Tonight we had a dance audition planned at Crossroads. I was very encouraged when we had close to 12 dancers that signed up to come.
As time drew closer, one by one they dropped out - one guy said his girlfriend signed him up as a joke (that was actually really funny!) one student had too much homework, volleyball practice, not feeling well, and some probably just forgot. Regardless the conflict we ended up with only 3 dancers. They danced to the music and then sat and talked a while and now when we see one another in the crowded halls at Crossroads we will know these new friends.
When things seem to fall apart you can either get discouraged or force yourself to find God's intentions. That is what we did.
Kari - the ballerina we have used the most often through the years at Crossroads, came to help me, as well as one of my dearest little girlfriends Shanna. I watched as they talked, evaluated dancers and then we invited Kari to join our drama small group. Exactly what God intended.
Tonight may not have been about dancers at all - it ended up being about new connections - possible ways to use dance in the children's areas, on ministry teams and new small group members.
Tonight at the artists small group we talked about the importance of practicing spiritual disciplines. Creatives perhaps even more than some need to be disciplined enough to slow down in order to even be creative! We talked about how difficult it is to say 'no' and stick to it.
Perhaps our favorite quote was this "inspiration is strained when hurried...this is because inspiration is a dialogue, and we must hear before we create." We must hear from our God! The other thing we all agreed on is the fact that the true artist is a worshiper! We then learned what the attributes of God were - focusing silently on this list for a few moments...this evoked worship!
After discussing the attributes of God , we each chose one as the focus of our "automatic drawing" exercise. We approached the paper in a 'fencing' stance - fully extending our arm to just touch the paper. Oh yeah, did I mention we used our left hand or whichever hand was our non-dominate hand? One of the artists informed us this would cause us to create new brain cells since we were not using our usual hand. (If that's all it takes to create new brain cells I think I just became left-handed!) We painted 5 minutes, then stepped away from the paper and looked at our painting then began again drawing inspiration from the attributes of our God. It was very challenging to not do 'good' paintings for the artists since they are each so talented, but, automatic drawing challenged us to respond to the Lord without trying to create anything specific. So fun! I enjoyed the night immensely drawing encouragement from being surrounded by artists who love the Lord!
So thankful for today. Trying to finish laundry, organize unfinished work and prepare to lead the artists group tomorrow.
As I spent some time reading about prayer this morning I was greatly encouraged by what I read. It was a section discussing prayer specifically within community - and specifically the duty of the leader in prayer. I have always preferred to pray privately. I do not find it hard to be honest and desperate before the Lord - to the point of exhaustion at times.
However, due to my position I often need to lead prayer publicly. This is something I sometimes almost dread because it's usually with the same teams over and over and I worry about sounding authentic and not repeating myself. So I try so hard to focus on just talking with the Lord, but also trying to be careful to make sense - not too personal... often feeling like I have failed miserably. How embarrassing is that to admit!??
I have never prayed trying to make myself sound all spiritual or better than anyone, that's not what I mean, but, it just feels so plain and like nothing inspiring... I am certain there have been times when I have not spiritually prepared myself before the Lord and that could make prayer sound mechanical I suppose...
Then today I read about the proper way to publicly pray, or rather the value in consistently praying for our fellowship. This is what it said, "It is precisely when a person, who is borne down by inner emptiness and weariness or a sense of personal unworthiness, feels that he would like to withdraw from his task, that he should learn what it means to have a duty to perform in the fellowship, and the brethren should support him in his weakness, in his inability to pray. Perhaps it is right here that one will realize the profound truth of Paul's words: "We know not what we should pray for as we ought: but the Spirit itself maketh intercession for us with groanings which cannot be uttered" Romans 8:26...an amazing promise.
So on my day off the question to myself once again is this, why do I waste so much time worrying about stuff or trying to figure things out instead of immediately searching the Word for instruction and comfort? The next time I lead in prayer I will remember these words and just let the Spirit use me to make intercession for those I serve.
O my goodness...so good to be in the house of the Lord worshiping! The team was focused, well practiced and completely ready to forget about the notes, the words and just lead worship. Their preparation paid off and they lead us seamlessly into the message, and I do mean INTO the message. The words were thematic and Pastor Tim took it from there and God spoke through his mouth loud and clear! So good...so thankful to part of these teams!
Our setlist:
Pre-service Instrumental: The Power Of Love - Huey Lewis (this put smiles on everyone's faces as they entered the auditorium!) Announcements: Jesse Rider - our Senior High guy took care of the announcements LIVE from the Youth Room (with kids punching one another in the background! ha ha) Praise: How Great Thou Art - Baloche Praise: You Are Good - Lakewood Worship: Lead Me To The Cross - Hillsong United Worship: Inside Out - Hillsong Message: Ephesians: Deconstruction/Reconstruction Pt.8 Tim Armstrong Closing song: You Are Good
To see what other ministries around the country used in their services go to www.theworshipcommunity.com
To watch our services on Monday go to www.crossroadswired.com
Jocelyn's future brother-in-law Cody invited her to sing with him when he was featured on the Berklee Radio Station with one of his original pieces of music. It was a great experience!
While I was uploading this video I heard a gasp as Jocelyn received the news that she had in fact been accepted for Graduate School at Boston University. They originally told her she would not know until April so we were totally shocked to find out so early! Looks like I'll be making many trips to Boston in the future...(heavy sigh with a smile on my face)...
We just got back from Boston where we visited our future son-in-law, Aaron and his buddies! Celebrated everyone's birthday - watched a radio broadcast featuring our daughter Jocelyn and Aaron's brother Cody. We checked out Berkley School of Music where Aaron and his brother attend, visited Boston University where our daughter has applied for Graduate School and walked through Harvard! We had a blast - walked miles and miles investigating all areas of Boston - ate constantly and drove up to Maine! And we enjoyed one day of shopping that ended in sleep at the train station. Very, very, very fun! Here is a peak at what we saw.
2 dancers that signed up to come.
