TITLE: A Symphony of Miracles Book 2 Chapter 30 God's will for my Gift 11/23/14 By Richard McCaw 11/23/14 |
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Chapter 30
God’s Will for My gift
When I operated a music studio at home, two experiences proved to me that God deposits good gifts in us which were meant to bless others
I often heard a Christian brother who lived below my second floor apartment, with great determination faintly strumming hymns on a keyboard.
One day our conversation went something like this: “You know Brother McCaw, I lost two of my fingers, but I really love music and one day I am going to really play. Sometimes I play at church for the services.’
“How did you lose your fingers?” I asked.
“One day I was doing some carpentry and the saw slipped,” he almost whispered emotionally, “and cut off my two fingers. But thank God, I still have these three. Nothing is going to stop me! I think God has given me a gift and I’m giving it back to Him.”
A student who proved the point was Joy Walker, who had been progressively losing her sight.
Now she could have said to herself, “I’m losing my sight. I’ll soon not be able to see at all so I may as well give up. Somebody will have to lead me around. I’ll be an invalid for the rest of my life.”
Or she could have said, “I’m too busy studying Braille for when I’ve completely lost my sight.”
Yes, people become so busy they have no time to develop the gift God has given them. They then live monotonous lives that are dreadfully unfilled.
Perhaps Joy could have sought to change careers that would fit her dire situation. Or she might have thrown herself completely in depression and felt forced to seek psychiatric help. However, every Tuesday and Thursday she would attend the Studio for lessons, and also to practice. When she first came, I carefully explained to her what I would be doing. I placed a tape recorder with a cassette of a piano course I had created for anyone wanting to play by ear.
“Joy,” I said. “Listen to this cassette of the “Playing by Ear” Course I have written! You can stop the tape recorder whenever you wish. If there’s anything you don’t understand or of which you’re not completely sure simply rewind and play it again.”
She nodded with a little smile around the corner of her mouth.
“When you understand a point, stop and practice! I will check on you occasionally.”
“Suppose I really don’t understand something after listening several times?” she asked.
“I’m not going to be far away,” I assured her. “Just call if you need me.”
She was the first student, who tested this method in the Studio. Eventually, she was playing by ear for church, and later composed a March for the Choir Master’s wedding.
With that success, I started to put the courses on stencil, and began experimenting with a Mail Order School of Music. I also created several other courses, including more “Playing by Ear” Piano and Guitar courses.
At twenty seven years of age, I had a large number of students in my Studio at Old Hope Road. I experimented with various students to find out the most effective way to get someone to play the piano in the shortest possible time and eventually began recording these courses on cassette.
Later,I advertised regularly in local Jamaican newspapers, and students from several parishes began applying for home study courses. At the same time, “Caribbean Challenge,” a monthly Christian magazine that reached the Caribbean, England, and Africa, began publishing my short stories. Not long afterwards, “Cary Crusoe,” a six part serial I had written about a teenage boy in school, was published, and in exchange, I was given free advertising space.
Shortly afterwards, hundreds of inquiries began flowing in from the Caribbean and the Bahamas. I was becoming well known to many churches in Kingston, and God was teaching me how to operate a home based mail order business to provide for my needs and at the same time taking His Word overseas.
God says in His Word: “A man’s gift shall make room for him, and he shall stand before great men!” Gifts God bestows on us open doors of witness, and bring financial blessings to our households.
Bezaleel, a diligent and talented worker in the time of Moses was a man anointed with the Spirit, in wisdom, knowledge, and every workmanship, to devise cunning works in gold, silver, brass, cutting and setting stones, and carving timber. His gift provided an honest livelihood when the tabernacle in the wilderness was being built.
Joseph showed leadership skills in the house of Potiphar. While in prison he interpreted dreams. Later, before the King of Egypt, his gift of interpretation opened doors for him to become the governor of all Egypt, so that he could provide adequately for his family.
Listen to King David’s prayer of thanksgiving to the Lord: “Yours, O Lord, is the greatness... Yours is the kingdom, O Lord, and You are exalted as head over all.” Near the end of the prayer, he declares, “all things come from You, and of Your own we have given You!”
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