My New Ministry

There is far more opportunity than there is ability. ~Thomas Edison

Last Sunday
My first time I led the praise and worship time at our church was last Sunday. My husband and I rehearsed on Saturday after the church board meeting, also a first for me as I was voted to lead the Missions Ministry also, but I would not have agreed to take that one if I had known about the praise and worship thing and had I known that a man was returning to our church who was so good at it and had done it before. Well, there is only so much of me to go around.

I am very limited with the music because we sing with CDs, fewer DVDs, or whatever videos I can find online with lyrics. Our church family is so small and sadly lacking in talent presently it seems they are convinced that I am the most likely to have any ability to lead praise and worship, which is really sad! My daughter is the only one who can play piano and she cannot just read and play music yet so she may be able to do a song once every two weeks...maybe. She is also working on the violin regularly. I have strummed a guitar as a teen while in my aunt's Christian band called the "Just-us Singers" and I currently have a 12-string. (Maybe I could get the Princess to play her guitar with me also?) I also have a bowed psaltery that I would like to learn to play, especially for Christmas songs. Singing voices? I may be the best of what is left, which is pathetic, but I know that I will be practicing more so there will be improvement...I hope.

This was my plan:

(This is Not) Where I Belong - YouTube (with lyrics)
Congregation standing
First verse very soft (no singing)
First Chorus (and on) LOUD

Congregation sitting
Here I talked about how I did not feel I was where I belonged yet we were still all family on a journey to our Father. Some did not feel that they belonged here but they are just on a different path to the same destination, our Father. Then I brought around to family and called up the youngest member of our service, a five-year girl, and I asked her if she knew that I was her sister and she did not seem to think so. Then talked about how everyone has the same Father and that we are all sons and daughters of God. Then said the Jesus said we are to love God with all our hear, soul, and mind and to love our neighbors as ourselves so I would like her to say eight words, "I love our Father and I love you" and teach those words to everyone there, which she did. I then said that if a five-year old could do it then we all could and went into our Meet and Greet time.

Family of God (Chorus only 2x)

Congregation sitting
Announcements (given by another member)

Come Thou Fount

Congregation standing
I Stand in Awe
Second Chorus - Phase out music (voices only) and soften

Sanctuary
Very Soft

It was a great plan but...my husband who runs the sound and media, completely forgot to bring down the volume on the last songs and he could not see me because the congregation was standing, so part of the mood was lost. Also there were problems with my mic not being on during a song.

Then our guest pastor asked us to sing the very first song again. I heard my husband groan from the back of the church! He had just turned everything off as she was at the close of her sermon, so she gave him time to get it back up. My mic did not work, but I plowed through it as if it was cracked, dry clay. I write this because that is of what my voice reminded me as I tried to sing it that second time.

However, I received compliments and I think they are planning to keep me.


Today
I received a call on Thursday that the pastor we had scheduled to give a sermon on Sunday (today) had a health issue and would be unable to come, so I was being asked to plan an entire church service of praise and worship. Remember that last Sunday was my very first time and that was only something like 15 minutes of singing. My second time at this and I would need to fill about an hour. I knew my voice would not hold out, so I decided that I would ask the members to share anything that came to mind: a testimony, a poem, special scripture, or just whatever. Five members said they would contribute something and one had a couple of short subjects from which to choose that perfectly fit with the theme. I was excited to see what each one would contribute and it went so very well. My husband and daughter beautifully acted out this skit:





We went from trusting Jesus to a prayer circle to...well, this:



I prayed about the song selection and how to arrange the service. I did most of the planning on Saturday and checked the lyrics against the vocals, because they do not always match. My husband had just bought a new video card for the computer so that it would run uploaded music instead of him having to change our CDs and cause breaks between songs. We sang some beautiful songs, even a two new ones (new to us), Love You So Much and In Christ Alone, that everyone seem to enjoy that I had tried to learn myself on Saturday. When we started today, I was concerned that my estimates on the time was too short, then too long, but it worked out to be just right...I am in amazement over that!

After it was over, I was given many compliments, sincere ones. The best one, though, was when one man said he felt the presence of the Lord. That was the whole point!

~ Thank you, my Lord, for the opportunity to be of service to You and my church, for guiding me, and for being my Lord. For the sake of the members, I ask that my voice improve. ~