One of my Heroes

I'd love to tell you about one of my heroes. When I first met this lady, I had no clue she'd play a huge part in my life. I took ballet when I was 5-6 years old, and I absolutely loved it! But my mom wanted me in something that could be used all my life, so she took me out of ballet and had me start piano lessons.

I'll never forget meeting Mrs. Hawfield - dressed like a real lady, red hair and bright red lipstick to match! This lady had the patience of a saint!! She had piano students day in and day out coming to her house. I was able to take lessons from her for about two years, and when I was nine, she was diagnosed with cancer and had to cancel teaching. Several months later she passed away.

Even though she's no longer here on earth, I still think about her often and I have SO many questions over the years that I wished I was able to ask her! So many times I've wanted to say THANK YOU for teaching me... Music is a huge part of my life and I owe a great deal of it to an amazing teacher who saw the potential and was willing to not hold me back for money, and let me learn at the pace I was going.

But above all the memories that I have of her - her counting "one, two, three, four...", little taps on my fingers when I didn't have them in the right place, the smiles and her bubbling personality - there's one I cherish most now that I'm saved.

Some of the things I learned from Mrs. Hawfield might've faded from my memory, but one phrase left a lasting impression on me. In the middle of our lessons she would say occasionally, "Oh, I love Jesus!! Don't you love Jesus?".  I'm sure if she said that to me, she must've said it to the hundreds of students she had over the years. A lot of them probably didn't know Jesus - maybe some of them weren't close to Him like they should've been... Looking back, she had the opportunity to share Jesus with so many, and she took that opportunity and shared it with a simple phrase:

"I love Jesus, don't you love Jesus?" 

One phrase you say can last someone a life time. What do you want people to remember you by?

Psalm 19:14 

"Let the words of my mouth, and the meditation of my heart, be acceptable in thy sight, O LORD, my strength, and my redeemer."