Today was a long day filled with ministering to people. From 8-9am, the "Isle of Dreams" ministered our weekly service at the St. Louis Avenue Nursing home near downtown St. Louis. After that service, we drove to North County to attend and sing at Jubilee Worship Center. Michael presented the message and it was a great service.
I arrived home to eat lunch and spend about 2 hours with Lisa and then I was off again. Once again, the "Isle of Dreams" cast met up and caravaned down to Bonne Terre, Missouri to minister at the East Regional Correctional Facility - an all male prison facility. This was my first time in a prison other than the local jail and it was very impressive. The amount of security and checks that you have to pass through just to visit with the inmates is quite daunting. We gathered at their designated Chapel area, which is a room in their Recreation building.
There was a huge turnout of 108 men - the largest Chapel gathering to date we have been told. The service started with the Praise band (comprised of inmates) leading worship for about 25 minutes. It was an awesome experience to stand in a room with strangers and particpate in worshipping our God together. It was a sweet sound lifted to God despite the surroundings. We then sang a few songs, interspersed with testimonies. Michael started with his testimony, then we sang "Listen to the Rain". Ruth then shared her story and sang "Rocky Road". Rolanda then spoke of how God is keeping her alive in spite of having AIDS and then she sang "If You Had Been Here". Michael then asked me to speak (which I did) and then I sang "Everybody is God's Child". We closed out the service with "Revelation" and "He Shall Reign".
Afterwards the men came forward to greet us and talk to us. It gave us an opportunity to individually share our love with them and to encourage them to keep following hard after Christ. The men seemed to be genuinely thankful that we had come and I know that we were truly thankful to have had the opportunity to be there with them.
It's wonderful how God allows us to not only minister to people in tough places, but also how He uses the people in tough places to minister to us...
Personal Relationships
The previous post was all about the construction activites we performed while down in the Gulf Coast Region. This post will reflect on the people I worked with and met while on this trip.
I arrived at the St. Louis Family church to meet up with 5 strangers to travel down to the Biloxi, MS area for a weeklong mission/service trip. From the Family Church there was Mike and his wife Charlie(Charlotte) and Mary(former Catholic nun and SI trip alumnus). There was Patti (a nurse who was currently unemployed and searching for what God wanted her to do next) and Jen(the youngest of our group-who was also seeking God's direction in Missions).
Upon arriving at Cedar Creek Methodist Church, we were greeted by Pastor Ed of the Family Church who is acting as coordinator on the ground in Biloxi for SI. We were introduced to Mike and Dave, who are also SI employees, acting as the construction foremen. We quickly found ourselves surrounded by a group of people speaking with a very thick southern drawl. This group from eastern Kentucky consisted of Pastor James and his wife Debbi, Janet and her husband AJ and Nancy and her husband Wade.
As dinner was laid out buffet style, we were introduced to the family group from Kansas City, MO. Chris and Tricia Tayrien and their children Tanner and Tatum as well as family friend Nikki Mereghetti. A silent group that seemed to stay off to themselves a bit, this group seemed kind of out of place in a room filled with boisterous, loud and very outgoing people. Like it usually happens, I found out why things were the way they were the next day.
In a conversation the following day, I learned that the Tayrien family was on this trip to celebrate the life of their eldest son, Tylor, who had died in a car accident on Dec 3, 2004. So this family, along with Tylor's close friend were spending the anniversary of his death helping other people. I cannot tell you how much I treasure my conversations with Chris and Tricia as well as with Nikki, limited though they may have been. God allowed me to give them some words of encouragement and He continues to allow me the ability to lift them up in my prayers often. If you have a moment, please visit www.remembertylor.org and suppot all that they are doing in the KC area.
In the evenings after dinner, we played card games for most of the night. With interspersed conversations heer and there, our group of total strangers became incredibly close in a very short time span. To work alongside of people all day long (while helping other people) and then come back to the same place and eat and sleep under the same roof is an experience that cannot be replaced by another.
I officially adopted Janet (of the KY crew) as my mother while I was there, as we hit it off right away and she took care of me when I wasn't feeling well a couple of days. Pastor James and I had a couple of great conversations regarding the mysteries of God and the Bible and how the Church is commanded to reach out to others and treat its own members. I played a lot of card games with Wade and AJ and I watched them worked tirelessly on hanging sheetrock in the garage at the parsonage. They truly are two men of silent demeanor but huge men of action and love.
Mike and Charlie were the Newlyweds of the group, having been married for a year or so. I watched and listened to Mike in how he worked during construction and how he took time for his wife throughout and am a better man because of it. Jen and Patti were that refreshing blast of air to remind me of how I once was passionately striving for what God wanted in my life and that I should get back to that point.
Everyone in the group played their role perfectly. We did the jobs we were assigned to the best of our ability and had as much fun as possible while doing it. We were transparent with one another in our faults and shortcoming and thorugh it all I believe we all became so much stronger for it. Our daily devotional time was a wonderful bonding experience in the Lord and proved to be the perfect way to start every day.
Late Friday morning, the Kentucky crew was ready to head home. They packed up their van and came over to visit us at the parsonage on their way out. I think Mike said it best when, after they had finally disappeared around the bend in the road beyond sight "It feels like saying goodbye to your family and not knowing if you will ever see them again." Yeah. And the grout in that last bathroom has some tears mixed in with it to prove the point...
At dinner time on Friday, the next group of 40 came in and started unloading. We helped welcome them, showed them around the place and generally talked about what we had seen, heard and accomplished while we had been there. After dinner the KC crew packed up to leave. While the new group finished eating and sat around and talked, our group met on the parking lot to say goodbye to some more of our family. Tears flowed freely in that space and it was refreshing and heart-rending all at the same time. Those of us remaining came back in and sat down at the tables. I unashamedly cried right along with Jen and Patti and remained silent for quite a long time.
The relationships forged during that one week were amazing. And then, in the end, you have to say goodbye to all of those people, not knowing if you will ever see them again. All you can do is leave them in the hands of God and thank Him for allowing you to know such wonderful people...
The previous post was all about the construction activites we performed while down in the Gulf Coast Region. This post will reflect on the people I worked with and met while on this trip.
I arrived at the St. Louis Family church to meet up with 5 strangers to travel down to the Biloxi, MS area for a weeklong mission/service trip. From the Family Church there was Mike and his wife Charlie(Charlotte) and Mary(former Catholic nun and SI trip alumnus). There was Patti (a nurse who was currently unemployed and searching for what God wanted her to do next) and Jen(the youngest of our group-who was also seeking God's direction in Missions).
Upon arriving at Cedar Creek Methodist Church, we were greeted by Pastor Ed of the Family Church who is acting as coordinator on the ground in Biloxi for SI. We were introduced to Mike and Dave, who are also SI employees, acting as the construction foremen. We quickly found ourselves surrounded by a group of people speaking with a very thick southern drawl. This group from eastern Kentucky consisted of Pastor James and his wife Debbi, Janet and her husband AJ and Nancy and her husband Wade.
As dinner was laid out buffet style, we were introduced to the family group from Kansas City, MO. Chris and Tricia Tayrien and their children Tanner and Tatum as well as family friend Nikki Mereghetti. A silent group that seemed to stay off to themselves a bit, this group seemed kind of out of place in a room filled with boisterous, loud and very outgoing people. Like it usually happens, I found out why things were the way they were the next day.
In a conversation the following day, I learned that the Tayrien family was on this trip to celebrate the life of their eldest son, Tylor, who had died in a car accident on Dec 3, 2004. So this family, along with Tylor's close friend were spending the anniversary of his death helping other people. I cannot tell you how much I treasure my conversations with Chris and Tricia as well as with Nikki, limited though they may have been. God allowed me to give them some words of encouragement and He continues to allow me the ability to lift them up in my prayers often. If you have a moment, please visit www.remembertylor.org and suppot all that they are doing in the KC area.
In the evenings after dinner, we played card games for most of the night. With interspersed conversations heer and there, our group of total strangers became incredibly close in a very short time span. To work alongside of people all day long (while helping other people) and then come back to the same place and eat and sleep under the same roof is an experience that cannot be replaced by another.
I officially adopted Janet (of the KY crew) as my mother while I was there, as we hit it off right away and she took care of me when I wasn't feeling well a couple of days. Pastor James and I had a couple of great conversations regarding the mysteries of God and the Bible and how the Church is commanded to reach out to others and treat its own members. I played a lot of card games with Wade and AJ and I watched them worked tirelessly on hanging sheetrock in the garage at the parsonage. They truly are two men of silent demeanor but huge men of action and love.
Mike and Charlie were the Newlyweds of the group, having been married for a year or so. I watched and listened to Mike in how he worked during construction and how he took time for his wife throughout and am a better man because of it. Jen and Patti were that refreshing blast of air to remind me of how I once was passionately striving for what God wanted in my life and that I should get back to that point.
Everyone in the group played their role perfectly. We did the jobs we were assigned to the best of our ability and had as much fun as possible while doing it. We were transparent with one another in our faults and shortcoming and thorugh it all I believe we all became so much stronger for it. Our daily devotional time was a wonderful bonding experience in the Lord and proved to be the perfect way to start every day.
Late Friday morning, the Kentucky crew was ready to head home. They packed up their van and came over to visit us at the parsonage on their way out. I think Mike said it best when, after they had finally disappeared around the bend in the road beyond sight "It feels like saying goodbye to your family and not knowing if you will ever see them again." Yeah. And the grout in that last bathroom has some tears mixed in with it to prove the point...
At dinner time on Friday, the next group of 40 came in and started unloading. We helped welcome them, showed them around the place and generally talked about what we had seen, heard and accomplished while we had been there. After dinner the KC crew packed up to leave. While the new group finished eating and sat around and talked, our group met on the parking lot to say goodbye to some more of our family. Tears flowed freely in that space and it was refreshing and heart-rending all at the same time. Those of us remaining came back in and sat down at the tables. I unashamedly cried right along with Jen and Patti and remained silent for quite a long time.
The relationships forged during that one week were amazing. And then, in the end, you have to say goodbye to all of those people, not knowing if you will ever see them again. All you can do is leave them in the hands of God and thank Him for allowing you to know such wonderful people...
Construction Activities
For the week I was in the Gulf Coast region, I spent the majority of my time working in the parsonage of the church that was housing all of the SI volunteers. The ranch style house had been gutted after the storm, because it had been flooded almost to the 8 foot ceiling. All of the drywall was ripped out and the studs were sprayed with disinfectant and mold-killer and then the repair work had started.
When our group arrived, all of the walls had been replaced and painted and a brand new wood/linoleum floor had just been installed 2 days before. I was paired to work with a gentleman named Mike Liston, who has a vast amount of refinishing experience. We were assigned the task of installing the kitchen cabinets that we had brought down with us as well as the vanities for the bathrooms. Mike took the time to explain to me what we doing every step of the way and was patient to allow me to stumble through the process with him. By the end of day 2 we had all of the kitchen cabinets installed as well as the counter top mounted.
Our third day we began laying tile in the master bathroom. Actually, Mike did all of the measuring and laying, I did the tile cutting. I have never seen a tile saw in person, let alone operated one. Add to this fact that Mike and I had to assemble the brand new saw before we could use it and it was altogether intimidating. Mike showed me what to do and gave me some tips and then left me outside to do the cutting. The morning started off cold outside and by 10am I was quite wet from the saw and my fingers were almost completely numb. We finished the bathroom and closet and moved on to tile the laundry room (which we almost finished the same day).
Day four Mike showed me how to grout tile and left me to grout the bathroom, closet and laundry room while he worked on tiling the one remaining bathroom. I ended up doing all of the tile cutting for him as well as the grouting I was assigned. A
The last day Mike and I installed the final vanity in the last bathroom. I spent the remainder of the morning grouting the last bathroom and sweeping the house clean of dirt and dust. The afternoon was spent getting all the tools back where they belonged and preparing the church for incoming group of 40 people for the next week.
For the week I was in the Gulf Coast region, I spent the majority of my time working in the parsonage of the church that was housing all of the SI volunteers. The ranch style house had been gutted after the storm, because it had been flooded almost to the 8 foot ceiling. All of the drywall was ripped out and the studs were sprayed with disinfectant and mold-killer and then the repair work had started.
When our group arrived, all of the walls had been replaced and painted and a brand new wood/linoleum floor had just been installed 2 days before. I was paired to work with a gentleman named Mike Liston, who has a vast amount of refinishing experience. We were assigned the task of installing the kitchen cabinets that we had brought down with us as well as the vanities for the bathrooms. Mike took the time to explain to me what we doing every step of the way and was patient to allow me to stumble through the process with him. By the end of day 2 we had all of the kitchen cabinets installed as well as the counter top mounted.
Our third day we began laying tile in the master bathroom. Actually, Mike did all of the measuring and laying, I did the tile cutting. I have never seen a tile saw in person, let alone operated one. Add to this fact that Mike and I had to assemble the brand new saw before we could use it and it was altogether intimidating. Mike showed me what to do and gave me some tips and then left me outside to do the cutting. The morning started off cold outside and by 10am I was quite wet from the saw and my fingers were almost completely numb. We finished the bathroom and closet and moved on to tile the laundry room (which we almost finished the same day).
Day four Mike showed me how to grout tile and left me to grout the bathroom, closet and laundry room while he worked on tiling the one remaining bathroom. I ended up doing all of the tile cutting for him as well as the grouting I was assigned. A
The last day Mike and I installed the final vanity in the last bathroom. I spent the remainder of the morning grouting the last bathroom and sweeping the house clean of dirt and dust. The afternoon was spent getting all the tools back where they belonged and preparing the church for incoming group of 40 people for the next week.
Reality Check
Our first morning in Mississippi, we loaded some food and household supplies into the trucks and piled into the vans to deliver it to a nearby distribution center. As we drove down the street, the light of day instantly revealed what the night had so well hidden: destruction. There were trees down everywhere. There were boats in yards that weren't on the waterfront. There were refridgerators and ovens on the shoulder of the road, with no evidence of a house nearby.
As we pulled into Waveland, the people in our van became silent. Destroyed buildings lined what used to be the business district, some with a roof still intact, while others had no walls. Many were simply flattened or washed away. As we pulled into what used to be a shopping center (with a Big K and a movie theater as well as several other stores) the reality of what we were dealing with was realized. Huge circus style tents had been pitched on the parking lot of this plaze and we began to unload the goods into one of these tents. Next to the entrance labeled "Volunteers only" there was a whiteboard hanging that said "Items needed to pray for today: Diapers". I quickly said a prayer for the need and then thought "How could a place in the USA be in need of diapers? After all, they are a basic necessity for children..."
God uses a lot of things to answer prayer, and in this case we were the answer. After taking several items into the tent, we found a bunch of diapers in the back of the trailer. now it wasn't a ton of diapers, maybe a couple of hundred, but it was an answer to the prayers of many people. We then found out that this complex of tents was run by volunteers, who had just been praying in their daily group meeting that God would send help. There were five people to run the food tent, the clothing tent and cook the food that they serve every day to over 400 people. They had said "Amen" and had begun to get ready to open the tents in faith that God would provide help or give them strength to do what He had called them to do when we pulled up with almost 20 people. We stayed and helped man the distribution tables in the food tent.
For two hours we stocked tables with peanut butter, jelly, toilet paper, baby food, canned vegetables, soap, deodorant and everythign else that you might need to survive day to day. The people entered the tent at one end and worked their way around the horseshoe-shaped setup, placing their items in the K-mart shopping carts that would never again roll across freshly mopped tiled floors. In order to make sure there was enough for everyone who needed it, we had to ration certain items: 1 roll of paper towels, 2 rolls of toilet paper, one jar of peanut butter, 12 baby food jars, 12 cans of vegetables per person. Do you know how hard it is to tell someone that they cannot take as many rolls of toilet paper that they want/need or that they cannot have both crunchy and creamy peanut butter because you might run out? I never would have thought I would have to do that, but I did and it was a terrible experience.
I saw children with no shoes on their feet - not because they didn't want to wear them, but because they didn't have any. I saw mothers trying to figure out how they could feed their families with the meager portions they were allowed to take. I was told that most of these people come to the food tent everyday to eat and get food and supplies for home. With scary normalcy, almost every other person through the line asked me if I had any cleaning supplies, which I didn't. (Some of these people were living in what was left of their homes, without being able to clean them up because they didn't have any supplies.)
Perhaps the most heart-rending aspect of this whole activity was the way the people would look at me and thank me. They have lost their homes, family members and jobs and here I am just pushing a jar or peanut butter across a table to them and they are thanking me?!? The tenderness and vulnerability in a lot of the people was simply overwhelming. Twice I found myself gazing around the tent at the people and beginning to get choked up. But I wouldn't allow myself to cry. Not here. Not now. Not in front of these people.
It's not because I am too proud to cry in front of people, I'm not at all. It's just that in those moments I thought to myself about what these people had already been through and how, after three months, they were trying to move beyond the disaster as best as they could. If I were them, I wouldn't want to show up for food everyday to see a new volunteer crying over me. I wouldn't want to have to deal with that. The sorrow and helplessness that surrounded this tent complex was more than an ever-present reminder of what had happened to these people, they didn't need another one inside the tent.
One of the most touching moments of the day for me happened when I noticed an elderly couple enter the tent together and join the line. I watched them as they made their way through the line, picking items off the tables and gently placing them in their cart. The gentleman was quite dapper in a suit jacket with matching pants, a nice fairly pair of shoes, a tie and a hat. The lady was wearing a dress adorned with lace and she had on a pair of dress shoes that mathed. As they came to my table I said hello and commented on how nice they both looked in their fancy dress. I was thanked by both immediately and then they shared the following with me.
"We left in our car the day before (Hurricane Katrina made landfall)... When we came back our house was gone... So we went to our church, but it was gone... We drove to our favorite restaraunt, but there was nothing left... So we slept in our car for a couple of days, then found a tent and slept in it for a couple of weeks. We have nothing left... We got all of these clothes at the clothes tent next door... We just got a trailer on loan the other day and this morning we went to a new church and they didn't mind that we were there..."
How do you respond to that? How do you reply to someone telling you that they have lost everything? I'll tell you how I responded. I fought back the urge to cry, placed my hands out for them both and held one of each of their hands in mine. In that moment, all I could say was "Well, I'm glad your here." And that was true and they knew it. They talked about how greatful they were that people were trying to help them. We talked briefly about how God is still blessing them through it all and blessing us for allowing us to come try and help.
They refused to take a jar of jelly, because they thought that there might be children who would want it more. Instead they took 5 packets of jam (the kind you might get at Denny's), a roll of paper towels, some toilet paper and then thanked me again as they walked on down the line... A few minutes later, I though that I could have asked them if they would like to come back to Missouri with me. Lisa and I could provide them with rooms, food and care. But I didn't ask, because in that moment I hadn't thought of it. We had room in the car, we could have brought them back. But something tells me they wouldn't have accepted my offer, for the same reason they didn't accept the jar of jelly- someone else could use it more.
We ate lunch in the meal tent and then loaded up in the vans and left the complex. There were more than a few of us who would have gladly stayed all day and worked there all week, but it wasn't why we were here so we moved on. I'm thankful for the chance to talk to some of the people of Waveland, MS and they will always have a special place in my heart.
We took a driving tour of the area for the next hour and a half, and what I saw was unbelievable. Entire sbdivisions erased from the earth, without a single brick or wall left standing. You could look down a road and see foundations, but nothing else. There were houses that remained standing, btu they had been flooded and damaged beyond repair and it was obvious that they would have to be torn down eventually. We drove along the beachfront and sat in unbeliefe as the devastation rolled by mile after mile. I found myself so overwhelmed by it all that it became almost routine to see mattresses, clothes and appliances 20 feet up in the trees that had somehow withstood the onslaught. The piles of debris that stood 15 feet tall everywhere became commonplace.
We drove into Biloxi and saw the damage to the downtown district. We saw the casinos that had been ripped apart. We saw the hotels that had their bottom three floors completely swept clean of beds, lamps, tables and anything else that had once been held between the walls that were no longer there. We were dumbfounded by the perfectly intact Waffle House sign (not a letter broken or missing) that stood above a lot that now only held a concrete foundation with some tile still intact. We marvelled at the casino barge that was moved a half mile and placed on top of a two story hotel, utterly crushing what had been left of it.
And I wanted the tour to be finished. I had seen enough in the first 15 minutes to appreciate the enormity of what happened here. I visualized the lives that had been forever altered and the ones that had been lost. I knew why I was here, and I hoped to be an active participant in somehow helping to begin the process of healing for someone. I wanted to do something other than sit and gawk at the misery and destruction around us.
I was shocked by what I had seen in my first day in the gulf coast region. The mountains of debris still blocking some of the roads... The tents that some people were still living in on their property surrounded by what had once been their homes... The people still standing in lines for food, clothing and the everyday necessities of life...
This isn't what you expect to see 3 months after a disaster. This isn't the way things are supposed to be in the United States... Yet they were. And I was glad I was here to try and be part of a solution...
Our first morning in Mississippi, we loaded some food and household supplies into the trucks and piled into the vans to deliver it to a nearby distribution center. As we drove down the street, the light of day instantly revealed what the night had so well hidden: destruction. There were trees down everywhere. There were boats in yards that weren't on the waterfront. There were refridgerators and ovens on the shoulder of the road, with no evidence of a house nearby.
As we pulled into Waveland, the people in our van became silent. Destroyed buildings lined what used to be the business district, some with a roof still intact, while others had no walls. Many were simply flattened or washed away. As we pulled into what used to be a shopping center (with a Big K and a movie theater as well as several other stores) the reality of what we were dealing with was realized. Huge circus style tents had been pitched on the parking lot of this plaze and we began to unload the goods into one of these tents. Next to the entrance labeled "Volunteers only" there was a whiteboard hanging that said "Items needed to pray for today: Diapers". I quickly said a prayer for the need and then thought "How could a place in the USA be in need of diapers? After all, they are a basic necessity for children..."
God uses a lot of things to answer prayer, and in this case we were the answer. After taking several items into the tent, we found a bunch of diapers in the back of the trailer. now it wasn't a ton of diapers, maybe a couple of hundred, but it was an answer to the prayers of many people. We then found out that this complex of tents was run by volunteers, who had just been praying in their daily group meeting that God would send help. There were five people to run the food tent, the clothing tent and cook the food that they serve every day to over 400 people. They had said "Amen" and had begun to get ready to open the tents in faith that God would provide help or give them strength to do what He had called them to do when we pulled up with almost 20 people. We stayed and helped man the distribution tables in the food tent.
For two hours we stocked tables with peanut butter, jelly, toilet paper, baby food, canned vegetables, soap, deodorant and everythign else that you might need to survive day to day. The people entered the tent at one end and worked their way around the horseshoe-shaped setup, placing their items in the K-mart shopping carts that would never again roll across freshly mopped tiled floors. In order to make sure there was enough for everyone who needed it, we had to ration certain items: 1 roll of paper towels, 2 rolls of toilet paper, one jar of peanut butter, 12 baby food jars, 12 cans of vegetables per person. Do you know how hard it is to tell someone that they cannot take as many rolls of toilet paper that they want/need or that they cannot have both crunchy and creamy peanut butter because you might run out? I never would have thought I would have to do that, but I did and it was a terrible experience.
I saw children with no shoes on their feet - not because they didn't want to wear them, but because they didn't have any. I saw mothers trying to figure out how they could feed their families with the meager portions they were allowed to take. I was told that most of these people come to the food tent everyday to eat and get food and supplies for home. With scary normalcy, almost every other person through the line asked me if I had any cleaning supplies, which I didn't. (Some of these people were living in what was left of their homes, without being able to clean them up because they didn't have any supplies.)
Perhaps the most heart-rending aspect of this whole activity was the way the people would look at me and thank me. They have lost their homes, family members and jobs and here I am just pushing a jar or peanut butter across a table to them and they are thanking me?!? The tenderness and vulnerability in a lot of the people was simply overwhelming. Twice I found myself gazing around the tent at the people and beginning to get choked up. But I wouldn't allow myself to cry. Not here. Not now. Not in front of these people.
It's not because I am too proud to cry in front of people, I'm not at all. It's just that in those moments I thought to myself about what these people had already been through and how, after three months, they were trying to move beyond the disaster as best as they could. If I were them, I wouldn't want to show up for food everyday to see a new volunteer crying over me. I wouldn't want to have to deal with that. The sorrow and helplessness that surrounded this tent complex was more than an ever-present reminder of what had happened to these people, they didn't need another one inside the tent.
One of the most touching moments of the day for me happened when I noticed an elderly couple enter the tent together and join the line. I watched them as they made their way through the line, picking items off the tables and gently placing them in their cart. The gentleman was quite dapper in a suit jacket with matching pants, a nice fairly pair of shoes, a tie and a hat. The lady was wearing a dress adorned with lace and she had on a pair of dress shoes that mathed. As they came to my table I said hello and commented on how nice they both looked in their fancy dress. I was thanked by both immediately and then they shared the following with me.
"We left in our car the day before (Hurricane Katrina made landfall)... When we came back our house was gone... So we went to our church, but it was gone... We drove to our favorite restaraunt, but there was nothing left... So we slept in our car for a couple of days, then found a tent and slept in it for a couple of weeks. We have nothing left... We got all of these clothes at the clothes tent next door... We just got a trailer on loan the other day and this morning we went to a new church and they didn't mind that we were there..."
How do you respond to that? How do you reply to someone telling you that they have lost everything? I'll tell you how I responded. I fought back the urge to cry, placed my hands out for them both and held one of each of their hands in mine. In that moment, all I could say was "Well, I'm glad your here." And that was true and they knew it. They talked about how greatful they were that people were trying to help them. We talked briefly about how God is still blessing them through it all and blessing us for allowing us to come try and help.
They refused to take a jar of jelly, because they thought that there might be children who would want it more. Instead they took 5 packets of jam (the kind you might get at Denny's), a roll of paper towels, some toilet paper and then thanked me again as they walked on down the line... A few minutes later, I though that I could have asked them if they would like to come back to Missouri with me. Lisa and I could provide them with rooms, food and care. But I didn't ask, because in that moment I hadn't thought of it. We had room in the car, we could have brought them back. But something tells me they wouldn't have accepted my offer, for the same reason they didn't accept the jar of jelly- someone else could use it more.
We ate lunch in the meal tent and then loaded up in the vans and left the complex. There were more than a few of us who would have gladly stayed all day and worked there all week, but it wasn't why we were here so we moved on. I'm thankful for the chance to talk to some of the people of Waveland, MS and they will always have a special place in my heart.
We took a driving tour of the area for the next hour and a half, and what I saw was unbelievable. Entire sbdivisions erased from the earth, without a single brick or wall left standing. You could look down a road and see foundations, but nothing else. There were houses that remained standing, btu they had been flooded and damaged beyond repair and it was obvious that they would have to be torn down eventually. We drove along the beachfront and sat in unbeliefe as the devastation rolled by mile after mile. I found myself so overwhelmed by it all that it became almost routine to see mattresses, clothes and appliances 20 feet up in the trees that had somehow withstood the onslaught. The piles of debris that stood 15 feet tall everywhere became commonplace.
We drove into Biloxi and saw the damage to the downtown district. We saw the casinos that had been ripped apart. We saw the hotels that had their bottom three floors completely swept clean of beds, lamps, tables and anything else that had once been held between the walls that were no longer there. We were dumbfounded by the perfectly intact Waffle House sign (not a letter broken or missing) that stood above a lot that now only held a concrete foundation with some tile still intact. We marvelled at the casino barge that was moved a half mile and placed on top of a two story hotel, utterly crushing what had been left of it.
And I wanted the tour to be finished. I had seen enough in the first 15 minutes to appreciate the enormity of what happened here. I visualized the lives that had been forever altered and the ones that had been lost. I knew why I was here, and I hoped to be an active participant in somehow helping to begin the process of healing for someone. I wanted to do something other than sit and gawk at the misery and destruction around us.
I was shocked by what I had seen in my first day in the gulf coast region. The mountains of debris still blocking some of the roads... The tents that some people were still living in on their property surrounded by what had once been their homes... The people still standing in lines for food, clothing and the everyday necessities of life...
This isn't what you expect to see 3 months after a disaster. This isn't the way things are supposed to be in the United States... Yet they were. And I was glad I was here to try and be part of a solution...
On the Road
Our trip down south was quite uneventful, with a couple of exceptions. From St. Louis we drove down I-55 and tried to sleep as much as possible in the morning. After lunch I found it virtually impossible to sleep, as we were getting closer to our destination and further from places that I had seen before. I guess it is just my curious nature to want to see as much of the countryside as possible, when I haven't seen it before. (Once I've seen it a few times, I'm more than happy to doze off to sleep and let the miles fly by unseen.)
We stopped at a Rest Area in northern Mississippi, which in and of itself is nothing spectacular to think about. However, in retrospect this was the last point at which we were not directly impacted by the damage caused by Hurricane Katrina. From this point on, every stop we made was impacted in one way or another by the Hurricane.
As we made our way further south, gas prices went further north. While we added to the mileage on the 15 passenger van we were riding in, we began to notice fewer people heading south. We started noticing a tree here or there that had been knocked down by the storm. Soon we started seeing trees that weren't merely split, but totally uprooted by the winds. As were neared the coastline, it became common to see vast numbers of trees downed and uprooted and unusual to see a stand of trees left untouched. The remnants of trees that had undoubtedly blocked the highway at one point still sat thrown to the side of it, without any attempt to pile them up or organize them at all. It was obvious that whomever cleared them was not worried about it looking pretty or easy to clean up later.
We finally made the turn east and were essentially driving parallel to the coastline for a long time. At this point, the skys grew dark and it began raining quite hard. It was eerie to drive along a highway had no lights and that was surrounded by darkness. Evidence of humanity was all around: a single shoe laying here, a mattress there, a washing machine on the shoulder, a blanket entangled 20 feet high in a tree. It was in thee moments that I knew I was exactly where God wanted me to be. Driving past the edge of neighborhoods where you could see blue tarps on every roof and knowing that if all that these people lost was their roof then they were fortunate.
We started running low on gas, so we exited where we saw a gas station sign. Upon turning onto the road it quickly became obvious that something was terribly wrong. We found the gas station about a quarter mile down on the right. There was the shell of a building with no glass windows in the front and a partially collapsed rear wall, an awning that at one point had hung over the gas pumps but was now only connected to the building at one end and sat resting on the pumps nearest the road (crushing them). We carefully turned around and made our way back into the darkness to get back on the highway. It's one of those things you don't really think about until you experience it - where do you get gas for your vehicle when gas station have been destroyed? This provided the answer to the question of why we had begun to see a lot of abandoned vehicles on the side of the road.
We made our way into the neighborhood where we would be staying for the next week. A local church had agreed to let Service International use their flooded sanctuary as their base camp for the Biloxi area operations. We entered the building to the smell of dinner cooking and fresh paint. Evidently, a group from Kentucky had arrived earlier in the day and painted a couple of the rooms in the church. There was also a family from Kansas City, MO who had travelled down on their own and arrived a few hours before we did.
I sat down for dinner surrounded by strangers in a strange place and somehow I felt right at home. We introduced ourselves to one another and it didn't take long to start to feel the common bonds that tied us together: a heart to serve, a love for people and a passion for God. We watched a couple of training videos and then headed off to our beds, ready for whatever tomorrow might bring our way and absolutely not ready at all...
Our trip down south was quite uneventful, with a couple of exceptions. From St. Louis we drove down I-55 and tried to sleep as much as possible in the morning. After lunch I found it virtually impossible to sleep, as we were getting closer to our destination and further from places that I had seen before. I guess it is just my curious nature to want to see as much of the countryside as possible, when I haven't seen it before. (Once I've seen it a few times, I'm more than happy to doze off to sleep and let the miles fly by unseen.)
We stopped at a Rest Area in northern Mississippi, which in and of itself is nothing spectacular to think about. However, in retrospect this was the last point at which we were not directly impacted by the damage caused by Hurricane Katrina. From this point on, every stop we made was impacted in one way or another by the Hurricane.
As we made our way further south, gas prices went further north. While we added to the mileage on the 15 passenger van we were riding in, we began to notice fewer people heading south. We started noticing a tree here or there that had been knocked down by the storm. Soon we started seeing trees that weren't merely split, but totally uprooted by the winds. As were neared the coastline, it became common to see vast numbers of trees downed and uprooted and unusual to see a stand of trees left untouched. The remnants of trees that had undoubtedly blocked the highway at one point still sat thrown to the side of it, without any attempt to pile them up or organize them at all. It was obvious that whomever cleared them was not worried about it looking pretty or easy to clean up later.
We finally made the turn east and were essentially driving parallel to the coastline for a long time. At this point, the skys grew dark and it began raining quite hard. It was eerie to drive along a highway had no lights and that was surrounded by darkness. Evidence of humanity was all around: a single shoe laying here, a mattress there, a washing machine on the shoulder, a blanket entangled 20 feet high in a tree. It was in thee moments that I knew I was exactly where God wanted me to be. Driving past the edge of neighborhoods where you could see blue tarps on every roof and knowing that if all that these people lost was their roof then they were fortunate.
We started running low on gas, so we exited where we saw a gas station sign. Upon turning onto the road it quickly became obvious that something was terribly wrong. We found the gas station about a quarter mile down on the right. There was the shell of a building with no glass windows in the front and a partially collapsed rear wall, an awning that at one point had hung over the gas pumps but was now only connected to the building at one end and sat resting on the pumps nearest the road (crushing them). We carefully turned around and made our way back into the darkness to get back on the highway. It's one of those things you don't really think about until you experience it - where do you get gas for your vehicle when gas station have been destroyed? This provided the answer to the question of why we had begun to see a lot of abandoned vehicles on the side of the road.
We made our way into the neighborhood where we would be staying for the next week. A local church had agreed to let Service International use their flooded sanctuary as their base camp for the Biloxi area operations. We entered the building to the smell of dinner cooking and fresh paint. Evidently, a group from Kentucky had arrived earlier in the day and painted a couple of the rooms in the church. There was also a family from Kansas City, MO who had travelled down on their own and arrived a few hours before we did.
I sat down for dinner surrounded by strangers in a strange place and somehow I felt right at home. We introduced ourselves to one another and it didn't take long to start to feel the common bonds that tied us together: a heart to serve, a love for people and a passion for God. We watched a couple of training videos and then headed off to our beds, ready for whatever tomorrow might bring our way and absolutely not ready at all...
Prelude to a Trip
I left the house at 4:10 this morning in order to be at the Family Church in Chesterfield by 5:30. Those of you who are familiar with the St. Louis area and know where Lisa and I live instantly realize that it normally would take 45 minutes or so to drive there from our house. However, I was not driving a normal car. I was driving "Old Blue"(1990 Cavalier), which in the past few weeks had begun overheating slightly on extended drives. So I left really early so that I could stop for a few minutes, if need be, to cool the vehicle down.
Well, on this morning I had only driven 2 miles or so and, to my suprise and fear, the Temp light blinked on. I quickly pulled off into the White Castle parking lot and threw open the hood. I added a little water to the radiator, but it seemed to have plenty of fluid. I checked the oil and added a quart. After about 5 minutes of waiting, I fired up the car and continued on my way. I made it most of the way down highway 94 toward Interstate 40 when the Temp light and Check Engine lights decided to come on at the same time. Now in the weeks of running hot, the car had never shown the check engine light.
As I pulled of the road into a deserted bank parking lot I heard a slight rattling coming from under the hood and as I stopped I caught a glimpse of smoke coming from the tailpipe. Once again I lifted the hood and let things cool and checked the fluids once more. I added quite a bit of water/coolant to the radiator this time and waited for the car to cool. After 10 minutes of waiting, I started the car once again and continued on my way.
Accelerating onto Interstate 40 I heard the rattle once again, but this time it was accompanied with a billowing cloud of smoke pouring from behind the car. Immediately the Temp and Engine lights came on and I pulled to the shoulder. By now it was 5:10 and I was frustrated and worried that I would not make it to the church on time. I sat in the car wondering what I should do. I felt that I had reached a place where God was trying to show me something, so I began to pray that I would receive the lesson or wisdom that He had for me. In those minutes of prayer, I went from being frustrated to very content. I prayed about my situation. I prayed about the car. I prayed about my motivation for going on this trip. Feeling much more focussed on my motivation and purpose for where I was headed, I started the car back up.
Not knowing whether or not I would make it all the way to my destination, I pulled back on to the highway and slowly began to build momentum. I still had smoke billowing from behind me and I could hear an occasional rattle from in front of me. I made it about a mile down the road when the Temp light blinked on again. Feeling quite determined and not wanting to stop right away again, I pressed on going 10 miles per hour below the limit. I limped my way across the Daniel Boone bridge and thought about pulling over. In that moment I decided that if God wanted me to go on this trip He was going to have to get me to the church in this car. And if I wasn't suppose to go on this trip, God would allow my car to stop moving toward the church. (Some might question the validity of such a prayer, but in that moment it is what I was asking God to do - show me clearly whether He wanted me on the trip or not.)
I exited at Boone's Crossing and made my way into Amini's parking lot and stopped the car once again to cool down. I sat for five minutes and decided that I needed to get moving again. At this point I was less than a mile from the church and it was already 5:35. I pulled into the church parking lot and whipped into the first avaialble spot, where "Old Blue" promptly died and sputtered for a few seconds. I had made it to the church almost on time. Thankfully, the group was not ready to leave yet, so I was able to load my stuff up without having to make anyone wait on me.
The sun had not even come up over St. Louis yet and I had already been in my car for well over an hour, propped the hood up numerous times, added fluids twice and prayed quite intensely throughout the whole ordeal. It was an odd way to start out a mission trip, but it was an absolutely perfect way for God to recenter my focus on Him...
I left the house at 4:10 this morning in order to be at the Family Church in Chesterfield by 5:30. Those of you who are familiar with the St. Louis area and know where Lisa and I live instantly realize that it normally would take 45 minutes or so to drive there from our house. However, I was not driving a normal car. I was driving "Old Blue"(1990 Cavalier), which in the past few weeks had begun overheating slightly on extended drives. So I left really early so that I could stop for a few minutes, if need be, to cool the vehicle down.
Well, on this morning I had only driven 2 miles or so and, to my suprise and fear, the Temp light blinked on. I quickly pulled off into the White Castle parking lot and threw open the hood. I added a little water to the radiator, but it seemed to have plenty of fluid. I checked the oil and added a quart. After about 5 minutes of waiting, I fired up the car and continued on my way. I made it most of the way down highway 94 toward Interstate 40 when the Temp light and Check Engine lights decided to come on at the same time. Now in the weeks of running hot, the car had never shown the check engine light.
As I pulled of the road into a deserted bank parking lot I heard a slight rattling coming from under the hood and as I stopped I caught a glimpse of smoke coming from the tailpipe. Once again I lifted the hood and let things cool and checked the fluids once more. I added quite a bit of water/coolant to the radiator this time and waited for the car to cool. After 10 minutes of waiting, I started the car once again and continued on my way.
Accelerating onto Interstate 40 I heard the rattle once again, but this time it was accompanied with a billowing cloud of smoke pouring from behind the car. Immediately the Temp and Engine lights came on and I pulled to the shoulder. By now it was 5:10 and I was frustrated and worried that I would not make it to the church on time. I sat in the car wondering what I should do. I felt that I had reached a place where God was trying to show me something, so I began to pray that I would receive the lesson or wisdom that He had for me. In those minutes of prayer, I went from being frustrated to very content. I prayed about my situation. I prayed about the car. I prayed about my motivation for going on this trip. Feeling much more focussed on my motivation and purpose for where I was headed, I started the car back up.
Not knowing whether or not I would make it all the way to my destination, I pulled back on to the highway and slowly began to build momentum. I still had smoke billowing from behind me and I could hear an occasional rattle from in front of me. I made it about a mile down the road when the Temp light blinked on again. Feeling quite determined and not wanting to stop right away again, I pressed on going 10 miles per hour below the limit. I limped my way across the Daniel Boone bridge and thought about pulling over. In that moment I decided that if God wanted me to go on this trip He was going to have to get me to the church in this car. And if I wasn't suppose to go on this trip, God would allow my car to stop moving toward the church. (Some might question the validity of such a prayer, but in that moment it is what I was asking God to do - show me clearly whether He wanted me on the trip or not.)
I exited at Boone's Crossing and made my way into Amini's parking lot and stopped the car once again to cool down. I sat for five minutes and decided that I needed to get moving again. At this point I was less than a mile from the church and it was already 5:35. I pulled into the church parking lot and whipped into the first avaialble spot, where "Old Blue" promptly died and sputtered for a few seconds. I had made it to the church almost on time. Thankfully, the group was not ready to leave yet, so I was able to load my stuff up without having to make anyone wait on me.
The sun had not even come up over St. Louis yet and I had already been in my car for well over an hour, propped the hood up numerous times, added fluids twice and prayed quite intensely throughout the whole ordeal. It was an odd way to start out a mission trip, but it was an absolutely perfect way for God to recenter my focus on Him...
Lisa and I went looking for a car last night at several lots, but didn't really see anything we liked too much. Lisa then realized that the father of one of her friends was selling his car. So, we drove out to their house, took a little test drive and ended up buying the car from them right then and there. We felt really good about buying the car from a family friend and we knew that it had been taken care of - not to mention that we both liked it inside and out. It's a 2002 Dodge Intrepid with lower miles than the Escort and decent gas mileage. The amount we got from the insurance company for the totalled Escort was a fair deal and it allowed us to pay cash for this newer vehicle.
God provides...
God provides...
Today, I traveled with the musical group I am a part of (“The Isle of Dreams”) for a performance in Champaign, IL at The Church of the Living God. We left at 4am from St. Louis and were doing a sound check in the church by 8:30am. We sand two songs in their first service and then prepared for our full performance, which began at 12:30pm. The performance went really well and everyone sounded amazing. God was lifted up and the people were very receptive to the Message in the songs. It was an amazing time of celebration and worship and everyone in attendance was blessed, including the cast.
After having lunch, we loaded up the cars and headed home in a little caravan. I was driving the white Escort, with two cast members, Amanda and Lisette, in the back seat. We talked throughout the entire trip home about how the day had gone and how good God is to us. We spent time reflecting on what He has done for us, and what he has brought us through and was simply gloried in how Marvelous and Wonderful He Is. .
We were planning on a gas/restroom break within the next few exits when suddenly a deer appeared in front of us. (I saw it because I was driving, the women didn’t see it because it happened so fast and they weren’t as focused as I was on the road.) At almost 70 miles per hour, you don’t have any time to avoid striking something when it suddenly appears a couple of feet in front of you. I didn’t even have time to react before we had struck the deer. Both of the airbags in the front of the car deployed, and instantly the car was filled with smoke. I had no other option but to begin braking as aggressively as possible without slamming them on and to steer towards the shoulder on the right of the interstate. I could not see anything, due to the cracked windshield and smoke, but I heard the “wake-up bumps” go under us once and then a few seconds later I heard them again. At this point I figured I was off the roadway enough to bring the car to a complete stop and exit the vehicle. Keep in mind that all of this happened within 20 seconds of impact.
Recalling that we were traveling in a caravan, there were bound to be other vehicles involved. One of our other drivers, Cornell, was directly behind me when he saw the deer jump into our path. He immediately slammed on his brakes and swerved to the left to avoid the debris. Thankfully, there was no vehicle in the left lane at that moment, or there would have been more damage and mayhem added to this story. Cornell immediately pulled up behind us and was out of the car shortly after I was out of ours. A truck with four men in it saw the accident and stopped in front of us to help. After these men were confident of our physical safety, they proceeded to search for the deer along the ditch. (After several minutes of searching, they found the deer. All four of them were hunters and they estimated it to be a two-year old, eight point buck weighing in somewhere between 160 and 200 pounds.)
When the airbags deployed on impact (as they are designed to do), it was at the same moment as my first reaction to the deer. In that moment I gasped in. In doing so, I collected a great big breath of smoke and powder. So not only could I not see what was going on around us outside the car, but I also could not breath inside the car. When the car stopped I had the presence of mind to turn on the hazard lights, but didn’t hesitate to throw open my door and step out onto the highway. I turned and saw though squinted eyes that nobody was coming at that particular moment and made my way around the car to the grassy embankment that led down to a ditch. (Keep in mind that if somebody had been in that left lane, I would have only known it right before being struck by them.) The ladies through open their doors in the back and climbed out of the car as well.
I took a moment to do a quick inventory on my physical condition. I didn’t feel anything broken and I didn’t taste or see any blood upon initial inspection. I was gasping for air, from both the shock of what had happened and the swallowing of smoke, but I appeared to be fine. (Later on I discovered a small one-inch scratch/burn on my leg from the airbag.) Within moments of being on the side of the road, Cornell and his wife, Faith, were at our side checking on us. It took about 30 seconds for us to verify that we were all physically unharmed, although mentally and emotionally shocked. In that moment, there was only one thing left to do that needed to be done as soon as possible.
So out under the star lit sky of Illinois, on the shoulder of I-70, next to a car that had the first two feet of it crushed in by the impact of a deer at high speed, the three occupants of that car lifted up their heads and their hands and praised God for how Great He Is. In a moment like that, with all that had been said and done up to that point in that day alone, how could our response have been any different? If we had not given God the glory He was/is due for what He had done in sparing us death and injury, how could we have stood before a crowd to sing of His Mercy, Love and Grace? It was the embodiment of worship in a place where although it might be unexpected, it is absolutely appropriate and deserved.
With everything that I’ve seen, heard and been a part of, there is nothing else that compares to this situation in my walk of faith. I’ve been in an accident with an 18 wheel tractor trailer and walked away without a scratch, but I was not living a life that brought God any praise at that time. I’ve seen God do amazing things in other people. I’ve seen Him spare other people through amazing tragedies and accidents. I’ve watched as He allows people to stand and say “This is what God has done for me in a very visible way…” and thought I didn’t have any experiences like that. Well, now I do.
I know that God spared my life last night at 6:30pm. I know that He shined His favor upon my wonderful sisters and I and allowed us to emerge from that accident with full function of our bodies. I know that He permitted the deer to run into our path, and I know that it is He who protected us when all that surrounded us and engulfed us was destruction and chaos. I know that God prevented anyone else from being involved in the accident. I know that God took what Satan meant for evil and has and is bringing good out of it. I know that I am blessed beyond measure, with more than I could ask or imagine asking for. 1 God knows my need before it even comes to my attention. I’m glad God doesn’t have to wait to be told that we need protection, because I didn’t have time to even get a breath in last night before hitting that deer.
I praise God for who He is, how magnificent His Grace is, how truly abundant His Mercy is and for how He works His Perfect Plan out to the finest detail for His Glory and Renown. I praise Him for my life, and all that is a part of it. I praise Him for another day to lift His name. I praise Him for my health and the ability to walk and use my hands. I praise Him for protection and shelter. I praise Him for allowing me to be an active participant in this accident, so that I might be able to use it to display exactly how Marvelous and Wonderful God is.
“But whatever was to my profit I now consider loss for the sake of Christ. What is more, I consider everything a loss compared to the surpassing greatness of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whose sake I have lost all things. I consider them rubbish, that I may gain Christ and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which is through faith in Christ—the righteousness that comes from God and is by faith. I want to know Christ and the power of his resurrection and the fellowship of sharing in his sufferings, becoming like him in his death, and so, somehow, to attain to the resurrection from the dead. Not that I have already obtained all this, or have already been made perfect, but I press on to take hold of that for which Christ Jesus took hold of me. Brothers, I do not consider myself yet to have taken hold of it. But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus.” 2
“May I never boast except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, through which the world has been crucified to me, and I to the world." 3
God is Great and He is worthy to be praised! Please take a moment to reflect upon all that God has done for you today. Take a moment to look at your family and truly realize how truly blessed you are. Take a few steps back and focus on what is important above all else – God. Take time to worship Him in and through your life today!
Jeremy
1Ephesians 3:20
2Phillipans 3:7-11
3Galatians 6:14
After having lunch, we loaded up the cars and headed home in a little caravan. I was driving the white Escort, with two cast members, Amanda and Lisette, in the back seat. We talked throughout the entire trip home about how the day had gone and how good God is to us. We spent time reflecting on what He has done for us, and what he has brought us through and was simply gloried in how Marvelous and Wonderful He Is. .
We were planning on a gas/restroom break within the next few exits when suddenly a deer appeared in front of us. (I saw it because I was driving, the women didn’t see it because it happened so fast and they weren’t as focused as I was on the road.) At almost 70 miles per hour, you don’t have any time to avoid striking something when it suddenly appears a couple of feet in front of you. I didn’t even have time to react before we had struck the deer. Both of the airbags in the front of the car deployed, and instantly the car was filled with smoke. I had no other option but to begin braking as aggressively as possible without slamming them on and to steer towards the shoulder on the right of the interstate. I could not see anything, due to the cracked windshield and smoke, but I heard the “wake-up bumps” go under us once and then a few seconds later I heard them again. At this point I figured I was off the roadway enough to bring the car to a complete stop and exit the vehicle. Keep in mind that all of this happened within 20 seconds of impact.
Recalling that we were traveling in a caravan, there were bound to be other vehicles involved. One of our other drivers, Cornell, was directly behind me when he saw the deer jump into our path. He immediately slammed on his brakes and swerved to the left to avoid the debris. Thankfully, there was no vehicle in the left lane at that moment, or there would have been more damage and mayhem added to this story. Cornell immediately pulled up behind us and was out of the car shortly after I was out of ours. A truck with four men in it saw the accident and stopped in front of us to help. After these men were confident of our physical safety, they proceeded to search for the deer along the ditch. (After several minutes of searching, they found the deer. All four of them were hunters and they estimated it to be a two-year old, eight point buck weighing in somewhere between 160 and 200 pounds.)
When the airbags deployed on impact (as they are designed to do), it was at the same moment as my first reaction to the deer. In that moment I gasped in. In doing so, I collected a great big breath of smoke and powder. So not only could I not see what was going on around us outside the car, but I also could not breath inside the car. When the car stopped I had the presence of mind to turn on the hazard lights, but didn’t hesitate to throw open my door and step out onto the highway. I turned and saw though squinted eyes that nobody was coming at that particular moment and made my way around the car to the grassy embankment that led down to a ditch. (Keep in mind that if somebody had been in that left lane, I would have only known it right before being struck by them.) The ladies through open their doors in the back and climbed out of the car as well.
I took a moment to do a quick inventory on my physical condition. I didn’t feel anything broken and I didn’t taste or see any blood upon initial inspection. I was gasping for air, from both the shock of what had happened and the swallowing of smoke, but I appeared to be fine. (Later on I discovered a small one-inch scratch/burn on my leg from the airbag.) Within moments of being on the side of the road, Cornell and his wife, Faith, were at our side checking on us. It took about 30 seconds for us to verify that we were all physically unharmed, although mentally and emotionally shocked. In that moment, there was only one thing left to do that needed to be done as soon as possible.
So out under the star lit sky of Illinois, on the shoulder of I-70, next to a car that had the first two feet of it crushed in by the impact of a deer at high speed, the three occupants of that car lifted up their heads and their hands and praised God for how Great He Is. In a moment like that, with all that had been said and done up to that point in that day alone, how could our response have been any different? If we had not given God the glory He was/is due for what He had done in sparing us death and injury, how could we have stood before a crowd to sing of His Mercy, Love and Grace? It was the embodiment of worship in a place where although it might be unexpected, it is absolutely appropriate and deserved.
With everything that I’ve seen, heard and been a part of, there is nothing else that compares to this situation in my walk of faith. I’ve been in an accident with an 18 wheel tractor trailer and walked away without a scratch, but I was not living a life that brought God any praise at that time. I’ve seen God do amazing things in other people. I’ve seen Him spare other people through amazing tragedies and accidents. I’ve watched as He allows people to stand and say “This is what God has done for me in a very visible way…” and thought I didn’t have any experiences like that. Well, now I do.
I know that God spared my life last night at 6:30pm. I know that He shined His favor upon my wonderful sisters and I and allowed us to emerge from that accident with full function of our bodies. I know that He permitted the deer to run into our path, and I know that it is He who protected us when all that surrounded us and engulfed us was destruction and chaos. I know that God prevented anyone else from being involved in the accident. I know that God took what Satan meant for evil and has and is bringing good out of it. I know that I am blessed beyond measure, with more than I could ask or imagine asking for. 1 God knows my need before it even comes to my attention. I’m glad God doesn’t have to wait to be told that we need protection, because I didn’t have time to even get a breath in last night before hitting that deer.
I praise God for who He is, how magnificent His Grace is, how truly abundant His Mercy is and for how He works His Perfect Plan out to the finest detail for His Glory and Renown. I praise Him for my life, and all that is a part of it. I praise Him for another day to lift His name. I praise Him for my health and the ability to walk and use my hands. I praise Him for protection and shelter. I praise Him for allowing me to be an active participant in this accident, so that I might be able to use it to display exactly how Marvelous and Wonderful God is.
“But whatever was to my profit I now consider loss for the sake of Christ. What is more, I consider everything a loss compared to the surpassing greatness of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whose sake I have lost all things. I consider them rubbish, that I may gain Christ and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which is through faith in Christ—the righteousness that comes from God and is by faith. I want to know Christ and the power of his resurrection and the fellowship of sharing in his sufferings, becoming like him in his death, and so, somehow, to attain to the resurrection from the dead. Not that I have already obtained all this, or have already been made perfect, but I press on to take hold of that for which Christ Jesus took hold of me. Brothers, I do not consider myself yet to have taken hold of it. But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus.” 2
“May I never boast except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, through which the world has been crucified to me, and I to the world." 3
God is Great and He is worthy to be praised! Please take a moment to reflect upon all that God has done for you today. Take a moment to look at your family and truly realize how truly blessed you are. Take a few steps back and focus on what is important above all else – God. Take time to worship Him in and through your life today!
Jeremy
1Ephesians 3:20
2Phillipans 3:7-11
3Galatians 6:14
This afternoon the "Isle of Dreams" gathered at New Northside Baptist Church to perform the truncated version of the musical for Christian Music Presenters. Basically, these gentlemen are travelling the country auditioning artists to add them to their growing database of Christian ministers who are available for services, concerts and gatherings.
The performance went really well and the two men seemed very much enthralled by what they were seeing and hearing. Afterwards, they took a few minutes to speak with us about what they had experienced and some of the ideas that they were having regarding possible engagements at events that they might be able to book us for. It was a refreshing time of straightforward honesty and I really liked their attitude and heart for the minsterial aspect of what we are doing.
After everything with the "Isle" was finished, I rushed home to where Lisa was already entertaining our Sunday School class for a Halloween party. When I arrived there were already 6 couples present, almost all of which were in costume. We spent the evening talking, judging costumes and playing video games. Then we played a couples relay which proved to be the hit of the night. One person would bob for an apple, and upon successfully grabbing the apple they would transfer it to their partner who would then run across the room and drop it in a bucket on the floor. If an apple fell to the floor the couple had to get a new apple. The first person was not allowed to bob for another apple until their partner successfully dropped the previous apple in the bucket. The total time it took a pair to gather three apples in the bucket was their final score.
It was a fun day filled with excitment and the company of good friends...
The performance went really well and the two men seemed very much enthralled by what they were seeing and hearing. Afterwards, they took a few minutes to speak with us about what they had experienced and some of the ideas that they were having regarding possible engagements at events that they might be able to book us for. It was a refreshing time of straightforward honesty and I really liked their attitude and heart for the minsterial aspect of what we are doing.
After everything with the "Isle" was finished, I rushed home to where Lisa was already entertaining our Sunday School class for a Halloween party. When I arrived there were already 6 couples present, almost all of which were in costume. We spent the evening talking, judging costumes and playing video games. Then we played a couples relay which proved to be the hit of the night. One person would bob for an apple, and upon successfully grabbing the apple they would transfer it to their partner who would then run across the room and drop it in a bucket on the floor. If an apple fell to the floor the couple had to get a new apple. The first person was not allowed to bob for another apple until their partner successfully dropped the previous apple in the bucket. The total time it took a pair to gather three apples in the bucket was their final score.
It was a fun day filled with excitment and the company of good friends...
Labor Day Weekend Recap:
Friday
Musical Practice went well.
After practice I met up with Lisa's family at Katrina's apartment. Lisa's Grandparents (Brail) were in town from Hastings, Michigan. We played Catan, which has quickly become a favorite boardgame in the family. Personally, I think it may be the best boardgame I have ever played.
Saturday
Lisa's Grandparents (Brail) were in town from Hastings, Michigan. We met up at Bob and Deb's house with the rest of the family and made a morning trip to the Danile Boone home in New Melle. The weather was perfect for such an outing, not very warm with a slight breeze. After the touring the historic home, we went to a Garden/Nusery/Deli for lunch. It was nice to relax outdoors with good food and good company.
Upon arriving back at home base, we played 2 games of Catan. Lisa and I headed home around 4pm to see about meeting up with her friend Kristen, who was in town from Nashville for the weekend. Plans were made for a Monday morning rendezvous, so we went to Blockbuster and rented "Finding Neverland" and had a movie night at home.
Sunday
Sunday morning after Sunday School we met up with her family prior to going into the auditorium for the church service. Dr. McAlpin preached another great sermon about Jonah, which was the fifth sermon in this series. After the service, we came back to our place for lunch out on the deck (in the shade). We played some more Catan and had an enjoyable evening.
Monday
Monday morning everyone met up at our house and we made our way down to Main Street St Charles to walk around and poke in and out of the shops. Shortly after noon, Lisa and I drove over to the Highland View family picnic and spent some time with my family eating and playing softball, egg toss and baloon pop relays. I'm proud to say that the dynamic duo of Lisa and Christina (my youngest sister) won the second balloon popping race! We then went back to Katrina's for some more time with Lisa's grandparents, where we played (you guessed it) Catan.
It was quite the busy weekend...
Friday
Musical Practice went well.
After practice I met up with Lisa's family at Katrina's apartment. Lisa's Grandparents (Brail) were in town from Hastings, Michigan. We played Catan, which has quickly become a favorite boardgame in the family. Personally, I think it may be the best boardgame I have ever played.
Saturday
Lisa's Grandparents (Brail) were in town from Hastings, Michigan. We met up at Bob and Deb's house with the rest of the family and made a morning trip to the Danile Boone home in New Melle. The weather was perfect for such an outing, not very warm with a slight breeze. After the touring the historic home, we went to a Garden/Nusery/Deli for lunch. It was nice to relax outdoors with good food and good company.
Upon arriving back at home base, we played 2 games of Catan. Lisa and I headed home around 4pm to see about meeting up with her friend Kristen, who was in town from Nashville for the weekend. Plans were made for a Monday morning rendezvous, so we went to Blockbuster and rented "Finding Neverland" and had a movie night at home.
Sunday
Sunday morning after Sunday School we met up with her family prior to going into the auditorium for the church service. Dr. McAlpin preached another great sermon about Jonah, which was the fifth sermon in this series. After the service, we came back to our place for lunch out on the deck (in the shade). We played some more Catan and had an enjoyable evening.
Monday
Monday morning everyone met up at our house and we made our way down to Main Street St Charles to walk around and poke in and out of the shops. Shortly after noon, Lisa and I drove over to the Highland View family picnic and spent some time with my family eating and playing softball, egg toss and baloon pop relays. I'm proud to say that the dynamic duo of Lisa and Christina (my youngest sister) won the second balloon popping race! We then went back to Katrina's for some more time with Lisa's grandparents, where we played (you guessed it) Catan.
It was quite the busy weekend...
July 18 was a big day for me. Not only was this the day that I received a job offer, but this was also the day that I accepted the role of "Jesus Christ" in the "Isle of Dreams". I have been playing "John the Baptist" for almost a year and a half and was in the role of "Noah" prior to that. In all, I will have been a part of this ministry for four years this November. Throughout my journey with the cast, I have seen God move in some amazing ways. I have seen how He has used them to mold me into a more solid Christian and have seen how God has used Michael O'Hara to "stretch" me vocally. "Stretch" is such a large understatement. I have gone from a soft-spoken, wispy, timid, airy vocalist to an all-out, wide-mouthed, unashamed, sweaty, blow-hard singer.
It's been amazing to see how God has grown me through the process. I started as "Noah" - the one who proclaimed the impending judgment and pointed the way to saving the world. Then I became "John the Baptist" - the one who proclaimed the impending judgment and pointed the way to saving the world. Now I have stepped into the role of "Jesus Christ" - THE ONE who has provided the way to save the world. The progression from Old to New Testament to today is not lost on me.
These men were bold men of character and were very vocal about the message that God the father sent to them. Two of them faltered from time to time, but remained faithful to the calling of God in their lives. Jesus Christ, Son of God, never wavered in His Faith and determination to do the Will of the Father. He stayed faithful, even to the death on the cross. He lingered on this earth after His resurrection for 40 days to further strengthen, teach and fortify His disciples. Then He sent the Holy Spirit to comfort and guide those who would believe on His Name.
My responsibility as a member of the "Isle of Dreams" ministry has always been to live a life of Holiness and live in such a way to bring glory and praise to God. We are all called to live a life that is pleasing to the Lord and we must always remain humble. We recognize that God has allowed us to take part in this ministry and that participating in this move requires us to live circumspect before Him.
My responsibility as a vocalist is to practice and strengthen my voice, so I may use it to bring praise, honor and glory to God at every opportunity. My responsibility as an actor is to study the character I am portraying and attempt to bring to life the many different aspects of that person in a way that is a real as possible, without ever compromising or conflicting their story as recorded in the Bible.
My responsibility to God upon taking the role of His Son, Jesus Christ, is to remain humble and realize that God is worthy of all praise and that I am worthy of nothing. I have done nothing in and of myself to ever warrant even playing the role of Christ - it is all the result of God's blessing and Grace toward me. He has allowed me to remain humble and He has provided the motivation to remain faithful in this ministry. He has allowed me to grow vocally to the point where I can attempt to sing the songs necessary for the role. He granted me favor in allowing to remain in my previous roles for the time that He had determined and He has blessed me with being able to simply be in the cast of the "Isle of Dreams".
It is with great humility and reverence that I take on portraying the role of "Jesus Christ". May God continue to bless the "Isle of Dreams" ministry, as we continue to spread His message of Salvation, Redemption and Love to everyone we come into contact with. May He be pleased with what He sees and hears.
To God be the glory great things He has done!
It's been amazing to see how God has grown me through the process. I started as "Noah" - the one who proclaimed the impending judgment and pointed the way to saving the world. Then I became "John the Baptist" - the one who proclaimed the impending judgment and pointed the way to saving the world. Now I have stepped into the role of "Jesus Christ" - THE ONE who has provided the way to save the world. The progression from Old to New Testament to today is not lost on me.
These men were bold men of character and were very vocal about the message that God the father sent to them. Two of them faltered from time to time, but remained faithful to the calling of God in their lives. Jesus Christ, Son of God, never wavered in His Faith and determination to do the Will of the Father. He stayed faithful, even to the death on the cross. He lingered on this earth after His resurrection for 40 days to further strengthen, teach and fortify His disciples. Then He sent the Holy Spirit to comfort and guide those who would believe on His Name.
My responsibility as a member of the "Isle of Dreams" ministry has always been to live a life of Holiness and live in such a way to bring glory and praise to God. We are all called to live a life that is pleasing to the Lord and we must always remain humble. We recognize that God has allowed us to take part in this ministry and that participating in this move requires us to live circumspect before Him.
My responsibility as a vocalist is to practice and strengthen my voice, so I may use it to bring praise, honor and glory to God at every opportunity. My responsibility as an actor is to study the character I am portraying and attempt to bring to life the many different aspects of that person in a way that is a real as possible, without ever compromising or conflicting their story as recorded in the Bible.
My responsibility to God upon taking the role of His Son, Jesus Christ, is to remain humble and realize that God is worthy of all praise and that I am worthy of nothing. I have done nothing in and of myself to ever warrant even playing the role of Christ - it is all the result of God's blessing and Grace toward me. He has allowed me to remain humble and He has provided the motivation to remain faithful in this ministry. He has allowed me to grow vocally to the point where I can attempt to sing the songs necessary for the role. He granted me favor in allowing to remain in my previous roles for the time that He had determined and He has blessed me with being able to simply be in the cast of the "Isle of Dreams".
It is with great humility and reverence that I take on portraying the role of "Jesus Christ". May God continue to bless the "Isle of Dreams" ministry, as we continue to spread His message of Salvation, Redemption and Love to everyone we come into contact with. May He be pleased with what He sees and hears.
To God be the glory great things He has done!
It's been quite a while since I posted. Obviously, a lot has been going on. Here's a quick recap:
July 8-11 - Lisa and I joined her family on a road trip to Angola, Indiana. We spent the weekend at Oak Hills Campground for a family reunion (Brail side){pictures}. The setup was great for such an event. Each family had a cabin and we all had lunch and dinner around the fire. There was a beach nearby on the lake, a large pool, go-karts and a nearby Outlet Mall, all of which provided entertainment throughout the weekend. It was a good time of family being together and enjoying each other's company. Sunday morning Lisa and I led the singing, Katrina read the scripture, Bob gave the devotional and Deb prayed the closing prayer. It's always nice to be able to have "church" outside surrounded by nature. We'll be going back to the same place next year.
July 16 - Lisa and I went to the Cardinals game versus Houston. It was a bit warm out, but we had seats in the shade, so it was okay. It was a good game, with one particularly memorable moment. (No, it wasn't the Larry Walker homerun that ended up winning the game for the Cardinals, although that was cool.) It was around the seventh inning when Lisa said "You know, I think I am starting to like baseball." Naturally, I stared bug-eyed at her for a moment and then laughed. Since we've been dating, Lisa has gone to almost all of my weekly softball games during the summer and we've been to several of my sisters games as well. Last year I watched every Cardinal's playoff game on television and Lisa joined me for most of them (although she liked to nap between the 3rd and 8th innings sometimes). Somewhere along the way, Lisa has learned the position names and numbers (for scoring purposes), some of the lingo (three up, three down; hit in the gap; up the middle) and has even grasped an understanding of some of the intricacies of fielding and situational decision-making. It's fun to see someone who had a limited knowledge of a spot come to a place of liking it.
July 12-19 - Our Air conditioning stopped functioning properly. The fan would run, but it would never blow cool air. It just recirculated the warm air. Thankfully, most of these days the temperatures were in the high 80s, low 90s and 70s at night. After a couple of days we moved the futon mattress to the basement, where we slept for 3 nights. We made the best of the situation by watching some movies downstairs and basically camping out in the relative cool. The repair guy came on Tuesday afternoon and discovered that the compressor had somehow come unattached to its power line. He hooked it back up and the AC works like a champ. I'm thankful for having air conditioning again, but I am even more thankful for having a basement to retreat to if we have to.
July 18 - Lisa and I came home from work to discover a FedEx envelope on our doorstep. I opened it to find a job offer from a company that I had interviewed with over a month ago. They had told me at that time it would be two weeks until I would hear from them regarding the position. Naturally, after I hadn't heard back from them within that time frame, I simply wrote it off as being filled by someone else. Imagine my surprise when I received the offer a month later. Essentially, I hadn't heard from them since the day I interviewed with them. Surprise! I read through the offer, talked to Lisa about it and prayed over it for a couple of days. Yesterday I called the recruiter to decline the position. It's nice to be called in for an interview and it was great to get an offer from them - it makes me feel good. But, in the end, I realized that the position would hinder my ability to minister with the "Isle of Dreams" and would also possibly demand me to work weekends and nights and overtime. All of these things led to the decision to stay where I am and be thankful for the job that I have that not only helps pay the bills but also allows me great flexibility.
July 8-11 - Lisa and I joined her family on a road trip to Angola, Indiana. We spent the weekend at Oak Hills Campground for a family reunion (Brail side){pictures}. The setup was great for such an event. Each family had a cabin and we all had lunch and dinner around the fire. There was a beach nearby on the lake, a large pool, go-karts and a nearby Outlet Mall, all of which provided entertainment throughout the weekend. It was a good time of family being together and enjoying each other's company. Sunday morning Lisa and I led the singing, Katrina read the scripture, Bob gave the devotional and Deb prayed the closing prayer. It's always nice to be able to have "church" outside surrounded by nature. We'll be going back to the same place next year.
July 16 - Lisa and I went to the Cardinals game versus Houston. It was a bit warm out, but we had seats in the shade, so it was okay. It was a good game, with one particularly memorable moment. (No, it wasn't the Larry Walker homerun that ended up winning the game for the Cardinals, although that was cool.) It was around the seventh inning when Lisa said "You know, I think I am starting to like baseball." Naturally, I stared bug-eyed at her for a moment and then laughed. Since we've been dating, Lisa has gone to almost all of my weekly softball games during the summer and we've been to several of my sisters games as well. Last year I watched every Cardinal's playoff game on television and Lisa joined me for most of them (although she liked to nap between the 3rd and 8th innings sometimes). Somewhere along the way, Lisa has learned the position names and numbers (for scoring purposes), some of the lingo (three up, three down; hit in the gap; up the middle) and has even grasped an understanding of some of the intricacies of fielding and situational decision-making. It's fun to see someone who had a limited knowledge of a spot come to a place of liking it.
July 12-19 - Our Air conditioning stopped functioning properly. The fan would run, but it would never blow cool air. It just recirculated the warm air. Thankfully, most of these days the temperatures were in the high 80s, low 90s and 70s at night. After a couple of days we moved the futon mattress to the basement, where we slept for 3 nights. We made the best of the situation by watching some movies downstairs and basically camping out in the relative cool. The repair guy came on Tuesday afternoon and discovered that the compressor had somehow come unattached to its power line. He hooked it back up and the AC works like a champ. I'm thankful for having air conditioning again, but I am even more thankful for having a basement to retreat to if we have to.
July 18 - Lisa and I came home from work to discover a FedEx envelope on our doorstep. I opened it to find a job offer from a company that I had interviewed with over a month ago. They had told me at that time it would be two weeks until I would hear from them regarding the position. Naturally, after I hadn't heard back from them within that time frame, I simply wrote it off as being filled by someone else. Imagine my surprise when I received the offer a month later. Essentially, I hadn't heard from them since the day I interviewed with them. Surprise! I read through the offer, talked to Lisa about it and prayed over it for a couple of days. Yesterday I called the recruiter to decline the position. It's nice to be called in for an interview and it was great to get an offer from them - it makes me feel good. But, in the end, I realized that the position would hinder my ability to minister with the "Isle of Dreams" and would also possibly demand me to work weekends and nights and overtime. All of these things led to the decision to stay where I am and be thankful for the job that I have that not only helps pay the bills but also allows me great flexibility.
Lisa and I left after work on Thursday all packed and bound for Nashville. We arrived around 9:30 after having to drive through about an hour and a half of some pretty heavy rain. Michael, Robert, Rechtien, Rolanda, Sonni and Gary had just wrapped up recording and mixing for the day. We stayed up for a while talking and then called it a night.
On Friday morning, Lisa had planned to meet up with Kristen W., who lives in Nashville and goes to school at Vanderbilt, for breakfast. However, Kristen had left for a wedding on Thursday night instead of Friday morning as previously planned, so Lisa was present throughout the entire morning. Gary came back to the studio around 10am and Mike and Robert and he finished mixing "Take Me To Jesus". The song sounds wonderful and the performance that has been recorded and mixed is truly an amazing display of talent on all fronts (musically, lyrically and vocally - not to mention on the engineering/production side as well). After that work was completed, we all went to lunch at McAllister's deli (our usual food spot when we are recording).
After lunch it was time for me to record my song, "Miracle Day". We started out stepping our way through the first verse, which I am used to performing. After making our way through the second verse (which is not performed in our current live format), we spent quite some time focussing on the licks of the bridge and the vocal intonations of those phrases. After about and hour and a half of singing, it was determined that we had captured enough quality vocals to begin editing/mixing the voacl track for the song. They made their way through the entire song performing a rough edit, but then it was time to shut things down. They didn't actually finish mixing the song to what it will be in its final format, but for now my portion of the work is completed. There are still some volume issues and other various tracks that need to be adjusted, but the portion that has been completed sounds good at this point.
Saturday morning we had planned to meet up with my friend Jen for breakfast, but those plans also fell through. So instead of spending time messing around Nashville like we had thought we might do, Lisa and I decided to just make the trek home, so we could work on the house and just relax a bit. The trip back was uneventful and we made great time. We spent Saturday evening doing some painting on the exterior of the house. It's slow progress, but it will look good once it is finished.
Sunday morning I woke up with a headache, so we didn't end up making it to "The Hour of Power" at the nursing home. This makes it three weeks since we have been and I really miss it. By 9:00 my headache had dissipated enough to make it to FBCH for Sunday School. We've spent the past two weeks going to the Young Married couple's class, which is taught by Matt Whickham. I worked with Matt in the past for the College group that he taught and I really enjoy his teaching style and it is obvious that he puts time and effort into studying the material he is teaching.
Lisa has met some of the girls in the class by attending my softball games on Thursday night. Matt plays on the same church team as I do (he has for several years now) as do several other young married guys who are also in the class with us. It's been nice to see Lisa kind of connecting with these ladies (she has quite a bit in common with several of them) and it makes the Sunday School class more welcoming. We are looking forward to becoming more involved in the class and are happy to be surrounding ourselves with peers that have similar interests and beliefs.
We start practices again on Wednesday. It seesm like it has been forever since we have all met up. It will be good to see everyone again and to start working on things again.
On Friday morning, Lisa had planned to meet up with Kristen W., who lives in Nashville and goes to school at Vanderbilt, for breakfast. However, Kristen had left for a wedding on Thursday night instead of Friday morning as previously planned, so Lisa was present throughout the entire morning. Gary came back to the studio around 10am and Mike and Robert and he finished mixing "Take Me To Jesus". The song sounds wonderful and the performance that has been recorded and mixed is truly an amazing display of talent on all fronts (musically, lyrically and vocally - not to mention on the engineering/production side as well). After that work was completed, we all went to lunch at McAllister's deli (our usual food spot when we are recording).
After lunch it was time for me to record my song, "Miracle Day". We started out stepping our way through the first verse, which I am used to performing. After making our way through the second verse (which is not performed in our current live format), we spent quite some time focussing on the licks of the bridge and the vocal intonations of those phrases. After about and hour and a half of singing, it was determined that we had captured enough quality vocals to begin editing/mixing the voacl track for the song. They made their way through the entire song performing a rough edit, but then it was time to shut things down. They didn't actually finish mixing the song to what it will be in its final format, but for now my portion of the work is completed. There are still some volume issues and other various tracks that need to be adjusted, but the portion that has been completed sounds good at this point.
Saturday morning we had planned to meet up with my friend Jen for breakfast, but those plans also fell through. So instead of spending time messing around Nashville like we had thought we might do, Lisa and I decided to just make the trek home, so we could work on the house and just relax a bit. The trip back was uneventful and we made great time. We spent Saturday evening doing some painting on the exterior of the house. It's slow progress, but it will look good once it is finished.
Sunday morning I woke up with a headache, so we didn't end up making it to "The Hour of Power" at the nursing home. This makes it three weeks since we have been and I really miss it. By 9:00 my headache had dissipated enough to make it to FBCH for Sunday School. We've spent the past two weeks going to the Young Married couple's class, which is taught by Matt Whickham. I worked with Matt in the past for the College group that he taught and I really enjoy his teaching style and it is obvious that he puts time and effort into studying the material he is teaching.
Lisa has met some of the girls in the class by attending my softball games on Thursday night. Matt plays on the same church team as I do (he has for several years now) as do several other young married guys who are also in the class with us. It's been nice to see Lisa kind of connecting with these ladies (she has quite a bit in common with several of them) and it makes the Sunday School class more welcoming. We are looking forward to becoming more involved in the class and are happy to be surrounding ourselves with peers that have similar interests and beliefs.
We start practices again on Wednesday. It seesm like it has been forever since we have all met up. It will be good to see everyone again and to start working on things again.
Well, at practice tonight we rehearsed some of the new background harmonies, but mainly we talked about the need to renew our individual commitments to the ministry. As is the case for anyone involved in any ministry, we must go before the Lord and seek to discern if it is His Will that we continue in this ministry. We acknowledge that all things happen in seasons and that sometimes God places people in a ministry for a period of time and then calls them to serve in another ministry. We realize that where He has placed us in the past is not always where He is leading us in the future and where we are at the present is not a reflection of where He may want us to be permanently.
Michael ended the practice by informing us that we would be taking the rest of the month of May "off" - meaning that we will not be holding Wednesday and Friday night practices. We will continue the nursing home servces on Sunday morning, but as of this moment we will not be performing anywhere the remainder of this month. We are to take this time to take care of ourselves and grow both spiritually and vocally.
After practice we went upsatirs to celebrate Scarlett's 54th birthday. Scarlett is an amazing testimony to the goodness, mercy, love and grace of God. Although her disease (MS) keeps her in bed or in a wheelchair and it limits her physical movements, Scarlett is always generous in her praise and love that she pours out to other people. She never resents the fact of what is happening to her body, but always makes sure to give God glory, honor and praise. She is always quick to tell you how much she loves you and is always ready to give you a smile.
The life-changing power of God is evident through Scarlett because she is able to give a heartfelt testimony of God's goodness to her and her life. I praise God for allowing Scarlett to be such a wonderful example of praising God through hardships and honoring Him in your current situation.
Michael ended the practice by informing us that we would be taking the rest of the month of May "off" - meaning that we will not be holding Wednesday and Friday night practices. We will continue the nursing home servces on Sunday morning, but as of this moment we will not be performing anywhere the remainder of this month. We are to take this time to take care of ourselves and grow both spiritually and vocally.
After practice we went upsatirs to celebrate Scarlett's 54th birthday. Scarlett is an amazing testimony to the goodness, mercy, love and grace of God. Although her disease (MS) keeps her in bed or in a wheelchair and it limits her physical movements, Scarlett is always generous in her praise and love that she pours out to other people. She never resents the fact of what is happening to her body, but always makes sure to give God glory, honor and praise. She is always quick to tell you how much she loves you and is always ready to give you a smile.
The life-changing power of God is evident through Scarlett because she is able to give a heartfelt testimony of God's goodness to her and her life. I praise God for allowing Scarlett to be such a wonderful example of praising God through hardships and honoring Him in your current situation.
Lisa and I travelled down to the Cincinatti area this weekend for my sister Jessica's wedding to Mike. My sister Sarah and her husband Matt joined us as we drove down. We left at 8am on Friday and arrived mid afternoon. My parents had rented one of the show apartments in the same complex that Jessi and Mikle live in. Actually, it was directly across the parking lot from them. It was a nice three bedroom, two bath arrangement and over the course of the weekend it proved to function well as a gathering place for family and friends. At my parents ivitation, Lisa and I stayed with them. We slept in one of the bedrooms on a bed that was actually fairly comfortable, which was nice.
Friday night we had the rehearsal and rehearsal dinner. We arrived back at the apartment fairly late and Lisa was tired and went to bed. I stayed up and my Aunt Cheryl and Uncle Keith (who live in St. Charles and we see from time to time) came over and brought my cousin Chuck (whom I haven't seen in a long time). We sat around the living room doing some catching up and sharing stories. It was good to see Chuck again. We used to visit my grandparents who lived in the same small town as my cousins Chuck and Jason all the time. Chuck, Brooks (another cousin who lived nearby) and I are all roughly the same age. We got along really well and we played army, built forts, shot off fireworks, played wiffle ball and "hotbox"(AKA "pickle"), drank a ton of Vess soda and basically just wandered all around that little town during the summer.
Saturday moirning Lisa and I went with Tyler (Emily's husband) to the Gap Clearance Outlet store which was a couple of miles down the road. I bought a pair of khaki pants, a pair of shorts and a belt while Lisa found a few more items to her liking. Overall, we found some good deals and saw a little bit more of the Kentucky side of the Cincinatti area.
The wedding party was at the church by 4pm, ready for pictures. There was quite the development when the florist delivered the Bridal bouquet, which contained flowers that had specifically been requested left out of it. So the call went out to the florist who came back to the church and did a quick fix on the spot. The ceremony was simply and elegant, with the largest wedding party I have ever seen or been a part of. There were the bride, groom, matron of honor, best man, 7 bridesmaids, 7 groomsmen, 2 junior brides, one ring bearer and one flower girl. Wowsers!
After the wedding went off without any major problems and the remainder of the pictures were taken, it was off to the reception. Jessi and Mike had hired a caricaturist to draw guests for a period of time, so Lisa and I got our caricature done. We ate a wonderful buffet meal and then proceeded to dance the night away.
We left early Sunday morning in order to get home early, because I was scheduled to head back down to Nashville, leaving at 3am Monday morning. We got home early afternoon and began to do a little garden work on the house. Michael called and said that Sonni had become ill and was not going to be able to record. Our engineer, Gary, had been really busy lately, so it was decided that we should just reschedule for a time when Sonni and I could both record. So Lisa and I spent the remainder of the day doing yard work.
Friday night we had the rehearsal and rehearsal dinner. We arrived back at the apartment fairly late and Lisa was tired and went to bed. I stayed up and my Aunt Cheryl and Uncle Keith (who live in St. Charles and we see from time to time) came over and brought my cousin Chuck (whom I haven't seen in a long time). We sat around the living room doing some catching up and sharing stories. It was good to see Chuck again. We used to visit my grandparents who lived in the same small town as my cousins Chuck and Jason all the time. Chuck, Brooks (another cousin who lived nearby) and I are all roughly the same age. We got along really well and we played army, built forts, shot off fireworks, played wiffle ball and "hotbox"(AKA "pickle"), drank a ton of Vess soda and basically just wandered all around that little town during the summer.
Saturday moirning Lisa and I went with Tyler (Emily's husband) to the Gap Clearance Outlet store which was a couple of miles down the road. I bought a pair of khaki pants, a pair of shorts and a belt while Lisa found a few more items to her liking. Overall, we found some good deals and saw a little bit more of the Kentucky side of the Cincinatti area.
The wedding party was at the church by 4pm, ready for pictures. There was quite the development when the florist delivered the Bridal bouquet, which contained flowers that had specifically been requested left out of it. So the call went out to the florist who came back to the church and did a quick fix on the spot. The ceremony was simply and elegant, with the largest wedding party I have ever seen or been a part of. There were the bride, groom, matron of honor, best man, 7 bridesmaids, 7 groomsmen, 2 junior brides, one ring bearer and one flower girl. Wowsers!
After the wedding went off without any major problems and the remainder of the pictures were taken, it was off to the reception. Jessi and Mike had hired a caricaturist to draw guests for a period of time, so Lisa and I got our caricature done. We ate a wonderful buffet meal and then proceeded to dance the night away.
We left early Sunday morning in order to get home early, because I was scheduled to head back down to Nashville, leaving at 3am Monday morning. We got home early afternoon and began to do a little garden work on the house. Michael called and said that Sonni had become ill and was not going to be able to record. Our engineer, Gary, had been really busy lately, so it was decided that we should just reschedule for a time when Sonni and I could both record. So Lisa and I spent the remainder of the day doing yard work.
Here's the recap of this past week:
Monday
Lisa and I closed on the house at 4pm and we were at the house with a van full of boxes by 4:30. (We had loaded the van the previous night.) We quickly unloaded, then made our way back to the apartment, where we proceeded to fill the van one more time with items. After unloading the second time, we began to clean the kitchen. It was during this time that Lisa was shocked by something in the kitchen. I proceeded to discover that the shock was a result of touching the metal sink and the oven at the same time (Zap!). Needless to say, this was a discouraging development, but one we decided we would look at the following day.
Tuesday
Swung by the apartment on the way to the house and filled up the minivan with some more boxes. I went downstairs and turned off the power to the garbage disposal and then disconnected its wiring from the disposal unit. I reset the circuit breaker for the garbage disposal and, feeling confidant that I had fixed the problem, proceeded to touch the aforementioned combination (Zap!). So we decided we had better not use the stove. We called our realtor and got in contact with our home warranty company to fix the problem.
Bob, Deb and Katrina came over to help clean the house and we explained the situation to them. After the cleaning was finished Bob went downstairs to try and turn off the breaker to the oven. In doing so, he inadvertantly turned off the main breaker switch to the entire house. This is not really a big deal, except for the fact that neither he nor I could flip the switch back on. So we were stuck without power for the remainder of the evening. Thankfully, Lisa and I still had electricity back at the apartment, so we stayed the night there.
Wednesday
Stopped by the apartment for another load of stuff and made our way to the house. After unloading everything, I went downstairs to try one last time to wrestle the main switch free from its position in the breaker box. I figured that if we were going to have someone come out to look at it, I might as well give it a good yank. After all, if I broke it off somehow, the repair man would fix that too... So I grabbed the switch and jerk at it with as much force as I could generate. It reluctantly clicked over and, after flipping all of the other breakers back on, we had power in the house again.
I then turned the breaker to the oven hood off, thinking that I had also turned off the oven. I went upstairs and Lisa and I both thought it would be safe now to touch the oven. (Zap!) Wrong again. It's at this point that we figured out that the range top was on a different circuit than the hood. We called the home warrantee company and set up an appointment for a guy to come look at the stove on Friday afternoon.
Friday
I ran home from work to meet up with the oven repair guys. After I explained what was going on, the repair guy used his voltmeter to test the sink/oven combination. What he got in return wasa big Zap and his meter jumping quickly to the right. The two then pulled the stove out and carefully unplugged it. When the repair man tested the outlet for the stove he found that there were 220 volts running through it instead of the correct 110. Their guess was that somewhere along the elctrical work that had been done in the panel box, somewires were crossed or tied to the wrong breaker. Either way, we are fortunate our oven didn't blow up or melt. He also said that there was enough electricity flowing through the stovetop to electrocute someone. Lisa and I have both been blessed and protected when it comes to our interactions with this stove. The repair guys couldn't fix the problem because they are not electricicans, so they left.
I called the home warrantee company to let them know of the situation and to confirm that they would be sending an electrician out to fix the problem. As of 12:45pm on Friday they said they were working on doing that. The day ended without further word from either the warrantee company or an electric company.
Saturday
Lisa and I got up early to move some things out of the way in the house, then made our way to the apartment by 8:30. We finished packing up stuff until 9:30 when Bob and Deb came over to help. While Bob and I carried some of the larger furniture items down to the minivan and cargo van, Lisa and Deb started cleaning the apartment. My mother showed up around 10 to help with the cleaning and Dad helped Bob and I with some boxes. We thought it would be a one trip situation, but we we wrong. After loading up both the minivan and cargo van twice, we had basically all of our stuff out of the apartment. We had a nice lunch at the house and finished unloading the vans. We ended the day very tired and sore, but glad that we were almost totally out of the apartment and that is was basically completely clean. I didn't even think of the electrical problem until later in the evening, and we hadn't heard from anyone regarding it yet.
Sunday
We got up and went to the "Hour of Power" at the St. Louis Avenue Nursing Home for church. We came home and changed, then went to Lowes to look at lawn mowers. Well, we didn't liek the selection there, but we did find a 15 foot weeping willow tree that we liked. It was on sale for 50% off, so we crammed it through the right rear window of the car and drove it home while Lisa held onto to the limbs out her window. Thankfully, we live less than 2 mile from Lowes. We ubloaded the tree and left immediately for Home Depot. We found a mower and purchased 8 bags of topsoil and 4 bags of mulch. We then went to the Pasta House Company, where we ate lunch using gift cards (Free meal!) and then we went to Steak 'n Shake, where we had their new Sippable Sundae shakes which we bought also with a gift card (Free!). We then made our way home where we unloaded all of our purchases and spent the rmeainder of the day unpacking and moving things around.
Monday
Lisa and I closed on the house at 4pm and we were at the house with a van full of boxes by 4:30. (We had loaded the van the previous night.) We quickly unloaded, then made our way back to the apartment, where we proceeded to fill the van one more time with items. After unloading the second time, we began to clean the kitchen. It was during this time that Lisa was shocked by something in the kitchen. I proceeded to discover that the shock was a result of touching the metal sink and the oven at the same time (Zap!). Needless to say, this was a discouraging development, but one we decided we would look at the following day.
Tuesday
Swung by the apartment on the way to the house and filled up the minivan with some more boxes. I went downstairs and turned off the power to the garbage disposal and then disconnected its wiring from the disposal unit. I reset the circuit breaker for the garbage disposal and, feeling confidant that I had fixed the problem, proceeded to touch the aforementioned combination (Zap!). So we decided we had better not use the stove. We called our realtor and got in contact with our home warranty company to fix the problem.
Bob, Deb and Katrina came over to help clean the house and we explained the situation to them. After the cleaning was finished Bob went downstairs to try and turn off the breaker to the oven. In doing so, he inadvertantly turned off the main breaker switch to the entire house. This is not really a big deal, except for the fact that neither he nor I could flip the switch back on. So we were stuck without power for the remainder of the evening. Thankfully, Lisa and I still had electricity back at the apartment, so we stayed the night there.
Wednesday
Stopped by the apartment for another load of stuff and made our way to the house. After unloading everything, I went downstairs to try one last time to wrestle the main switch free from its position in the breaker box. I figured that if we were going to have someone come out to look at it, I might as well give it a good yank. After all, if I broke it off somehow, the repair man would fix that too... So I grabbed the switch and jerk at it with as much force as I could generate. It reluctantly clicked over and, after flipping all of the other breakers back on, we had power in the house again.
I then turned the breaker to the oven hood off, thinking that I had also turned off the oven. I went upstairs and Lisa and I both thought it would be safe now to touch the oven. (Zap!) Wrong again. It's at this point that we figured out that the range top was on a different circuit than the hood. We called the home warrantee company and set up an appointment for a guy to come look at the stove on Friday afternoon.
Friday
I ran home from work to meet up with the oven repair guys. After I explained what was going on, the repair guy used his voltmeter to test the sink/oven combination. What he got in return wasa big Zap and his meter jumping quickly to the right. The two then pulled the stove out and carefully unplugged it. When the repair man tested the outlet for the stove he found that there were 220 volts running through it instead of the correct 110. Their guess was that somewhere along the elctrical work that had been done in the panel box, somewires were crossed or tied to the wrong breaker. Either way, we are fortunate our oven didn't blow up or melt. He also said that there was enough electricity flowing through the stovetop to electrocute someone. Lisa and I have both been blessed and protected when it comes to our interactions with this stove. The repair guys couldn't fix the problem because they are not electricicans, so they left.
I called the home warrantee company to let them know of the situation and to confirm that they would be sending an electrician out to fix the problem. As of 12:45pm on Friday they said they were working on doing that. The day ended without further word from either the warrantee company or an electric company.
Saturday
Lisa and I got up early to move some things out of the way in the house, then made our way to the apartment by 8:30. We finished packing up stuff until 9:30 when Bob and Deb came over to help. While Bob and I carried some of the larger furniture items down to the minivan and cargo van, Lisa and Deb started cleaning the apartment. My mother showed up around 10 to help with the cleaning and Dad helped Bob and I with some boxes. We thought it would be a one trip situation, but we we wrong. After loading up both the minivan and cargo van twice, we had basically all of our stuff out of the apartment. We had a nice lunch at the house and finished unloading the vans. We ended the day very tired and sore, but glad that we were almost totally out of the apartment and that is was basically completely clean. I didn't even think of the electrical problem until later in the evening, and we hadn't heard from anyone regarding it yet.
Sunday
We got up and went to the "Hour of Power" at the St. Louis Avenue Nursing Home for church. We came home and changed, then went to Lowes to look at lawn mowers. Well, we didn't liek the selection there, but we did find a 15 foot weeping willow tree that we liked. It was on sale for 50% off, so we crammed it through the right rear window of the car and drove it home while Lisa held onto to the limbs out her window. Thankfully, we live less than 2 mile from Lowes. We ubloaded the tree and left immediately for Home Depot. We found a mower and purchased 8 bags of topsoil and 4 bags of mulch. We then went to the Pasta House Company, where we ate lunch using gift cards (Free meal!) and then we went to Steak 'n Shake, where we had their new Sippable Sundae shakes which we bought also with a gift card (Free!). We then made our way home where we unloaded all of our purchases and spent the rmeainder of the day unpacking and moving things around.
The weekend was very relaxing and exhausting at the same time. We left for Rolla at am on Friday, where we met at the Rechtien farm for brunch. After the meal, the men headed off to the Catholic church to load up most of the decorations we would be using for the stage. After loading up the cross, mutliple plants and vases, we made our way to the Leach theatre. We unloaded the trucks and vans and then proceeded to start setting the stage for the evening's performance. At around 2:30, we called the women to come to the theatre. After the women arrived, we all began praying over and annointing the auditorium. We then ran a set of sound checks and called our physical preparations of the stage complete.
We headed back stage, where we enjoyed a fabulous feast of meats, cheeses and other snacks. Mary Elizabeth and Tracy had taken charge of arranging our meals for this trip and they did an absolutely fabulous job. Having filled up on light items, we headed off to our respective dressing rooms (men and women separate). By 5pm I was in full costume and was ready to go. We spent the remainder of the time backstage praying and singing praise songs and encouraging one another in the Lord. This is the manner in which we do things at every performance, but this time we had more time for this portion of the preparation than we usually do.
The performance that followed was amazing. Although there were some technical issues with the microphones, the performance itself was an astounding success. Everyone that stepped up to the microphone did a fabulous job with singing their song with great emotion. The audience was very receptive and seemed to enjoy every song. It looked like there was somewhere around 550 people present for the performance, which is a great turnout. It was awesome to get the chance to perform in an actual theatre.
After the performance, we broke down the stage and change out of the costumes. Ma and Pa Rechtien (Dick and Pat) had arranged for the members of the cast to stay with host families in Rolla. Lisa and I were assigned to a couple named Ted and Nancy. We loaded our stuff into the car and followed them to their house which is on the edge of town in Rolla. We arrived at the house around 11:30. We sat in the living room and enjoyed some ice cream while talking about the "Isle of Dreams" ministry and the goodness of the Lord. It was a great conversation, but I was quite exhauste from the performance. At around 12:45am we made our way to our bedroom, where I quickly fell asleep.
Lisa was up about a half hour before I was. I took a long shower and found her and Ted on the back deck talking. Ted and Nancy have an amazing view of the wooded hills behind their house for as far as the eye can see. It was such a peaceful way to start the morning and it gave Lisa and I the opportunity to talk further with Ted, who is a retired dentist. Through our conversation, we learnedthat Ted refinishes old furniture as a hobby and has quite the collection of antique furniture in the house. It was great to hear this man talk of his knowledge of furniture and restoring it, and it gave Lisa and I further insight into his life (which is always a neat thing to experience). We made our way to lunch with the rest of the cast back at the Rechtien farm, where we enjoyed another fabulous meal and great conversation with many of the other host families.
It was a great weekend, filled with lots of hard work, lots of great conversation, losts of praising God, lots of sweat, several tears and a lot of wonderful memories.
We headed back stage, where we enjoyed a fabulous feast of meats, cheeses and other snacks. Mary Elizabeth and Tracy had taken charge of arranging our meals for this trip and they did an absolutely fabulous job. Having filled up on light items, we headed off to our respective dressing rooms (men and women separate). By 5pm I was in full costume and was ready to go. We spent the remainder of the time backstage praying and singing praise songs and encouraging one another in the Lord. This is the manner in which we do things at every performance, but this time we had more time for this portion of the preparation than we usually do.
The performance that followed was amazing. Although there were some technical issues with the microphones, the performance itself was an astounding success. Everyone that stepped up to the microphone did a fabulous job with singing their song with great emotion. The audience was very receptive and seemed to enjoy every song. It looked like there was somewhere around 550 people present for the performance, which is a great turnout. It was awesome to get the chance to perform in an actual theatre.
After the performance, we broke down the stage and change out of the costumes. Ma and Pa Rechtien (Dick and Pat) had arranged for the members of the cast to stay with host families in Rolla. Lisa and I were assigned to a couple named Ted and Nancy. We loaded our stuff into the car and followed them to their house which is on the edge of town in Rolla. We arrived at the house around 11:30. We sat in the living room and enjoyed some ice cream while talking about the "Isle of Dreams" ministry and the goodness of the Lord. It was a great conversation, but I was quite exhauste from the performance. At around 12:45am we made our way to our bedroom, where I quickly fell asleep.
Lisa was up about a half hour before I was. I took a long shower and found her and Ted on the back deck talking. Ted and Nancy have an amazing view of the wooded hills behind their house for as far as the eye can see. It was such a peaceful way to start the morning and it gave Lisa and I the opportunity to talk further with Ted, who is a retired dentist. Through our conversation, we learnedthat Ted refinishes old furniture as a hobby and has quite the collection of antique furniture in the house. It was great to hear this man talk of his knowledge of furniture and restoring it, and it gave Lisa and I further insight into his life (which is always a neat thing to experience). We made our way to lunch with the rest of the cast back at the Rechtien farm, where we enjoyed another fabulous meal and great conversation with many of the other host families.
It was a great weekend, filled with lots of hard work, lots of great conversation, losts of praising God, lots of sweat, several tears and a lot of wonderful memories.
We arrived at Michael’s house at 5:35 this morning, in order to leave by 6am. After a brief review of the plan for the day and prayer, we were off for Rolla. I drove, Lisa rode shotgun, and Amanda (Pancake) and Lysette took their places in the back seat. For the most part, the ride down was pretty quiet, with the ladies spending a lot of the time asleep.
We stopped briefly at the Rechtien farm, then loaded back up and followed Pa Rechtien to the first church, Vineyard Christian Fellowship. The church was very welcoming and seamed very genuine in their happiness to have us there. Their praise band started the service with a song and then we shook hands with people. Their pastor introduced Pa Rechtien, who then briefly recapped what his experience and interaction with our group has been. He then promoted the Friday night performance of the "Isle of Dreams" and then we came up and sang “Listen to the Rain” and “Blood On My Hands”. The audience was very receptive and it was cool to see the large number of college age students who were there. It’s great to see dedicated Christian students attending service on Sunday morning. After singing our two songs, we left promptly for the next church.
Upon arriving at Victory Christian Center, we were led upstairs to the pastors’ conference room. We met several of the pastors and the head pastor spoke of his desires for his church and for our musical. We then prayed over the upcoming service and the performance on Friday. The service began with their Praise band and team leading several songs (about 20 minutes) and then the pastor, Mike Huff, spoke about his impending trip to Israel (he leaves Tuesday for the 9 day Holy Land trip), his vision for their church and his opinion of the musical. We then took the stage and performed for about an hour. We sang through quite a bit of the musical and everyone did a great job.
My performance was a bit different because I was dealing with a really dry throat. I had to take a couple of breaths in different places and I had to ad-lib some of the chorus the second time through. All in all, I felt like my song was good but not great. Afterwards Lisa said that she thought it was the best performance any of us had ever given and that it was the best she had ever heard us sound.
Of particular note in this performance was the impact of the dramatic acting we have recently added to certain songs. On Martha’s song (“If You Had Been Here”), you could see the audience’s physical/emotional attachment to her character. And when Jesus sang His response (“Show Me Where You Laid Him”), the audience was so eager for the end result that they were actually applauding before Lazarus had even been commanded to raise form the tomb. It was quite the thing to see from the stage, and the joy on the faces of the people was obvious and unforgettable.
After the service we headed to a restaraunt called Cookin' From Scratch, where we all had our fill of Fried chicken, mashed potatoes and other home-style meals. It was a good time of enjoying one another's company. The trip back to St. Louis was rather uneventful and we made it safely home by 5:15. It was another long, busy and great Sunday.
I’m constantly amazed that God uses our voices in the way that he does.
Friday will be exciting – I can’t wait to see how God moves in that theatre!
We stopped briefly at the Rechtien farm, then loaded back up and followed Pa Rechtien to the first church, Vineyard Christian Fellowship. The church was very welcoming and seamed very genuine in their happiness to have us there. Their praise band started the service with a song and then we shook hands with people. Their pastor introduced Pa Rechtien, who then briefly recapped what his experience and interaction with our group has been. He then promoted the Friday night performance of the "Isle of Dreams" and then we came up and sang “Listen to the Rain” and “Blood On My Hands”. The audience was very receptive and it was cool to see the large number of college age students who were there. It’s great to see dedicated Christian students attending service on Sunday morning. After singing our two songs, we left promptly for the next church.
Upon arriving at Victory Christian Center, we were led upstairs to the pastors’ conference room. We met several of the pastors and the head pastor spoke of his desires for his church and for our musical. We then prayed over the upcoming service and the performance on Friday. The service began with their Praise band and team leading several songs (about 20 minutes) and then the pastor, Mike Huff, spoke about his impending trip to Israel (he leaves Tuesday for the 9 day Holy Land trip), his vision for their church and his opinion of the musical. We then took the stage and performed for about an hour. We sang through quite a bit of the musical and everyone did a great job.
My performance was a bit different because I was dealing with a really dry throat. I had to take a couple of breaths in different places and I had to ad-lib some of the chorus the second time through. All in all, I felt like my song was good but not great. Afterwards Lisa said that she thought it was the best performance any of us had ever given and that it was the best she had ever heard us sound.
Of particular note in this performance was the impact of the dramatic acting we have recently added to certain songs. On Martha’s song (“If You Had Been Here”), you could see the audience’s physical/emotional attachment to her character. And when Jesus sang His response (“Show Me Where You Laid Him”), the audience was so eager for the end result that they were actually applauding before Lazarus had even been commanded to raise form the tomb. It was quite the thing to see from the stage, and the joy on the faces of the people was obvious and unforgettable.
After the service we headed to a restaraunt called Cookin' From Scratch, where we all had our fill of Fried chicken, mashed potatoes and other home-style meals. It was a good time of enjoying one another's company. The trip back to St. Louis was rather uneventful and we made it safely home by 5:15. It was another long, busy and great Sunday.
I’m constantly amazed that God uses our voices in the way that he does.
Friday will be exciting – I can’t wait to see how God moves in that theatre!
This Sunday proved to be another busy day for Lisa and I. We stopped by work on the way to the "Hour of Power" in order to sign and return the paperwork to our realtor which we had found out she had received late Saturday night. This was the paperwork that we have been waiting for for 15 days, so we were thrilled to finally get our hands on it and we were pleased with what had been agreed upon. So we signed what should be the last bit of paperwork prior to actually closing and hopped back into the car to head to church.
The "Hour of Power" was good, with "Mother" singing "If I Can Help Somebody" and Brother Joe singing after returning from his fall last week (he's evidently recovered from any ill effects from his falling incidents). The turnout was quite solid from the leading side and a little low from the attendee side, but it was Daylight Saving Time and I think some residents had forgotten that fact. Afterwards we drove across town to attend the morning worship service at Jubilee Worship Center in North St. Louis.
Pastor Kishna preached a wonderful sermon about praising God while you are going through and for having a "song in the night" (Psalm 42:8) as Ezekiel did when the Israelites were moaning their situation of captivity. The church was very welcoming and we sang edited versions of "Listen to the Rain" and "Blood on My Hands" as a preview of the upcoming afternoon performance. They were both very well received. After the service, the cast was treated to a lunch that was prepared just for us in the basement of the church and then we went back upstairs to set up the stage and finish preparing for the performance.
The performance started out with Michael using his intro dialogue for the first time and it went very well. Everyone sang their songs with power and emotion and the energy of the songs was great. Particular high notes were reached during the dramatic presentation portions of the musical ("If You Had Been Here", "I AM the King" and "Prince of Revelation"). The crowd seemed to really respond to these portions of choreography and stage movement and I think that they have added a lot to the presentation of the Message.
All in all, the performance at Jubilee was absolutely wonderful.
It's amazing how God can turn things around so quickly.
I'm glad this time around went so well, especially when compared to the Easter performance.
God is continually Faithful and Good!
The "Hour of Power" was good, with "Mother" singing "If I Can Help Somebody" and Brother Joe singing after returning from his fall last week (he's evidently recovered from any ill effects from his falling incidents). The turnout was quite solid from the leading side and a little low from the attendee side, but it was Daylight Saving Time and I think some residents had forgotten that fact. Afterwards we drove across town to attend the morning worship service at Jubilee Worship Center in North St. Louis.
Pastor Kishna preached a wonderful sermon about praising God while you are going through and for having a "song in the night" (Psalm 42:8) as Ezekiel did when the Israelites were moaning their situation of captivity. The church was very welcoming and we sang edited versions of "Listen to the Rain" and "Blood on My Hands" as a preview of the upcoming afternoon performance. They were both very well received. After the service, the cast was treated to a lunch that was prepared just for us in the basement of the church and then we went back upstairs to set up the stage and finish preparing for the performance.
The performance started out with Michael using his intro dialogue for the first time and it went very well. Everyone sang their songs with power and emotion and the energy of the songs was great. Particular high notes were reached during the dramatic presentation portions of the musical ("If You Had Been Here", "I AM the King" and "Prince of Revelation"). The crowd seemed to really respond to these portions of choreography and stage movement and I think that they have added a lot to the presentation of the Message.
All in all, the performance at Jubilee was absolutely wonderful.
It's amazing how God can turn things around so quickly.
I'm glad this time around went so well, especially when compared to the Easter performance.
God is continually Faithful and Good!
This has been a busy week.
We had practices on Wednesday and Thursday, in addition to our normal Friday night practice. This meant that it Lisa and I would head home from work, eat something for dinner and then turn around and drive off to practice. Lisa stayed home Thursday night and took care of some errands she had to run. We spent the afternoon and most of the evening Saturday at my parents house.
Sunday morning we went to Highland View (the church I grew up in) to hear my father preach the sermon for the Sunrise Service, which was from 6:45 to 7:30am. It's always a treat to get to hear my father preach and it is one that I only get maybe twice a year (if that). After that service, Lisa and I drove home and got ready for the nursing home. The "Hour of Power" started off with "Brother Joe" walking through the room and tripping over his walker, which he was carrying. He fell to the floor hard and fell on his right arm. We paused to allow the nurses and attendants see to him and then after they had helped him back to his room we continued with the service. It's a frightening moment to see an older person fall and hurt themselves and not be able to help them in any other way than to pray for them. The rest of the service went well.
Lisa and I made it to St. Alphonsus Rock by 1:30. After people left the building (the last service ran a bit late), several of the male cast members began setting up the chairs for the stage area while the women began anointing the temple. Setup went fairly smoothly and we were all back in the back dressing by 2:45. The preparation seemed to be going smoothly, with people helping each other dress while singing and reading scriptures. We then headed out for a brief sound check around 3:15.
There were a handful of people already present in the building for the performance at this time, but we needed to do the sound check so we pressed on. There seemed to be several members of the cast who were timid or weak in the vocals during this sound check and so Michael urged us to sing out louder. After struggling with the monitor levels and house volumes, we proceeded back to the dressing area. We immediately prayed over the performance and what appeared to be specific obstacles already in our way. We discussed how fear had no place within our performance, because God's perfect Love drives out all fear.
We began the performance promptly at 4pm, with a friendly reminder from Michael's mother aiding in our timely beginning. In this particular rendition, my song came third or fourth, just prior to "Rocky Road". I struggled with finding a balance between the incredibly hot mic and the annoyingly loud monitor that was directly in front of me. I couldn't move too far to either side because my role demanded that I interact with members on each side of me at certain points in the song. So I felt kind of trapped between the blaring monitor, the super-hot mic and my castmates. The mic squealed a couple of times briefly, but overall I felt like my performance was good.
It quickly became apparent that something was going on up in the sound booth when Amanda's song was suddenly not played. When James began his song a measure early it seemed a bit odd. He recovered to begin again, struggling to retain the correct words. As he began the transition to the chorus it became apparent that the song playing was not the edited version which we had been practicing. It startled him, which is totally understandable, and we tried to help him cover it as best we could. He gathered his composure and finished the song strong. It was at this point that we didn't know what song was going to be next. Faith's song was skipped and we went straight into Tony's "He Ain't No King".
At intermission we figured out that the sound man was playing the wrong CD. After verifying that he had the correct CD for Act II, we were ready to begin again. All of sudden, the Overture from Act I began playing. We quickly sent Esther Ruth to set the sound man straight, all the while wondering what was going on. We pressed on through the remainder of the performance and people seemed to enjoy it and receive the message of it.
I never felt like we hit "the groove" at any point of this performance. Usually, there will be moments during a particular song when everything sounds great and it truly seems effortless to sing a song. Sometimes this "groove" will last through several songs and this is when the performance is totally amazing. It's those moments that we have to reach consistently in order to perform this to the best of our abilities and allow God to receive the praise He deserves.
Unfortunately, at St. Alphonsus Rock there didn't seem to be any of these moments. Praise God that He can use us in spite of ourselves, but it makes a performance a lot more hard work and less fulfilling in a way. We have a lot of preparation to do before our next performance at Jubilee this Sunday, not to mention the upcoming performance in Rolla.
We had practices on Wednesday and Thursday, in addition to our normal Friday night practice. This meant that it Lisa and I would head home from work, eat something for dinner and then turn around and drive off to practice. Lisa stayed home Thursday night and took care of some errands she had to run. We spent the afternoon and most of the evening Saturday at my parents house.
Sunday morning we went to Highland View (the church I grew up in) to hear my father preach the sermon for the Sunrise Service, which was from 6:45 to 7:30am. It's always a treat to get to hear my father preach and it is one that I only get maybe twice a year (if that). After that service, Lisa and I drove home and got ready for the nursing home. The "Hour of Power" started off with "Brother Joe" walking through the room and tripping over his walker, which he was carrying. He fell to the floor hard and fell on his right arm. We paused to allow the nurses and attendants see to him and then after they had helped him back to his room we continued with the service. It's a frightening moment to see an older person fall and hurt themselves and not be able to help them in any other way than to pray for them. The rest of the service went well.
Lisa and I made it to St. Alphonsus Rock by 1:30. After people left the building (the last service ran a bit late), several of the male cast members began setting up the chairs for the stage area while the women began anointing the temple. Setup went fairly smoothly and we were all back in the back dressing by 2:45. The preparation seemed to be going smoothly, with people helping each other dress while singing and reading scriptures. We then headed out for a brief sound check around 3:15.
There were a handful of people already present in the building for the performance at this time, but we needed to do the sound check so we pressed on. There seemed to be several members of the cast who were timid or weak in the vocals during this sound check and so Michael urged us to sing out louder. After struggling with the monitor levels and house volumes, we proceeded back to the dressing area. We immediately prayed over the performance and what appeared to be specific obstacles already in our way. We discussed how fear had no place within our performance, because God's perfect Love drives out all fear.
We began the performance promptly at 4pm, with a friendly reminder from Michael's mother aiding in our timely beginning. In this particular rendition, my song came third or fourth, just prior to "Rocky Road". I struggled with finding a balance between the incredibly hot mic and the annoyingly loud monitor that was directly in front of me. I couldn't move too far to either side because my role demanded that I interact with members on each side of me at certain points in the song. So I felt kind of trapped between the blaring monitor, the super-hot mic and my castmates. The mic squealed a couple of times briefly, but overall I felt like my performance was good.
It quickly became apparent that something was going on up in the sound booth when Amanda's song was suddenly not played. When James began his song a measure early it seemed a bit odd. He recovered to begin again, struggling to retain the correct words. As he began the transition to the chorus it became apparent that the song playing was not the edited version which we had been practicing. It startled him, which is totally understandable, and we tried to help him cover it as best we could. He gathered his composure and finished the song strong. It was at this point that we didn't know what song was going to be next. Faith's song was skipped and we went straight into Tony's "He Ain't No King".
At intermission we figured out that the sound man was playing the wrong CD. After verifying that he had the correct CD for Act II, we were ready to begin again. All of sudden, the Overture from Act I began playing. We quickly sent Esther Ruth to set the sound man straight, all the while wondering what was going on. We pressed on through the remainder of the performance and people seemed to enjoy it and receive the message of it.
I never felt like we hit "the groove" at any point of this performance. Usually, there will be moments during a particular song when everything sounds great and it truly seems effortless to sing a song. Sometimes this "groove" will last through several songs and this is when the performance is totally amazing. It's those moments that we have to reach consistently in order to perform this to the best of our abilities and allow God to receive the praise He deserves.
Unfortunately, at St. Alphonsus Rock there didn't seem to be any of these moments. Praise God that He can use us in spite of ourselves, but it makes a performance a lot more hard work and less fulfilling in a way. We have a lot of preparation to do before our next performance at Jubilee this Sunday, not to mention the upcoming performance in Rolla.
Well, I have been asked by our director (Michael O'Hara) and his co-writer (Robert White Johnson) to travel down to Nashville next week for a recording session. It is my understanding that we will be laying down background vocals as well as solo tracks. It should be a very fun couple of days, filled with a ton of work to be done. I'm sure it will be vocally challenging, not to mention physically and mentally draining.
Meanwhile at practice we have been working on some of the staging a bit and have begun to introduce some more acting during several of the pivotal songs. As we rehearse these songs, the necessity of the actions become more apparent and the message is more visual. The staging compliments the message quite nicely while not stealing away from the lyrics being sung.
The next few weeks will be exciting and probably a bit stressful, but they will be totally exhilarating as well. The cast of the "Isle of Dreams" will be around town and on the road, performing at various churches, functions and then in the theatre on April 15th. I am excited about the many opportunities to minister and present this message, and I look forward to seeing what God is going to do for us, to us and through us.
Lisa and I are still walking through the process of buying the house. This past Saturday we had both the building inspector and termite inspector visit the house, and the results of those inspections were as good as can be expected. Naturally, there are things to be fixed/worked on, but there wasn't anything that was too huge of an obstacle to overcome. Yesterday we called and received a quote from our insurance company for home owner's insurance, and have set up an appointment to talk further with them tomorrow. We are also waiting to hear back from the mortgage broker today regarding the next steps in the loan process. One step at a time seems to be the motto of our lives at this point. It's a good life lesson, applicable to both an emotional standpoint as well as a spiritual one.
Meanwhile at practice we have been working on some of the staging a bit and have begun to introduce some more acting during several of the pivotal songs. As we rehearse these songs, the necessity of the actions become more apparent and the message is more visual. The staging compliments the message quite nicely while not stealing away from the lyrics being sung.
The next few weeks will be exciting and probably a bit stressful, but they will be totally exhilarating as well. The cast of the "Isle of Dreams" will be around town and on the road, performing at various churches, functions and then in the theatre on April 15th. I am excited about the many opportunities to minister and present this message, and I look forward to seeing what God is going to do for us, to us and through us.
Lisa and I are still walking through the process of buying the house. This past Saturday we had both the building inspector and termite inspector visit the house, and the results of those inspections were as good as can be expected. Naturally, there are things to be fixed/worked on, but there wasn't anything that was too huge of an obstacle to overcome. Yesterday we called and received a quote from our insurance company for home owner's insurance, and have set up an appointment to talk further with them tomorrow. We are also waiting to hear back from the mortgage broker today regarding the next steps in the loan process. One step at a time seems to be the motto of our lives at this point. It's a good life lesson, applicable to both an emotional standpoint as well as a spiritual one.
The "Isle of Dreams" hit the road to share a little joy and kind of "plug" the upcoming April 15th performance. A group of 10 of us travelled down to Rolla, Missouri, to sing for pastor's association meeting. Considering that it is a gathering of the different denominations in and around the area to discuss issues that impact their city, it's a cool event in and of itself. The idea was that we would sing for 2o minutes or so and let them experience a little of what will be in the Leach Theatre that evening. If they wanted to promote us and invite their congregation afterwards would be completely up to them.
First we went to the Rechtien farm for a brief rest after our two hour car ride. Ma and Pa Rechtien are two of the most genuine, loving people you will ever meet. Their home emanates the welcoming attitude of Christian love, and you find yourself immediately at ease and relaxed. It's a gorgeous place in the country that we plan on returning to this summer to help with various projects around the site.
We arrived at the church prior to all of the other pastor's. Michael spent quite some time speaking about the "Isle of Dreams" with the editor-in-chief of the local paper, who had come at the invitation of the Rechtiens (after God allowed them to finally connect and set it up). The gentleman appeared to be very interested in the story or the musical and stayed aroudn to hear us sing. Michael then led our group to the sanctuary, where we held a brief communion service prior to performing. It's always a blessing to have a leader who makes time for such spiritual encounters in the midst of all the hectic scheduling that takes place from time to time.
We rejoined the pastors meeting and Pa Rachtien gave us an amazing introduction and, more importantly, he gave God the credit that He deserves for every aspect of the musical. After the intro, we took the front and performed "Listen to the Rain", "If You Had Only Been Here", "Rocky Road", Everybody is God's Child" and "Heaven". The pastors started out pretty uninspired by the first few songs (although there were a couple of notable exceptions), but by the end of our little set they all seemed to be enjoying the music and taking in the message.
We grabbed our stuff and made our way outside, where two pastors pulled Michael aside and asked us to come back down and sing at their churches, which we indeed look forward to doing when God allows. We made our way back to the Rechtien farm, where we praised God for what He had done and enjoyed our time together. One of the pastors came over the the farm after the meeting was over and shared lunch with us. Michael, being led of God, grabbed the performance cds and we sat in the front rrom by the fireplace and performed a larger selection from the musical. The visiting pastor was obviously in need of a time of blessing and revitalization and God allowed us to be the vessels of that process. It was a truly sweet and special time as we all basked in the Glory of God.
It's always amazing when God allows us to actively participate in being a blessing to someone else whiel still being filled and blessed ourselves. Truly, God is an all Powerful God, able to do whatever He deems necessary as He deems fit. I am blessed to be a part of a ministry that God has blessed, that blesses me daily and proves to be a blessing to others often.
First we went to the Rechtien farm for a brief rest after our two hour car ride. Ma and Pa Rechtien are two of the most genuine, loving people you will ever meet. Their home emanates the welcoming attitude of Christian love, and you find yourself immediately at ease and relaxed. It's a gorgeous place in the country that we plan on returning to this summer to help with various projects around the site.
We arrived at the church prior to all of the other pastor's. Michael spent quite some time speaking about the "Isle of Dreams" with the editor-in-chief of the local paper, who had come at the invitation of the Rechtiens (after God allowed them to finally connect and set it up). The gentleman appeared to be very interested in the story or the musical and stayed aroudn to hear us sing. Michael then led our group to the sanctuary, where we held a brief communion service prior to performing. It's always a blessing to have a leader who makes time for such spiritual encounters in the midst of all the hectic scheduling that takes place from time to time.
We rejoined the pastors meeting and Pa Rachtien gave us an amazing introduction and, more importantly, he gave God the credit that He deserves for every aspect of the musical. After the intro, we took the front and performed "Listen to the Rain", "If You Had Only Been Here", "Rocky Road", Everybody is God's Child" and "Heaven". The pastors started out pretty uninspired by the first few songs (although there were a couple of notable exceptions), but by the end of our little set they all seemed to be enjoying the music and taking in the message.
We grabbed our stuff and made our way outside, where two pastors pulled Michael aside and asked us to come back down and sing at their churches, which we indeed look forward to doing when God allows. We made our way back to the Rechtien farm, where we praised God for what He had done and enjoyed our time together. One of the pastors came over the the farm after the meeting was over and shared lunch with us. Michael, being led of God, grabbed the performance cds and we sat in the front rrom by the fireplace and performed a larger selection from the musical. The visiting pastor was obviously in need of a time of blessing and revitalization and God allowed us to be the vessels of that process. It was a truly sweet and special time as we all basked in the Glory of God.
It's always amazing when God allows us to actively participate in being a blessing to someone else whiel still being filled and blessed ourselves. Truly, God is an all Powerful God, able to do whatever He deems necessary as He deems fit. I am blessed to be a part of a ministry that God has blessed, that blesses me daily and proves to be a blessing to others often.
Busy times here in the Walker household. Let's quickly recap the events of the past few days.
Tuesday, 01MAR05 - Lisa and I met up a mortgage broker to go over the many different financing options available to us. The broker not only talked to us about financing a home, but also the process of buying a home, what to look for and avoid and what costs are involved that we might have not considered yet (which we hadn't, because we didn't know about them). After spending almost two hours with Glenn, we left his office feeling well educated in the area of home financing and more comfortable with the idea of purchusing a home. If you need a mortage broker, I'd recommend Glenn in a heartbeat.
Wednesday, 02MAR05 - Lisa and I met up our realtor, Holly Hunter, for the first time. Since we had already met with Glenn, we skipped the initial meeting and went straight to looking at three houses. The first one had quite a bit of character and peaked our interest to a degree while the other two were ruled out for various reasons. We discussed the possibility of the first house and we were considering possibly pursuing it further.
Thursday, 03MAR05 - After work, Lisa and I swung by the location of the first house to see it and the nieghborhood in daylight. As we pull up I notice that the sign now has a portion that says "Under Contract" on it. The house had been on the market for almost a half a year, and the day after wee see it it goes under contract. Needless to say, we were a bit bummed by that.
Friday, 04MAR05 - Our realtor e-mailed us a hundred or so listings that were within our price range and areas of interest. So we sifted through them and picked out a handful of options and notified our realtor. We planned to meet on Sunday to go view possibilities for several hours. Before we could meet on Sunday, 3 of the houses went under contract or were sold.
Sunday, 06MAR05 - Lisa and I met up with Holly, our realtor, at 3:30 in the afternoon. We went to a neighborhood I know pretty well to see four different houses. The first one was a fixer-upper in the most literal sense. Every room would need either paint or carpet, along with other work just to be tolerable. It also didn't have a finished basement, which was a bonus we were hoping for. House number two proved to be much nicer and had a finished basement. House three was okay, but it had some things that didn't make Lisa and I want to buy it. House four was nice enough, but it's location (on a busy street corner) as well as a few structural things prevented us from wanting it. We left that subdivision to see a house in St. Peters. Before we set foot in the house we had ruled it out(rough neighborhood, ugly house, structural issues, etc). The interior only confirmed our initial supsicions, so we left in a hurry.
Lisa and I had talked on our way to this last house and had pretty much decided we liked house #2 the best. We realized that houses in that neighborhood we selling quickly, and this house had just gone on the market that day. In fact, we were the third people to see it. So we went back to the house to see it again and go through it a bit more detailed. After consulting with our realtor, we decided to offer a contract on the house. So we went back to the realtor's office and talked our way through the paperwork, finishing up the process two hours later.
Monday, 07MAR05 - Lisa and I were supposed to hear back from the seller by 6pm, so all day long I was checking my phone for message from Holly. At 3:30pm, she sent us a message stating that the seller had counter-offered, accepting our conditions and slightly lowering his price. Basically, he came down to below half the difference of what we had asked for, and Lisa and I thought that this was very acceptable. So we had Holly fax us the changes to sign off on, and we did so and faxed them back an hour later.
Since we have already been pre-approved for a loan amount that is greater than the cost of the house we are buying, financing should not pose any problems. It's just a matter of filling out all of the paperwork and jumping through the hoops. So, assuming that the building inspections go well this Saturday and nothing jumps out to cause any trouble, we should close on the house on April 18th.
That's right, Lisa and I will be homeowners by the middle of next month! We went from talking about maybe getting a home, to looking at homes online, to meeting with a mortagage broker, to meeting with a realtor, to physically looking at homes to offering a contract and signing the counter offer in less than a week! We physically looked at 8 homes total, taking a total of 5 hours over 2 days in viewing time to do it. Talk about things happening fast! We had prayed that God would open and close doors as He saw fit, and we saw several doors close before we even had a chance to look through them. Now, we are in the process of closing on a house that will make a great home and has plenty of room for us. God is so good!
Large House Photos & Smaller House Photos
Tuesday, 01MAR05 - Lisa and I met up a mortgage broker to go over the many different financing options available to us. The broker not only talked to us about financing a home, but also the process of buying a home, what to look for and avoid and what costs are involved that we might have not considered yet (which we hadn't, because we didn't know about them). After spending almost two hours with Glenn, we left his office feeling well educated in the area of home financing and more comfortable with the idea of purchusing a home. If you need a mortage broker, I'd recommend Glenn in a heartbeat.
Wednesday, 02MAR05 - Lisa and I met up our realtor, Holly Hunter, for the first time. Since we had already met with Glenn, we skipped the initial meeting and went straight to looking at three houses. The first one had quite a bit of character and peaked our interest to a degree while the other two were ruled out for various reasons. We discussed the possibility of the first house and we were considering possibly pursuing it further.
Thursday, 03MAR05 - After work, Lisa and I swung by the location of the first house to see it and the nieghborhood in daylight. As we pull up I notice that the sign now has a portion that says "Under Contract" on it. The house had been on the market for almost a half a year, and the day after wee see it it goes under contract. Needless to say, we were a bit bummed by that.
Friday, 04MAR05 - Our realtor e-mailed us a hundred or so listings that were within our price range and areas of interest. So we sifted through them and picked out a handful of options and notified our realtor. We planned to meet on Sunday to go view possibilities for several hours. Before we could meet on Sunday, 3 of the houses went under contract or were sold.
Sunday, 06MAR05 - Lisa and I met up with Holly, our realtor, at 3:30 in the afternoon. We went to a neighborhood I know pretty well to see four different houses. The first one was a fixer-upper in the most literal sense. Every room would need either paint or carpet, along with other work just to be tolerable. It also didn't have a finished basement, which was a bonus we were hoping for. House number two proved to be much nicer and had a finished basement. House three was okay, but it had some things that didn't make Lisa and I want to buy it. House four was nice enough, but it's location (on a busy street corner) as well as a few structural things prevented us from wanting it. We left that subdivision to see a house in St. Peters. Before we set foot in the house we had ruled it out(rough neighborhood, ugly house, structural issues, etc). The interior only confirmed our initial supsicions, so we left in a hurry.
Lisa and I had talked on our way to this last house and had pretty much decided we liked house #2 the best. We realized that houses in that neighborhood we selling quickly, and this house had just gone on the market that day. In fact, we were the third people to see it. So we went back to the house to see it again and go through it a bit more detailed. After consulting with our realtor, we decided to offer a contract on the house. So we went back to the realtor's office and talked our way through the paperwork, finishing up the process two hours later.
Monday, 07MAR05 - Lisa and I were supposed to hear back from the seller by 6pm, so all day long I was checking my phone for message from Holly. At 3:30pm, she sent us a message stating that the seller had counter-offered, accepting our conditions and slightly lowering his price. Basically, he came down to below half the difference of what we had asked for, and Lisa and I thought that this was very acceptable. So we had Holly fax us the changes to sign off on, and we did so and faxed them back an hour later.
Since we have already been pre-approved for a loan amount that is greater than the cost of the house we are buying, financing should not pose any problems. It's just a matter of filling out all of the paperwork and jumping through the hoops. So, assuming that the building inspections go well this Saturday and nothing jumps out to cause any trouble, we should close on the house on April 18th.
That's right, Lisa and I will be homeowners by the middle of next month! We went from talking about maybe getting a home, to looking at homes online, to meeting with a mortagage broker, to meeting with a realtor, to physically looking at homes to offering a contract and signing the counter offer in less than a week! We physically looked at 8 homes total, taking a total of 5 hours over 2 days in viewing time to do it. Talk about things happening fast! We had prayed that God would open and close doors as He saw fit, and we saw several doors close before we even had a chance to look through them. Now, we are in the process of closing on a house that will make a great home and has plenty of room for us. God is so good!
Large House Photos & Smaller House Photos
Well, at practice tonight we learned of several performances that are upcoming. I will be posting those on the "Isle of Dreams" page as soon as I sort them all out.
We also discussed the various things we are/will be doing that will lead us up to the performance in Rolla on April 15th. Tracy has stated that she feels led to go down to Rolla to pray over the theatre and hearts of the people once a week until the performance. We gladly send her with our prayers and love. A group of us will be going down to a pastor's luncheon on Tuesday, March 8 to sing a few songs. The idea is that we will allow the power of God to move through the music, lyrics and our hearts and touch these ministers of God, prompting them to promote the performance to their congregations. It should be a great 20 minutes or so, and a great preliminary sneak peek. We will also be going down several times to sing at different Sunday morning services at various churches.
This will be the most prepared location that we will have performed in since I joined the group over three years ago. Usually, we only have the opportunity to sing at the morning service of the church we will be singing at later that afternoon/evening. It works out okay, but this allows us the chance to sing for several congregations and connect with hundreds of people prior to the performance. It also gives us the chance to pray over the performace venue multiple times in advance of the day we will actually sing in it. I believe that God is going to move powerfully in Rolla, and I believe He is giving us the opportunity to prime the city and pray over it while we are in it.
Michael O'Hara (our director and one of the co-writers) also informed us that we will be learning a new song next week. So we will learn the song next week and possibly implement it in the upcoming Easter Sunday performance at St. Alphonsus Rock Catholic Church.
We also discussed the various things we are/will be doing that will lead us up to the performance in Rolla on April 15th. Tracy has stated that she feels led to go down to Rolla to pray over the theatre and hearts of the people once a week until the performance. We gladly send her with our prayers and love. A group of us will be going down to a pastor's luncheon on Tuesday, March 8 to sing a few songs. The idea is that we will allow the power of God to move through the music, lyrics and our hearts and touch these ministers of God, prompting them to promote the performance to their congregations. It should be a great 20 minutes or so, and a great preliminary sneak peek. We will also be going down several times to sing at different Sunday morning services at various churches.
This will be the most prepared location that we will have performed in since I joined the group over three years ago. Usually, we only have the opportunity to sing at the morning service of the church we will be singing at later that afternoon/evening. It works out okay, but this allows us the chance to sing for several congregations and connect with hundreds of people prior to the performance. It also gives us the chance to pray over the performace venue multiple times in advance of the day we will actually sing in it. I believe that God is going to move powerfully in Rolla, and I believe He is giving us the opportunity to prime the city and pray over it while we are in it.
Michael O'Hara (our director and one of the co-writers) also informed us that we will be learning a new song next week. So we will learn the song next week and possibly implement it in the upcoming Easter Sunday performance at St. Alphonsus Rock Catholic Church.
We spent the morning of our final day in Chicago visiting the Art Institute. We arrived a few minutes early, so we walked a few blocks over to see the lobby of the Palmer House Hotel, which is quite beautiful. We then grabbed a bite to eat at the Corner Bakery and spent the time watching people pass. We took the almost obligatory photos of each other outside with the Lions of the Art Institute. We worked our way around the museum quite quickly, since we only had an hour and a half to spend there before we had to go catch our plane. The museum had a huge collection of art, from many different styles and time periods. It also had a textile section (which I haven't ever really thought of as art before), a paperweight collection, and a room filled with suits of armor and swords. It was quite the collection of various forms of art. We probably could have spent a considerable more amount of time there, but we just didn't have it. In retrospect, we should have skipped the Museum of Contemporary Arts on Day 1 and visited the Art Institute instead. Lisa and I have decided we aren't huge fans of "modern art". We live and learn I suppose.
We rode the bus to the hotel to grab our bags. We rode the Orange Line back to the airport and made our way home safely. All in all, it was a great trip to a fascinating city that has tons to see. We talked of how we hope/plan on going back someday to see more of it. It was the perfect way to spend the holiday weekend and the perfect chance to spend time with each other learning new things and experiencing them together.
We rode the bus to the hotel to grab our bags. We rode the Orange Line back to the airport and made our way home safely. All in all, it was a great trip to a fascinating city that has tons to see. We talked of how we hope/plan on going back someday to see more of it. It was the perfect way to spend the holiday weekend and the perfect chance to spend time with each other learning new things and experiencing them together.
Day 3 in Chicago would prove to be our busiest day of the trip.
We got up and went walking to the Field Museum, which was across Michigan Avenue from our hotel(half a mile?). Upon entering the Museum, we went through the Africa display, which was quite intriguing. Then we spent some time going through the Egypt exhibit. The highlight of this exhibit was a recreation of a pyramid which you could walk through. Upon entering the third room of the building, you found yourself surrounded by the actual bricks from the tomb, which had been transported over from Egypt. It was amazing to see the detail of the carvings on the wall the paintings and the heiroglyphs which were thousands of years old.
After being wowed by the structures, mummies and other artifacts of the Egypt exhibit, Lisa and I made our way to the exhibit which we quickly nicknamed the "Dead Zoo". This exhibit was case upon case of stuffed animals. The dioramas they were placed in were very nice and it gave you an idea of the habitat the creature lived in. There were literally hundreds of these cases, with animals from all around the globe represented. A lot of the animals were from the early 1900s (1904 in the case of the Mexican Grizzly for instance), and some of them(like the aforementioned Mexican Grizzly) are now extinct. It was interesting to note that the White Tailed Deer display had a sign that proclaimed that the deer were on the verge of extinction. It's amazing how times have changed and now we plan hunting seasons to try and regulate the population a little. We also saw the infamous Lions of Tsavo, which had a movie made about them a few years ago(The Ghosts in the Darkness).
We spent 3 hours at the field museum and saw maybe a fifth of it, but it was time to walk over to Shedd's Aquarium. The aquarium had some nice displays, particularly one on the Amazon River habitat. It followed the changes of the habitat based upon the flooding season and contained lots of different species of exotic fish and animals. We made our way to the Oceanarium for the Dolphin show, which was educational as well as entertaining. After the show we went to see the view from below the tanks. After watching the river otters for a while, and having a snack while observing the dolphins from underwater, we decided to leave for Adler Planetarium.
We had a limited amount of time at the Planetarium before our show "The Stars of the Pharaohs". We say a majority of the exhibits, and I was not all that impressed with what I saw. Basically, our Science Center has spoiled me. The exhibits at Adler were not as interesting or as hands on, and they had many fewer exhibits. So we went to the show, which was education to a point, but I found it kind of boring - too much computer animation and not enough star scenes for my taste.
We closed out the Planetarium and decided to go eat at Giordano's Pizza, which is famous and had been recommended to us. We walked to where we thought it was, but couldn't find it. We called and found out the location we thought we were looking for was in fact several miles away. So we decided to try and find one of the other locations. After walking for what was probably 2 miles, we found the Giordano's in the theatre district. We ordered the deep dish pizza pie, which was quite amazing. We enjoyed our meal after a long day of museums, crowds and tons of walking. We hopped on a bus and rode it back to the hotel and spent the remainder of the evening reading our books.
We got up and went walking to the Field Museum, which was across Michigan Avenue from our hotel(half a mile?). Upon entering the Museum, we went through the Africa display, which was quite intriguing. Then we spent some time going through the Egypt exhibit. The highlight of this exhibit was a recreation of a pyramid which you could walk through. Upon entering the third room of the building, you found yourself surrounded by the actual bricks from the tomb, which had been transported over from Egypt. It was amazing to see the detail of the carvings on the wall the paintings and the heiroglyphs which were thousands of years old.
After being wowed by the structures, mummies and other artifacts of the Egypt exhibit, Lisa and I made our way to the exhibit which we quickly nicknamed the "Dead Zoo". This exhibit was case upon case of stuffed animals. The dioramas they were placed in were very nice and it gave you an idea of the habitat the creature lived in. There were literally hundreds of these cases, with animals from all around the globe represented. A lot of the animals were from the early 1900s (1904 in the case of the Mexican Grizzly for instance), and some of them(like the aforementioned Mexican Grizzly) are now extinct. It was interesting to note that the White Tailed Deer display had a sign that proclaimed that the deer were on the verge of extinction. It's amazing how times have changed and now we plan hunting seasons to try and regulate the population a little. We also saw the infamous Lions of Tsavo, which had a movie made about them a few years ago(The Ghosts in the Darkness).
We spent 3 hours at the field museum and saw maybe a fifth of it, but it was time to walk over to Shedd's Aquarium. The aquarium had some nice displays, particularly one on the Amazon River habitat. It followed the changes of the habitat based upon the flooding season and contained lots of different species of exotic fish and animals. We made our way to the Oceanarium for the Dolphin show, which was educational as well as entertaining. After the show we went to see the view from below the tanks. After watching the river otters for a while, and having a snack while observing the dolphins from underwater, we decided to leave for Adler Planetarium.
We had a limited amount of time at the Planetarium before our show "The Stars of the Pharaohs". We say a majority of the exhibits, and I was not all that impressed with what I saw. Basically, our Science Center has spoiled me. The exhibits at Adler were not as interesting or as hands on, and they had many fewer exhibits. So we went to the show, which was education to a point, but I found it kind of boring - too much computer animation and not enough star scenes for my taste.
We closed out the Planetarium and decided to go eat at Giordano's Pizza, which is famous and had been recommended to us. We walked to where we thought it was, but couldn't find it. We called and found out the location we thought we were looking for was in fact several miles away. So we decided to try and find one of the other locations. After walking for what was probably 2 miles, we found the Giordano's in the theatre district. We ordered the deep dish pizza pie, which was quite amazing. We enjoyed our meal after a long day of museums, crowds and tons of walking. We hopped on a bus and rode it back to the hotel and spent the remainder of the evening reading our books.
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