How to Tell When Someone Has a Passion for Conducting

I was so blessed to spend the whole weekend with my family. John arrived, totally unsuspecting that Noah would show up from northern Ohio one minute before we needed to leave for John's birthday dinner at Koi. Noah and I pulled off the surprise of his being here on Saturday, too, to celebrate my dad's 80th birthday.

Aside from those delightful minutes of surprise, my favorite moment was at Koi, realizing the strength of Noah's passion for conducting. He picked up a chopstick and turned it into a baton, gracefully conducting some phantom musicians at our table.

Apparently, some conducting students at Oberlin walk the conservatory halls with their batons, finding that other students take their downbeats seriously...singing gustily right in the middle of a random corridor!

Emotionally,it was tough when Noah left on Saturday, then John and Maggie on Sunday. We'll be together next on Thanksgiving weekend. In the meantime, I welcome prayer support for our upcoming plunge experience in western Massachusetts. I'm feeling surprisingly anxious about the unknowns of this trip. Maybe I'll take a pair of chopsticks along to remind me of Noah.