Simon Estes is singing in my kitchen as I write! Yesterday Grace turned on the CD player and it about blasted her out of the room. "Mom! Were you rockin' out in the kitchen?"
"No, I just cranked up Mr. Estes so he could help me do housework."
Mr. Estes came to our high school last Friday and Saturday. Our older children had the opportunity to listen to and interact with him at an all-school assembly Friday afternoon. Saturday night Matthew sang in the choir as Mr. Estes joined us and I had the privilege of accompanying them. Now, as I listen to his album of spirituals, I continue to be touched by messages of equality, angst, Providence and hope. We were also blessed by his guest, Chris Johnson, who chose selections that took any focus off himself and emphasized the goodness of God.
God has groomed Simon Estes to be a man of gentleness, deep reverence, humility and uncanny excellence. All credit and appreciation for his gifts are redirected to God, the Giver of all good things. I cannot put into words the fullness of participating alongside him, receiving his thanks, and bowing hand-in-hand to the appreciation of the audience.
David Roper, in his book, A Man to Match the Mountain, describes Jesus as a beautiful man full of grace and truth. "Everything he did was truthful, and yet He was unfailingly gracious." Simon Estes represented Christ in this same way. May we remember that, "True goodness is not doing extraordinary things. It is doing ordinary things in an extraordinary way." (Roper, Seeing God, p. 129). Most of us will never have a platform like Simon Estes, but our daily lives can reflect the grace and truth of God in the integrity of our decisions. It is not what is seen that makes a man, but what is unseen.
"Be careful not to do your 'acts of righteousness' before men, to be seen by them. If you do, you will have not reward from your Father in heaven." (Matthew 6:1)
"No, I just cranked up Mr. Estes so he could help me do housework."
Mr. Estes came to our high school last Friday and Saturday. Our older children had the opportunity to listen to and interact with him at an all-school assembly Friday afternoon. Saturday night Matthew sang in the choir as Mr. Estes joined us and I had the privilege of accompanying them. Now, as I listen to his album of spirituals, I continue to be touched by messages of equality, angst, Providence and hope. We were also blessed by his guest, Chris Johnson, who chose selections that took any focus off himself and emphasized the goodness of God.
God has groomed Simon Estes to be a man of gentleness, deep reverence, humility and uncanny excellence. All credit and appreciation for his gifts are redirected to God, the Giver of all good things. I cannot put into words the fullness of participating alongside him, receiving his thanks, and bowing hand-in-hand to the appreciation of the audience.
David Roper, in his book, A Man to Match the Mountain, describes Jesus as a beautiful man full of grace and truth. "Everything he did was truthful, and yet He was unfailingly gracious." Simon Estes represented Christ in this same way. May we remember that, "True goodness is not doing extraordinary things. It is doing ordinary things in an extraordinary way." (Roper, Seeing God, p. 129). Most of us will never have a platform like Simon Estes, but our daily lives can reflect the grace and truth of God in the integrity of our decisions. It is not what is seen that makes a man, but what is unseen.
"Be careful not to do your 'acts of righteousness' before men, to be seen by them. If you do, you will have not reward from your Father in heaven." (Matthew 6:1)
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