Songs in the Night

We had to talk Mom K into going to the German restaurant for the Oktoberfest. I had called ahead to see if we would need reservations.
"No reservations accepted, and it will be mobbed," the manager said,"There will be a line."
"We are bringing an 88 year old woman in a wheelchair. She was born in Germany and it will mean a lot to her," I explained, "But she will not be able to wait long."
"I will make an exception," he said, "Be here at 5. We will have a table for you."

I was thrilled to see the menu was not only in English, but in her native language of German as well. We ordered all the traditional German food and she ate heartily. The Biergarten with all the music and dancing was in a huge tent outside the restaurant. Our dinners bought us free admission to the festival. When we finished our delicious meals, I asked Mom K if we should go listen to the music. Mom K didn't seem terribly excited by the idea, but I told her it was free, we may as well go check it out for a few minutes. She squinched her face and waved away the idea with her hand. Maybe just one song? Ok, one song would be ok.

We wheeled her into the tent and up close to the stage where there were some old men dressed in lederhosen with an accordion, and tuba, drums, and saxophone. The music began and while little children polkaed on the stage, I noticed Mom K begin to sway to the music. And then I saw her singing along in German. We stayed a half an hour. She sang each song in German with the old men in the lederhosen.
"Are you enjoying this?" I whispered in her ear.
"I feel I am home," she said, "If I could stand up, I would dance."

As we left, I asked her, "Did you like it?"
"Yes," she said, "It brought back memories. It made me feel...."
She struggles to retrieve words at times, and here she paused and then tapped her heart while trying to bring out the thought.
"....made me feel warm hearted," she finished, smiling at me.
"Would you like to come again?" I asked.
"Yes, to listen to the music," she answered.

Sometimes it is the things we fight against, that will disrupt our schedule, that we don't feel will be worth the effort that end up making us feel 'warm hearted' in the end. And remembering our songs in the night drifting from the past can sometimes even remind us that our future will be worth the effort as well, that our travels in time were never journeyed alone. We were always being accompanied side by side with One who knew the Way. And when not accompanied alongside, carried.

Psalm 77:5-6,19 (NIV)
I thought about the former days, the years of long ago; [6] I remembered my songs in the night...
[19] Your path led through the sea, your way through the mighty waters, though your footprints were not seen.



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