Monday, April 7, 2008

...A Veritable Plethora of Miscellany
(I conscripted that phrase from my friend, Carl.)

As I considered the things I'd write about in this week's blog, I couldn't settle on just one, so here are some snapshots (figuratively and literally) from the week.

Last week I had the opportunity to lead worship for three evenings at a revival in a neighboring Missouri town. It was a good experience with several moments of note:
For the first time ever, my family of 5 sang the special music in church. We offered Matt Redman's Blessed Be Your Name. Even the littlest one sang along and did a great job!




Another great opportunity that came from the revival was the chance to see old ministry friends and make new ones. In the center of the back row of the snapshot below snapshot is Steve, the Minister of Music at the church where I served last week. I had the opportunity to work with his choir on Sunday evening, and they were so excited that for at least one evening he was in the loft singing with them. This photo was taken at the choir members' request... Enjoy!
One other moment of note from the revival happened just before the last service. I'd been commuting each evening from home to the church and back... about an hour and 15 minutes each way. When I left the office on Tuesday I made a "charitable" run to Chick-Fil-A as it is the favored restaurant of all their church staff families. I carried dinner for 9 people with me and we all enjoyed a great visit before church started. About 15 minutes before worship, I went up to the sanctuary, donned my sportcoat and grabbed the binder I'd brought from the office. (As I was leading the singing from the piano each night, I'd prepare and bring my music with me daily.) You can imagine the sinking feeling in my stomach when I opened the folder to find not my music for that evening, but rather my notes and projects from that day's staff meeting! My MUSIC binder was on my desk back in OP... There was one fleeting thought of frustration, then a determination to address the issue at hand. I'd simply have to lead without it, which I did... God moved and we worshipped.

After being away from my family for so much of the week, we decided to make the most of the weekend. We spent Saturday morning together at the gym and then went to our local Robek's® to grab smoothies for lunch. While there, the little girls "auditioned" for part-time jobs behind the counter! Kirk let them push the mixer buttons on all our smoothies, which was a really big deal!





Finally, in case anyone is unaware, the KU Jayhawks have had quite a big weekend! Although I am unashamedly not a big sports enthusiast, I always enjoy rooting for hometown teams when they're doing something great. It appears I'm not alone in that. Indian Trail Junior High decided to get in on supporting the Jayhawks by encouraging their entire student body and staff to dress in KU colors on Friday. Even the redhead joined in the festivities... I don't think we're in Texas anymore!

4 comments:

Polly said...

jph, we absolutely loved having you and your family in our church! and what a blessing to see the jph family singers! SOOOOO fun! then...Chick-fil-a for texans, what better way to wrap up an incredible week! so glad to have you guys close by!

Anonymous said...

Looks like you had a busy yet amazing week. Have you found an assistant yet????????? Tell Mel I love her haircut.
Miss ya'll

Shaking it up and making waves! said...

It seems like you all had a wonderful week. I would have loved to have seen your clan singing. I'm sure that was wonderful. Enjoyed the update!
Sophie

R and R Stacy said...

We miss ya at HRBC. Have a great summer.