said that if I was serious about learning, I could learn on that.  Deep breath.  "Okay."  And I was stubborn enough to want to "show him" - and I did.  But whenever I could I used to play my brother's guitar when he was out.  Then I'd put it back before he got back.  Usually that worked. 

I won't go into a big long history but the times I spent jamming with family and friends, whether for church or just family gatherings, were some of the best memories I had growing up.  It was the one time nobody was angry with anyone else.  That carried through to my times of ministry after I got married and moved away.

Once in music ministry the "jamming" times got reduced to "worship team practice."  I do love to worship God and I enjoy being in ministry... but I'll be honest here.  Often times I could easily go home before the service because my soul is so nourished by the music practice alone.  What starts out as a technical practice turns into worship all by itself - and I do feel gypped when it doesn't happen. Music is an effective vehicle to reach the heart, and the heart must be involved for true worship to happen.  I especially love it when the Spirit moves us and everything flows as if we'd done this all our lives.  That happens in services too - which is mostly why I stick around, I guess.  You never know when God is going to show up.  It's really cool when He does!

But sometimes things can get into a routine, you know?  So when someone suggested to hubby and me recently that we go over to his house for a jamming session with some of our mutual friends - we hesitated (well, because we're introverts) but then said, "Sure!"  

We had such a blast! We brought the heavy keyboard to the basement from where it sat in the living room; the sound system was set up down there for the instruments, etc. It was great to get together and play and sing together, we must have been at it for over 2 hours.  Wow.  It sure didn't seem like that long.

And something else happened during that time too.  Something that often isn't on my radar. 

Fellowship.

Oh I am NOT talking about what PASSES for fellowship (you know, small talk over a pot cluck - er - pot luck).  This was a communing of spirits united in worship of God.  At the end of the evening we had grins all over our faces, happily winding up cords and putting the keyboard back where it belonged, talking amongst ourselves.  One person told us that she had been involved in music for a long time but that this was the first time she had ever just "jammed" with a bunch of other musicians / singers.  "It's so much FUN!" she giggled.  

Knowing chuckles came from around the room.  We weren't laughing AT her; we were remembering when that same realization dawned upon each of us.  After the evening's activities, we all felt strengthened, uplifted - yet each of us was surprised by it, amazed by it, and determined to get together again.   

No wonder.  

We'd dipped into the pool of inner strength called "the joy of the Lord."  And it's only found in His presence.  He said, "Wherever two or three of you are gathered in My name, there am I in the midst."  The same thing happens when we just sit and share with each other the great things God is doing in our lives, without judging, without trying to fix the other person, just being grateful for what God is doing.

Whether we can sing or play an instrument or not, enjoying God's presence is what we were hard-wired to do. It's what He planned all along. 

And He loves it when a plan comes together.