About six weeks ago or so I got a call from a lady down in McCool Junction asking me if I'd play for their Christmas party. I said yes. In my calendar I wrote, "6:30 McCool Family Fun Night Entertainment."
As the date grew closer I was thinking I might get a confirmation call at which point I could find out, ya know, where the gig was at, how long they wanted me to play, what the event was like. That kinda stuff. No such call ever came. As I stared at that entry in my calendar I asked myself, "Why didn't you get a phone number? Why didn't you write down the contact's name? What is your problem?"
I live in a small town. By last week I was getting a little nervous so I start asking around about a family fun night. Did anyone know more than I did? In a small town I can tend to get a little lazy because all I have to do is run into someone at the grocery store and usually I can get the rundown. Not so in this case.
So I sang for the Assisted Living group at the Seward Hospital in the afternoon and then drove down to McCool Junction with an extra hour to drive around, do some investigating and get to the gig on time. First I asked a group of smokers hanging out in the parking lot of the bar. They didn't know.
Then I went into the bar and asked. They kinda knew. Then I drove around the small town looking for where all the cars were parked.
Methodist Church. Found it.
I go in to the potluck, they feed me some soup and sandwiches and then, I think I'm just going to sing some songs in the fellowship hall while the ladies clink dishes in the kitchen and people go for seconds on dessert. That's usually how this goes down. But no. Not this time.
The gig I almost didn't make had me in the sanctuary in front of a gathering of maybe 60-75 people quietly waiting for me to start singing and we had a magical time. It was amazing. I don't usually get the undivided attention from that size crowd. I had the best time. I said a prayer of thanksgiving that I found the gig, that I was so blessed for such a fun night of music. You just never know. And that's a good thing. Merry Christmas.