After I married Ken and we moved to California, I  asked him for a bigger marimba.  The one I had was small, with only 2 1/2 octaves.  I wanted a full sized four octave one.  We had no money, but he said, "Start looking."  I did.  A few months later one was advertised in the Los Angeles paper, so I called, and the lady asked me what I was going to do with it--which I thought was strange.

"I play at church, and various civic events," I told her.  "When I am asked to play, I play."

"Come and play for me and I will decide whether you are good enough and whether I want to sell it to you."  I had to try out before I could buy it!!!!

So Ken and I drove from Camp Pendleton to LA and I played everything I knew for this woman.  And when I was finished, she said, "I will sell it to you." I had passed.

I asked her how much it would be, and she said, "How much do you have?"

"We have seventy-five dollars, and will pay the rest out," I told her.  "Or get a loan."  A full sized Deagan marimba like the one she had--in perfect condition--would have been thousands of dollars.

"That's exactly what the price is.  The price is seventy-five dollars,"  she said.  I was stunned.

"Why is it only seventy-five dollars," I asked.  She told me that she was the marimbist for the LA symphonic orchestra and had developed arthritis in her hands so bad that she couldn't hold the sticks anymore.  She said she didn't just want to sell it to someone that wouldn't ever play it, or to someone who couldn't play it well enough to satisfy her.  She wanted it to go to a good home--to someone that deserved it.  She had played it for many, many years and it was an old friend.

I have no idea how many times I have played it since.  Hundreds and hundreds of times.  I will play it in church next Sunday.  God is good.  When you need something, He will supply it.