Out of the blue...

...comes a letter of encouragement from a JT fan. I never ceased to be amazed that God continues to use a bunch of goofballs like us even long after we stop being a band. This one's from Skip in Saskatchewan:

Hi there, I was wondering if you could pass this along to Jerry:

It is the day before Canada Day, and being a Monday before a holiday, no one is here at work and I was putting some songs on my computer to listen to while I typed away. My diggin’ up bones cd didn’t have any album art coming up and so I went on line to find it and read a little article on where you and the band are now. It was really neat to hear about what went on, and what you are doing now.

I just wanted to say thanks for making the music that you did. I don’t have a ton of music in my collection. I tend to find things that I like and just listen to them over the years, and your stuff has been some of my favourite. I have the self titled one and diggin’ up bones, and I have really loved listening to those songs. You had some good words to say (sing) and I have really appreciated it. They have had an influence. I still listen to them.

When I wrote back to Skip to tell him thanks for the kind words, he responded...

You know, there was one more thing that I was going to tell you as well. Sometimes, when I am listening to those certain bands that I really like, I think “wow, these guys may have only made x number of albums (or one even), and they didn’t really go very far – from the world of music’s perspective anyway. But am I ever glad that they did what they did. And I wonder if they will ever know what a difference they made.”

So I really thank God for people like you who did (and are doing J) what they are called to. I don’t believe any art or work is done in vain if we are doing what we are called to do at that time and place. I guess I am starting to see that our job is to do what we are supposed to, and Jesus will take care of the impact of it – and most of it we will probably never realize. Even simple things, like a smile, or a prayer, or just treating our kids or wife well, let alone the “big” things. This helps me to realize that nothing is wasted when we are faithful.

Keep up your good work!

Skip

Keep them cards and letters and emails and blogposts and whatever else they come up with comin' Troublemakers. If you've got a story of how God has used the music we made to effect your life, we want to share it with the rest of our fans... all 27 of them!