All in the family (almost)

G

od moves in mysterious ways. I know—that phrase has become a cliché, but it’s still true. God does move in mysterious ways.

Jeff, lead guitar and vocals

When we moved to Front Royal one year ago, I had to put away my bass guitar. It’s a very difficult thing to set music aside when you’re a musician. But I didn’t know any local bands that needed a bass player, so I just tried to cope without the guitar.

This past March I began to ride a bus from Front Royal to my office in Washington, DC. Having avoided public transportation for most of my life, this was a new experience for me, and not one I was really looking forward to. But I learned to appreciate it and it seemed to suit our family’s needs well.

Carla, flute (Jeff’s wife)

Wyatt, drums (Jeff’s son)

Then, while riding the bus home one day I noticed the guy in the seat in front of me flipping through some photos of very nice guitars. I asked who owned the guitars and the bus driver responded that they were his. These were really nice guitars—including the Ibanez Steve Vai signature guitar, a Gibson Explorer, an Eddie Van Halen look-alike guitar, and a Dean guitar that is beyond gorgeous—more than 20 guitars in the full collection. As I talked to him about his guitars I found out that he is the leader of a Christian band and that he had recently lost his bass player.

Stephanie, keyboards and vocals (Jeff’s daughter)

We weren’t able to work out the practice times and by the time I was able to figure something out, the bus driver’s daughter had joined the band on bass guitar. But Jeff (the bus driver) and I kept talking about the band from time to time.

Then, just about a month ago, Jeff’s daughter headed to Liberty University—leaving the band without a bass player again. So then a few weeks ago Jeff asked me if I would be able to join the band when they presented a mini-concert for a community outreach event at his father’s church. I immediately jumped at the opportunity and this past Sunday we played. And it was a blast. It was great to play my bass again and it was great to be included in a very good band, entirely made up of Jeff’s family members, except for me.

Corliss, keyboards (Jeff’s mom)

So, I have a tremendous amount to be grateful for. I got to play my bass—and might get to continue to do so. I’m playing with one of the best bands I’ve ever played with. It’s a Christian band. And I get to be part of it even though I’m not part of the family.

And, while I’m mentioning the family—they’re really great. They’re friendly; they’re talented; they’re fun. Even if I never got to play bass with them, I would consider myself blessed to have met them. The bass playing is just icing on the cake.

And there’s me, down at the end (Jeff’s friend)

Thank you, God. Your blessings never end.