BernardShuford.com

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Some stuff just ROCKS. 

I met Bryan when he was about 6.  We threw snowballs at each other and slid down a hill in about twenty inches of snow.  The electricity went out and Karma and I wound up sleeping in his den.  I remember banging on the piano in that den while he and his sister listened. 

I remember when he first started playing fiddle, and it became clear very quickly that this was no passing fancy.  I remember meeting once a week with a bunch of pickers at Rock Springs Baptist Church, and that group included his mom and dad, his sister, and some other friends.  As a 7 or 8 year old, he was definitely no slouch.  They went on to form a rather well known band in bluegrass circles, the McDowell Family Band.

Shortly after my heart surgery in 2007, my cousin graduated from her homeschool.  Bryan and his sister, Emma, the girl with the voice of an angel, provided some special music.  Once again, it was obvious that he is no slouch.

Bryan and Emma have won so many fiddle contests that it, really, isn’t funny.  Winfield, MerleFest, Galax, Georgia, you name it.  Stringed instruments simply kneel in submission when either of them enters the room.  There’s some really good examples of their music on that site if you’d like to hear the genius to which I refer.  Some really good photography, too, courtesy of Karma Shuford Photography.  I know the photographer pretty well.

New Year’s Eve 2010 (2009???) found Bryan and I in the same building for the first time in several years.  He actually allowed me to play the Bob Thompson guitar that he had recently won at one of the biggest bluegrass flatpicking contests in the world, the 2009 National Flatpicking Championship.  Turns out he also won the contest for the fiddle and the mandolin, the first triple winner ever, and all that before he turns 19.

Bryan’s a very quiet, humble, and calm young man who is perfectly happy to sit and play guitar for hours on end.  His life has been centered around music.  He’s already a teacher with several years of experience, and he’s played with the likes of Bryan Sutton, Caleb Smith, and virtually any famous bluegrass picker you could care to name. 

I drove past his house this morning on the way to work. 

To me, he’s the kid “next door”.  (It’s not really next door, but it’s close…)

Sometimes, we’re in the presence of greatness and really don’t even know it. 

Just yesterday, for instance, thousands of people gathered in buildings dedicated to the worship of the Almighty God, to the King of Kings, the Creator Himself, and God Himself was in the middle of it with them.  The Holy Spirit of God, with the same power that He showed at Pentecost in a very visible way, was THERE.  With us.  At Crossroads.  At any church where Christians gathered in the name of Christ. 

Yet, many of us mistakenly thought of it as just another Sunday morning to drag ourselves to a place and pass a couple of hours. 

As well, that same Holy Spirit is with every believer in Christ every moment, every minute, every hour, every day. 

We’re in the presence of Greatness, and yet we respond as though He is just the kid next door. 

God, please help me to live more in awe of who You truly are.

Congratulations, Bryan, and congratulations to Karma for clicking the shutter for the pic that made a magazine cover.

What I’ve been doing lately….

• Sitting and standing around at the VA Hospital with my Mom and Dad
• Not Facebooking much
• Hardly ever Twittering
• Reading Dick Francis, the greatest fiction writer I’ve ever read
• Reading C.S. Forester’s Horatio Hornblower, the greatest stories of the ocean that I’ve ever read
• Trying to find copies of the Dick Francis and Hornblower stories that I started while sitting and standing around the hospital
• Deciding to read more books and surf the web less
• Playing online chess
• Losing a lot at online chess.  Even to Karma.
• Working on the Jeep and the Chevrolet
• Buying a collection of Andrew Murray books
• Reading Francis Chan’s Crazy Love
• Trying to brainstorm youth stuff for church.  Failing.
• Trying to find real life again.

Still here

Looks like I’m not alone in my disappointment with Thomas Nelson’s Bibles.  I do really like my King James Study Bible, but not the fact that the pages come out very easily.  Seems like a few years ago (mine is about 8 years old) they must have had some difficulties.  Don’t know if they used a cheap glue, or what.

NOTE – I posted my situation in the comments above and received an offer from Mr. Hyatt within 10 minutes to replace the Bible.  That’s exceptionally good service for a Saturday morning, especially since I wasn’t even thinking of any such thing.  I’m impressed and pleased.

Most of my close friends out there know that times have been a little different this week at the Shuford house.  Thanks for all your prayers and support.  Please continue to pray for my Dad.  Sorry to leave the blog in a driverless condition, but I’ll be back in some form at some time.