I didn't take notes, I just enjoyed the fireside. But here are a few thoughts from what I can remember -
Michelle started the meeting, showing a picture of herself when she was like 10 or so - a cute girl with big front teeth, frizzy hair, and a look that, Michelle said, was probably wondering "Am I going to be okay? What does the future hold for me? Will anyone ever love me? Does God love me?" She showed a picture of Jon too. Then told of how they met and a few stories from their family's history. A lot of what the shared is in her book, like what Jon's mission president told him. Things that have happened to help them learn to know of God's love and to know they can trust Him to help them.
So a few things Jon said - he talked about how he and Michelle, and then he and the Piano Guys, often use "Prayer Lists". Like sometimes they just have so many things they need help with, that they can't remember it all, so they write it down. Then they pray and go over each thing. Jon shared that God is our Personal Assistant!! He loves us! He wants to help us! He is aware of what we need more than we are! He can help us! I had thought before that that was a bad thing, to treat God like he was my secretary - I got that idea from a talk that I loved, called "Return of the King" by Larry Wilson - here's the quote:
Each of us faces a choice. We can choose to see ourselves as the Lord’s servants and humbly seek to know what He wants us to be doing with the talents and time He has given us. As such, we can seek to enlarge His kingdom and prepare it for His return. Or we may imagine that the story is all about us. Too many fall into this trap. They forget that they are His servants and begin to imagine that He is theirs. They think erroneously that Christ came to make all their dreams come true. For those in such a trap, prayer becomes like dropping memos on a desk in a heavenly office: “Could you please take care of this as soon as possible?”
So maybe there is a difference between those two things: We can't treat God like a servant, but we can counsel with him and tell him what we think, then ask him for his assistance if that will work or if there is something more we should think of or be aware of. Anyway, I loved that thought that God is our Personal Assistant and to make Prayer Lists. It will give me a little more courage to come to him with my useless cares. I know there are such bigger problems in the world, but he still loves me, is aware of my struggles, and he will help me goo. So Jon said that when they were filming Fight Song, there were so many things that needed to happen. They had originally tried to film in Utah, but it wasn't great, and then an opportunity came to film at their dream location - the Eilean Donan Castle in Dornie, Scotland!! But - they were so many conflicts on their calendar, they didn't know how could they get over there to film it? They figured out that they could do it on a certain Monday and Tuesday in October. Then they found out that the weather there in Scotland in October was horrible - like horizontal rain all the time. Should they buy the airfare? Should they go forward with it? They wrote down all the things they would need, like good weather on that Monday and Tuesday. They would need to find a few other locations to film in a forest that would have proper lighting, etc etc. Oh, and they would need to be able to find a bagpipe band shortly after they landed. And they would need the people in that bagpipe band to all be available on that Monday and Tuesday for shooting. And they would all need to be able to learn the music in like an hour. Jon said it was kinda ridiculous all the things they needed. And for them to now ever to deny the miracles that happened would just be ingratitude on their part. But at the time, they didn't know if it would work out? Still, they felt okay about going forward, even with all the unknowns and uncertain details not figured out. So they bought tickets to fly and out. When they got there, they thought "It will be okay with God if we just go to the first hour of church and then leave to go find locations to film." So they decided that, said a prayer for confirmation, they all got up and then looked at each other with the same impression... "Nope, we're going to all three hours of church...." So off they went to church. In the 3rd hour, a sister came up and said "Do you guys need a bagpipe band? I am the president of a band. I could have them all there tomorrow...." (Miracle!) The weather was a little rainy on and off the first day, but was perfect on the Tuesday. Some people that helped them move the piano said told them about a place to film that would be perfect, a little place that only the locals knew about. It all came together bit by bit as they went forward with Trust in God. Then we watched this video at the fireside.
It was so funny, cause after it was over, Michelle stood and said "Doesn't that all look wonderful and beautiful!? But even after all the miracles that got us there, then the drone's battery died and people were jumping off the bridge into the water to save the footage!" So moral of the story - even an amazing song and video like that has a big messy story behind it! Life is messy, but we can still do beautiful and amazing things with God's help. Here is a little behind the scenes write up of Fight Song on the Piano Guys blog.
It was so great, and I was just so full of admiration of love for him and his wife. At the end he played "I Can't Help Falling in Love With You" by Elvis Presley. We were sitting on the 2nd row in the front by the piano, so we had a good seat. At the end Peter got a little fussy, so I was going to take him out but stood by the back door so I wouldn't miss the final song. I loved it.
It was great. And just a few more Piano Guys things - Beethoven's 5 Secrets is one of my favorites to listen to, especially when walking in nature or in the mornings.
When Stars and Salt Collide is beautiful! Their videos are as amazing as their music!! I wonder if each of these videos has a messy story behind it? Here is one more that was on their channel - a song Jon's son Spencer wrote, with Annie singing it in. They really didn't share that much about the hard trial they faced when Annie went missing, so go read MIchelle's book for that. One thing Jon said though, was that as they were praying to find her, and getting a little frustrated with what seemed like silence from heaven, they had to help each other trust God. Jon said a prayer, "God, we know that you know exactly where Annie is and that you could take us to her within 3 hours. But even if you don't answer our prayer right away today, please help us remember all the times that you have." And it still took several weeks, but he said that that prayer felt good, felt connected. And they went forward in faith. Now looking back, Michelle said, it was probably merciful that it took so long to find her and that there was so much rain calling off the search so many times, cause it helped Annie's body decompose. They said it would have been hard to find her body and have it look like her, but when they found it, it was really just bones, and that made it easier. They had impressions she had passed away early on, so they felt they were just looking for her body. Again, for more on that part of the story, read Michelle's book "Carried"
They will see her again. We will all see and be with our loved ones again, thanks to Jesus Christ. O Come, O Come Emmanuel (I hope Piano Guys get played on loud speaker during the second coming!)
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