Christmas Eve at Grace

view from the piano

during one of our breaks

break

Bulletin

fun times

everyone had to put the hat on

What an amazing and busy day it was!  Starting at 12pm and got home at 8:30pm.  It was exciting and wonderful.  I can't believe how fortunate I was that I could be a part of this!  Darryl and I had such a great time!   It was so cool to look out at the sea of faces and candles....so many people got to hear the gospel, maybe for the first time.  I will always remember this as one of the most fun and wonderful days I've had in recent years!  Thank you God!

Christmas eve rehearsal

Our last rehearsal for the big Christmas eve services.  Kenny is going over details of the service and talking us through it.  It was a long rehearsal (3 hours) but it was so cool to be a part of it!  I never realized how much work goes into this production!

"Not to us, o Lord, not to us but to Your name be the glory!"

Pictures from yesterday morning.  It was a wonderful time singing and praising God together!

It is a long day doing 3 services in the morning and 1 in the evening.  It's been especially hard on Darryl because he has been very weak from anemia, but he is slowly getting better.  Hopefully he will have more energy on Christmas Eve because that will be a very tiring day!  That will be an 8 hour day from 12 to 8 pm, doing 4 services in a row (1, 3, 5 and 7 pm).

The folks at Grace have been very gracious towards me.  Their comments have been kind and welcoming, and they are happy to see me up there singing.  The funny thing is, no one has even asked me how long I've been singing.  No one has said I'm flat or pitchy.  No one has said I'm not ready to sing up front.  I love that they just accept me as a singer!  How wonderful is that!  We are all there praising God together and enjoying the experience.  Kenny reminds us to "have fun and enjoy it".  And I love that we repeat this together as a group, "Not to us, o Lord, not to us but to Your name be the glory!"  It's a great reminder each time we get up there that it is always for God's glory.

Dear anonymous,

First, let me just thank you for confirming what you believe to be God's will for my life. As the days and weeks go on we shall surely see how things turn out. I have said all along that I can't be certain of God's will until it happens...

Thank you for pointing out my weaknesses as well. I have admitted and confessed my hurt and bitterness over the past year. I have openly recognized that I need to forgive those who have hurt me. I know enough to realize that my unforgiveness doesn't hurt anyone but myself. If you have been reading my blog for any length of time you will know that I have been very transparent with my feelings. That is not to say that I am always right, but these are my feelings that I share with whoever chooses to read them.

I am not perfect, and I do struggle with certain things, especially things I am so passionate about. Sometimes I think that I have my feelings under control and I have peace, but then other times those hurt feelings rise in me again. I pray that I will soon be able to let it all go. 

Thanks for your concern. I'm so grateful that God is not done working on my heart.

worshiping at Grace!

morning worship

evening worship (this song was a cappella)

Darryl was leading

What a wonderful day this has been!  I'm exhausted, and exhilarated!  I could not have asked for a better group of folks to spend the day with; worshiping, singing and praying together.  Everyone was so warm and welcoming!  I'm thanking God for this amazing opportunity.  Also thankful that a couple of people took pictures.   It was so nice being a part of Darryl's team.  There was so much love.  Working side by side with them was an honor...and Kenny is the most humble and patient man I've ever met.  Pastor Armin even made a point to come over and tell me how nice it was to have me there singing today.

I am definitely looking forward to doing this again next week!!

Christmas lights in Wyoming

So surprised that our boys took it upon themselves to bring out the lights and put them up!!  Such a nice job, you guys!  Too bad we aren't there to enjoy the season with you.  I don't know when we're coming...

look who's on the worship team!

my first rehearsal

all my stuff

Being put on the worship team came as a huge surprise to me!  Especially since it's not even at my church.  I guess that is the difference between someone who promises you something that they had no intention of ever giving you; and someone who gives you above and beyond anything you could have asked for.  So, I'll be singing at Grace for the next 2 Sundays, as well as the Christmas Eve service, for a total of 12 services!  That is a lot of songs to sing!  I'm so pleased that Kenny and his team included me and made me feel so comfortable.  That was a welcome change from what I'm used to.  It's "like" a great going away gift to Darryl and I... what a wonderful opportunity to sing there.  My first rehearsal went exceptionally well!

“Then I will make up to you for the years 

That the swarming locust has eaten, 

The creeping locust, the stripping locust and the gnawing locust, 

My great army which I sent among you.

Joel 2:25

i decked my geo tree

The task was daunting - decorating the whole tree by myself - but I did it!  We made an emergency trip to the dollar store to stock up on ornaments.  It was a long and arduous procedure, but here is the finished product.  I must say, that's a pretty dang sweet looking tree.

Our home is now fully decorated for the approaching season of joyousness and goodwill.

ps, that is a teeny little tree I pulled out of the ground, someplace in the woods where Kyle and Hilary and I were geocaching 2 summers ago.

Ok, so today was our home inspection.  Hard to know how it turned out.

the Katinas @ Grace

Darryl and I really enjoyed the worshipful concert by the Katinas.  They are a regular at Grace, kinda like family.  It's always good to go hear them.   It was a nice mixture of Christmas songs, and some CCM, Katina style.  I took a video of them singing one of my favorites, Oceans, but the dumb thing came out sideways and I don't know how to fix it.  I think there is something wrong with my phone.

Hackettstown Hometown Holiday

This was a very special night!

Tonight was the illumination ceremony at Centenary College, kicking off the 10th Annual Hackettstown Hometown Holiday event.  I was fortunate to have been invited by Kenny to sing with Grace's worship team, and lead the community in a carol sing from the front porch.  It was an absolute blast! 

I took this picture looking down from the front porch, right after our set, when they first turned the lights on.  After the lighting the mayor spoke, and then we sang the last song.
I think the second picture was taken while the Mayor was speaking.

This was such a tremendously fun night for me!  I never get to do things like this, so it was an incredible joy to sing with Darryl, and Kenny and Anita, and the other seasoned musicians.  No one treated me like an outsider, or like I wasn't good enough to sing with them.  It was so nice being treated like an equal.  It was a huge blessing to be a part of this event.  They had a parade, buggy rides, food, activities....all sorts of stuff going on afterwards.

[link to event]

Here With Us

This is a song that I was learning with Zuke 2 years ago.  I never had a chance to sing it anywhere.   So I decided that I wanted to make a recording of it, but I was struggling with the guitar part.  And plus I thought it would be more fitting to use the piano audio that she made for me way back then.  Only problem was, I had no idea where it was.  Then I finally found it yesterday!!  So now I can put this song to bed and move on.