Selective listening

Yesterday was one of those days. Send The Good Doctor off to church (of course). Take the kids to church. Photograph the final day of Murder Mystery Weekend. Pick up Mariana from a middle school church retreat. Drop her off at You're a Good Man, Charlie Brown rehearsal. Pick her up early from Charlie Brown rehearsal so we can travel to a concert about an hour away. Play said concert and come home. Somehow we kind of forgot about supper in there so got ice cream sandwiches on the way (because they are a very filling snack and will hold you over til after the concert, right?) and dinner at McDonald's on our way home at 9PM. Whoops.

It was a good concert, this time in a small church in the middle of nowhere in Lancaster County. They had advertised it in the newspaper and their church was packed, with about 75% being visitors. We weren't quite ready to add any of our new pieces (think 80s songs in the dark with glow sticks on our bows as one we're working on and a tribute to STOMP accompanied by strings as another new song) so for us it was the same old, same old "This is My Story" program. But since this was a new venue to us, in an area we've never played before, there were very few who had seen us perform previously. We never know what HopeAnne is going to say when she introduces herself and last night she went off on some story about playing in the neighbor's sprinkler last summer. Like we say, when you combine temperamental sound systems, string instruments, and kids, it's never the same program twice!

My favorite part of this concert was at the end when one of the church deacons came up to give the closing comments. He said he wanted to read a verse that seemed fitting for our family. He remarked that he had been reading in the Old Testament and had been struck by the mention of "increase" in regards to Israeli tribes and families. This may not have been exactly what he said, but I'm fairly certain he said it like this, "Recently I read this in the Old Testament, 'The LORD shall increase you more and more, you and your children.'" Well, this was too good to be true. "Wait!" I yelled excitedly. "John, did you hear that? I clearly heard him say we are to increase."

Alas, The Good Doctor did not hear things the same way. He claims the man said, "Recently I read Psalm 115: 14- 15 and it says, 'The LORD shall increase you more and more, you and your children. Ye are blessed of the LORD which made heaven and earth.' I believe this relates well to what The King's Strings shared with us this evening; if we spread God's light, His kingdom will be increased."

Really? Because I'm certain he said our family was to increase.