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Saturday, July 21, 2012

A Good Night's Sleep

When my children were little, I used to tuck them in with reading books, prayers, fun little games, and end by singing,


Miss Daisy Fast Sleep
Sleep, sleep, 
God watches while I sleep.
When I close my eyes 
He helps me sleep, sleep, sleep. 

I'm in my fifties and sometimes I sing that song to myself to help me get to sleep. Not out loud. My husband might wonder about me.

About ten years ago I had a piano student, Mollie, who learned a lovely little piece in one of her method books. While she was playing it for me at a lesson one day, I thought what a fine little accompaniment that would be for the church's children's choir, SonShine Singers. 

So I wrote a simple melody that fit the accompaniment and in several weeks these children sang, with Mollie, about age nine, accompanying them at the piano. The text was a straight presentation of Psalm 4:8 . . .

I will lie down and sleep in peace,
    for you alone, O Lord,
    make me dwell in safety.

It all had a dreamy quality and the children's voices were clear and sweet in notes that were mid-to-higher pitches. Of course people were amazed that Mollie had learned such a difficult accompaniment. I prayed the children would have tucked that verse in their heart and it would come back often when sleep beckoned elusively, or the day had held hard things.

I learned about thinking in new ways from that experiment with Mollie's song, and later when another student, Catherine, had a little baroque-style piece that seemed perfect for an organ accompaniment, we did the same type of thing. This time I had her help write the text. We spent a month of lessons in the quiet and beauty of the sanctuary, learning about the manuals of the organ, some of the stops, and following a director out of the corner of one's eye. 

On an ensuing Sunday, Catherine sat robed and beaming at the pipe organ, wide-eyed eight-year-old, with her mother beaming too while sweating nervous motherly bullets in the pew. Miss C. deftly pushed stops, changed manuals, followed my directing, while supporting perfectly the voices of her friends in the choir. Mouths were agape and hearts aglow in the pews if I recall correctly. 

A little child SHALL lead them. Indeed. 

My latest video, a combination of a simply beautiful Chopin Nocturne and captivating photographs of my granddaughter Daisy (taken by her mom, a professional photographer) is my offering of the week for family and friends old and new. May the Lord help you get a good night's sleep tonight!

Daisy's Piano



 
Playing Chopin and More in Recital on July 8, 2012



You can download a free MP3 of the Nocturne here. Click on the gray downward arrow on the small tool bar.


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