Last weekend (and the two weeks leading up to it, might I add) was a whirlwind of preparations, practice, and finally the big day of our performance in the chorale! I thought I would share with you some of the things I am thankful for from the Christian Heritage Conference.
I'm thankful for...
Parents who were willing to take the plunge to spend the time, money, and effort on getting us to this great event. They trotted us around to stores so we could find clothes for the chorale, took us to several extra practices, and actually waived the usual school schedule so we could practice our brains out.
All our friends from church and the church universal who practiced with us and shared their unique versions of jokes.
A mom who was willing and able to cook tons of food, put up with 2 3/4 teenage girls asking for clothing advice, and stay up 'til two Thursday night/Friday morning making sure everyone had socks and the like.
The neighbors' cows (with the sheep leading!) being driven down the road in front of our house. That broke up the routine of a very busy day and gave us something to talk about.
A big sister who loaned me one of her denim skirts for the weekend.
A dad who got up at four thirty on Friday morning to drive us there. (For four hours, starting out in the fog to boot!)
A "baby" sister who kept asking her highly intellectual equivalent of "Are we there yet?"
GPS.
Those cool name tags that you just have to snap yourself with every year. (For old time's sake.)
This year's amazing, inspiring speakers--Ken Ham, R.C. Sproul Jr., and Israel Wayne. There were many more, but those are all the ones I heard between being in the chorale and arriving a little late. : ) I enjoyed hearing Mr. Ham's behind-the-scenes on his recent debate with Bill Nye. Mr. Wayne gave a historically interesting and inspiring talk called "What About Socialization?" where I learned that the most important thing in a child's life is that their heart belongs to their parents. (He was mainly talking to the parents but I found some application.) : ) He did a great job considering the fact that he had bronchitis, a sinus infection, an ear infection, and had visited urgent care the night before.
The curriculum hall--especially the Lamplighter booth! Do you think they know that all the beautiful books spread out draw me in? A scratch and dent copy of Comfortable Troubles came home with me. : )
The wonderful performers who blessed us with their music before the sessions and during the Family Night. We were treated to music from bluegrass to classical and even got to witness a skit on homeschooling. I most enjoyed the family with the adorable triplets and the Dunn Mountain Boys. (Not to mention the people I know and was there to cheer for!)
The Fellowship Dinner where we split up by regions and got to meet new people in our general area. Aimee and I gained a new pen-pal, and Paul found that boys universally love computer coding and animal trapping.
Chorale practices!!! (You knew this was coming.) This was our main reason for going, actually, and it was very rewarding. The two directors and the piano player worked together to make sure we sounded amazing. They handled us in a sometimes hilarious and sometimes serious way. I'll never forget having to practice putting the 's' on the end of a word on the next one and repeating "endle--ssbe" over and over. The words of the songs were very beautiful, and they didn't neglect talking about them either. There was even a complete Gospel presentation mixed in with the technical work.
All the little children. The adorable little girl who smiled at us while we tried to listen to a session, the chunky baby boy who greeted us with the universal salute of a finger up his nose, and the curly headed tot who waved goodbye to me as their family's van left the parking lot.
Food, glorious food! Especially the ham sandwiches.
The marvelous friends who decided to finance two hotel rooms for our family on Friday night. (We are thanking God for you! You know who you are.)
The comforts of said hotel room and the family party we had that night. Popcorn, Studio C episodes, and lots of laughter combined to make that night memorable.
Breakfast the next morning with about twenty other homeschoolers in the tiny hotel breakfast room. : ) 'Nuff said.
All the wonderful volunteers, the Craig and Bradrick families, and everyone else who made sure this conference happened.
A gigantic-ly tall "little" brother to escort me places. We did four flights of stairs together.
Elevators and escalators so you don't have to do four flights all day!
A "baby" sister who wore black and white just to match our performance clothes. So sweet!
Comfortable black shoes to wear on those crowded risers. I'm afraid the abundance of sopranos and altos squished the guys so hard that some had to share music. : )
The performance! The members of the audience I talked to later said it was wonderful, but I know the best part was being up there in the midst of the choir singing out God's praises at the tops of their lungs. The words were so beautiful, and when I sang "I could feel God's pleasure."
The funny dynamics of trying to fit 250+ young adults into the hallway behind the stage. I knocked the doorstop loose twice moving around people, so my gigantic-ly tall "little" brother and one other young man had to help we with it since it was a particularly rebellious doorstop. : )
The ending session and the congregational singing afterwards. Gotta' love the universal church!
Goodbyes with our new pen-pal.
Dinner on the long drive home and the awesome discussions about vision, roles, and so on that were held above the sound of the pounding rain.
Sleep. : )
Church the next morning where our favorite 93-year-old man accompanied the song he was leading on the piano. : )
Altogether it was an encouraging, exciting weekend, and I'm so grateful that I got the chance to praise God in song with so many other brothers and sisters.
