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Posts tagged ‘real life’

Apr 28

11 Comments

So… you doing ok?

yo3f8856Thank all of you who have commented… emailed… called… texted… tweeted… facebooked about the latest news in our family (read here if you missed it).  I think we really are doing ok.  We are optimistic and hopeful.  For Neil, this means he’s awake.  For me, this  means people are praying for us. :) It’s overwhelming to realize just how many people are in similar situations right now, or have been recently, or expect to be soon.  So, if you’re praying for us, thank you so very much.  Please know God has been at work in the sweetest of ways.  If you know other people facing uncertainty and possible financial troubles, be praying for them as well.  And be sure to let them know.  

This is what we should be about.

Apr 27

22 Comments

Worship Reflections 04.26.09

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This is a different kind of worship reflection for me. This week got personal.

We began a four week series of sermons last week called ‘Stress Points’. Topics are: busyness, money, relationships, and more relationships. This week’s topic: financial stress.  

Worship service components

Holy is the Lord (Tomlin)
Blessed Be Your Name (Redman)
readings from Psalm 4 & Psalm 86
Uncreated One (Tomlin)
Drama: a husband and wife in conflict over how to deal with financial issues
Message
Time for response:  Center (Hall)
Prayer for offering
Hallelujah (Bethany Dillon)

While the topic was financial stress, the theme really was trust… integrity… keeping a God-centered perspective.

And this is where it gets personal.
Friday, around noon, my husband was told he was being let go from his job. He has worked about 2 1/2 years as a video producer for a small media company, and has loved both the job and the team he worked with.   This news was a bit of a shock. He and I had already planned to have lunch together on Friday, so when I arrived downtown to meet him, this consumed our time together. I will never forget that lunch. Strange how news like this re-colors the moments that follow it, as well as the memory of the moments preceding it. I will never forget unsuccessfully attempting to hold back the tears as he told me the details (which are not mine to share, but if you know my husband and want to ask him about it, please do).  We spent Friday and Saturday trying to absorb this reality.  And preparing for the fact that Sunday was going to be rich with great and difficult things. I had designed a worship service with the idea of trust woven throughout, not knowing that by Sunday the songs and scriptures and prayers would so intensely apply to us personally.  We were going to be surrounded by people who really care about us, and who we would be sharing this news with even while still reeling a bit. And I had to make it through singing these words, from one of my favorite songs by Bethany Dillon:

Hallelujah, hallelujah Whatever’s in front of me help me to sing ‘Hallelujah’

This was hopefully a valuable, rich worship experience for most people who attended.  It was unusually so for me, as I was fully inhabiting the things we sang about while trying desperately to keep from crying. I’m a crier during worship services anyway… this Sunday I was definitely not set up for success in that regard. :)

We don’t know what the next step will be for us yet, but we know there will be one.  What we sang and read today is what we do believe… God is worth trusting.  We do still stand and worship him, bring honor to Him, regardless of our circumstances.  We do believe that God is in control and will bring good out of these circumstances. Meanwhile, tomorrow’s Monday, and we step into a whole new picture. Neil promised me adventure when we got married.  And here we are.

Check out Fred’s blog for more stories about worship services from all over the country.   Most of which aren’t personal like this one. :)

Apr 26

22 Comments

Worship Reflections 04.26.09

This is a different kind of worship reflection for me.

This week got personal.

stresspoints_logo

We began a four week series of sermons last week called ‘Stress Points’. Topics are: busyness, money, relationships, and more relationships. This week’s topic: financial stress.  

Worship service components
Holy is the Lord (Tomlin)
Blessed Be Your Name (Redman)
readings from Psalm 4 & Psalm 86
Uncreated One (Tomlin)
Drama: a husband and wife in conflict over how to deal with financial issues
Message
Time for response:  Center (Hall)
Prayer for offering
Hallelujah (Bethany Dillon)

While the topic was financial stress, the theme really was trust… integrity… keeping a God-centered perspective.

And this is where it gets personal.

Friday, around noon, my husband was told he was being let go from his job. He has worked about 2 1/2 years as a video producer for a small media company, and has loved both the job and the team he worked with.   This news was a bit of a shock.

He and I had already planned to have lunch together on Friday, so when I arrived downtown to meet him, this consumed our time together. I will never forget that lunch. Strange how news like this re-colors the moments that follow it, as well as the memory of the moments preceding it. I will never forget unsuccessfully attempting to hold back the tears as he told me the details (which are not mine to share, but if you know my husband and want to ask him about it, please do). 

We spent Friday and Saturday trying to absorb this reality.  And preparing for the fact that Sunday was going to be rich with great and difficult things. I had designed a worship service with the idea of trust woven throughout, not knowing that by Sunday the songs and scriptures and prayers would so intensely apply to us personally.  We were going to be surrounded by people who really care about us, and who we would be sharing this news with even while still reeling a bit. And I had to make it through singing these words, from one of my favorite songs by Bethany Dillon:

Hallelujah, hallelujah
Whatever’s in front of me help me to sing ‘Hallelujah’

This was hopefully a valuable, rich worship experience for most people who attended.  It was unusually so for me, as I was fully inhabiting the things we sang about while trying desperately to keep from crying. I’m a crier during worship services anyway… this Sunday I was definitely not set up for success in that regard. :)

We don’t know what the next step will be for us yet, but we know there will be one.  What we sang and read today is what we do believe… God is worth trusting.  We do still stand and worship him, bring honor to Him, regardless of our circumstances.  We do believe that God is in control and will bring good out of these circumstances.

Meanwhile, tomorrow’s Monday, and we step into a whole new picture. Neil promised me adventure when we got married.  And here we are.

Check out Fred’s blog for more stories about worship services from all over the country.  
Most of which aren’t personal like this one. :)

Jan 1

4 Comments

It’s a good new year.

This is me using one of my favorite musicians to wish you a happy new year.  

Hope you’ve enjoyed celebrating the end of 2008.

Hope you are looking forward to what 2009 brings.

 

www.trentwagler.com

Jul 1

7 Comments

Why my head may, in fact, be muddled.

Also known as ‘all the things on my mind’.
My world on Tuesday. 

8:00 arrive at church with kids. shuffle kids to kitchen for nutritious donut breakfast. prep tech for VBS worship session.

9:00ish lead worship session for about 200 kids, age 3-9. 

9:25 help transition kids to next stop in their Jerusalem Marketplace experience.

9:35 apologize to sound guy for not giving him clear cues. get coffee. meet with drama director about Wed session.

9:45 plan Wed VBS worship. 

10:00 to office. get head in game for Sunday worship service. This will be the first week of our new worship format, so it’s a new game for my head. Finalize song selection. Maybe try to do all of this using planningcenteronline.com for first time.  depends on how good the coffee was at 9:35.

11:30 pick up The Boy from VBS. drive The Girl to friend’s house for the day. take The Boy home for afternoon with grandma (who totally is awesome). grab something for lunch from home.

12:00 pick up new glasses.

12:30 arrive at church for staff meeting. MORE COFFEE. laughter… prayer… discussion… try to remain a grown-up.

3:30ish? meet with senior pastor and My Fellow Musician about upcoming services.

4:00 call friend who is hosting The Girl. meet with My Fellow Musician about the new schedule we’re working with. finalize music choices for contemporary choir.

4:30 pick up The Girl?

5:00 home. supper will magically appear. discuss plans about next week’s family reunion at our house. prep for The Boy’s t-ball game. 

6:00 t-ball game. if windy and dusty, wear new glasses so my contacts don’t turn into tiny little daggers of evil.

7:15 home from t-ball. transition kids to one of our favorite babysitters.

7:30 along with The Husband, pick up My Fellow Musician and drive 30 minutes.

8:00 meet with two of the most brilliant people we know to discuss the drawings for new worship center, and the placement of audio/video/lighting therein. take advil for headache if wearing new glasses.

10:30 (just guessing) drive home.

11:00 talk with babysitter, because we love her and we haven’t seen her in a while.

11:30 remember 3 phone calls I was going to make at 7:30.  think about going to bed. try not to eat anything stupid. wonder why I can’t focus on anything for more than 10 minutes.

12:00 go to bed. tball-players-in-Biblical-era-garb-singing-in-new-worship-center dance in my head…. zzzzzzz……

What’s got you muddled these days?

 

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