I had an interesting experience this week. I sing in a classical choir that rehearses on Tuesday nights, and at my first rehearsal on the 19th we worked on some stuff that I couldn't sing! Or more accurately, I couldn't sight read, but that amounts to the same thing in the middle of a rehearsal. It's a little harsh on the mixing of the voices when the entire Alto section cuts out in the middle of a piece. Not so good.

So last week I practiced those couple of pages like mad. The music was incredibly tough, the words were all over the place, and to top it all off, there's nowhere to breath for at least four pages. (Ah, I love that kind of music, truly.....) By the day before this week's rehearsal I had it - finally!

When we got to that spot in the rehearsal, I was so excited! And although I bombed the first run through (it is harder with the other seven parts singing at the same time!), I nailed it the second time through. In fact, I got it so solidly and so accurately that my conductor stopped at the end and said, "Karyn, you're amazing" in front of the whole choir.

So I spent a little time blushing and not knowing where to look, and wondering if someone had all of a sudden turned up the heat in the room, but the truth is that there is absolutely nothing better than receiving a compliment from Wes in the middle of the rehearsal. He doesn't do it particularly often, as he expects a high level of musicianship and commitment from everyone in the choir. The possibility of hearing his praise is not the reason that I practiced hard, nor something I was expecting that I should hear after all my hard work. I practiced because I love what I do and am committed to it. But, boy, that compliment was great. One of those lasts me a long time, let me tell you.

So in the days following I got thinking about this, and I noticed that it has a familiar ring to it. This scripture keeps coming to mind:

"His master replied, 'Well done, good and faithful servant! You have been faithful with a few things; I will put you in charge of many things. Come and share your master's happiness!'" (Matthew 25:21)

Well done. Words that we are all likely hoping to hear on the day we finally meet the Lord face to face. Words not that we have worked just to hear - we have worked for love of the Father and commitment to what we know to be true and good - but words that will be great all the same.

I have a passion for the ministry of the gospel and for the glorification of God. But I want to work hard not to prove that I am worthy, but so that this passion and obedience will overflow into every area of my life. I want to never tire of what I am called to do, but always find the same joy in it as I did when I first started.

I do want to hear the words, "Well done, good and faithful servant." But just like my choir music, I don't want to work for the words. I want to work from the passion inside of me. May it always be so.

Karen in the Great Hall at Edinburgh Castle:



















Outer wall of the Abbey at Holyroodhouse Palace (Edinburgh):



















Just outside Iona Abbey on the Isle of Iona (Scotland):



















A building on the grounds of Iona Abbey (actually the one at the end of the path in the picture above):



















Shadows on the floor of Iona Abbey:



















Beach on the Isle of Iona:

Just a few pictures from Scotland. You'll see why I'm dreaming of my next trip there already....



















Scots Monument, Princes Street, Edinburgh
















Edinburgh from a different viewpoint (a canon at Edinburgh castle).




















The grounds at Holyroodhouse Palace in Edinburgh.




















Karen with her first piece of heather.




















View from the Oban-to-the-Isle-of-Mull ferry.

I had the coolest word from God today - I thought I'd share it, because it just shows how brilliant God is.

I'm preaching on Sunday morning. Now, when I'm preaching on a Sunday morning, I like to know generally what I'm going to be preaching on by about Monday afternoon. Now, I could actually write the sermon on Saturday - I often preach better when I do that - just as long as I know what the subject is.

The process for figuring out what to preach on is simple - pray and listen. And sometimes wait as well. Mondays are prayer days. But for some reason this Monday I didn't hear anything about what to preach on. No sweat - I should find some time on Tuesday.

Today is Tuesday. This morning when I was getting ready to go to work, I asked the Lord again what I was supposed to preach on. He asked me if I was listening. So I stopped what I was doing and listened. He said, "The art of worship."

Ummmm......what? What is THAT? Did God turn into a Newfoundlander and speak to me about the "heart" of worship with an accent? (My Newfie co-worker assures me that then it would have been "d'art of worship." Weird.)

And then the day began, and it wasn't until about 3:00 that I had a chance to sit down at my computer and listen again and hope and fervently pray for either a better answer or at least an explanation of what the "art" of worship is.

So I asked the Lord what the art of worship was. And this is what I heard:

'The art of worship is the execution of worship - the playing out of the heart that overflows “with a good theme.” The things that are done to glorify My Name and to outwardly express the heart that is living as a worshipper. '

Seriously - I think God is BRILLIANT.


My heart overflows with a good theme; I address my verses to the King; my tongue is the pen of a ready writer. (Psalm 45:1)

Well, I thought the next blog opportunity would only end up holding some pictures of Scotland and England, but I find instead myself musing on the faithfulness of God.

God told me over 6 years ago that I would go to Scotland. Six years can be a long time to wait (and to wait with a measure of patience and faith!). But now that this stage of the promise is done and I have seen how God has chosen to be faithful to fulfill it, 6 years seems short. There are other promises that God has given me - some have been around for shorter than 6 years; some have been around for much longer. I wonder if it will seem a short time to wait once they are fulfilled? It's hard to believe just now that I will be amazed at their speed, but I imagine I will, at least in some way. It reminds me that though we are extremely linear in the way we think and the grasp we have on time and its passage, God is actually the Creator of that time and the way it passes. We cannot complain that He has forgotten us; His manner of fulfilling promises is perfect, always perfect.

I can just imagine Abraham, waiting for the promise to be fulfilled that he will be a father of nations, and at nearly 100 years old thinking that God forgot or changed His mind, or perhaps that he, Abraham, had been mistaken in what he thought he heard. Maybe people even tried to talk him out of believing in the promise. And I wonder what he felt when he died still the father of only a handful of offspring - not enough for a nation. But God fulfilled His promise, and in not very many generations to come.

God is faithful.

Once when I asked the Lord for a word for someone I hadn't yet met, He told me that she was faithful. But when I was looking for a scripture to give to her about her faithfulness, I searched the whole Bible and only found passage after passage that spoke of GOD'S faithfulness.

I think there's something in that....

If you're waiting to see the fulfillment of a promise that God has given you - whether a journey, ministry, wisdom, freedom, healing, fullness or something else - be encouraged.

God is faithful.

I thank my God every time I remember you. In all my prayers for all of you, I always pray with joy because of your partnership in the gospel from the first day until now, being confident of this, that he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus. (Philippians 1:3-6)


ALMOST FORGOT TO POST THIS AS WELL:

I'm back from Scotland and England!! My heart is too full to try and condense the experience into a few words on a blog, but the trip was fantastic and Jesus was all over it and through it. I'll start you off with one picture - there will likely be many more to come.

Karyn meets William Wallace (and though I'm trying to look scary I couldn't stop laughing - it's an interesting effect, don't you think? Not sure it would scare the English much....):