The piano took up the living room.

My little cabin in the woods is well-furnished. In the weeks after moving in, I inherited (from various friendly folks) a couch and two love seats, a long coffee table, and a dining room table with three chairs. Add those to the bed that already lived here and the red travel trunk I brought with me (my mother's, from college), and you have yourself a home! Yesterday brought one final piece of furniture into the cabin: a Jacob Doll New York Boudoir Grand piano.

I told Grandma Duke about it today, and she got almost as excited as I had. "Oh, that's company," she said. "Something like that, it'll keep you company. It's almost like having someone there with you... if you'll play it when you want to make a joyful noise, and play it too when you're not joyful, that piano will keep you company. That piano will... well, it'll talk to you."

I chuckled at the time, but I think she was right. I've struggled at times with living alone in the cabin. I've had to wrestle my impractical desire for a dog or a kitten to the ground more than once. I came home today and scooted the piano to the perfect spot (behind the wood stove, backed up against the island in my kitchen space). I got out the furniture polish and shined it up, and then I sat down and played and sang my heart out.

Maybe it's a silly thing to set so much stock on a Jacob Doll Boudoir Grand with a few odd keys, but Jesus knew what I needed, and I think He delights to give gifts to His children and watch them rejoice.