Recap:
So, this past Monday I began an exciting new journey!! I am officially *drum roll, please*…a music teacher!! A very excited one at that!
This has been a LONG time coming; just had to wait for the right time and opportune moment, and it did, indeed, arrive. It was about 5 years ago that my own music lessons subsided. I took piano lessons for at least 6 years, guitar lessons for 8 years, and voice lessons for the last 3-5 years (still taking voice!)…I can’t remember! Either way, music is a very big part of my life and who I am. In and of itself, music is magic; that is the only appropriate word to associate with the wonders of music! There is so much to learn and refresh my mind about going into teaching. I haven’t been in lessons as a student for a while now, so you could say I’m a bit rusty in the theory/terminology department…
In case you haven’t caught on, I am a musician (haha!). Guitar and piano are my main instruments, as well as my voice, and I play ukulele, and am learning dulcimer and mandolin! One day I would love to learn the harp as well as more percussion instruments. Though I’ve not had music lessons myself recently, I keep up with playing by performing locally and through my church, collaborating with siblings and friends, and have been recording as well which is SO fun!
The last 3-4 weeks I’ve been preparing for this new adventure, new chapter, new journey, and I’m just so excited!! I expect to learn more than my students and I’m very grateful for the Lord opening this door!
To view some of my music, click here: http://www.soundcloud.com/jennifer-barger-7
Any who!
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With all that said, there have been many days where I wake up and wonder “What am I doing in/with my life? What am I doing with my time? Where is my heart? What are my true passions? WHY isn’t everything blatantly obvious and clear as day so I don’t question my existence all the time?!?!?!“…as dramatic as that sounds, it’s true. I question myself and life quite often, especially in times of feeling like I have no direction or goal to go towards. Let me tell you, having multiple interests or abilities is not easy. Especially if you’re like me: very organized, detail oriented, pretty perfectionist person with many interests who doesn’t want to fail at even one, doesn’t know where to start, and wants to know and do every little thing to complete excellence all at the same time! There are so many things I love to do, but often wish I just had one interest or hobby to focus on and be really good at; I suppose the balance of having multiple interests is something to work towards this year.
It is inevitable not to fail, and mistakes will be made, time will be spent and seemingly wasted sometimes, and then you find yourself in those depths of despair moments asking “what is life?”, haha…but that’s okay.
IT IS OKAY!
Reality Check: You do not need to be perfect; that’s unrealistic anyway. You do not need to know 110% how to do every single thing! You just need to go. Start. Do what you know you love now, be open to opportunities and experiences that might sound odd or different at first. Take a chance on a dream and see what happens. You never know until you start, and that is one of the BIGGEST lessons life has been teaching me through the years! Where God has me, today, right now, is exactly where He wants me and even needs me, and it is okay if the high standards and expectations I’ve set for myself haven’t been reached yet. It is okay if my life is going at a different pace than others. It is okay if there are big, or small, set backs throughout my journey. It is okay…
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To be honest for a moment, I sort of lost my main train of thought with this post!! It came to me, but then it got all jumbled in my head…so hopefully the above makes sense! There are many topics I am eager to incorporate in these posts, and each week will be different; either a recap of the week, an intro to a coming week, a mind dumb, a bible study, specific topic of interest, a prayer, etc…just hoping to be inspired again to share through writing; it is one of my favorite things and has been very missed!!
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Here’s to week 3…I’m excited for this week as I take the next 5 days to retreat to the mountains away from most technology and the busyness of life! Father, I ask for you to use this time away from every day stresses and schedules to open my heart and my mind to know you more, to trust you more, and to let go much much MUCH more of the worries of this world. You are good, Lord, and you are using all these trivial things in life for our good. Thank you for your faithfulness! Thank you for your love for us and for your truth which, if we humble ourselves, will set us free. Bless those who have stopped by today to read this post. May you be a present and living and breathing source of joy, peace, healing, and love in their lives this week. I love you, Lord, and pray in Jesus’ name, amen!
Jenny~
Jennafifi 