A God-led detour

Yesterday did not go like I had expected or mapped out. But that was alright. In fact, it was better than alright. It was amazing and a tremendous blessing! In the morning, I sat in on how to put on a musical and got great ideas and tips! I definitely think that putting on a musical is something we can do at King of Kings next summer. Of course planning has to start now! But it's within the realm of feasibility! Then I sang through a great number of wonderful children's choir pieces. All the while, I was thinking "these are nice pieces, but why couldn't I write music like this". Why couldn't I? I haven't dedicated the time, that's why. Recently, I've stepped back from writing music because I was spending time analyzing my motivations. Was I writing and submitting to publishers because I wanted to be published, or was I writing to fill a need for King of Kings and a greater need for the church? I hadn't, but my time this week has refocused and recommitted me to it! Then my lunch. That's where things detoured. I had signed up for a lunch to talk about youth choir. The few in there were sharing about their 40 voice choir, or their tours their groups go on. This is not us! Last year, in starting out, we had 5. 5 tremendously talented singers, but you can only go so far with 5 singers, good or bad! So I spoke up, and asked how do you get youth to participate! Not a whole lot of answers, because there really aren't too many, but I got encouragement. Then, afterward, I got to talking with a couple. The husband, David Angerman, is a published composer and is the Music Director at Bethany Lutheran in Austin. His wife directs their youth choir. So we got to talking about being Lutheran, and many other things. And I said that I would love to get together and pick their brains about ideas, resources and get input from them. Next thing I know, we're at Starbucks, drinking coffee and talking for 2 hours! It was fantastic! I'm sure that the 2 seminars I missed would have provided beneficial information, but this was what my heart and my soul needed! It was great! Then, I decided to challenge myself, instead of walking or driving across campus to the organ seminar I had planned on, I went to listen to new piano pieces. One of the things I haven't been challenging myself on is to keep up with playing the piano, outside of accompaniments. So, that was great and beneficial. Then Anton Armstrong. An amazing man, has a great way of making you laugh, but also, has a great way of simply making you as a singer do what he wants you to do. The information I picked up during that rehearsal time I know will be beneficial to me as a director, and as a leader. I can't wait for rehearsals to start to implement it all! So, today (unless detours happen) will be about handbells and children's choir. I can't wait to see what God has in store!