What's Next?

If I had a list of frequently asked questions...this would be at the top of it. What are you going to do after the school?  Probably one of the hardest to ever answer...it is not as simple in ministry as applying for a job, getting it, and going. The pieces of people and relationships and God's leading make the end result beautiful, but the process messier.

But never fear!! I do know the next brief step...beyond that...well we'll see as it gets closer. I've accepted the position of Worship Leader for the Spy Project (Summer Project Youth) at Fieldstone UMC in Christiansburg, VA.  If you know my story of the past few years, you'll know that Mitch and I tried living there in the back of the church a few years ago... and back then it was a combination of bad timing and differing expectations that led to my move back home. BUT with a change over in staff, and prompting of the Spirit, we're giving it another go (although sans Mitch and this is only a two month summer camp deal) and I am so excited to be headed back to the beautiful Blue Ridge for the summer.  Rocky mountain sunsets are awesome but they are nothing compared to an afternoon in the Appalachian mountains.

Check out the camp here for more info. It's a summer work camp for middle and high school age students to do construction projects and participate in other various ministry opportunities in the New River Valley.  It's going to be fun to unpack what I've learned about worship and community over the last 9 months in a continual leading environment.

And to my Northern Virginian loves...I'll be home the evening of May 31st and then I'll be leaving the evening of June 5 or the morning of the 6th.... five days to see everyone and get my stuff moved back and in order! Can't wait to be back East!

Church Observations

For our applied music theory class we've been assigned several local churches to observe their worship team practice.  Quite valuable after our directing a band class and leading through our practicums.

The most interesting practice we sat in on was for Woodmen Valley Chapel, a multi-campus church that live streams the service, using as the tech director described to us, "a much more expensive and higher quality skype."  Each campus has their own band and leader, but everyone plays to a universal click channel.  Andy was the leader at the Rockrimmon Campus where we were, and the band played all the music live, but at times, a leader from another campus led the song via the screen.  A fascinating concept developed as the church decided to move to multi-campuses, but wanted to retain the feel of "one church" body. Logistically I would never sign on for a set up like this, everything is timed down to the half minute and mess ups would be quite noticeable! Not to mention the intricate attention to details and because it is so timed, there is not an opportunity for freedom of the spirit in repeating a chorus or bridge.

Joy Will Come

It has been a rough couple of weeks.  Family members back home were in the hospital, my car kept having expensive difficulties, and I found it really hard to be here in Colorado Springs.  My normally optimistic self had traded in for a grumpier model and I felt really unpleasant to be around.  I withdrew from community a bit, both necessary for whatever my heart needed to work through and also to press in to what we are being asked to do this module...which has equated to a lot of writing and work.

But everyone at home is doing better, no one is in the hospital, I've settled in to knowing that if God has financially led me this far, he won't abandon me in the last few weeks, and I can't let the overflow of my heart continue to be bitter and negative.  The turning point came some time this past week...and was cemented in our all staff chapel on Thursday.  It was such a sweet time of worship and prayer, taking advantage of the National Day of Prayer, we took the hour and a half to sing, pray, and read the psalms.... God met me where I was, and gave me such peace.

I've just been questioning a lot lately, what's next, how do I get prepared, do I have to move to a completely new town again?  And I think those along with worries of home had really taken their toll. 1 Peter 5:7 says, "Cast all your anxiety on him because he cares for you." Well, Jesus and I had a lot of long talks the past couple of weeks, and I am so forgetful.  Many of my worries come from when I forget the red seas that God has already parted in my life and I become like the Israelites grumbling about how great they had it back in Egypt. But God is good and faithful to remind me how far He has brought me and that I haven't even stepped in the water yet....

This song really became a marker of my last couple of weeks.... something that I truly believe:

So I'm basically famous.....

Way back in the fall (feels like so long ago!), we had a photo shoot for the School of Worship.  I hadn't originally planned to go, but when they took a poll in class and it was a few less than they needed, I showed up to have some fun in the wind and sun.  Those photos have been used for the school's promotions and advertisements in Worship Leader Magazine this spring and it's been fun to open up a publication and see my picture there all glossy and embossed and sitting with people who are so near and dear to my heart.  We also have a sweet pic on the New Life School of Worship website. Charlie posted this when he found the second ad:

 My good friend Charlie from Georgia, is in the flannel, Caleb, set to head to a church in York, Pennsylvania is standing next to him, while Alex is holding the guitar. It's been fun as a couple of worship leaders back home who get the magazine have noticed and let me know... I think I'm ready for my close up now.... :o)

The Omelet Parlor

Over the last few months, I haven't seen much of my good friend Darci...she found herself a wonderful boy, got involved in a hispanic congregation further south in the springs, and is gearing up to head on a missions trip to Uganda this summer.  Needless to say, we hadn't sat and had a really good chat.  We caught up on current adventures, dreams for the future, and everything in between.

We had breakfast for lunch, at the rustic and old fashioned Omelet Parlor, originally built as a retirement home for the movie star, Ruth Etting back in the mid 1900's. The history on their website is a little sketchy, some dates mixed up?, but Ruth and her husband turned the home into a restaurant and then over time it became the omelet parlor.  The booths are large and a step up from the floor and the walls are covered in black and white photos and painted murals.  We both had plates piled high with thick bacon, scrambled eggs, and potatoes.  The perfect place for meandering conversation on being open to what God has for us next.... no settling for us!

Celestial Seasonings Factory in Boulder

Due to time and other constraints, the long list that I had of things left to do had been considerably shortened the last few weeks or so.  Which made it even more delightful to hop in the car with Mallory and her friend Rochelle in a trip to Boulder that included the Celestial Seasonings Factory! Something I've been wanting to do all along.

We went on a Saturday, so the factory wasn't in production. As they told us there, the factory is in use for 24 hours for five straight days which allows all the employees two days off on the weekends.  We had a bit of time before our tour, and so we spent time sampling from among 75 different teas.  Only about 6 or 7 teas are out for self serve, but all the others are given on request to try.

I was not really impressed with our guide for the tour, she lacked an enthusiasm and shifted her weight a lot more than necessary.  But we did get sweet hair nets to wear and were told to put the cameras away.  The most potent room we walked into was the mint room, kept separate from all the other teas because, well, no one wants every single tea to have a mint flavor!  As we were touring the main factory floor, we noticed a radio playing somewhere nearby with the song "Pour some sugar on me"....seems almost fitting to the soundtrack of a tea factory, especially since I only drink tea with some sort of sweetener in it.

I will say this, walking around the gift shop afterwards made me wish I was more of an innately bred tea drinker.  Why shouldn't I have a spoon that hangs on the edge of a tea cup??? It just never comes to mind to drink it. I'm much more of a mocha coffee gal.  But I'd like to think that one day my stove top will have a colorful tea pot always at the ready to brew a hot, welcoming, cup of tea. Okay, it's main purpose will be for hot chocolate....

It's nice to dream regardless.....

Leadville Duggan Day

Leadville

April 9, 1888, Martin Duggan, the ruthless lawman appointed sheriff in the town of Leadville, was shot in the back of the head at 4 am outside a saloon. Upon finding him, Duggan was asked who shot him. He would only say, "I'll die before I tell you." And then he died, his killer a mystery.

Fast forward to 2011, and Leadville, the highest incorporated city in America, held a bit of a celebratory day in honor of Martin Duggan, by re-enacting a trial in which Duggan was accused of shooting a man in cold blood, Charlie Lamb, eight years before his own death. Duggan was found innocent of the crime, but it did not end pretty when Lamb's widow, swore to wear widow's black until the time of Duggan's demise and then dance on his grave... and she did just that after Duggan died in 1888.

Ruth and I!!!!

With the perfect excuse to visit Leadville, and a floor to sleep on in nearby Buena Vista, I roped Uzzi and Ruth into the weekend.  It's really the first time I've stepped outside of the small group of travel buddies I have formed in the last nine months, and they were excellent sports to watch me excited and adventurous.

Unfortunately, all the museums in Leadville were closed until May, except for the National Mining Hall of Fame and Museum. So we learned all about mining and metals, the museum was much larger than I expected and had lots of hands on rooms...probably for an emphasis on field trips.  We met an intern working there who is from Liverpool... awesome accent! There were also several "mine replicas" to walk through and one even had sounds of explosions and heavy equipment that were triggered as we walked through.

Slightly Scary Donkey in the Mine Replica

Good Sports who occasionally got tired!

We love us some scrabble!

Our afternoon was spent eating fudge and quietly playing scrabble in a New Age cafe.  After we had been there for a while, the owner said, "You guys seem pretty cool so I'm going to put my music on...and they are not the radio edits." And she was correct... they were not the radio edits.... Ruth didn't know the words to Cee-lo's song were not originally "Forget You." :o)

We spent some time browsing the shops on the main drag and ran into the guy playing the part of Duggan in the reenactment. Only a couple of questions into the conversation and he was telling us all about the history of Leadville.  Anybody who was anybody in the old west, showed up in Leadville: The James/Younger gang, Doc Holliday, and even Molly Brown got married in a church up there.  There were 30,000-40,000 people who lived there in its height, and the only race not represented was Chinese, because of a fear of taking over jobs for lower pay...much like what had been seen in San Francisco at the time. When a few showed up in town, two of them were hung to send the message.  In the late 1800's there were around 20 some churches in town, and there were eight saloons to every church.... crazy!

Duggan Retelling His Life

The reenactment was fun and cute and slightly infused with humor...I'm so glad we had a bit of a history lesson beforehand and had the afternoon to immerse ourselves in the flavor of Leadville.  It was a perfect ending to our time.  Afterwards I went up to "Duggan" to thank him for his time in sharing with us and he made sure to invite me back for their Boom Days in August, where tons of people come and dress in costume and is much more festive.  He told me I was welcome to dress a part, and get involved, saying, "You could be, I don't know, Sister Mary Katherine from Kansas City, trying to convert all the sinners." I smiled and deep in my heart part of me wished I wouldn't be back on the east coast come August...I mean, how cool would that be?

Dinosaur Room at Mining Museum... Slightly Disappointing

With a beautiful night back in Buena Vista of a cozy home, a couple of guitars, and people sharing music, we headed back to the Springs Sunday...I heart Leadville!