baby, I was born to rock!

There's something so worshipful and just plain awesome about playing guitar for worship. Yeah, the acoustic was fun for 8:00, but when I pulled out a black electric for the other 3 services, you better believe I was pumped!! What a blast. I told Mark and Lea (our worship directors) that the only way I'd sing a rock song was if I could play electric guitar with it. They agreed. I didn't bother to tell them that I'd only played an electric 3 times in Kevin's basement. Surprise! It was pretty funny to see reactions from the people. There were looks of shock. Both good and bad. Some people were playing air guitar along with me, nodding their heads, rockin' out themselves, others were listening and probably thinking, "I like it when she sings sweet songs better." This was no sweet song. It was loud. It was a song of conviction which cried out, This is who I am! So take me and make me better than before! And I decided I couldn't possibly sing a rock song in dress pants and a nice shirt, so I put on my favorite pair of jeans (complete with many holes), and the most rock-like t-shirt I could find in my drawer. One of the little old ladies who came to the 9:30 service came up to me and said, "I usually enjoy your singing, but today it was just so loud." I replied, "Yeah, but sometimes it's just so fun to sing loud." Made me laugh. FYI, I'm not trying to be all full of myself by posting these photos. Kev was sad he didn't get to see me play, so I promised I'd put a few up so he could pretend he was there. :)

The young adults met this afternoon for our second huddle. We read Psalm 139 and used that as our basis for using the circle. It's been so rewarding to meet with them, spend time working through our kairos moments, seeking God's guidance for our lives, and encouraging each other. I'm definitely taking this concept of "huddling" with me for future ministry. It's so powerful and really does raise up leaders.

Today turned out to be a day filled with words of affirmation from a number of Good Shepherd people. We had the annual congregational meeting today. Jerry Heffernan, the council president, said he was sad to report there wouldn't be an intern next year, but that he's been so pleased with the internship program and every time he turns around, he sees me playing a new instrument. He made mention that I'd be leaving in June, and a number of folks gave me sad eyes. A few others said, "no!" :) Maybe I'm making a little mark here. I sure hope so. Tonight after worship another council member came up and gave me a full fledged bear hug, held on tight and said, "You're the best decision the council voted on this last year. We love you!" I just about started crying. It really touched me to hear those words from someone in the congregation. Bob has said "we love you" many times to me, but to hear it from someone else hit me in an all new way.

Speaking of love: my love is coming to visit on Wednesday! Boy am I ready for some time with him. It's supposed to get up to 70 by the time he gets here, so he'll have a nice break away from the Minnesota cold.