Will it really come back to me?

I have played guitar for over 45 years. I'm not very good at it mind you, but I love it so. For some time now I have wondered if I could recapture the form I once had when in my 30's and 40's I could easily play for hours upon end and still have something left. But when I began to play as part of the worship team at church I soon realized that I wasn't in very good shape musically. By the end of a normal service my hands would be hurting and the deep grooves in my fingers actually hurt. I wondered then if I could even play through a whole service without breaking down and having to stop.
About that time we lost our piano player and I became the main instrument. We have a very strong Bass player and a good drummer, which helps a great deal, but I just did not have the "chops" I once enjoyed and it was evident.
 I even began to wonder if my playing days were coming to a close. Would I be able to hold up under the weight of such a position or would I have to bow out and pray for someone to take my place on the team?

To date, I have been able to do what has been asked of me almost to the letter. I have had some musical issues, like not knowing enough chords to make a song entirely right, but for the most, I have 'run the race'.
My hands take a beating but I do believe that I am gaining on the challenge, perhaps even making some headway. I spent about half an hour in the sanctuary alone tonight, going over a couple of new songs and I feel good about them.
I have to say at this point that it has to be God's grace that keeps me going. Nothing else can explain the improvement because nothing has really changed unless you take into consideration my attitude about it all. I grumbled at first but then I realized that I had a chance to 'play' again and nothing is better than that. Like I said, I love it so. God continues to give Dianna and I new songs and new ways to present them so I guess he's not done with me yet.
I am reminded of a statement my friend Jack always uses when he's presented with a new challenge and things aren't going well. He's over 80 years old and still going strong. He says, "Never give up!"

it's been how long?

I was recently reminded that I hadn't written anything in my Blog this year by my beautiful wife. Her gentle urging sunk in and I promised myself that I would pay closer attention to what is going on around me and come up with something to blog about that may be of interest.
It didn't take me long to figure out that I had a lot of things to share, but which one should I chose?
My grandson comes to the top of the list almost immediately and so I have devoted this segment of my thoughts to him.
My wife and I have been his guardians for a couple of years now and thankfully things have settled down into somewhat of a regular pattern even with those notable exceptions that all teens have to exhibit from time to time.
Overall I couldn't ask for a better helper when it comes to doing the daily chores around the park and his general attitude has greatly improved from what is was in the beginning. I don't really have any negatives to relate and that's a good thing.
I have often wondered just what it was that set things in motion for me as teen. What I mean by that odd statement is what was the catalyst that sent me in the direction I chose to go when I had so many choices back then. If there ever was a unique beginning to one's teenage years mine has to take first prize.
I don't mean that I was a prize, far from it. I am saying that there were many extraordinary circumstances that played a huge part in how and why I did a lot of the things I did. Those 'adventures' in life were as varied as the company I kept at any given moment and bear telling, but not here, not now. Maybe at some later date when I can sit down and pull them all apart and examine them one at a time. We'll see.
But back to the subject at hand. My grandson is a marvel ... yes, a marvel.
I don't know of anyone that is brighter or quicker on his feet than he and when it comes to covering his "assets", he is already a pro. I could relate many stories of catching him in a "little white lie" here and there because you would have thought that he had rehearsed a play by the dialogue he comes up with on a moment's notice ... out of the blue and if I didn't know better I would have believed every word.... but like I say, I know better.
I don't want to paint a dreary picture here, I just want to make things clear. He is extraordinary in many ways and I have the highest of hopes for him in the future... but I am after all a realist too.
In retrospect, I would have to say that I am so much the better for having known him and having spent as many hours as I have close by. I have learned a great deal and expect to learn a great deal more before it's all said and done.
If you get the chance to meet him, don't pass it up.... but don't tell him I told you.