If Guitars Could Speak (part 1)

Per my career as a musician, I own many different musical instruments. Many of these instruments, if they could speak, could tell you some crazy stories about where they’ve been or how they came into my possession. One of these instruments is a Takamine EN-10C Acoustic/ Electric guitar (pronounced ‘TawK-a-Mee-nee').

I don’t how much you know of acoustic guitars, but guitars can be made of several different woods. And the sound directly reflects the wood (or woods) the guitar is made of. So, the more exotic the wood, the smoother, deeper, or sometimes, more intense the sound.

My Takamine, or “Brooksy” as I call her (don’t ask... long story. And yes, it is a “her”, because all guys toys are “her’s”) is made of mahogany on the back and sides and a single, thin-cut piece of cedar on the top. This cedar top gives “Brooksy” a nice deep, warm sound. She sounds almost as good as a nice warm cup of hot chocolate tastes. You know, not when it’s too hot, so that it burns the roof of your mouth or tongue, but right as the marshmallows begin to melt together and you get that frothy warm feeling all inside. That’s how “Brooksy” sounds when I play her....

“Brooksy” came to me when I was 17 years old. It was the Fall of my Junior year of high school and I was so looking forward to being done with school. Earlier that year, I had began to feel the Lord’s pull into a specific area of ministry.

Well, one particular day, my dad and I met a family friend, Dick, at his machine shop. I thought this was odd, but sometimes Dad would drop things off for church members from time to time. Little did I know what was in store.

As I entered the shop, Dick was there to greet us with a big smile (as was his style), and a quick, “How You Doin’?” I always laughed when I heard Dick say, “How You Doin’?” It was one of those things I’ll remember about Dick the rest of my life; Even now, still trying to use the “How You Doin’?” with the same style and method that Dick had.

That afternoon in the shop, Dick began to explain to me that he believed the Lord had told him to buy me a guitar. A guitar that would be used to begin the ministry that the Lord had began to show and grow in me over the last year or so.

We went that afternoon to a local guitar shop and “shopped” around a bit trying to find a good one that I liked. Later in the week, Dick showed up at my house with “Brooksy”... and she was PERFECT!