Since the 14th of January, I have gotten my feet rewet and SOAKED at the hospital, am a full fledged nursey nurse again, visited with THE Keith Lancaster, learned how to sing me some serious praises, became the wife of a SUPERVISOR, have adjusted to being a DAY SHIFT wife, switched to NIGHT shift as a part-time working mom (figures), helped to plan, participated in and learned much from our ladies retreat, AND got a weeks worth of visiting in with my mom...whew.
Makes me tired just remembering all that :)
My poor kids have certainly gotten the rotten end of the deal, but we are already moving forward in reestablishing who the boss is, catching up on mommy-time/cuddle time, catching up on laundry, looking for my checkbook (its gonna take a bit longer to actually catch it up), getting vegtables back in the house, wean myself back to 1 cup of coffee a day..etc.
Life is busy, but good.
So, I wanted to not let neither the Keith Lancaster experience, nor the Ladies Retreat go by without noting the effect that both had on me ...so, as I sit here with my cup of coffee (I will start weaning tomorrow) and my chocolate cake I thought I would rehash it for ya.
Keith Lancaster, January 26th-27th
All I can say, is it was amazing.
Adrian and I got to spend two different evenings with Keith and Sharon eating and fellowshipping together. We also got to look foward to the evenings ahead as we anticipated the worship to come.
Saturday evening was incredible, as we (along with about 170 other 'family' members) were lead in worship by Keith Lancaster. He taught us how to read the shaped notes, and find our parts. I learned I am a melody girl ...just follow the melody sista!
Tears were easy in coming as he lead us in songs I have sung my whole life, but never felt the degree of focus on the words and meaning in the notes as I did then.
The most impressive thing to me, was how he reminded us to sing OUT for those around you ..whether you 'know how to sing' or not. He reminded us that we were there to praise GOD, and ..afterall, didnt He deserve that much?
We sung the oldies but goodies, as well as improved on the songs we had been learning from his "Praise and Harmony" CD's for the last couple months. It was awesome.
We brought it home even more when we brought this new found energy to both our Sunday morning worship services. We also used the bible class hour to get more instruction on reading music, working together to get the best musical sound, learning vocal dynamics ...Adrian and I went to both services just so we could get in as much as we could!
Sunday night service was another hour and a half of beautiful music and praise to God. It was so special to sit with my other sisters and brothers and work with them to produce the sounds we made together.
I know God was smiling.
I cant wait to see what God does with our new found focus on praise. I am praying that God touches the hearts of the leaders of our congregation to help us keep this focus as we move foward and away from Keith's leadership. I know that He has already struck several of them with a passion for worship and that a fresh spirit if moving amongst the Summerville Church of Christ!
Its a great place to be, and we are blessed.
Ladies Retreat, February 8th-10th
This past weekend was also a great weekend.
Having my mom as the speaker, was only part of the reason that it was three days of refreshing and reflection.
Sixty-five of us met in Myrtle Beach at the Springmaid Beach Resort. It was a crazy group with all the ol' reliables who make me laugh and that coupled with the mom's lessons that made me cry...you can imagine how good it was. Us girls love to laugh, and even more we love to cry with permission. :)
It was really great from my perspective to hear what mom has learned since my brothers death, as she lead us through the scripture in Colossians 3:12-17 ..being 'clothed with Christ.' She used her experience with Dustin's loss to show us how to be clothed specifically with compassion, peace and thankfulness.
It was healing for me to hear what she had been able to gain from that hurt we have shared, and to be present when she shared that with the people I have learned to love so much over the past few years.
Part of that for me, was recalling the people who showed me and my family compassion during that time in our life, how they allowed us to find peace amidst the chaos of recent loss, and how even now we feel such an overwhelming sense of thankfulness for their part in all of it.
I love you guys so much.Also, I have to tell you that though tears were shed in remembrance as well as new realizations - it only made the laughing sweeter :)
Those of you who missed it...you should be sad! :)
My personal favorite was the "Rickey-Tickey Hat" game. It was so funny to see all those girls be competitive as they tried to keep rhythm while moving their birthday hats in a circle, change direction and get faster and faster. It was SOOOO funny. As well, as to see who had NO rhythm at ALL! ...those whose names I will keep to myself :)
Also, watching Kelly Clifton get her face plastered with Hanna Montana makeup and 'dressed' with toilet paper ...FUN ny.
Anyways...hopefully there will be pictures to follow. I decided to share before I had the pictures to back it up, but take my word for it girls, it was good.
ANYWAYS...if you have actually read all this mess, then you either love me, or you have nothing better to do with your time :)
Well, that is enough for now...love you all, you are all in my "thankfulness" journal (seriously, 'people who read my blog' is in my journal).
4 comments:
I'm glad all is slowing down and that you are weaning to only one cup. : ) You will have to tell me how that all goes. Love you
I am glad the retreat went well.
I bet it was awesome.
I am not lurking this morning....I'm actually leaving a comment. I realize now how much you and your Mom enjoy comments on your blogs, so here I am to say I too loved the Ladies Retreat. The tears were cleansing and always seem easier somehow when shared between sisters. The lessons put you right at God's feet, like when you were little and you wanted to sit as close as possible to the story teller and were engrossed in every word. And then there was the laughter and I have to say God is so wonderful to have given us that emotion. I haven't laughed that much in that amount of time since....well, I don't know when. It was the best time!! So glad I got to share it with you, your Mom and all of our sisters.
It just sounds awesome! What a busy time you've had, but I know when things like that affect you so much, it is all worth it! Can't wait to see you in a few days!
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