Aight, peeps, this story is 'bout to blow yo mind cuz I went from a $200 guitar to a $2,000 one in literally three hours because Jesus. BECAUSE JESUS.
Buckle up.
It all started with a conversation I had with my pastor before worship band practice began. It was one we had maybe two years ago when I just started playing in the kid's worship team, and now that I'm in the big people band (that's what I call it), he brought it up again starting with the familiar, "Allison, you need a new guitar."
"Nah, this one's good." It played fine, it didn't need anything special, it wasn't broken.
And that was that.
But no it wasn't, because he then insisted I needed one--specifically a Taylor Guitar. Do you know how expensive those things are? All the money, I tell you. All of it. Preposterous, I thought, for the guitar I had been using for the last six years worked swimmingly for me and if my wallet could've talked to my pastor it would have said, "Nope. You cray."
"You have to confess that you have the money for it!" He said anyway. Good pastoral response. So a part of me said what I did to get the subject off my shoulders, but also a part of me thought what if?
So I said, "Fine. I will have $2,000 to buy a new guitar." You happy?
Apparently I sure was gunna be in a few hours.
---
I kid you not, people, I woke up that morning thinking I needed to make me some coffee because service was too early for me. But Jesus had a different plan in mind, I tell you, and I did not see it coming. After the service was over and I was preparing to put away my ordinary but highly appreciated guitar, a gentleman approached me and the first thing he said was, "You pick whatever guitar you want and I'll buy it for you."
I stopped and stared at him. "Are you serious?"
"Yes."
"...Are you serious, though?"
"Yes."
And my face contorted until I began to cry, and I probably cried four more times after that, because when I asked Jesus why, He told me it was because He loved me and He heard me.
Within the next three hours, this couple took me to the city and bought me a Taylor Guitar for $2,000 without even hesitating. I picked up the first one I saw and it was the last one I walked out with. I didn't know my pastor was so right that I needed a new one. It sounded so much better, made of wood that's custom tuned to the guitar itself, each Taylor being uniquely different than the next (if that doesn't represent me as a human, I don't know what does). So I traveled back home in a daze, my palm planted on top of an instrument worth so much and the entire time God kept telling me you're worth even more than this.
So I picked a suitable name for him, my Taylor Guitar--because, yes, I am that cheesy human being. With my recent love for Korea, I named him Sunsangji Hyeon. The name means Worthy Winner.
Every time I'll pick up Sunsangji Hyeon, I'll remember that I am worth more than an instrument, but that I was born to win things like it because the moment I was born, I was born to be loved by God.
And I think I could keep writing forever because this is a blessing that I will always be processing (and no word in any language could sum up the gratitude I feel toward the couple who generously blessed me), but I can end with a scripture that wraps it up all nice like a gift on Christmas morning:
"God can pour on the blessings in astonishing ways so that you're ready for anything and everything. more than just ready to do what needs to be done. As one psalmist puts it,
He throws caution to the winds,
giving to the needy in reckless abandon.
His right-living, right-giving ways
never run out, never wear out.
This most generous God who gives seed to the farmer that becomes bread for your meals is more than extravagant with you. He gives you something you can then give away, which grows into full-formed lives, robust in God, wealthy in every way, so that you can be generous in every way, producing with us great praise to God."
(2 Corinthians 9:8-11 MSG)
Now if you'll excuse me. I have lots of excited feelings I still need to process.
