Linda’s. Mine has been with me 61 years. The hand-written receipt in the case shows payments made by parents, $10 and $20, until the total price of $150.00 had been paid. My violin is 
valuable. It wasn’t new in 1953, but it has been the way I most intimately express extreme joy, grief, rage. Our Lord allows me sweet communion with Him through it that has nothing to do with either my technical ability or its quality. It’s more like an entreating soul offering the plea: “Lord, this is unworthy of You, but in Your grace, please accept it. You give life. You give the gifts of music and the instrument. You allow me still to play it. It’s all I can do right now. May it honor You, Lord!”
Constance’s. This violin was lovingly carried from the United States by dear friends. It was a seemingly spontaneous gift from a church member who knew nothing of either my student’s dream for a violin or of the email request I’d just made on her behalf. My jaw dropped when my friends apologized, tongue-in-cheek, for bringing an unsolicited violin half way ‘round the world. In front of me was an instrument of substantially better quality than anything obtainable here.
The instrument tells a story. Its surface reflects years of use; a note inscribed on the inside opposite the sound holes reads, “Repaired in 1941.” It is a good instrument with a unique tone. Getting it ready for Constance was easy; it only needed polishing, new strings, and a new bow. I wonder if the kind person so many miles away can guess how our Lord will use this violin to encourage Constance, help her find her voice, and transform her life and, through her, future generations?
Editor’s note: Thanks to Linda for sharing this “God-incident.”
Every good and perfect gift comes down from the Father who created all the lights in the heavens. He is always the same and never makes dark shadows by changing. James 1:17
