how many apples are in a seed

Lilly is my daughter with a poetic soul.  She’s always got a song going, and she’s started journaling, writing poems that may one day turn into songs.  She’s got this raspy, soulful voice that is uniquely her own, and I love to hear her sing.  We surprised her this Christmas with a guitar of her own, thinking that we might be able to stoke the fires of songwriting and help her express those songs that live in her heart.

She and I started guitar lessons today.  That’s a mighty fine C chord that she’s rockin right there, isn’t it?  And yes, that’s an autograph on that guitar.  I’m not keen on autographs, especially on guitars, but it’s Steven Curtis Chapman‘s autograph, so that’s entirely different!

I don’t know how long it’ll take her to get “good” but I do know that there are no shortcuts. If she’s going to find her inner guitar player it’s going to cost lots of hours.  She’ll have to endure sore fingertips until the callouses form.  But if she develops a love for playing guitar this can open so many new avenues for her.

She may never find herself on the stage of an auditorium.  The odds are against her recording a hit song.  But if she finds that she’s able to capture the melodies that are in her heart and give them a voice, an expression…

Some wise person once told me that you can count the number of seeds in an apple, but you can’t count the number of apples in a seed.  I’m hoping that we’ve planted a seed in Lilly that will bear fruit in songs of praise, in the songs of her heart.

I love the fact that some of my children are musically inclined.  I want to encourage them, to help them, to challenge them to mine the depths of the things that they’re interested in.it in songs of praise, songs that pour from her heart.