Blessings
Well this post is a little delayed but I wanted to share these stories.
Choir... choir... what can I say about choir? This is my second year in choir here at Judson. Last year was a little hard, I had no idea what I was doing as far as learning music, and I didn't know many people so I was a little lonely every so often. But I made friends and enjoyed it well enough to be in it again this year. Plus I was voted as one of the choir officers-choir secretary-so I sort of had to be in it again anyways. But I'm glad I was because I've made a lot of new friends and strengthened friendships from last year. But as happy as all that is choir CAN be a bit... frustrating, tiring, annoying... choose an adjective along those general lines. When you put 50 very different people with varying degrees of knowledge and talent in a room together for two hours straight two nights a week then its pretty much guaranteed that someone is going to be annoyed or annoying and not everyone is going to be happy. So there is good and bad throughout.
The most stressful part is really Spring Tour. All our rehearsals in the Spring lead up to tour, and tour itself is long and tiring. Last year tour was only like five days or something and the furthest we were away was about two states as we only went to Missouri and Iowa. This year we were gone 10 days, spent 56 hours in the bus and went through like, 8 states I think because we started in Illinois, drove through Indiana, Kentucky, Tennessee, Alabama, Georgia, Florida, and Ohio. So it was a bit more intense then last year. And I will admit that before we left I was not that excited to go. Part of the reason why I didn't want to go was because during our Fall tour (which is only a weekend long) everyone was grumpy and there was a lot of drama and frustration with the planning and communication and I was not looking forward to a repeat of that but three times as long. Thankfully though, that did not end up being the case this Spring. We ended up having a really amazing trip.
One of the best things about tour is the people we meet along the way. The churches we sing in and the people who host us overnight are the friendliest, nicest people I have ever met. I've stayed in the most amazing houses I've seen and heard some awesome stories. This tour in particular was full of blessings for us. For the rest of this post I just want to share something from my journal that I wrote along the way on Wednesday the 7th.
"I'm feeling particularly blessed tonight. It is about half way through tour. I figured that about this time I would be super crazy and annoyed with everyone but its really going well. People are occasionally driving me crazy but really I'm having a good time. Today I was really tired and grumpy right before our concert. Yesterday was a really long day, a good day, but a long day. I spent it at Disney which was awesome!
But it was such a long day and it was tiring and it was a little stressful towards the end of the day. But it all worked out great in the end and even last night God really answered some of my prayers by helping those stressful situations work out in the end. Then today we spent four hours at a beautiful beach in gorgeous weather.
But I admit I got a little heat exhaustion and some sun burn here and there, probably dehydrated as well. Which of course is my fault... but it still takes a toll. But anyways. So today I was very tired and didn't want to sing at all. But by the end of the concert I really felt energized and more encouraged then I had before. I think that we did a great job, but I don't think it was because we were that spot on but because we were all tired and relying on God to pull us through (at least that's how I felt). I really found the need to sing as worship to God and not to perform or make myself look good, because I couldn't even do that on my own. It was really a great night and I was praying and hoping that I could worship and minister through singing and I wanted to just enjoy singing because I really love it and I want to be able to enjoy it. But anyways, I think God really worked to bless us and the audience through the music.
Then I really was hoping for a house with just me and Cherise and no one else, which is what we got, and no one else, which is what we got, and I really hoped that we'd be able to just go to bed early and we can! So thank you, God!"
That was probably one of the best days on tour. Although the next day was probably the very best.
On Thursday we sang in a school and then did an outdoor concert, and we didn't sing at all in a church. The lady who runs the school we sang in had tried to find us homes in churches in the area but she wasn't able to. So instead she put us all up in a hotel, that she owned, that was right on the beach. A hotel that cost about $500 a night any other time. This was a great hotel... so nice, and the location was amazing. We were right in the heart of Jacksonville Beach, on the beach, in Florida.
It was an incredible treat for us. When we got to the beach though the first thought that hit me was that it reminded me SO MUCH of North Carolina. It actually hurt a little bit. So many memories came over me, and I thought about all the friends I spent amazing weeks with, the relationships we had and the things we did and I wanted to cry because of the loss and my frustration at the fact that I still care so much. I really wanted those feelings to just go away, I want something that I care about more then I cared about Musado, something that I am that passionate about and good at, and as much as I love music and Judson, I still haven't found that yet. But anyways, I ended up walking along the beach in the dark, remembering and thinking and moping. I whined a bit to God about how much I missed those friends and how I was lonely. And then I realized that I had all those people on the beach that I could make new memories and friendships with. I came to the realization that I could either spend my night along mourning my lost past, or I could join my friends and enjoy an amazing beautiful night on an incredible beach. So I walked back to everyone else, played some ninja, threw some kicks and showed off a bit, and then went swimming at night in the ocean and felt a bit of the power of God through the waves that pushed and pulled us. And I had an AMAZING night and I made incredible new memories. God spoke to me that night... I learned that one way to move beyond my past is to enjoy my future.
Well I've written quite a lot. But it was a long trip and a lot happened and I spent a lot of time on a bus with nothing better to do then talk to God. So it was a great trip. I hope I have more to come.
Choir... choir... what can I say about choir? This is my second year in choir here at Judson. Last year was a little hard, I had no idea what I was doing as far as learning music, and I didn't know many people so I was a little lonely every so often. But I made friends and enjoyed it well enough to be in it again this year. Plus I was voted as one of the choir officers-choir secretary-so I sort of had to be in it again anyways. But I'm glad I was because I've made a lot of new friends and strengthened friendships from last year. But as happy as all that is choir CAN be a bit... frustrating, tiring, annoying... choose an adjective along those general lines. When you put 50 very different people with varying degrees of knowledge and talent in a room together for two hours straight two nights a week then its pretty much guaranteed that someone is going to be annoyed or annoying and not everyone is going to be happy. So there is good and bad throughout.
The most stressful part is really Spring Tour. All our rehearsals in the Spring lead up to tour, and tour itself is long and tiring. Last year tour was only like five days or something and the furthest we were away was about two states as we only went to Missouri and Iowa. This year we were gone 10 days, spent 56 hours in the bus and went through like, 8 states I think because we started in Illinois, drove through Indiana, Kentucky, Tennessee, Alabama, Georgia, Florida, and Ohio. So it was a bit more intense then last year. And I will admit that before we left I was not that excited to go. Part of the reason why I didn't want to go was because during our Fall tour (which is only a weekend long) everyone was grumpy and there was a lot of drama and frustration with the planning and communication and I was not looking forward to a repeat of that but three times as long. Thankfully though, that did not end up being the case this Spring. We ended up having a really amazing trip.
One of the best things about tour is the people we meet along the way. The churches we sing in and the people who host us overnight are the friendliest, nicest people I have ever met. I've stayed in the most amazing houses I've seen and heard some awesome stories. This tour in particular was full of blessings for us. For the rest of this post I just want to share something from my journal that I wrote along the way on Wednesday the 7th.
"I'm feeling particularly blessed tonight. It is about half way through tour. I figured that about this time I would be super crazy and annoyed with everyone but its really going well. People are occasionally driving me crazy but really I'm having a good time. Today I was really tired and grumpy right before our concert. Yesterday was a really long day, a good day, but a long day. I spent it at Disney which was awesome!
Then I really was hoping for a house with just me and Cherise and no one else, which is what we got, and no one else, which is what we got, and I really hoped that we'd be able to just go to bed early and we can! So thank you, God!"
That was probably one of the best days on tour. Although the next day was probably the very best.
On Thursday we sang in a school and then did an outdoor concert, and we didn't sing at all in a church. The lady who runs the school we sang in had tried to find us homes in churches in the area but she wasn't able to. So instead she put us all up in a hotel, that she owned, that was right on the beach. A hotel that cost about $500 a night any other time. This was a great hotel... so nice, and the location was amazing. We were right in the heart of Jacksonville Beach, on the beach, in Florida.
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