Worship This Week 2-28

Ha! I'm pretty excited! I found a worship leader's website where they ask worship leaders to post that week's set list! On the one hand, it is such a comfort to know that other churches are using the same music we are using. On the other hand, it is a wonderful treasure resource. Maybe I'll even post my list this week. Won't they be surprised. They're all young, hip dudes and I'm an older stay-at-home-homeschool-mom. heh.

I chose the songs before I heard the news about the earthquake in Chile. It's so weird when that happens.
Anyway...this first song, I really wanted to use, but I think it's too fast for our congregation. Yes, I know we used the Jesus Culture songs a few weeks ago. that didn't go well. I don't have to be told something twice. Trust me.
If you don't listen to any of these other songs, listen to this one.




THIS is what we went with.

What's That Word?

There's a techy computer word for the info I'm about to pass on, but I'm not sure what it is. I don't want to appear to be a moron, so I won't even type the word I think it is. That's when commenters come out of the woodwork to prove that you are, indeed, an uneducated idiot.

A couple of weeks ago, everyone was complaining about the new Facebook layout. I wanted to tell them to get a grip, but they are my friends and you don't talk to friends that way. At least I don't. Most of the time.

Then I noticed that I was seeing advertisements in the sidebar. I hadn't seen ads on Facebook in a year. I use the Firefox web browser and they have this cool, little add-on called AdBlock Plus. One person told me to upgrade both Firefox and AdBlock. Done. Not working. AND horror, of horrors! My super-cool, feed reader add-on was GONE! Around 50 feeds -poof! gone!

I have a iGoogle page, so I slowly, started adding feeds, that I could remember, to that. But it's a pain. I have to log on to iGoogle and it's clunky. The feeds are in these large boxes. The Sage Feed Reader was sleek. You clicked a button on the browser and the feed reader opened in a side bar. Click again and it ran through all the feeds in a minute. Then, I could go through and read to my heart's content.

Then, Firefox began crashing repeatedly throughout the day. We still use IE for Netflix and Hulu. I updated it yesterday to IE8. And glory, glory hallelujah! They have a built in RSS reader, AND they imported all my bookmarks from Firefox AND behold! All my feeds from the Sage reader were there!

I can rest now, I am back in blog heaven.

Three Boy Scouts

So this post may diminish the respect you have for me. But it's a great story and I've got to tell it.

We attended our last Blue and Gold Banquet for Cub Scouts last night, can a get an amen!? No no, we love our Pack, we have made some great friends and learned some wonderful things. We also did our second and last cross-over ceremony as we moved M from Webelos into Boy Scouts. Can I get another witness?!

Yesterday was a gorgeous day. I really think God sent it, because it has been cold and wet, because it's winter, ya know. But it was like a perfect spring day yesterday. And a good thing, because we have our ceremony outside. The Scout Master dresses as Sitting Bull and the boys walk down this hike and bike trail through the woods where they have Native American music playing along the way. It sounds like that sample cd machine they have at Wal-Mart by the candles. Then, they get to this bridge over a dry creek where the Troop has a tee pee set up and each patrol is lined up to receive their new member. It's a pretty neat.

All the parents and the rest of the pack line up at the end of the trail, cameras waiting.

The boys get there and Sitting Bull starts talking, using indian signs. Our SM was an anthropologist and that was his specialty. He really gets into it. But it's a little long. So, I'm standing there taking pictures, trying not to get the backs of people's heads and I see dh move quickly to his left out of the corner of my eye. I lowered the camera to see where he went, I looked down and saw the bottom's of M's shoes pointing to the sky.

They did not need me. There were about 20 people around him. The man behind him is a commander with Austin - Travis County EMS, plus they're all Scouts. They should know what to do when a person falls out.

Plus, I have this internal switch that switches me over into super control mode in situations like this. When all the moms around me realized it was M, they start saying, "It's M! are you going over there? Oh no! aren't you worried? Aren't you going over there?" One mom got kinda irritated with me and said, "You are too calm!" Then, I said -and here's where you may lose respect for me- "Oh! I should be taking pictures, huh?" Yes, I did.

He came to immediately, and our wonderful EMS pal was looking at his eyes and dabbing his lips with ice and askiing him if he knoew who the indian was. LOL! Yes,  he did! He figured if M knew that, he was good to go.

He got up and they went ahead and crossed him over. Bless his heart, look at him, he still looks wobbly.

For the rest of the banquet, M acted silly to prove he was okay. Poor kid, everyone was worried about him and kept asking him if he was okay.

But it's all over and he'll be able to tell his kids when they cross over how not to lock their knees while Scout Master T does the long ceremony. (I do believe he will still be around.)

"Mo-om! Q is using the  iPhone on the toilet."
"Is there a rule against that?"
"No! He's going to drop it in the toilet or get feces on it, or something."
"I don't think he will."
"Well, he won't give it to me."
"Do You need to go to the bathroom?"
"No, I just want it."
"Well, you're not done with your writing."

Church Music

I have been feeling a need for a while to 'splain myself. Particularly regarding the sets of worship music that I post here. Plus, I love telling a story.

We joined this church in 2002. As soon as we walked through the doors, we knew it was home. Does that mean it was, or is, perfect? No. There are people there. Heck! We're there.

The music was average.

Then, a couple came who had some professional music experience. It was better.

Then, our pastor resigned. After that, we sensed God was going to start stripping man-made things away. The music was the last to go.
The music, quite frankly, sucked. Sorry, if that offends, it's the truth. 

One Sunday, our acting pastor asked me if I wanted to lead worship. Uh, no. I have no experience, I'm not musical. What are you thinking? There was no worship band. Nothing. CDs. That's what we had.

I can't explain what happened during that week, but I found myself calling him the following Saturday and telling him that I would do it. That was three years ago.

I approached leading worship the same way I do everything. I studied it. I am like a caricature of the Bill Cosby "natural childbirth" routine.




Then, I got a bit carried away. I was choosing inappropriate music and just generally making a mockery of being led by the Spirit. No one said, or did, anything. Until...

One day, they told me they were bringing another lady on to help me. I was excited to be part of a team. The thing was, there was no teamwork, and I felt as if something had been taken away from me. I distinctly remember one Sunday morning -yes, Sunday morning- they handed me a CD with a song on it that was in a very high key. I told Pastor D, "I am NOT singing this song." He looked me in my eyes, and said, "You'll sing it. You'll sing it up there, or in your seat, but you'll sing it." I chose up there. Where I proceeded to cry the entire worship service. I had one of those times where you hear the Voice of God. He told me that He was going to work everything out of me in front of the entire congregation.

This is the song.





For the next year, I walked around in a funk. I continued to go through the motions of "being on the worship team." But I wasn't worshiping. I was filling a position. After a while, the pain of having something ripped away subsided and I resigned myself to the job at hand. I even allowed myself to enjoy it.

Then, my team left. Suddenly, I had the job of arranging music back. Now, I didn't want it. I spent the next few months, dreading, even hating the task of picking music. And every time it came up, I let people know about it.

One Tuesday night, I was telling a roomful (in our church that equals about 7 people) of people how irritated I  was over the whole situation. I was sat down (in a figurative sense) and told that I had now earned the position, that I was chosen for the position. Through it, I realized worshiping God is a privilege! Leading His people in worship is a privilege!

I embrace it, now. But not too tight. It's not mine, it's His. I enjoy listening for His voice and paying attention to His leading. Most of all, I submit. Submitting is a good thing, it puts the responsibility on someone else's shoulders. And I enjoy sharing what we're doing.

Oh! There is still no band. Just Cd's. And I don't stand in front of the congregation anymore. I worship in my seat with my family. I just arrange the music. 

Church Music

Ok, we are not doing this song tomorrow, I'd love to...but we won't. I'll be doin' it in my heart.


THIS is what we're doing. It's Valentine's Day, what do you expect? Even I can do themes.

Boy Story

I am a homebody. I like being at home. I like my home. I particularly like when I can be home alone. It does happen occasionally.

We have had to be out of the house every day, for two weeks. Dh has been working long long hours. Getting home between midnight and 4. I am just weary.

I'm not going to spend this whole post whining, I promise. In fact, you'll probably find it all  very funny. Sick.
Today is payday, which means bill paying and grocery buying. Normally, the boys love to come. They didn't want to today. Which is fine, because I would rather drive around to and fro by myself anyway. They texted me the whole time I was gone.

"The dog needs to go out." (They have strict instructions to never open a door when we are not home. And the dog can't be trusted with a boy, he will run as fast as he can through the fence if he thinks one of the runts of the pack is in charge.)
"We need milk zap" (I don't know what milk zap is.)
"When are you getting home" (About a thousand times. Ok maybe three times.)

When I finally got home, I was greeted by, "Q tried to break my iPhone."

Sigh...I just love it when they bicker. It makes me so happy.

I had everyone sit at the table and started with Q. "What is he telling me?"

"Blah, blah, blah, He grabbed me, blah, blah, blah, sniffle, sniffle (he always does that for effect, I never fall for it) so I threw water on him."

I turn to N, "You are not supposed to put your hands on your brother, why did you?"

"I thought he blah blah blah, so I took the mouse from him." (It's a $70 wireless mouse that my m-i-l bought for my dh.)

sigh...if they ever break that mouse, dh will burst something.

To Q, "Why did you choose to throw water on N?" (As opposed to whack him, or a  throw a shoe, or something. Water? What is he? The Wicked Witch of the East?)

"Because if I tried to hit him, he'd kill me."

And he won't kill you if you destroy his iPhone with water? (N purchased his own.)
Sigh...what to do???

"Everyone bring me all the phones and iPods and PSPs and the mouse." I put them in my room.

"I know why you are acting this way. You're bored. So I will fill your time."

And I put everyone to work.

Minutes later...I hear the bathroom door shut. It's the bathroom that Q is supposed to be cleaning. He comes to tell me there is nothing to clean the sink with. I tell him where the comet and the sponges are. He goes back to the bathroom to discover that he locked the bathroom door, from the inside. Because ...sigh... N's room is across the hall and he doesn't want N watching him clean the bathroom. To open the door, you have to get a tiny, flat-head screwdriver. I keep one around for just such an occasion. but we can't find it, because they've carried it off somewhere. Probably to stab one another in the night.

Guess what? The dog was in the bathroom. The dog that thinks he has to be by my side every waking moment. He's whining, because he can hear me, but he can't see me.

When I go down the hall, I can smell fire. Yes, fire. I, very stupidly, allowed N to buy fire crackers around New Year's. About 1200 of them. He's been setting them off, one or two a day since then. He also has been lighting things on fire in his room. I have taken matches and lighters away from him every single day.

"I just really don't have time for this," I say to the 15 year old boy. "Every day, blah blah blah..." Put it ALL in my room.

Dog's still whining.

We finally got the dog out with a Leatherman tool.

I'm tired and all I would really like is to just be home alone for a while, eating chocolate and looking at the new curriculum. Because I just love having my boys at home.