The importance of a church home and a church family deserves a day all to itself. Having moved frequently, I have played the piano for many different churches, and have learned different aspects of being a church pianist in each place. No church is identical to any other, and the lessons learned in each church have been unique. Each church has contributed to my foundation, both as a pianist and as a Christian.
At Faith Baptist Church in Kaiserslautern, Germany, I began to learn what it means to play for a church: the combination of nervousness, responsibility, nervousness, joy, and more nervousness (I was still pretty young!).
In the following years, I played for churches across the United States. In Renton, Washington, I learned what having a church family really means. In Hawaii (where we had open windows for air conditioning), I learned how to deal with wind-blown sheets of music! But I also learned how to accept gracious hospitality during my first time living away from my parents. In Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, and Alvin, Texas, and Windsor, Colorado, I learned to value the crucial importance of Christian friends and the special closeness of a small church family. In the large churches I attended in Houston, Winston-Salem, and Jacksonville, Florida, I learned all new things: the multitude of talented people and the ability to reach out to the congregation and the community in so many ways amazed me.
In all these churches, God taught me, and led me closer to him. In all these churches, thanks to those who became my second family, my foundation has been developed and solidified. Our church families are one very vital means through which we, along with God, develop our foundations.
And let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds, not giving up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but encouraging one another—and all the more as you see the Day approaching.
Hebrews 10:24-25