New toy for a simple singer

As I have mentioned before I absolutely love being part of the CBC Praise Band. I am really having so much fun learning new praise and worship songs as well as continually trying to better my vocal skills. There has been a lot of talk lately about everyone in the band getting in-ear monitors. I have to admit that I have been resisting this option because it takes so long to get everyones mix set up that it seems like we don't have time to fix our external sound. Anyway, after having some of the band moved around on the stage I have found that I can no longer resist. I have reached the conclusion that either I am getting really old (at 34), or it actually is louder on stage. Either way, I can't hear myself and, therefore, I must get an in-ear monitor. After thinking about it for a few days I am actually getting excited about it. I won't have it for the concert on Sunday afternoon, but hopefully I can get by and not sound too awful. I am a bit of a perfectionist when it comes to singing and I hate the idea of not being able to hear myself. It makes it hard to know if I'm on pitch or if I'm singing way too loud. Once my in-ear monitor does come in I hope to be a much greater asset to the band.

The plans I have for you...not the other way around.

I am continually surprised by how truly dumb I am when it comes to what God wants me to do with my life. I am still working on listening to Him (obviously my worst attribute) for what I should do, rather than telling Him (okay, maybe that's my worst attribute). I have a very, very, very long way to go.

As I mentioned earlier we are going to have an exchange student living with us for the next year. We went into it with our own set of plans for how it was going to be and who it was going to be, but God had other plans (sound familiar?). The girl from China, along with about 30 other students from that country, was unable to get a student visa...some government nonsense. So, we went back to looking at student portfolios and this time we were told to look at Germany (which we had not done before). We fell in love with a 16 year old girl named Nele. Things with P.I.E. are moving along and we are going to have her in our family in a few weeks. We are very excited. She is totally into music, which means she will fit right in with our family. From her pics she is so cute and looks so sweet. We are getting excited about her arrival and her room is almost ready. God knew what he was doing when he matched us up with her. I hope she will be happy here.

By the way, the Family Mission Adventure to Myrtle Beach, SC was great. Everyone had a good time. Joseph has talked about it non-stop since we left yesterday morning. He loved being near the beach and with his friends. Tim and I both worked hard with Habitat for Humanity down there and we had a great team of people who were there with us. Chuck, Becky, Kelly, and Turner were awesome! Thanks guys for a job well done. Joe loved his time in Mission Possible. He came home and talked about it every day. I hope we can do it again sometime!

Opportunities to praise

I have recently found that the more effort I put into my singing with the Crestwood Baptist Church praise team the more worshipful experiences I've had. Sunday mornings are a lot less stressful. I'm not really sure why I have had this change, and it seems rather sudden, but I do like it a lot. Our leader, Becky Adams, had made praise team lots of fun by bringing new music to us just about every week and enthusiasm that was missing for a little while. All of our leaders have been great and have all had their strenghts and weaknesses, and the current is no exception. However, I just seem to connect with Becky much better for some reason. I'm not sure why--maybe it's just God moving in my life. We have a lot in common, besides being female, like our kids ages, similar singing experiences, interest in the same artists, etc. I am just thoroughly enjoying my time in this group.

We have a great opportunity coming up at the end of this month. We are taking part in the Sunday Sing series that is taking place on the Old State Capitol lawn during July and August. Our date is the 31st of July and we are performing from 2-4 that afternoon. We are all very excited about this opportunity since it helps to bring us up to a whole new level. My hope is that everyone who can comes out and we all share a great worship experience. Tell you're friends and if you want a flyer to hang up at work or anywhere else you can think of then let me know--I have plenty! See you there!!!!