Distinction and Prayer

It's been a while since I last wrote on here, but in that time much has happened for me musically! I received the results of my diploma and got a distinction, passing with flying colors! I have to make a decision whether or not to take the LRSM this year by January. If I do take it, I have already decided on my repertoire:

Bach: Solo Sonata in G minor, 3rd and 4th movements

Mozart: Sonata in Eb Major, K481, 1st and 2nd movements

Bruch: Concerto No. 1 in G minor, 1st movement

Suk: Op. 17, 3rd and 4th movements

This has to fill about 40 minutes, so I am looking for another short piece to perform as well.

Besides thinking about the LRSM, I am working hard on my audition DVD to send out to various schools. At the moment, I am preparing:

Bach: Solo Sonata in G minor (complete)

Paganini: Caprices #16 and #20

Mozart: Sonata in Eb Major, K481 (complete)

Bruch: Concerto No. 1 in G minor (complete)

Bloch: Nigun

Bach is coming along very well. Paganini, of course, is rough around the edges. It has improved over the past few weeks, but it is hard to polish! Mozart is easy, it is just a bit of work to put together with the piano. The Bruch is going well, with the exception of the third movement which I have never performed in public! It is definitely coming along better than I thought, but will take more work than the first two movements which I have performed many times. I did decide to go with the Bruch in the end (after much agonizing over other concertos), because I'm starting to really feel the pressure of getting my Master's.

I've been at Turi quite a long time for it's standards, and I'm starting to feel restless. I would like to do my Master's and then see what God is calling me to do, whether it be to come back to Kenya, go back to the States, or to go elsewhere. I did consider that maybe God is calling me not to do my Master's. It's a hard thing, knowing what to do and what God wants me to do! I had read recently about prayer in my devotional, "There is no doubt that it is by praying that we learn to pray, and that the more we pray, the better our prayers will be. People who pray in spurts are never likely to attain to the kind of prayer described in the Scriptures as 'powerful and effective.'"

James 5:16 says about prayer, "The prayer of a righteous person is powerful and effective."

Part of my problem with indecision and not knowing where my path in life may lead is that I have not been praying as I should. Jesus used to pray in the early morning. Many of the saints and great Christians of our time do this as well. Prayer should be a part of your life and daily routine as much as dressing in the morning. My New Year's resolution is going to be to pray before the start of each day. It sounds like a small challenge, but when you wake up at 5:30am every morning anyway, it will be a struggle to get up even earlier!

Psalm 25

¹ In you, LORD my God,

I put my trust.

² I trust in you;

do not let me be put to shame,

nor let my enemies triumph over me.

³ No one who hopes in you

will ever be put to shame,

but shame will come on those

who are treacherous without cause.

⁴ Show me your ways, LORD,

teach me your paths.

⁵ Guide me in your truth and teach me,

for you are God my Savior,

and my hope is in you all day long.

⁶ Remember, LORD, your great mercy and love,

for they are from of old.

⁷ Do not remember the sins of my youth

and my rebellious ways;

according to your love remember me,

for you, LORD, are good.

⁸ Good and upright is the LORD;

therefore he instructs sinners in his ways.

⁹ He guides the humble in what is right

and teaches them his way.

¹⁰ All the ways of the LORD are loving and faithful

toward those who keep the demands of his covenant.

¹¹ For the sake of your name, LORD,

forgive my iniquity, though it is great.

¹² Who, then, are those who fear the LORD?

He will instruct them in the ways they should choose.

¹³ They will spend their days in prosperity,

and their descendants will inherit the land.

¹⁴ The LORD confides in those who fear him;

he makes his covenant known to them.

¹⁵ My eyes are ever on the LORD,

for only he will release my feet from the snare.

¹⁶ Turn to me and be gracious to me,

for I am lonely and afflicted.

¹⁷ Relieve the troubles of my heart

and free me from my anguish.

¹⁸ Look on my affliction and my distress

and take away all my sins.

¹⁹ See how numerous are my enemies

and how fiercely they hate me!

²⁰ Guard my life and rescue me;

do not let me be put to shame,

for I take refuge in you.

²¹ May integrity and uprightness protect me,

because my hope, LORD, is in you.

²² Deliver Israel, O God,

from all their troubles!