I was recently on an orchestral tour which ended in tragedy, with the death of a tour member and the hospitalisation of another. I’m not going to go into details, but I’d like to share some thoughts.

We were called down to the lobby around 6.40am, being told an accident had occurred. After we were told the news, we were told to call our parents to let them know we were ok, as names had not been released. At that point, I realised that the only thing I could do was pray. I had a quick prayer in the lobby, then headed up to my room to call my parents and fiancee. I then sent a message to a number of people in Perth, asking them to pray. I then prayed myself.

For about half an hour, I prayed forhealing for the boy still in hospital, I prayed for the boys families, I prayed for everyone on tour. Over the course of the day, I felt God’s arm around me continuously, feeling strongly his presence with each prayer sent his way from Perth.

I would pray often through that day, each time feeling a strong sense of peace through Christ.

It cemented in my mind that prayer works. Whether petitioning for healing, or other concerns, or just entering into communion with God, prayer can have incredile effects – sometimes what we want, sometimes what we need, sometimes an answer in a different form.

I will continue praying about this event, and would ask that you do as well.

I hope that you all had a wonderful Christmas, remembering the real reason for the season – Christ was born, who came to die for our sins so that we can have a full relationship with God.

I’ve recently been stressing over a major decision that I will share shortly. I know the decision is the right one, it’s just how I do it – I want it to be perfect. I’ve received advice from a large number of people, often conflicting opinions, and that made me double guess myself, made me start to rethink and wonder whether the decision was the right one.
On my way to work today I discovered/realised in my thoughts that what others think doesn’t mater. Whatever I do, however I do it, will be perfect for that occasion. And while we might consider things that might have gone better, we can’t change the past, and if we accept that it was perfect as it was, then it is much better for our mental health.

For example, I switched schools at the end of year 10, receiving a music scholarship to another school. I didn’t exactly fit in there, was teased, and went through feelings that, if they had been diagnosed, would be very close to depression. There have been times where I wished I hadn’t changed schools, that I had stayed and received 1-on-1 TEE music Tuition. However, looking back now, if I had a chance to do things over again, to do things differently – I wouldn’t. While I had that really tough time in year 11 and 12, it helped me discover things about myself that have made me who I am today. Had I not discovered those things then, I might still be searching for them today.

So I will go with what I think is the way to do it, and it will be the right way for that time. God will help me out, and through him, anything is possible.

Today we look at perhaps the world’s first virtuoso. His skills on the violin brought many to think that he had conspired with the devil to achieve such feats. His compositions today are still some of the hardest ever written for the violin, and require great technical mastery of the instrument. Niccolo Paganini, born on this day in 1782. Continue reading →

I got tagged in a meme by Anna Hill, which I’m most grateful for, not only for the hopefully increased traffic to my website, but also because I’m currently sick in bed with a cold, and this allows me to distract myself with something. Basically, the idea is to share 6 things that people don’t necessarily know about me, and then to tag 6 other people for them to share as well. Continue reading →