I know I'm up late

But I don't have to be at church before sunrise tomorrow morning. I can actually ride to church in the same vehicle as my family, and sit with them in church -- all thanks to Doc Rodgers and his trusty scalpel.

It's going to drive me crazy to sit out in the congregation, though, and watch the guys all having such a good time playing the music without me.

For me, it's not at all about being "up front" where I can be seen; no, actually, it wouldn't bother me if no-one ever saw me at all. It's just so much fun to make music with these guys. It's even MORE fun to be the kind of back-up person that Jeff can depend on without having to worry. He can inadvertently start the song in the wrong key and I can detect it immediately and let the other instrumentalists know what key to play in without Jeff ever even realizing it. That kind of thing is immensely satisfying to me. That's the kind of importance I want to be remembered for.

I once attended a conference where the speaker had advice for those of us who worked for other people in some capacity or other. He told us that our chief goal should be to make our boss successful. I took that seriously, and it has changed the way I view working for someone. If Jeff is the worship leader, then my goal as a musician is to help him be successful at leading worship. If I'm working for God, it's my goal to make God look good and to further His agenda. This philosophy has helped me be a better "sidekick" and has shown me that, at least for me, I'm more satisfied being an indispensable and useful helper than in being an out-in-front diva leader type.

Tomorrow's agenda includes spending time over at Tim & Mary's house watching the Super Bowl. Tim's a rabid Steelers fan, so he's especially pumped about this game. It ain't the Cowboys, so I don't really have a dog in this fight, but because Timmy's such a Steelers guy, I'll put aside my preferences for a few hours tomorrow evening and root for the Steelers. OUCH that's hard for me to write.

The youth are having a big Super Bowl bash at church tomorrow evening, and Erica is bringing a couple of her friends along, one of whom is a young man named Kaleb who isn't a Christian but who thinks Erica is the Queen of the Universe and wants very badly to be her beau -- badly enough that he has consented to come to church with us. He will be hearing the gospel tomorrow night, probably for the first time in his life.