people seemed really friendly - so the Kinney’s kept going back. As the weeks passed, Ted spotted Mary Lynn several times before or after service, but she obviously didn’t recognize him now with a respectable haircut and clothes… let alone with a young wife and baby. Before long, Ted asked the worship leader if he could try out for the praise team.
The worship leader was a little older than Ted, and he was very kind-hearted. He gave Ted three or four songs to try out with and allowed him a couple of weeks to practice. Ted didn’t waste any time, practicing an hour or two every night until he had the parts memorized. When he finally tried out, he did well, and the worship pastor welcomed him to the team. Ted would split duties with the other guitar player (the senior pastor’s brother-in-law), and he was put on the calendar for the following month. That was when he was re-introduced to Mary Lynn.
Ted came to Thursday night practice for the first time, and since he came straight from work, he was dressed in a suit and tie. The worship leader was introducing him to everyone, and when they got to Mary Lynn, the worship pastor said, “...and this is our piano player, Mary Lynn Dobson…”
Ted held out his hand and smiled, “We’re old friends… it’s good to see you again Mary Lynn.”
Mary Lynn put her hand up to her mouth as if she’d seen a ghost. Then her voice broke a little as she said, “Ted Kinney? Is that you? I didn’t even recognize you…” She looked him up and down and tears began to run down her cheeks.
“Been awhile, hasn’t it?” Ted smiled.
She reached out and hugged him tight, and Ted reciprocated. “How long have you been coming to Renaissance?” she asked.
“About six months,” he said. “I see you every Sunday on stage, but I’ve been a bit embarrassed to say anything.”
They wanted to catch up more, but now was not the time. The reunion would have to wait until after practice. Both Ted and Mary Lynn struggled a little during practice, as their minds were elsewhere, but within an hour it was over. As Ted was putting his guitar away, Mary Lynn walked over and said, “So, tell me about everything.”
Ted smiled and took a deep breath. “When you came to visit me that day, I was in a bad place spiritually,” he started. There’s not much to do in jail, and eventually I began reading the Bible you gave me. It spoke to me Mary Lynn, like it was written just for me.” Ted closed his guitar case and stood up. “I gave my life to Jesus in jail, and when I got out, it was like all of the doors that had been closed to me began opening up. It’s like… before, I had no purpose, no direction. After I asked Jesus into my heart, I had purpose, I had direction. I still had consequences from before that I had to deal with, but I wasn’t looking back anymore. I was looking forward.”
“Oh Ted,” Mary Lynn started crying again, “I’m so happy for you.” She hugged him again.
Now Ted was crying too. “Thanks Mary Lynn… for everything. God heard your prayers, and that’s the only reason I’m here today. If you hadn’t introduced me to Him, I would probably be dead, or back in jail.”
“I’ve always believed that as long as you are still alive, God has awesome plans for your life - no matter what your current circumstances.” Mary Lynn said as she wiped her cheek with her sleeve.
The worship pastor had to lock up the church, but Ted and Mary Lynn stayed just outside the front door for an hour catching up with each other. He told her about college and how he got his guitar and how he met his wife. When he talked about his baby girl, Mary Lynn said, “Now you’ll have to let me teach her how to play piano when she’s old enough.” and Ted agreed. Eventually they said goodbye and went their separate ways. Ted told his wife all about it when he got home, and she was as excited as he was. She had always been great about helping Ted come to terms with his past.
A few years later, the older worship pastor retired and Mark Flanders was hired to fill his place. It wasn’t long after that, that Cody had his affair and left the church, leaving Ted as the only guitar player until Justin came along just a few years ago. Worship team members came and went, but Ted and Mary Lynn were the only constants. Ted would eventually have two more daughters, and when his first daughter was old enough, Mary Lynn did indeed teach her how to play piano.
Ted sometimes looked back on his spiritual journey and wondered what God had next for him. Mary Lynn was right: as long as you’re still alive, God has something awesome planned for your life. Ted could hardly wait.
VERSE 6
(The Story of Mary Lynn Dobson)
Mary Lynn Dobson grew up in a home with loving and devoted parents. She was the oldest of two girls and learned to be responsible helping raise her younger sister. Mary Lynn learned to play piano at a young age, and was playing in church by the time she entered high school. She didn’t really have much of a social life, preferring to play board games with her family and occupying her time with church, schoolwork and piano practice. She remembers getting teased because she was so conservative. When the other girls were wearing jeans so tight they had to use pliers to zip them, Mary Lynn was wearing dress pants to school.
She didn’t date much in high school, but Mary Lynn was pretty. She would occasionally go to a football or basketball game just to force herself to be sociable. Her only real friends were from church youth group, although there were a couple of people in band who she would hang out with when given the chance. There were even a few friends from church who went to her school, there was a young boy named Ted who was three years younger than Mary Lynn, but he was very mature for his age. He was one of those young men that youth pastors pick out as ‘leaders’ in their class.
Mary Lynn liked Ted, not only because he was a Christian and a natural born leader, but she thought he was cute too. Her best friend had about talked her into asking him to the prom, but something else came up and she was unable to go. Besides, he was probably too young for her anyway.
After graduating high school, Mary Lynn didn’t know what she wanted to do but she knew she needed a job. Her dad had been talking to one of the business owners at church and he offered to hire her as a cashier for his clothing store. Between giving piano lessons, playing at weddings, being a substitute teacher at the local middle school and the part-time job as a cashier, Mary Lynn kept pretty busy and was bringing in enough income to purchase a small house close to her parents.
A couple of years after graduation, Mary Lynn was talking to her sister on the phone and her sister said that Ted’s parents had gotten a divorce and Ted wasn’t dealing with it very well. Mary Lynn wondered if she should call him and express her condolences, but she didn’t have his phone number. She would try to look it up later; it would be good to see Ted again.
The only man Mary Lynn ever had anything close to a ‘romantic’ relationship with was Bill Mars. He was a gym teacher at the middle school where Mary Lynn substituted, and he made Mary Lynn feel special every time he saw her. He would smile every time they met and tell her she looked pretty, so when he finally asked her out she was happy to say yes. She even called her mother to tell her - Mary Lynn’s mom and sister were still her best friends.
Bill was a perfect gentleman on their first date; he took Mary Lynn to dinner at a sit-down restaurant. He pulled out her chair for her and opened the car door when she got in or out. They got along famously, it turns out he was a ‘band geek’ in high school as well. As their first date ended and Bill dropped her off at her house, he leaned in to kiss her goodnight and Mary Lynn drew back a little.
“Ummm… sorry,” Bill said. “I thought we were getting along pretty well. I guess…”
“It’s not you Bill,” Mary Lynn reassured him, “I’m just a little backwards sometimes. Let’s take it slow, okay?”
“Yeah sure.” Bill replied. They shook hands and Bill got back in his car and drove home.
Mary Lynn called her sister when she got
back in the house. “Bobbie Sue,” she began, “am I weird for not wanting to kiss on the first date? I mean, I’m 24 years old. Should I just be thankful that someone still wants to kiss me?
“No Mary Lynn,” her sister said. “You’re not weird; you just believe that kissing is special and should be saved for someone special. The time will come when you have a man in your life who is special and who you want to kiss. Until then, you do what you feel God is telling you to do.”
Mary Lynn thanked her sister for reassurance, but she couldn’t help thinking that at 24, she really needed to get her life going. Her sister was only 21 and had been dating a nice boy from high school who was enrolled in the police academy. They had been together for a year now and were already talking about getting married. Mary Lynn continued praying about it and reading her Bible, but she was losing patience.
Two weeks later, Bill called again and asked Mary Lynn out to the movies. She enthusiastically said yes, thankful that she hadn’t scared him away with her previous rebuttal. The next day, Mary Lynn saw one of the young girls at work buying a pair of heels. Mary Lynn suggested that they looked a little aggressive, but the girl said, “You should have seen what I put back.” So after Mary Lynn’s shift, she went back and bought a