Make a joyful shout to the Lord, all you lands!
Serve the Lord with gladness;
Come before His presence with singing.
Know that the Lord, He is God;
It is He who has made us, and not we ourselves;
We are His people and the sheep of His pasture.
Enter into His gates with thanksgiving,
And into His courts with praise.
Be thankful to Him, and bless His name.
For the Lord is good;
His mercy is everlasting,
And His truth endures to all generations. – Psalm 100

After another beautiful weekend in and around Wake Forest Presbyterian Church, Monday morning comes bitter-sweet with the departure of our much-loved piano, leaving Maul-Hall after more than 40-years for a new career helping children learn to love music and understand the foundations of how it all works.

It was hard. Unexpectedly so. But I really shouldn’t have been surprised. This was our wedding gift from my parents, back in 1979. This piano is a Baldwin Hamilton studio upright. Rebekah picked this particular instrument because she loves music, she was an accomplished pianist, and she knew exactly what we were looking for. This piano has been an important part of our life together for forty years.

So yes, this was a significant piece of us rolling down the ramp – guided carefully and respectfully by Gerald and Carl of Gerald’s Piano and Organ – onto their trailer and up 85 on its way to our daughter Naomi’s home in Richmond.

So our beloved piano is not leaving the family, it is simply continuing to fill its role as tutor and encouragement to a new generation of children. Yes, David and Beks can expect piano lessons, just as their mama learned (and with such gusto) when she was a child in Pensacola.

Means of Grace:

Rebekah sat down at the keyboard this morning, one last time; and there, out from her heart, through her fingers, onto the keys, and through the soundboard poured an arrangement she wrote decades ago: “Amazing Grace” so soulful and rich, as you have never heard it before.

And we cried because this instrument has been a means of grace here in our home and a way to share that grace with our children, and each other.

But don’t worry about us and our tender hearts! It’s really quite all right! In a couple of hours now our piano will find its place in Naomi’s home and the Baldwin studio upright will begin to teach our grandchildren and it will bring joy and become a means of grace there too. And of course we will visit and it will call to us, the history of both the sounds and the memories still resonating in the mature, mellowing soundboard.

Such a gift of joy and pleasure. Oh, come to think of it that is what “Naomi” means too. How serendipitous is that?

Peace, and grace, and music – DEREK