5 Years
5 years. Working at Lighthouse is now officially the longest thing I've ever done. Longer than any school I've ever been to, longer than any job I've ever had. This is where I've spent the last 18.5% percent of my life. Go ahead and get out the calculator to figure out my age:)
So it might be a big deal for me, but there are far greater accomplishments. I mean really, Mike has been at this church for 8 years, and in ministry for more than 15. That seems like a far greater accomplishment then my little 5.
But I will say that it is nice to be appreciated, and it does feel good when somebody says nice job. Even though it is hard to accept a compliment. I just never know what to say, you know? "Thanks" sounds dumb. "Good, I'm glad you liked it" sounds arrogant. What are you supposed to say when somebody looks you in the eye and says, "I appreciate you?" For some reason, "Thanks, I appreciate that" just doesn't seem to sound right. I would rather say, "Thank you for noticing, thank you for appreciating, thank you for making a difference in my life by telling me that I made a difference in yours." But I don' t think that even cuts it.
But I digress.
Mike comes up on stage wearing a homemade headset microphone from a wire hanger and a dum-dum, wearing a T-shirt that looks suspiciously like one of my own, and carrying a guitar. I honestly didn't give a second thought to the guitar. I saw him coming down the hallway while playing the first song and thought, "OK, that's pretty funny. He's going to come up and do a little Jeff impersonation, that's a good one."
He comes up and says "I want to look like Jeff and play guitar like Jeff." I'm down on the floor enjoying him making a fool of himself:) But then he turns and asks me, "Hey, is this a nice guitar?"
I looked at the headstock and saw the name "Taylor." It wasn't until that moment that I realized that he was actually holding the very 714CE that I had been admiring at Guitar Center. Of course, I only played it and admired it as a very nice guitar, not something that I would EVER afford any time within the next 10 years.
Now it is sitting right here next to me, waiting for me to pick it up and play it. That's just crazy.
I mean seriously, at 5 years you are supposed to get a card and a gift certificate to Applebees. Maybe they send you away to a bed and breakfast for a night. But this? This is crazy. You don't just get your dream guitar as a surprise gift like that. That just doesn't happen.
This is actually quite humbling. To stand in front of the people and play the guitar that they put in my hands, well, that's really an honor. It's a responsibility too, to play it well and use it for the purpose it was given to me, to worship.
5 years ago I moved to Michigan, a 22 year old kid just out of college, with a guitar and nothing else. In the last 5 years he has given me a beautiful wife and a wonderful son, a mortgage and a couple of obnoxious dogs:)
And make that 2 guitars:)
If I may quote Chris Tomlin - how great is our God?!
So it might be a big deal for me, but there are far greater accomplishments. I mean really, Mike has been at this church for 8 years, and in ministry for more than 15. That seems like a far greater accomplishment then my little 5.
But I will say that it is nice to be appreciated, and it does feel good when somebody says nice job. Even though it is hard to accept a compliment. I just never know what to say, you know? "Thanks" sounds dumb. "Good, I'm glad you liked it" sounds arrogant. What are you supposed to say when somebody looks you in the eye and says, "I appreciate you?" For some reason, "Thanks, I appreciate that" just doesn't seem to sound right. I would rather say, "Thank you for noticing, thank you for appreciating, thank you for making a difference in my life by telling me that I made a difference in yours." But I don' t think that even cuts it.
But I digress.
Mike comes up on stage wearing a homemade headset microphone from a wire hanger and a dum-dum, wearing a T-shirt that looks suspiciously like one of my own, and carrying a guitar. I honestly didn't give a second thought to the guitar. I saw him coming down the hallway while playing the first song and thought, "OK, that's pretty funny. He's going to come up and do a little Jeff impersonation, that's a good one."
He comes up and says "I want to look like Jeff and play guitar like Jeff." I'm down on the floor enjoying him making a fool of himself:) But then he turns and asks me, "Hey, is this a nice guitar?"
I looked at the headstock and saw the name "Taylor." It wasn't until that moment that I realized that he was actually holding the very 714CE that I had been admiring at Guitar Center. Of course, I only played it and admired it as a very nice guitar, not something that I would EVER afford any time within the next 10 years.
Now it is sitting right here next to me, waiting for me to pick it up and play it. That's just crazy.
I mean seriously, at 5 years you are supposed to get a card and a gift certificate to Applebees. Maybe they send you away to a bed and breakfast for a night. But this? This is crazy. You don't just get your dream guitar as a surprise gift like that. That just doesn't happen.
This is actually quite humbling. To stand in front of the people and play the guitar that they put in my hands, well, that's really an honor. It's a responsibility too, to play it well and use it for the purpose it was given to me, to worship.
5 years ago I moved to Michigan, a 22 year old kid just out of college, with a guitar and nothing else. In the last 5 years he has given me a beautiful wife and a wonderful son, a mortgage and a couple of obnoxious dogs:)
And make that 2 guitars:)
If I may quote Chris Tomlin - how great is our God?!
posted by Jeff at 2:49 PM
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