worship at Grace

Here is the video from our church service yesterday at Grace.


It was wonderful to be a part of the team yesterday; wonderful to see how people react and respond to the worship, to witness how God is using the music to minister to those who are hurting.  Some people cheer and clap and worship boldly.  One came over to Darryl and said how he was ministered to by Darryl and the team.  Another came over and put her arms around Darryl (and me) and just wept and wept.  Several people came to me and said how happy they were to see me up there.  It was a huge blessing to be there.  Kenny said it looked like I was having fun.... I was so happy to be there.  And each service is a little different.  It's literally like serving 4 different churches in one day.   After we sang at the evening service one of the pastors got up there and said something about dancing... haha... so cool.  It was a very lively bunch!

I do love singing there!  God has truly blessed me by not letting the sale of our house go through yet.  What a funny turn of events, huh?

Sunday morning worship
1:00 Open Up Our Eyes
5:40 This is Amazing Grace
10:20 Good Good Father
26:25 We Will Remember

The extra song we did in the evening is not on this video.

Hallelujah to One from whom all blessings flow!

Frontline songs

Such nice memories singing with the praise band.  These are 2 of the 3 songs that we did last Sunday.  These videos are picking up the voices of those sitting around the person with the camera, but I'm still glad I have this to help me remember such a wonderful day!

fancified Frontline stage

happy times with Ryan

nice full band

green hair

lovely stage

blue hair

female singers

Now you can see how cool the stage looked the way it was all fancified...   Everyone did a great job getting it ready.  It was a joy and delight to be a part of the praise band this week!  My first time singing a major harmony part...I loved it.  I love singing with Ryan.

my Michigan shenanigans

Last night I took the kids out to dinner at Little Bangkok, a Thai restaurant.  It was superb!  We all enjoyed it

Hilary and me

This is a view from my teeny little plane on the way to Michigan.  We were flying pretty low...almost as low as the picture above.  Below is a view of one of the frozen lakes.  I think it's the bottom tip of Lake Huron.  I'm glad we didn't crash.

Ah, one of my favorite signs.  I finally got a picture of it.  Pretty soon I will be purely Michigan, not New Jersey.

That is a picture of Ryan and some of the guys putting together the new electric drum kit.  The stage looked amazing when we got all done setting stuff up, and especially after the folks did the trees, and the new lighting.  It looked so great!  And it was great to have had the opportunity to be a part of the praise band for the first Sunday of it's unveiling.

This is one of the shots of Hilary's bridal shower.  Man, we must have had 50 some people here crammed into our house.  The Rolff's did an extraordinary job of setting stuff up and organizing.  It was so lovely for Kyle and Hilary.  Below is a shot of all the folks from Kyle's side of the family that were there.  I was in my jammies because it was supposed to be a "comfy" shower and we were encouraged to wear pajamas or sweatpants.  I ended up being the only one who was comfy...but I sure didn't care.  I am the mother of the groom, so I can do whatever I want!

Me, Michele, Hilary, Kyle, Aunt Vi, Darlene

Ryan and I had a date at the hair salon.  That was a really fun time together!   We both got haircuts!

So, my days here are dwindling, but I have so enjoyed being here.  It's beginning to feel like home.  I walked around the yard today and got re-familiarized with everything, and just enjoyed the atmosphere.  I'm definitely looking forward to being here in the spring when all the new flowers and plants start blooming.  It will look just gorgeous.

Not sure yet when we are moving because we found out that we have to put in a new septic system (leach field and other stuff) which is a HUGE stumbling block, timewise and financially.   I keep reminding myself that my life is not my own, I had to give it to God.  I had to give my time, my talents, and my future to God.  He can have it all.  It's comforting to know that I'm in good hands.

Willing to Wait

These videos are a year or 2 old. Ryan is a participant of the Willing to Wait program. They put on skits for middle schools, to teach them about waiting until marriage to have sex. It's a great thing that they are doing!!

January 31st worship at Grace

The guy who does the recording at Grace gave us another video of our Jan. 31st worship time.  It's really cool to have this (even though it is missing one song that we did for the evening service only).  It has been such a tremendous blessing that Kenny has invited me to participate in the worship at Grace.  And even though I will miss out on the Big Worship Sunday next week, I very much look forward to singing with Team A again on Feb. 28th.  What an amazing opportunity.  God is so good for arranging these things for me to be a part of.

And next Sunday I will be singing with Ryan at Frontline.  I'm so looking forward to that!  It will be awesome!

I prayed that God would use my musical talent to give him glory, and that is exactly what he is doing.  He is giving me better opportunities than I could have even imagined for myself.  My dreams were so small in comparison to what God is now doing with me.  And  I see this as just the beginning.  Looking forward to what else God has in mind.

Darryl speaking

1:20 All the Earth Will Sing Your Praises

6:20 I’m Going Free

10:10 Waiting Here for You

Announcements

21:15 Broken Vessels

27:45 Darryl prayer

28:50 Sermon

Christmas Eve video

Here is the video from Christmas Eve at Grace Church in Netcong.




Order of service: 
1:45 Kenny - scripture
3:30 Come Thou Long Expected Jesus (a capella)
6:10 Oh What a Glorious Night
10:30  What Child is This
15:25 Hark the Herald
18:45 Oh Come All Ye Faithful
21:40 Joy to the World
24:35 Spoken Word
announcements
instrumental
30:00 scriptures
32:00 original message by Pastor Armin
50:20 He Shall Reign Forevermore
54:20 Closing comments
57:30 Candle lighting
58:40 Silent Night

What a delight it was to be a part of this special night!

Now to Him who is able to do exceedingly abundantly above all that we ask or think,

according to the power that works in us.

Ephesians 3:20

24 and a microtonal guitar

the microtonal guitar

 Today is Ryan's 24th birthday.  I can't believe that many years have gone by.  What a wonderful joy it has been to be his mom.  I'm looking forward to being with both my boys in another week.  And then after that it won't be long before we move out there for good.  All of our lives will change.

I've had the flu for almost a week.  We had to cancel our trip to Texas, but it's ok.  I'm glad to be getting less sick each day.  Tomorrow will be even better.  And we should be finding out when the inspections will be on our house -  probably this week.  I think we should be living in Michigan in a little over a month.

Bittersweetness all around

Christmas Eve

Yesterday... the one year anniversary of my Dad's death.  The first thing in the morning a picture pops up on my Facebook.  It was a picture of my Mom and Dad where I announced the passing away of my Dad.  So, that started my day sad.  As I sat with some of the worship team for our prayer time, I just lost it when I started talking about my Dad.  And at the same time, I felt glad to be surrounded by these caring worshipers.  It was also a wonderful experience to be singing praises to God for His faithfulness.  It is beyond my imagination what my Dad is doing now in glory.  Someday I will be with him again and all the tears will be gone.

Yesterday... I sang at Grace.  I just love singing with these wonderful musicians.  They are so talented, yet humble.  They never act like they are better than me!  Nobody beats you up for mistakes, they just laugh and admit that they made same mistakes.  Mistakes aren't taken seriously, especially for those who have been doing this for many, many years, because they have all made them, they are all human, and they all learn from them, and from the experience.  It is impossible to grow without having the experience.  I just love Kenny and the teams he puts together.  They truly exude grace and love in a tangible way.   I love that he has extended this opportunity to me, even though he knows I'm inexperienced and that I'm moving soon.  He told me last night that he really enjoys having me there, and that I bring an energy and vibe to the stage that he really appreciates.  He told me I could even dance up there if I wanted to!  

Yesterday... we accepted another offer on our house, so yesterday might have been the last time I get to sing with them.  Kenny has me on schedule to sing for their Big Worship Sunday in February, but it happens to be the same Sunday I'll be singing with Ryan in Michigan, and the same day as Hilary's shower.  Funny how that worked out.   Even though I will miss out on that, I'll be with my kids doing other things, and preparing for our lives out there.

Yesterday... I got a video of the Christmas Eve service.  It was so cool to watch and hear it from the congregation's perspective. It was fantastic!  I'm also getting a copy of the one from yesterday as well, which will be super nice to have, since it might be the last time I ever sing there. 

Here are a few pictures from Christmas Eve.  Someday I will post the videos of songs.

Mike D, Mike, Kenny, Steve

candle lighting

Silent Night

worship

Armin's closing thoughts

Oh what a glorious night!