Keyboard Christmas

At the age of ten, I asked my parents to get me a piano, keyboard, or organ for Christmas. My Mom gave me that mother's "We'll See Look." My Dad just smirked at me. I figured I wasn't gonna really get it. In our Sunday School class, each Sunday our teacher asked us if we had any prayer request. I knew that prayer worked. I raised my hand. The teacher asked what was my request. I said, "I want the Lord to bless me with a keyboard." She said, "Alright, we will pray for you." Several other kids raised their hands with their prayer requests. This guy named Mardell Coleston was asked to pray. Mardell was 10 years old. He said that he had been called to be a preacher. Everyone called him Minister as well. He could pray something fierce. I had never heard him preach before, but he preached anything like he prayed, we were going to be an awesome preacher. He prayed the ending prayer. He prayed with such an anointing that Sunday that we almost went to having church in our Sunday School class. Our Sunday School teacher went to speaking in tongues and everything. Everyone in the class knew that something was going to happen as a result of that prayer. After Sunday School, Mardell came up to me and said, "God's gonna bless you with a keyboard, so you can play for me when I do my revivals. Remember I said that. God told me that I was supposed to ask you to play for me when I do my revivals. I ask for a sign to be sure. Your prayer request was the sign I needed. Just know that God is going to give you that keyboard." I nodded my head to signify that I had heard him, but I wasn't too sure about what he had said. I will be the first one to admit that I didn't go in much for the deep religiosity that some people go in for. But something inside me clicked with Mardell when he said what he said. I just shrugged it off because I wasn't sure about playing for Mardell. Plus I didn't think my father would let me play for him. I went on believing that I was going to get my keyboard. I didn't bug my parents. I didn't say anything else to them. I just knew in my spirit that I was going to get my keyboard. I still wasn't sure about playing for Mardell, but I knew I was getting my keyboard. I woke up on Christmas morning. I ran to the living room with expectation. I was looking for any indication that my keyboard was in the house. There was no indication. I felt a bit dejected, but then I heard a voice say, "He may not come when you want Him, but He's always on time." The feeling of dejection left. I opened all my Christmas gifts with a smile on my face and confidence in my heart. I never asked my parents about the keyboard. After all, Mardell never said that I was going to get it for Christmas. That year, we went over to my uncle's house for dinner. We ate dinner. It was time to go in the living room and sing Christmas carols. My uncle said, "I sure we had a piano or something so Shannon could play for us." Then my father and one of my cousins walked into the living room carrying a keyboard. My father said, "Now she does." I screamed and ran to grab my father. I almost made my father drop his end of the keyboard. My cousin yelled for me to move. They got the keyboard set-up and plugged in. I sat down at the keyboard. The first thing I started playing on it was some shouting music. I will never know what came over me, but that's what my fingers went to playing. The next thing I know, my father, mother, uncle, and three of my cousins were dancing and praising the Lord. Now that I think back on the day, it is kind of funny to me, but on that Christmas, my family and I had a shouting good time. God had blessed me with a keyboard for Christmas.