I have watched my son Newell as he has grown into music over the last 10 years since he was born and I have tried not to push him too much into a love – hate relationship with music. I had come to accept that he was serious when he would say “I don’t really love to play the piano. I would rather learn how to make cool Lego stuff”. Although I know that in our family, music is kind of front and center, I’ve always promised myself that I wouldn’t spend my life displacing my children’s dreams with my own.
Olivia took to the piano quite naturally and astounded us with her seemingly effortless ability to throw her fingers on the keys and hit a group of notes that would fit so well together we had believe that she must have a thousand angels guiding her as she poured out like an endless spring.
Meanwhile, Newell was analyzing his Lego pieces and thinking critically on every new assembly. He was accurately placing each little piece so that we would see every detail of a cohesive whole. Whether it be a space ship, or a building, or some kind of Bionicle creature, he would invest himself into every detail with an amazing ability to see what others didn’t from a bunch of random pieces of plastic. “He is going to be an engineer or do something with science!” I thought. Olivia was destined to be the musician, singer, worship leader, composer. And I still believe that. For her, playing piano and singing and performing are as natural as, well, a flowing spring of healing water! What I didn’t expect was that all of the analytical and critical observations that Newell would make as he assembled his Legos was coming from the same mind that would one day wow an audience as he performed in a piano recital at age ten with the same attention to detail guiding him through some very intricate music! Oh sure, there was the usual nervousness, but what I heard from both of my children was the powerful affirmation that music is here to stay, and I look forward to seeing what the future holds for these two gifts from God as they manifest His love through all they do! Newell and Olivia, I’m proud of you!