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I started "Adventures of a Starving Artist" in 2005 so that my family and friends could follow my first visit to Nashville. Who knew that would be the week that God chose to call me into full-time music ministry? Since then, I've tried to track the joys and challenges of living life as an artist in ministry.
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And So It Begins...And so it begins ... this season we call Lent. A time of fasting... A time of repentance... A time of silence and prayer and just ... .... listening ..... A time of steadiness, and a time of transformation A time of death, and a time of life A time of introspection, and a time of reaching out A time of giving up, and a time of taking on A time of patience, and a time of fierce anticipation A time of self, and a time of God ... This time... This season we call Lent... And so it begins...  Sunday goodness
As I write this, I'm amazed at the numbers of the past week:
Is it any surprise we order Chinese food on Sunday nights? But before I shut down completely, let me share 2 cool things from today: #1. This morning at Church of the Messiah, we visited the children in church school and taught them "Angels Watching Over Me." We learned the chorus, some call & response verses, and played rhythm instruments so we could be a 'band.' It all clicked in place beautifully, and we're going to try it again in a few weeks and even have them sing with us on the postlude. So many of us have powerful memories of music and Sunday school, and I'm really glad we could use our gifts in this way. #2. Tonight's Gathering band was awesome!! We had a 9-piece group, which always feels full and lush. But tonight, we did a hymn set to the tune of "House of the Rising Sun," featuring sax and pipe organ! It sounded amazing! I'm so thankful for this group of awesome volunteers. Great musicians + great people = pure joy!  Fireside Concert!By 2:05, our house was filled with chatty, cider-sipping friends, all settled in around the fire in the living room. Through our picture window, the snow fell in big, lush flakes. At the start of the concert, Gerald set the tone by sharing his favourite part of doing a house concert - performing in his slippers! Over the next two hours, we sang some of our favourite songs and told the story behind their creation. We took a generous break so people could refill their glasses, grab homemade cookies, and make new friends. We even debuted a new song Gerald had written just this week - "You Take Me Higher." All in all, a fantastic afternoon! As I sit here tonight, looking at the folding chairs stacked in the corner and all our furniture back in its place, the whole concert feels a little surreal, like a wonderful memory... Thank goodness Dad took all those photos. I'll let you know when I get them online. For tonight, we're resting. After all, Sunday's coming...  Fireside Concert Tomorrow!!!!!Just a reminder that our Fireside Concert is tomorrow! We've got a great afternoon of music, cookies & apple cider all prepared. We even have a NEW SONG to debut!! We still have a few tickets left - hope to see you there! INFINITELY MORE FIRESIDE CONCERT Saturday, February 18 2:00pm Comer House 11 Don Ridge Dr. North York, ON Near Yonge & 401, and York Mills subway. Lots of FREE parking TICKETS: $15 Includes cider, sweets, and other treats! Contact me for more details or to reserve your tickets.  Tin Whistle Debut!Today, I debuted my Irish tin whistle!  My tin whistle, also called a penny whistle. I've been wanting to learn for a while, so I bought one at O'Brien's in St. John's on last year's East Coast Tour. I looked at it nervously for a few months. I'd studied recorder as a kid (who didn't?), but this was different. People play this thing for real. So I finally searched out some youtube videos, learned the fingering, and started to play a few songs - privately, in a the sanctity of my music room. This week, we were rehearsing "I Heard the Voice of Jesus Say" and I realized it was in G, a key that fits my D whistle (tin whistles are each tuned to a particular key). We decided to work up a little intro for me, and this morning, I made my tin whistle debut. Now, at just a few bars, this wasn't a momentous occasion for anyone other than me, but here's my point: Gerald often talks to his songwriting students about "getting back to primary learning." He teaches adults who are often lifelong singers or instrumentalists, who must now revert back to the beginning when it comes to learning songwriting. I feel that way about learning the tin whistle. All the things I know how to do as a singer - breath control, phrasing, dynamics, song interpretation, memorization - must be relearned in terms of the whistle. It's challenging and humbling, but I think as an artist, it's critical. It's not only important that we keep pushing ourselves creatively, but it's a great reminder that there is so much diversity and wonder in the world of music. A thousand lifetimes would never be enough to learn and master it all, and isn't that part of why we love it so much?  Break Forth - Day 3 Outside the Shaw Centre, primary location for Break Forth. Our day started with two songwriting workshops on writing congregational worship songs by Brenton Brown and Paul Baloche. There was lots of great practical information to be gleaned. I'm too tired to write coherently about it tonight, but I've really experienced a lot of songwriting inspiration this weekend - kind of excited to see what comes of it all. I finally made my way over to the exhibit hall and bookstore today. Most of the exhibit booths featured colleges and summer camps, which isn't very useful for me, but I managed to get a free book, so who can complain? The final worship session was vibrant! Robin Mark lead a Celtic-driven set of his own songs. It was so awesome and joyful - I was craving my tambourine on "Days of Elijah"! I took notes on a few songs I'd like to introduce at The Gathering. There's lots of follow-up to do when we get home - posting photos, reviewing our notes, researching new songs - but I can already feel good things coming from this weekend. I'm so glad we came this year. I can't wait to see how it's all going to seep into our music and ministry!  Break Forth - Day 2We started with worship lead by Brenton Brown (who wrote "Everlasting God") and a message by Anne Graham-Lotz. The worship sessions are a mixed experience. I want to actually worship, but as I'm in the room, I also want to observe. Watching these guys at work is like sitting in a masterclass for worship leading.  Thousands worshiping at Break Forth! Our first small workshop was "The Holy Imagination" by songwriter Audrey Assaud (who wrote the amazing "Winter Snow"). She discussed the negative connotation that the imagination sometimes has in religious circles, but went on to show how our imaginations can be powerful tools for creating art and songs that can transform lives. Gerald and I spent our lunch hour indulging in pub food and a long brainstorming session about our Infinitely More CD. We can see the pieces falling into place, and it's really exciting. After lunch, we attended "When Everything Changes" by Robin Mark (one of our instructors from yesterday). He spoke about facing times of drastic transition in our church communities, and how we can face them with honour and integrity. My final workshop was presented by GMA Canada. I became the hundred-question-girl because there was so much practical information. It gave me lots of ideas that we'll be able to implement this year. As we walked into the evening assembly tonight, there was a band playing music and livening up the crowd. I don't know if this was planned or spontaneous, but all the volunteers were dancing and clapping as they welcomed us and checked our wristbands. Some were waving flags, and a couple of the dear, little old ladies were raising their hands to get a high 5. It was so sweet and joyful! Tonight's worship was lead by Paul Baloche, and it was incredible. He played two new songs including "The Same Love" - this song broke me down! He recorded a "bootleg" of new songs for his students at the conference, so we have a copy to bring home. I can't wait to bring this to our congregation. Our speaker was Tony Campolo, and he was excellent! Funny, dynamic, and super smart. He spoke about Jesus's mission for his time on Earth, and how that can guide and sculpt our lives today. Tonight, Gerald and I are recapping the day, taking notes on how to use all this great knowledge, and having late night snacks - these are long days, after all!  Break Forth - The ProtesterHe held a sign that said "Homophobia Kills" and "Stop the Hate."  Tonight's lone protester... I figured a lot of people would snub him, so I decided to go up and ask him about his sign. He told me he wasn't protesting the conference, but he wanted to make a statement about the Evangelical Church and their attitude towards homosexuality. I listened to his full statement, and then asked if he was a member of a church. This was where things got interesting. He answered "Yes, and I'm on the board of my church," and he started to turn away from me. "Great," I said, "What denomination is it?" "The largest denomination in North America - the Protestant denomination." At this point, he actually walked away from me. I asked why he was walking away from me when I was just trying to talk to him. He told me he had a message to share. When I pointed out that I was trying to learn more about his message, he said "My message is for all people, not just one person." Dude! Really? Okay, here's why this moment really got to me: In recent years, I've become fascinated by lost opportunities. We see it all the time from all sides of the argument - the students who drove around Vanderbilt campus yelling at students to repent but didn't bother to ask their names; the anti-abortion activists who shout slogans at passing motorists who can't answer back; or the church who hands the visitor a welcome card but doesn't bother to say "welcome." Why do we think lives will change just because we stand at a distance shouting bumper-sticker slogans? This man tonight lost a great opportunity. I fully support his mission to point out the very real dangers of homophobia. Like racism, this is simply a form of hatred. It doesn't matter which side of the issue you stand on, hatred has no place in Christianity. But what was he really trying to accomplish? Did he think someone would walk past his sign and have a epiphany? Did he think he might actually uproot the complicated tendrils that lead to hatred? As I felt his attitude to my simple questions, and his resistance to my openness, I couldn't help but think that he was there just to be seen, and that made me mad. What if he'd made the effort to actually welcome people to the conference? What if he'd stopped to talk to someone who has genuine struggles with their feeling about homosexuality and homophobia? What if he'd stopped worrying about everyone seeing his sign, and instead, concentrated on reaching people one on one? Then, perhaps, dialogue might have happened, stories might have been shared, and lives might have been changed. And that was a lost opportunity...  Break Forth - Day 1Today was the All Day Intensive Workshops. Gerald took songwriting and I took worship leading. My day started with Paul Baloche. He spoke about the things we can do to put ourselves in the best place to lead worship - private worship, relationships with your congregation, and using scripture as praise.  Paul Baloche on leading workshop. The next two sessions were lead by Robin Mark. When he goes into a church for a concert or worship event, he doesn't bring his band - he works with the church's musicians. So he spoke about leadership and working with teams. For the second session, he brought us through the story of Hezekiah, and the importance of prioritizing worship, no matter how large or small our congregation. Our day ended with Brenton Brown. He compared leading worship to offering hospitality, and now that mindset can affect the way we treat both our teams and our congregations. Gerald had the same instructors for his day of songwriting, so after 6 hours of training, we met to compare notes and stories. This evening, Break Forth officially opened with a huge worship gathering. One of the things that impresses me most about this conference are the hundreds of volunteers that make everything run so smoothly. As they helped stream the thousands of conference participants into the hall, one volunteer was smiling and singing a little blessing song over everyone that walked past her. Nothing showy - just friendly and sweet. The worship was lead by Break Forth organizer, Arlen Salte. The amazing band opened the set with U2's "Where the Streets Have No Name" which segued right into a praise song called "We are Free." The song incorporated band, a spoken word/rap artist, and a vibrant choir. It was a great collaboration of musical sounds and styles. The moving worship set prepared us for speaker, Erwin McManus. I wasn't familiar with Erwin's ministry, but I loved the article he wrote for the Break Forth magazine, so I was looking forward to his message tonight. And I wasn't disappointed! He spoke about the value of beauty and creativity, not just in the world, but in the church. How does God feel about beauty, and how would the world feel about the church if we genuinely embraced the creativity of all individuals. McManus has a fascinating life, and his talk was really inspiring. There are concerts tonight, but tomorrow promises to be a long one, so we're settling in for a relaxing night, and gearing up for a great Saturday!  
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