The Piano Lesson

Today our family traveled to a college town about an hour and a half away because one of the professors offered to listen to Olga play and offer her some instruction. That in itself was a very kind and generous offer, but this young professor just happens to hold a doctorate in music, AND happens to be a Russian native! Clearly there was very little question as to whether we would accept her kind offer or not.

I've stopped being surprised at God's providence in the lives of my daughters, but I definitely continue to be humbled by it. We became aware of this professor last fall through a letter sent to Olga's and Nina's piano teacher (who has literally poured her musical life into my daughters!) inviting young students to play for her, and even attend one of her upcoming concerts. We marked our calendar and looked forward to the concert--which was a good 3-4 months away at the time.

The concert day arrived and we made quite a day of it! With a dear friend along for the adventure, Olga, Nina and I arrived on campus in the afternoon so that we could enjoy the campus, eat at a popular restaurant, and be early enough to get choice seats in the concert hall.

The concert was wonderful and ended much too quickly! We had hoped to have an opportunity to maybe catch the professor in the hall before the concert and introduce ourselves, but that didn't happen. So, with the encouragement and prodding of our dear friend, I asked a man and woman standing near the stage if they knew how we might meet the professor--who was now back stage. The woman gladly offered to help us and began to lead us back stage. Just as she was drawing the stage curtains back she casually commented that the professor was her daughter-in-law. After being introduced and warmly greeted, the professor encouraged Olga to contact her in the coming weeks so that she could arrange for Olga to play for her and receive some instruction.

All that to say this, today we had the joy of sitting in the professors office while she instructed and encouraged Olga--using the TWO Steinway baby grand pianos in her office. Yes, I'm easily impressed I suppose!

This all may seem rather dull or uneventful to some people, but you can't imagine what a thrill and encouragement it was to a young girl who just four and a half years ago not only had no home, but never received any training in music--much less the time or attention of such an accomplished young Russian-born pianist! As you can imagine, this sort of attention and encouragement would have been rare for an orphan--no matter how "accomplished".

You know, it's one thing for our daughters to be treated kindly by Americans who know them only as our daughters, but it's a very huge matter to them to be treated so kindly by a fellow-Russian, so far from "home". I am grateful that God moves in the hearts of such people to show even the simplest kindness and devote some of their precious time (the professor spent an hour and a half listening to and instructing Olga!) to encourage our two girls who have so much to give in return!

Oh yea, the fact that the professor teaches at the college where hubby and I met is just "icing on the cake". Go Pokes!