The last Sunday of my self-imposed “31 days of blogging in July” challenge.
Five more posts and then it’s “so long, July! hello, August!”
Yikes.
August means:
Back to school.
Back to a more normal work schedule because the Els are back to school.
Football season.
Dance classes.
Hot. Very Hot days.
And Time?
More time?
Maybe not.
But, I can hope for more time.
More time to write.
More time to play.
More time to read.
More time to pray.
More time to listen.
More time with family.
More time with friends.
More time to love.
More time to give.
It’s a new season for us: four kids at one school!
Can I get an Amen!? Woohoo! I have high hopes for all the amazing things I’m going to make time for now. Because, let’s be honest. We already have time for what we make time for. We prioritize and I’m going to prioritize that big MORE list I made up there.
We celebrated Easter at St. Andrew’s. Here are the boys sitting during the lesson time. I’m the lady in the green dress. We had a very worshipful Easter morning service. We put both worship teams together. I normally lead 2 weeks in a row and then am off for two weeks. On Easter, we all worked together. It worked really well and was a great service. God is so good. He has provided His Place for us. We are very grateful.
After church (9am service) we hosted our family for brunch at our house. Moustapha’s parents, my parents, Melinda, Michael, Patricia, James and Christian all came to our house to celebrate. Amira joined us for the church service, but couldn’t make it to brunch. Leila and Matias’ and family were still at the ranch that morning.
The boys were adorable in their bowties!
Maddux was really happy that the Easter bunny came to visit.
Moustapha really loves good coffee!
Miss Trinity in her Easter dress.
What’s in this basket?
It’s getting harder and harder to get a good picture of all of us!
So, I have a new job as a worship leader at St. Andrew’s Presbyterian Church in West University. It is really an amazing journey we’ve been on for the last several years to get to this place. I don’t know if this will make sense, but the place we are in right now is a moving place. We’re moving forward in the direction and on the path that God has for us. It has just been an amazing adventure so far…and I wanted to share it with you.
As most of you know, I’ve been singing all of my life. And in church, I was always singing growing up. Once I went to college and then to LA, I was still active in the churches I attended, but never in music. When Moustapha and I were led to First Pres in early 2004, things were soon in transition there and they were searching for a new worship leader for their contemporary service. They found that leader in August of 2005. – Our friend Jasen and his new wife Amanda (I think they were married the first week he started the job) came to Texas from California and he began his job as the new worship leader of the service. Once he arrived, I was put in touch with him. I met him in his office one afternoon, he played guitar, sang a familiar tune and I sang harmony. It was great! And he asked me to sing that Sunday. I pretty much had the opportunity to sing praise and worship with them every weekend for 2 years. (until Amanda & Jasen hooked it out of here and headed back to California :0) It was so amazing. And I was really happy with that. One thing that I really learned from Jasen, was being open to the gifts and talents of others. It was because of this openness, that I was given the chance to lead songs. I really can’t thank him enough. I love working with other singers and musicians. It is such a gift to be able to be a part of worship in this way.
For the past year and a half I have been singing at various non-profit events in Houston and at church events. I’ve also led the worship for a couple of women’s retreats. But, I haven’t had a steady- every weekend- worship leading job. I didn’t even know where to look for one…and so it turns out, it was looking for me.
This past Summer. we visited St. Andrew’s. We planned our visit around vacation bible school, since we were going to send Bakri there. A couple of weeks later, I received an email from the pastor about leading worship for their contemporary service. He had heard about my experience at First Pres. So, we had coffee and I met with some of the other church leaders. A couple of months later, I led their services for 7 weeks while they were searching to fill the position. And now, I am leading there 2-3 times a month on a more permanent basis.
As a worship leader, I work with the band and choose music for each service, that I then lead the congregation in singing.
Here are Last Sunday’s songs: opening song: Sweetly Broken worship songs :Jesus Paid It All
Take My Life
Surrender
offering: Prayer of St. Francis
This Sunday’s songs: opening song: Lord, Reign in Me worship songs: Your Grace is Enough Prayer of St. Francis ‘Tis So Sweet to Trust in Jesus communion: Lamb of God offering: When I Think About the Lord
