Five-year-old Tamir was bored.
He was waiting for his mom to finish her work
at the Seventh-day Adventist school in Mongolia.
She worked as an accountant,
which meant she counted money for the school.
Tamir went to the school’s preschool.
Now his classes were over,
and he was sitting on a chair, waiting to go home.
“Mommy, can I have your phone?” he asked.
His mom handed the phone to the boy.
His eyes stopped on an app with a picture of a man
with wavy white hair and a red jacket.
“Mommy,” he said, “who is that?”
“That’s Mozart,” she said.
“Wow,” Tamir said. “He’s so handsome.”
His mom smiled.
She opened the app and pressed “play” on a song
written by the famous Austrian composer Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart.
Tamir’s eyes opened wide with amazement
as violin and piano music filled the room.
It was beautiful!
Happy butterflies filled his tummy.
Tamir couldn’t stop thinking about the music.
Two days later, he told his parents
that he wanted to learn to play the violin and the piano.
His dad shook his head.
“We don’t have money for music lessons,” he said.
Tears came to Tamir’s eyes.
He wanted to play the violin and piano,
and he didn’t give up.
He asked again the next year
and every year after that until he was 13.
This time, his parents didn’t shake their heads.
“I’ll take you to violin lessons tomorrow,” his mom said.
She had a friend who would teach the violin to Tamir.
Tamir was so happy!
His smile stretched from ear to ear.
Happy butterflies filled his tummy.
He excitedly told his friends.
Learning the violin wasn’t easy.
It was difficult to learn the notes.
Sometimes Tamir wanted to play with friends,
but he had to practice.
He didn’t mind.
He wanted to fill his tummy with happy butterflies.
A year passed, and Tamir kept practicing.
Then he was asked to play for special music at church.
His mom was so happy!
On Sabbath morning, she excitedly told everyone,
“My son is playing the violin up front today.”
But Tamir wasn’t so happy.
His hands began sweating.
His neck began sweating.
His face began sweating.
He was scared about playing in front of a crowd.
He thought, "No, no, no!
I don’t want to play the violin anymore.
I want to go home."
Tamir’s dad saw that the boy was nervous.
“Don’t worry,” he said.
“Jesus will help you.”
Tamir knew that his dad was right.
He wondered why he hadn’t thought about that first.
He silently prayed,
“God, please help me not to be scared
of the people when I play the violin.
Please bless me.”
Then he played in front of all those people.
He wasn’t scared.
His face wasn’t sweating.
His neck wasn’t sweating.
His hands weren’t sweating.
Happy butterflies filled his tummy.
He felt good!
When he finished, everyone was so happy.
Tamir knew that God had helped him.
To play well, Tamir needs to practice every day,
and he needs to pray every day.
Tamir wants to represent Mongolia and God before the world.
He wants happy butterflies to fill his tummy all the time.
Pray that Tamir will be a good representative of God
as he learns the violin and studies at Tusgal School in Mongolia.
His school received part of a previous 13th Sabbath Offering
to grow with new classrooms and a library.
This quarter’s 13th Sabbath Offering
will help open a children’s recreation center
where children will be able to learn about the God who answers prayers.