The Piano

You know when you really want to do something or you really want something to happen, but the timing isn’t right? Everybody has experienced this at some point in their life- or maybe it’s a weekly experience or a daily one for you right now. Generally, if you ignore the fact that the timing isn’t right and you press on to do or get the thing you want anyway, it doesn’t go well or turn out as well as it would have if you’d just waited. 

Last Fall I wanted to paint our piano. Our piano had been lovingly passed on to us by some dear family friends, the Hirschy’s. Tracey (the wife/mom of the Hirschy tribe) had welcomed me into her home right after I started my MK business (literally, I hadn’t been a consultant for a whole month yet, but she heard about one of our new skincare lines, went to the MK website, searched for consultants near her, and picked me). I received my first MK inventory order in the mail just a couple days before she contacted me. If she’d called me a mere 3 days sooner and asked if I had product in stock for one of her daughters to try, I would have had to say, “No” instead of “Yes, I can bring it over this afternoon.” 

When I walked into her house it felt just like mine did growing up: safe, comfortable, lived-in (but not dirty), Spirit-filled. She offered me tea in a beautiful tea cup as I sat in their kitchen getting to know one of her girls and her skincare needs. When I left I had that, “But I really don’t want to leave,” feeling. That’s how people always were in my parents’ house growing up… people just never seemed to want to leave. I did leave her house, obviously, but Tracey didn’t realize at the time that she’d sort of inherited me that day. In the years to come she’d become a close friend who I’d turn to for advice, confide in, entrust her girls with the care of my children (and to be honest, she entrusted me as one of their first employers- you know it goes both ways), and I’d ask her a question that completely changed our life in Central Arkansas, “Where did you send Ben (your son) to Mother’s Day Out?”

Long story short, I drove across the river to a Baptist Church in Little Rock where she’d sent her son to MDO, and it became our home (church + school) for several years. We even moved across that river just so we could live closer to it and be more involved there. During those years, I met women through church/school who have become some of my absolute dearest friends, other families who became like family to us, and there my children began to hide the Word in their hearts. 

During the pandemic, Tracey and her family followed the Lord’s calling to move to a city a little farther north and decided they wouldn’t be taking their piano with them. So, they gave it to us, and what a gift it was! 

If you’ve followed me on Instagram for awhile, you’ve seen countless stories of my kids sitting at it either by themselves or with grandparents and great-grandparents. It quickly became a fixture in our home that I could hardly remember life without. 

Last Fall, when I told David I wanted to paint the piano he kindly replied, “You really shouldn’t.” 

He didn’t mean that I shouldn’t because I couldn’t. He meant that I just shouldn’t right then. The timing wasn’t right. And painting the piano was going to take time. Something I didn’t have in that particular season of our life. 

Fast forward to January 2023. I’m not exactly swimming in free time, but a couple weeks ago I was in need of an in-home diversion. 

The first time I met with my psychiatrist* was a couple days before everything shut down. During that appointment he asked me what I like to do for fun AT HOME. 

“I like to paint,” I answered. “Walls and furniture. Not canvases or water colors or things like that.”

“Perfect. Then you need to paint,” He instructed me. (And the nurse in me squealed inside that I had just been given doctor’s orders to paint!) 

“And learn," he said. "Learn different ways to paint walls and furniture. You have to have an outlet at home that is JUST for fun. And this one is perfect.”

So, back to the piano. I didn’t have a whole weekend or even an afternoon to dedicate to it, but I had a little time here and there during the month of January when I could sit for 10, 20, 30 minutes and get a coat on or paint ever so carefully just above the keys. It was exactly what I needed these past couple weeks. The timing may not have been right in the Fall of 2022, but the timing was perfect January 2023. 

The truth is sometimes the timing just isn’t right. And it’s easy to get frustrated in those moments (or seasons). So, I want to encourage you, when you find yourself disappointed or frustrated because it just isn’t the right time, or your time, or there isn’t enough time, that the same God who created you also created time. When you surrender your life to Him, that includes your timeline. There will be plenty of “not now” or “not for you” moments, or seasons, or maybe it will be "not ever" during your lifetime. But there are also “here you go” moments and seasons if we remember to look for them. And, it’s a good idea to find a way to remind you of them. 

For me, every time I pass this piano I remember Tracey- that God knew I would need her, and He orchestrated our meeting through the internet of all places. That was His timing. 

When we chose to move across the river to Little Rock, we did it mere months before the pandemic, and I can’t tell you how many times during the pandemic we praised God because He had provided a bigger home (with a better yard) for us to live in during it. 

God knew I was going to need to be under the care of my psychiatrist before the pandemic started too. So, He used the right people to show me I needed help enough weeks in advance so I was able to get an appointment days before in-person visits became impossible. 

Whatever it is you’re waiting on, or whenever you get frustrated because the timing just wasn’t or doesn’t ever seem to be right, take heart. Look and see where the timing has been just right. And remember we serve a God who is always with us, no matter the timing. 

In Him, 

Lindsay

*LR / Central Arkansas friends, if you need a psychiatrist, I cannot recommend mine highly enough. Please reach out if you’d like for me to send you his information.