Expectation vs. Reality

I had a pretty funny thing happen right before worship yesterday.

Here is what I had planned (my expectation): The clock would show 8:59am, the worship team would go on to the dark stage, get their in-ears and instruments plugged in, the iPod music would quietly fade, the stage lights would come on, and the electric guitar would start out Lincoln Brewster's song, All To You. The congregation would enter into joyful praise and worship because of a flawless opening to the service.

Here is what actually happened (the reality): The clock showed 8:59am, the worship team quietly went on the dark stage, everyone got their in-ears and instruments plugged in, the iPod music faded, the stage lights came on, the electric guitar player pulled his guitar up to play...

...here is where everything started to change...

...the chord that connected his guitar to his amp was pulled out and made a loud POP throughout the auditorium, the sound guy did not see what happened so he did not know what instrument to mute (so everyone could hear the quiet buzzing from the unconnected chord), I started quietly playing the piano because of the awkward pause that was happening, the electric guitar player looked at the sound booth for the "thumbs up" to plug his guitar in, the sound booth thought that the piano was now opening the service so they missed the communication that the electric guitar player was trying to accomplish, the electric guitar player thought he had the okay to plug back in, a loud BUZZ-POP-POP-BUZZ-POP happened...

...everyone on stage was now looking around and smiling (I am sure some were quietly laughing)...

...I looked at the electric guitar player, we both shrugged our shoulders and smiled, I stopped playing the piano, and the electric guitar player started All To You.

The song went great. The congregation entered into an awaking, yet joyful praise and worship time.