It’s Thursday, so don’t forget to pray for Jo, her former students, and the people of PNG.
Anyone else?
Psalm 55
1 Listen to my prayer, O God,
do not ignore my plea;
2 hear me and answer me
My thoughts trouble me and I am distraught
3 because of what my enemy is saying,
because of the threats of the wicked;
for they bring down suffering on me
and assail me in their anger.
4 My heart is in anguish within me;
the terrors of death have fallen on me.
5 Fear and trembling have beset me;
horror has overwhelmed me.
6 I said, “Oh, that I had the wings of a dove!
I would fly away and be at rest.
7 I would flee far away
and stay in the desert;
8 I would hurry to my place of shelter,
far from the tempest and storm.”
9 Lord, confuse the wicked, confound their words,
for I see violence and strife in the city.
10 Day and night they prowl about on its walls;
malice and abuse are within it.
11 Destructive forces are at work in the city;
threats and lies never leave its streets.
12 If an enemy were insulting me,
I could endure it;
if a foe were rising against me,
I could hide.
13 But it is you, a man like myself,
my companion, my close friend,
14 with whom I once enjoyed sweet fellowship
at the house of God,
as we walked about
among the worshipers.
15 Let death take my enemies by surprise;
let them go down alive to the realm of the dead,
for evil finds lodging among them.
16 As for me, I call to God,
and the Lord saves me.
17 Evening, morning and noon
I cry out in distress,
and he hears my voice.
18 He rescues me unharmed
from the battle waged against me,
even though many oppose me.
19 God, who is enthroned from of old,
who does not change—
he will hear them and humble them,
because they have no fear of God.
20 My companion attacks his friends;
he violates his covenant.
21 His talk is smooth as butter,
yet war is in his heart;
his words are more soothing than oil,
yet they are drawn swords.
22 Cast your cares on the Lord
and he will sustain you;
he will never let
the righteous be shaken.
23 But you, God, will bring down the wicked
into the pit of decay;
the bloodthirsty and deceitful
will not live out half their days.
But as for me, I trust in you.
Wandering Views 
This is minor compared to fires and hurricanes and serious health issues and other things we’ve been praying about, so I hesitate to bring it up for that reason. (But God delights in prayer for any reason, big or small, and the last time I pondered mentioning a small request, but didn’t ask because it seemed too minor, and then saw the issue escalate into something bigger… I decided I probably should have requested prayer…!)
Anyway, here I am, asking for prayer that I would confidently go into piano lessons without doing the level of careful planning I had gotten accustomed to the last few years, when I had many fewer students. With Student #17 starting today and #18 on Monday, I simply have not the time outside of lessons to plan like I did. Decades ago, I had more students and less experience than now, and I could do “fly-by-the-seat-of-your-pants” teaching fine. I know I could still do it, but I’ve gotten a bit fearful of the think-on-your-feet style of teaching after having turned to a very careful planning approach the last five years or so.
But spontaneity in the music lesson is good for a variety of reasons — for myself and my students — so I guess I’m asking that I simply trust God with the skills He’s developed in me and has yet to develop, and that I wouldn’t be afraid of flexibility on the spot.
Or something like that. 🙂 Thanks.
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That’s complicated, Six. But maybe the Lord can figure it out.
I’ll try it that way.
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Six, your careful planning will now give you the confident ability to do less planning. You have laid the foundation and may now confidently go forth based on that foundation. Blessings
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What Jo and Chas said, Six. Praying.
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Son’s girlfriend continues to block daughter and does not answer my inquiries as to baby and self. Grandmother did not answer either. Wisdom.
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Prayers for the requests ♡
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Six, I have a friend in her seventies who has taught many students piano. I am now curious about how she plans.
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Still praying for Michelle.
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Thank you. I put myself in time out an hour ago.
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Our poor community. Air quality: 271. It’s not very good here at the ocean, either, and an hour north 486.
The sheriff warned last night, “We’ll be on another roller coaster the next 36 hours. Take care of yourself.”
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Excited about and praying for Kare’s twins!
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Yep, it’s so fun to hear about Kare’s twins, Mumsee (and to pray for all the little ones around here)! 🙂
Thanks for all your prayers and kind words, everyone. Jo, I really appreciated your encouragement. So sweet. I went into lessons “cold” today — IOW, mostly unplanned (except for the lesson with the new girl I met this afternoon) — and survived. 🙂
Janice, I’m curious about how your piano teacher friend in her 70s plans, too. It was interesting to read recently in the comment section of a piano teaching blog how teachers are doing lesson planning. Most are, to varying degrees. One commenter said he didn’t, but rather preferred to always be spontaneous, adapting in the moment.
I guess I’m still doing some planning — more big-picture stuff like which Christmas songbook level to buy, or which goal (rhythm, technique, bass clef reading, etc.) needs to be the primary focus for the next several months.
None of the little details, like 5 minutes or 10 minutes for theory, X minutes for technique, Y for repertoire, Z for duet playing. Blah, blah, blah. I used to pencil out my plan in five-minute increments for each student, whether their lessons are 30, 45, or 60 minutes. Every student, every week. Finding the best balance for each unique student (and rarely following the plan to a T, anyway).
No more. Too much focus on the trees. I’m trying to look only at the forest now. Thanks for praying as I learn to release my grip on details, details and embrace some freedom on the fly. 🙂
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