I'm at the time in my life (summer before senior year of high school) where I get asked questions about my future... a lot! Where are you going to college? What do you want to do after high school? Aren't you going to be a nurse? Is music in your future? What did you get on the SATs? Are you looking for scholarships? ... and the list goes on and on. Halfway through my junior year of high school I relunctantly decided that I'd major in music in college after wanting to be a nurse for the previous three years. In my heart I knew I wanted to pursue music further, but in my head I thought nursing would be better for financial stability in my future. But music was (is) still my passion...as far as hobbies go. I knew either route I chose I could choose to glorify God and praise Him in everything. I've become more comfortable and excited about pursing music wholeheartedly.
This morning I read Psalm 150 and I got really excited. I decided when people ask me what I'm doing for the rest of my life I can read them Psalm 150 and say "I'm going to live out this Psalm." Or when they ask why I'm choosing to study music I can say, "So I can live out Psalm 150." Reading Psalm 150 assured me that God loves music, and while it plays a different role than a job in the healthcare field, it stil plays a vital role, and I'm confident I can be useful to God as a musician.
Psalm 150
Praise the LORD!
Praise God in his sanctuary;
praise him in his mighty heavens!
Praise him for his mighty deeds;
praise him according to his excellent greatness!
Praise him with trumpet sound; [I play the trumpet, so this was very exciting!]
praise him with lute and harp!
Praise him with tambourine and dance;
praise him with strings and pipe!
Praise him with sounding cymbals;
praise him with loud clashing cymbals!
Let everything that has breath praise the LORD!
Praise the LORD!
In five years, I don't exactly know where I see myself. Maybe I'll be teaching first graders how to read music or maybe I'll be conducting a middle school band. Maybe I'll be offering private trumpet lessons or teaching AP Music Theory. Wherever I am, though, I know that in it I can praise the LORD with the making of music!
Piano Literature Essay
12 years ago
Love this, Kari. I'm getting all the same questions too, right now. I'm also putting nursing behind and taking up a dual in Biology and Education (Lord willing). Financially: Not as good as nursing. But I figured "whatever you find to do with your hands, do it wholeheartedly as unto the Lord" would mean that it doesn't matter how much money I make or how famous I get, just how I do the work and the reasons I pursue it. :) Keep it up, Kari! <3
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