Monday, December 1, 2008

Diligence + Perseverence = His Dream Come True

In our fellowship, we have lots of  worship "teams".  Jeremy was asked to play the djembe one Sunday.  He practiced with the group of people and then played for worship.



Pretty soon other "teams" were asking Jeremy to play.  He was loving it.  He's been very busy lately - practicing several nights a week sometimes.  If I can't drive him to practice, they are kind enough to drive out here in the boonies and get him.

Sometimes, he plays congas....



I was watching him at a practice recently. He was playing a borrowed electronic set (another dream of his!).  It was the first time I have ever sat behind Jeremy when he was playing regular drums.  His drum set faces the door to his room - I've watched him practice from the front (while wearing earplugs...required if you are in the room with him while practicing) but his drums also hide, pretty much, what he is doing.



Sitting behind him was eye opening.  For the first time I could see that he was doing multiple things, to multiple beats while reading music.  Think "pat your head, rub your tummy at the same time" on steroids.  Both of his feet were moving...in different rhythms.  His hands were each doing their own thing....to a different rhythm...while he read....and listened to the other instruments each doing their own thing.  It made my head spin just to think about it....I still haven't mastered the "pat your head, rub your tummy at the same time thingy".  And he appeared to do it so effortlessly...

I sat there, behind him, with my mouth agape and tears in my eyes.  I realized for the first time how difficult this was and what a good job he was doing.  It suddenly wasn't just a "fun thing"....it was serious business and I finally understood it.  I was amazed.  I saw how all the work, the hundreds of hours over the last 6 years have paid off.  And I saw how much he LOVED it!

For Jeremy, to play with other people is the ultimate.  His dream is to "cut" albums and play with a group professionally that would take the gospel all over the world.  Being the sensible young man that he is, he does have a back-up plan.  However....he recently had the opportunity to fulfill part of his dream.

These young people go to our fellowship.  I encourage you to visit their site and listen to their music.  They write their own music, sing harmony and play multiple instruments....many instruments.....except drums.  Our families have spent a lot of time together worshipping...just for the love of worship and also to practice for worship at our fellowship.  Recently, they told Jeremy that they were cutting an album...and they asked him if he would be willing to play drums on some of the songs. I was amazed...I knew what this meant to him and he managed to answer yes without screaming and running around the room.  He told me later that it wasn't easy.

So...this month we took our first trip to a recording studio! It was fascinating.  Jeremy got to play the top of the line, electronic drum set of his dreams (it'll stay in his dreams too at $6,000!).  He was nervous at first but by the time they were done warming up he was having fun and not a bit nervous anymore.



He loved the drums!  It was hard to go home to his humble little pink set.



He was playing the congas on one of the songs.  Because they are accoustic and the sound could be picked up by the microphones for the other instruments, he had to go into a little booth to play. You can see him through the doors behind Angie.



The whole evening was fascinating.  We were there about 3 or 4 hours but it seemed much shorter than that.  I spent the evening in the sound booth, asked a ton of questions and enjoyed learning how albums are made.

I will forever be grateful to the Willis family for including Jeremy in this album (Thanks Willi!).  It was because of them that Jeremy was able to fulfill a desire of his heart that he has had since he was a child.

I have no doubt that I will visit a recording studio again to watch Jeremy play.  It has become apparent to me that our Father has gifted him in this area.  Jeremy was diligent in his practice, and he persevered even though there were limitations (no music lessons, not the best drums).  I believe that because Jeremy was faithful with "little" our Father will bless him with "much" and use Jeremy's gift to witness to the lost and to bring glory to the name of Christ.

My Grandpa would have said, "The boy done good."  My mama's heart would have to agree.

Blessings,

3 comments:

  1. I love that God has given us each different desires and talents!

    ReplyDelete
  2. i can't even imagine your gratitude and knowing your gratitude in little things and then this, i'll bet you were jumping up and down like a frog (inside of you of course!) my feelings exactly!!

    we ask you Lord to bless his comings and goings

    luv u guys (now you gotta a double whammy) he is drop dead gorgeous,now the drums and love the Lord with all his heart, whew what more could a girl ask for!

    ReplyDelete
  3. Jeremy's an awesome drummer. It was a great blessing to US to have him accompany us for the CD - I'm so glad we were apart of his dream!

    Can't wait to see you guys again! It seems like it's been forever... :-)

    -Kasie, for the Willi

    ReplyDelete

Related Posts with Thumbnails