“Blessed
is the influence of one true, loving human on another.”
George
Eliot
Influences…they are all around us. Some of them good and some of them
are bad. Some of them have a lasting impact on us while some of them just
influence us for a moment. Still some emphatically shout out at us to change
while others quietly slip into our lives unawares. If you've never heard the song For Good from Wicked then I would recommend that you watch this video.
Any one of us can point back
to a life-changing moment in our history that influenced us on a career path, a
hobby, or a passion. I can point back to a few life changing moments in my
history. I am by nature a very impressionable person. I don’t know if it is
because I have a more open personality or what but many things have left their
mark on me. But this post is more about people than things. Many people have
influenced me along the walk of life. I should note here that my family and God
has influenced more than anyone else in this world. My parents where the ones
that shaped me (blame them!) and God is the one who has helped me to grow in my
Christian walk of life. The people I am going to talk about are people may not
necessarily know about their influence but they have each helped to influence
me to become who I am today.
The very first influential person I can remember was back when I was
maybe 7 or 8. (I’m not very good at synching up times and ages in my past but I
know I was around elementary age.) Her name: Jill Roscoe (now Czekalski). What
did she do? Played the piano, sang, and was (and still is) a marvelous
Christian lady. I started playing piano at my Babchi’s (Polish for Grandma) house
on her big organ when I was 5 or 6. The organ keys and organ books were
lettered and I would sit there and play forever. I absolutely loved it and from
then on became interested in music. I never thought about playing the piano
until I met Jill. She was a kind lady in her 20’s or so who played piano for
our church. I adored her and wanted to do everything like her. I wanted to sing
harmony like her, play like her, and when I grew up I would be like her. I have
never understood why I took a liking to her rather than others but some things
will always remain a mystery. I talked to my mom and started teaching myself
how to play the piano. I also started teaching myself how to sing harmony
(altos rock!!!). She still is an influence to me to this day and I will never
play piano as well as her but I hope to make her proud. Thank you Jill!!
The next influential person I want to talk about is Jill’s mom: Mrs.
Kathy Roscoe. She was our pastor’s wife who served the church in many ways. Now
she is fading fast and I may never get to speak with her to tell her on earth what
an influence she was but I know I will get to tell her in Heaven. When I attended
Chili Bible Baptist Church she taught the Sunday School class for my age. From
there, she influenced me to be a teacher. She gave me some of her old
flannel-graphs and I remember playing with them and “acting” out Bible stories.
To this day, every time I see a flannel-graph I remember Mrs. Roscoe and those
times “acting” out the Bible stories. When I teach my Pee-Wee club members, I
remember her teaching style and how creative she was. I know I wouldn’t be a
teacher if Mrs. Roscoe didn’t influence me in the way she did. She wrote me a
letter once telling me how well I played the piano and told me to always play
for the Lord. I still have that letter and treasure it. She will reach Heaven
soon and it will be a sad for a brief moment but I will remember those happy
moments. Thank you Mrs. Roscoe!!
If you would have looked at my life 5 or 6 years ago,
you would have seen a troubled young lady unsure of God, unsure of who I was,
and unsure of what I wanted to do. Since then I have re-dedicated my life to
Christ and every day I’m finding out more of who I am and what makes me tick.
All throughout college I kept praying and searching for what God wanted me to do
with my life. I cried and begged for God to show me but God knew my heart
wasn’t ready for the answer. I graduated from a Bible College not knowing what
God wanted me to do. I was confused and not at peace with my situation. In the
fall of 2010, my brothers invited me to see a magic show. The magician was a
Christian and they had gone to see him before. I was interested and curious
because they mentioned he did some of Houdini’s tricks. Houdini was amazing and
anyone who could do his tricks was top class in my mind. So I went along for
the ride and was totally amazed by the tricks I saw. His whole “theme” for the
show was Mayhem and Misdirection. He explained that some magic tricks use
misdirection as a tool to make “magic”. He tied that into modern day life and
how we can be distracted by the main task with so many different things. I
honestly don’t remember everything he said word for word (this was almost 2
years ago) but I remember that he talked about how the devil distracts us. Those
15 minutes changed my life. I knew that I was being distracted by other trivial
things in my life. I wasn’t focused on what God was really telling me to do so
I started concentrating and really praying on a direction for my life. The struggle wasn’t over as my stubborn self
refused to look right in front of me. If I would have, I would have found the
answer much sooner. In January of 2011, I attended a Kingsmen concert and God
confirmed in my heart that He wanted me to serve Him with music. Now all of you
are probably screaming at the computer saying “I knew that! Why wouldn’t you
think that?!” Don’t scream at the computer, use your inside voice. As I said, I
was stubborn and refused to look at what talents God had provided me with. I’ve
never spoken (really spoken) with Harris the 3rd before and I do look forward to
the day that I can tell him what God is doing in my life because of those 15
minutes. However, I was able to help him in his DVD project. He was in
influence to me so the least I can do is be a help to him. Thank you Harris the 3rd!!!
(If you want more
info on his DVD project here’s the link:
So to you three, thank you for influencing me in the
right direction. I hope to tell each of you in person someday how much of an
influence you all have been on my life. For now, this blog will have to do. There
are countless others I can mention: Mom, Dad, Eric, Joel, Melissa, Shoshanna,
Mrs. Brock, Mrs. Stearns, Mrs. Hinds, Mrs. Cornett, Mrs. Richardson, Mrs.
Giallourakis, Mrs. Washington, Pastor Sexton, Pastor Wolvin, Mrs. Wolvin, etc.
The list is never ending and I could go on forever but my mom says I ramble too
much so I won’t. I’ll end with a little thought: A little girl came up to me 2
Wednesdays ago and told me she wished she could play like me. It took me back
to the days I longed to play like Jill, the days I longed to teach like Mrs.
Roscoe, and the moment in time God called me to serve Him with music. The cycle
never ends and I hope to someday teach her. It’s my turn to carry the torch. Until next time,
Be Happy Being Single
Always Remember to Sing in the Rain
Christa
P.S. Soon more details on the giveaway to come.
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