Sometime last week, we discovered that our '99 Ford truck was developing a little mold from all of the rain we've been having, thanks to a poorly fitting passenger door seal. So, on Friday, I called the veterans' vehicle donation, and we arranged to have it carted away on Saturday. It still runs, but we did not fix the a/c compressor when it failed last year. We just weren't maintaining it, and it was suffering. So... the end of an era. We went on our honeymoon in that truck. It made it to 309,000 miles before we gave it up. This vehicle taught us that Ford trucks can last almost forever if you take care of them.
The girls are doing horseback, and they had a show on Saturday. Cutie prayed she would get at least one first-place ribbon, and guess what? She did! At the time, I didn't know she had prayed, so I was shocked (I also know almost nothing about riding horses). Last show, the highest either one of them received was 3rd place. What a great way to build faith. We met some really sweet girls at the show, and Tater met exactly one other boy, who was also there with his sisters... partners in misery, hahaha.
While I had the girls at the horse show, New Daddy had taken Bubby downstate for All-state auditions. He had scored high enough at district honor band to advance to All-state, so that was an honor by itself. He did not get into All-state, but he made some progress in his practice techniques. I'm always after him to isolate problems, but typically, he just wants to play. He did a nice job of slowing down and focusing on problem-solving, but apparently, he didn't score among the top 24 middle school flutists in Georgia. It was a good experience, nonetheless.
The story of Bubby and the bassoon started when he was six, at an ASO young people's concert when they held up the instrument and he laid eyes on it. I'm not sure how the bassoon bug bit him. YouTube? Hall of the Mountain King? Bassoons are intricately crafted, expensive instruments. Waaaay out of our range-expensive. They come from Germany, not China. Yes, we had purchased a step-up flute after he made district last year, but if we sold it, he would have been without an instrument with auditions, band, etc., and still not enough money to buy a bassoon. Could he even make a sound on one if we were able to get one? How could we be fair to the other children if we made such an exorbitant purchase for him? Renting a bassoon online was $160/month alone, and that didn't include lessons. It just didn't look feasible.
At some point, he had inquired if there was anyone in our family that played bassoon. I have a third cousin who had played quite well, but we had minimal contact, as he lives in Colorado. His parents do live in Georgia, and as it turned out, they were at my aunt's funeral last month.
It was a gray December day when, unbeknownst to us, Bubby stood in the drizzle of a funeral home parking lot and struck up a conversation outside my second cousin's wife's car about her son and the bassoon. When they left the parking lot, she remarked to her husband that she though they might had found a home for their son's bassoon. They called us out of the blue! the next day- we were totally not expecting this. We feebly offered to pay for it; but after they told us the expected value, we fell silent. No way could we afford it without making payments for at least ten years. They had planned to offer it as a loan-to-gift and work out a tax write off.
It brought home the concept of a debt one cannot repay, such as the gift of salvation.
At supper, we asked Bubby what he had done. He told us the parking lot tale and went hysterical when we told him they had called. I mean, ugly crying and laughing all together. We have a video.
So this weekend, on the way home from his All-state flute audition, my second cousin gifted him with the miracle-bassoon. From the road, New Daddy set up an appointment with the Atlanta bassoon technician. There, they found that it is in perfectly playable condition, after not being touched for fifteen years, just needing a few minor adjustments. Yet another miracle.
This is one happy boy.
Last September at Still Waters, in his letter to Jesus, Bubby asked for a bassoon. I'm in awe at how God answers the mail.
The girls are doing horseback, and they had a show on Saturday. Cutie prayed she would get at least one first-place ribbon, and guess what? She did! At the time, I didn't know she had prayed, so I was shocked (I also know almost nothing about riding horses). Last show, the highest either one of them received was 3rd place. What a great way to build faith. We met some really sweet girls at the show, and Tater met exactly one other boy, who was also there with his sisters... partners in misery, hahaha.
While I had the girls at the horse show, New Daddy had taken Bubby downstate for All-state auditions. He had scored high enough at district honor band to advance to All-state, so that was an honor by itself. He did not get into All-state, but he made some progress in his practice techniques. I'm always after him to isolate problems, but typically, he just wants to play. He did a nice job of slowing down and focusing on problem-solving, but apparently, he didn't score among the top 24 middle school flutists in Georgia. It was a good experience, nonetheless.
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The story of Bubby and the bassoon started when he was six, at an ASO young people's concert when they held up the instrument and he laid eyes on it. I'm not sure how the bassoon bug bit him. YouTube? Hall of the Mountain King? Bassoons are intricately crafted, expensive instruments. Waaaay out of our range-expensive. They come from Germany, not China. Yes, we had purchased a step-up flute after he made district last year, but if we sold it, he would have been without an instrument with auditions, band, etc., and still not enough money to buy a bassoon. Could he even make a sound on one if we were able to get one? How could we be fair to the other children if we made such an exorbitant purchase for him? Renting a bassoon online was $160/month alone, and that didn't include lessons. It just didn't look feasible.
At some point, he had inquired if there was anyone in our family that played bassoon. I have a third cousin who had played quite well, but we had minimal contact, as he lives in Colorado. His parents do live in Georgia, and as it turned out, they were at my aunt's funeral last month.
It was a gray December day when, unbeknownst to us, Bubby stood in the drizzle of a funeral home parking lot and struck up a conversation outside my second cousin's wife's car about her son and the bassoon. When they left the parking lot, she remarked to her husband that she though they might had found a home for their son's bassoon. They called us out of the blue! the next day- we were totally not expecting this. We feebly offered to pay for it; but after they told us the expected value, we fell silent. No way could we afford it without making payments for at least ten years. They had planned to offer it as a loan-to-gift and work out a tax write off.
It brought home the concept of a debt one cannot repay, such as the gift of salvation.
At supper, we asked Bubby what he had done. He told us the parking lot tale and went hysterical when we told him they had called. I mean, ugly crying and laughing all together. We have a video.
So this weekend, on the way home from his All-state flute audition, my second cousin gifted him with the miracle-bassoon. From the road, New Daddy set up an appointment with the Atlanta bassoon technician. There, they found that it is in perfectly playable condition, after not being touched for fifteen years, just needing a few minor adjustments. Yet another miracle.
This is one happy boy.
Last September at Still Waters, in his letter to Jesus, Bubby asked for a bassoon. I'm in awe at how God answers the mail.
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