Being yourself is the greatest gift…
For all my artist friends…
Youthfest!
We are tickled pink (well, we’re extremely delighted) to be invited up to spend the day with new friends at St. Patrick’s Catholic Church in Norcross, GA this Saturday for YOUTHFEST 2012! The schedule looks like it’s going to be a high energy day of fun and discipleship.
Mic Hygiene
I saw this on my friend Kevin Wyglad’s Facebook wall this week. It was too funny, and true, not to share it. And yes, this is why I insist on using my beloved Beta 58… Have a great weekend everyone!
Category: Gear |
Tags: #gear #hygiene
A Musicians Greatest Tool…
I present to you the worlds greatest tool for a musician… Everybody’s workin’ for the weekend… In seventeen years of music ministry, my experience has been that music teams either rehearse on Tuesday or Wednesday nights, or just before mass on Sunday. What did you [...]
Category: Gear, Liturgy, Ministry, Worship |
Tags: #Musicministry, #rehearsal, #ticonderoga, #worship, Catholic
Who Is Speaking Words Into Your Life?
Who are the people speaking words into your life, and what are they saying to you? Are they building up your gifts, your talents, your potential, or are they planting seeds of doubt, uncertainty and fear?
Last night I had the opportunity to attend an evening with Frank Kelly. Frank has gifts from the Holy Spirit that include discerning word of knowledge and healing. Google that for more info! When Frank prayed with me, he spoke words into my life. What he shared with me could only have come from God. It was a message of love, of hope, and of peace. What he shared was a very personal glimpse of my faith walk right now. He encouraged me to reach out to specific Saints and ask for their intercession.
My challenge to you is to take the next 7 days and pay attention to what words people are speaking into your life and determine if they are leading you where you want to be. If you find that people are speaking words of doubt and fear into your life, there’s a reason they are planting those seeds and you need to discern the value of that relationship. The good news is that you get to choose if those seeds land on fertile soil or rocky ground.
The Power Of Rest…
It’s important to rest. I write this having just returned from New Orleans, Louisiana. My wife and I met up with dear friends (and new friends) that we only get to see once or twice a year. We spent 3 days in the sun listening to amazing musicians and celebrating with good food while relaxing in our lawn chairs. After the overloaded schedule of Easter and all the Confirmation prep, it was a welcome break.The rest brought a different dynamic, it changed my pattern. And then I tied my time off to my occupation…
Do not underestimate the impact of the rest. I have always said that the greatest struggle of the weekend musicians is that they overplay, everything. I find this especially true of those that do not have a middle or high school band/orchestra background. Rests are written into musical scores on purpose. In school band, it’s not uncommon to rest for several measures, or even entire sections. In that setting, you learn to be patient and appreciate the value of rest. It’s okay to lay back, and serve the song. When you do lay back as an instrumentalist, your impact is much greater when you are playing. It feeds a breathing dynamic. Hearing a band that is “All on, all the time” is taxing on the ear. Liturgy has a dynamic all it’s own. It builds and drops, sounds and silence.
Give some space to rest. Sometimes the greatest notes are the ones not played…
Doc Knows Best
I am grounded, for an undefined amount of time. A few months ago at work, I picked up a guitar amplifier the wrong way and something popped inside me. At my follow on appointment this week, I shared with him that I’m still hurting when I run and do specific activities. His advice to me was relatively pedestrian, saying, “Then you need to stop doing things that make you hurt”. He also strongly cautioned me to get the excess weight I’ve been carrying back off before attempting a return to any impact training, because the weight will compound the problem. With my first triathalon 4 weeks away, and the Chicago Marathon training runs kicking off, I was pretty deflated.
Time for plan “B”. I know I am at the top end of my weight swing, so it’s time to refocus my energy on the nutrition side. Remember that in weight loss, nutrition is 80% of the formula, and exercise is 20%. You can’t workout hard, eat whatever you want, and lose weight. I can also focus on lifting and upper body core exercise, which will move me into my goal of taking up kayaking this summer. That’s a very big positive for me. Lastly, I can still focus on pool time and technique.
I am disappointed that things are what they are. I could sit around and complain about it, or I could keep moving forward down a new path and eventually get back to my regular training activity. I’m going to keep moving.
Category: Fitness, This and That, Triathalon |
Tags: #cycling, #fitness, #Perseverance, #running, #swimming, #triathalon
Fit to tri?
For the last few months, I have been a fitness disaster. One step forward, two steps back. I just have to keep moving forward knowing that I will gain some momentum. Last week my respiratory system finally gave in to bronchitis after fighting it for three weeks. I attribute that to not getting the needed amount of sleep, not getting the necessary exercise, and poor food choices. See the cycle? Not being in balance. This morning, I decided to take a quick two mile run and my first ride on the new bike in an effort to clear out my chest and get past the residual effects of my chest crud. It was hard to keep my wind, and the injury I’ve been dealing with still hurt, but it didn’t kill me. I had to “tri”, because I have deadlines and goals that are looming…
The group I run with has already begun the Saturday run schedule, and they started last weekend with a distance further than I’ve run in months. I am already behind. The triathalon I am doing in June is racing closer. Even if I’m not at par, I need to be making progress. A final check on the injury tomorrow with the doc should clear me to train with clear marks.
I train better when I am with a group, with a goal, with a deadline. What motivates you?
Category: Fitness, Triathalon |
Tags: #cycling, #fitness, #Perseverance, #running, #triathalon, Goals
Where are the ball carriers?
Everyone has great ideas. Everyone has opinions. Ideas and opinions are nice because there is little to no effort in formulating them. They come naturally to us.
We need ball carriers. The ball carrier takes an idea/opinion, and DOES something with it. Ball carriers MOVE the ball forward. Every individual, organization, household, and society can output millions of ideas in a day. I believe that people are scared of being the ball carrier, because there’s a risk of getting tackled. Everyone wants to knock down the ball carrier. Thee are people that make a lifestyle out of knocking people down, and smashing the dreams of others. You should eliminate these people from your life. Unfriend them on facebook, and stop returning their phone calls.
My challenge to you…Take one, singular idea you have, and move it forward to make you, your organization, your household, or your society a better place. Do it today. Take the hit. It’s worth it.
Category: Fitness, Liturgy, This and That, Worship |
Tags: #Ministry, #Music, #Perseverance, #Scouting #Liturgy #48days #Goals, #Songwriting, #triathalon
The next Easter…
We just wrapped up our Easter weekend liturgies. Now it’s time to relax a bit before we get into First Holy Communion on May 14th. Right now is the best time to sit down with your ministry teams and talk through what went well, what could have gone better, and make notes for next year. Example…Did we have everything packed for our off campus overflow masses? Did we need more detailed notes about load in, rehearsal, or soundcheck times? Did we have spare batteries for the wireless mic’s for Father and Deacon? (we did, by the way). Jot some notes down, and make a future calendar entry for next year to make sure everything gets done. Do this while it’s fresh in your mind, and next year’s Holy Week will be a breeze, allowing you to focus on Him instead of chasing down that extra power strip. (Which we did NOT have)! Best, Greg
Category: Liturgy |
First legs of the swim
Okay, so this morning I returned to Operation Bootcamp after nursing this injury for a few weeks. Tough workout, but it was great to be back and see friends. Guts and Guns ab and arms workout with bands. Definitely one of my favorite.
After rolling the kids to school, I journeyed down to the city aquatic center and tried my first laps in the pool. I made it through 250 yards, stopping at the turns. This was encouraging, given that I’ve never swam for fitness. There’s six weeks left until the whistle sounds for the open water swim, so I am confident that I will be ready for the 400 yards. I’ve been watching video’s like this one by Dave Scott to try and learn good technique. Today’s focus was on body position and stroke. I think I’ll focus on breathing next so I don’t drink half the pool again. Even though it was a tough workout, it felt great to be in the pool.
Tomorrow, first official ride on the new bike after meeting with my crazy OBC friends. Let’s get moving…
I’m Going To Drown…
I’m going to drown, maybe, if I don’t get moving. I’ve been off of my regular workout routine due to an injury back in February, and I just looked at the calendar and realized that there’s only 5 weeks left before my first triathalon. I haven’t swam a stroke since last summer. Even then, I believe it was more of a casual dip in the pool than any great level of olympic prowess.
I should also share that this is my first triathalon. It’s a small one, called a sprint. I think the distances are a 750 meter swim, 12 mile bikeride, and then a 5k “sprint”. I am not really concerned about the 5k, as it’s not a really challenging distance for me anymore. However, I am concerned about the swim, as you can tell from the title of this post. It also occurred to me that I don’t own a road bike. My trusty mountain bike has been racked securely in the ceiling of the garage since last summer. I’m going to start scouring the bike shops and craigslist to see what I can come up with. The thought of a 12 mile mountain bike ride on the north GA highways just isn’t pretty.
The triathalon I signed up for is called “My First Triathalon”. It’s aimed at newbies like me. Hopefully there will be somebody standing on the shore searching for folks like me to notify rescue personnel that things aren’t looking good for the big guy at the back of the pack. In all seriousness, it really is time for me to get in the pool and start getting the work done.
I won’t drown. I will finish. Yes we can…Greg
Category: Fitness, This and That, Triathalon |
Tags: #cycling, #fitness, #running, #swimming, #triathalon
Peer Ministry Bands
Last summer, we started a new music ministry team made up entirely of high schoolers. Their purpose was to serve their high school peers and our middle school EDGE program. Yesterday, we held our last rehearsal for their inaugural year. We talked through what worked well, and what could work better. Here’s where we think we are…
The band an I agree that they were successful in accomplishing what they set out to do in their first year, which was to form as a small group in prayer, learn (some number) of modern worship tunes, and be the house band for our yearly youth group beach trip and weekly middle school program. They did it, and I am really proud of these musicians. Here’s the roadmap of best practices for you if you want to develop a teen music ministry.
What worked well for us…
- Developing friendships – We spent a good bit of time on the front end developing relationships in the group, just “hanging out” and having a lunch or getting ice cream on the trips.
- Practicing on a click track – This develops excellent musicianship and discipline.
- Leveraging songs that our church already knew from Sunday worship.
- Praying before and after every rehearsal and worship event
- Setting clear expectations (Click “PEER MINISTRY BAND EXPECTATIONS” Document) – If you email me, I will send you a copy that you can edit and customize for your church…
What we are going to improve for next year…
- Yearly Auditions in late Spring – This will enable new people to share their gifts. It also affords us the possibility of forming more than one team, and placing people in more diverse groups to match their playing style (modern worship, christian rock, metal). Having more diverse groups would definitely be a plus to reach more teens.
- Having auditions yearly also helps build a sub list so that if school or work commitments prevent one of the team members from being available during a worship event, there is a list of people that will have an opportunity to serve. Teens are so busy, with very erratic schedules, much of which is due to the nature of high school activities.
- Consistent, published, rehearsal schedule. Always publish and keep to your rehearsal schedule. It doesn’t have to be every week, but it does need to be planned three months out.
- Summer workshop days – Focused 4 hour sessions on learning repertoire. Make the days fun by working in lunch by the local pool, or going to see a movie together.
- Ongoing training/mentoring with existing adult ministry teams. We have so many gifted people serving at the church that have a heart for ministry and can offer different perspectives and experiences with these developing music ministers.
- Adding a dedicated set of audio and projection techs that work closely with the bands.
These teens are a blessing to me, and I am thrilled that they are serving our church with their gifts and talents. The church needs more songwriters, leaders, musicians, audio techs, and people with hearts of service. It’s not going to happen unless someone develops them. I encourage you to pray about how you can get teens involved in your worship ministry, or develop a group of them to start their own. Be a blessing, Greg
Category: Liturgy, Uncategorized, Worship |
Tags: #EDGE, #Lifeteen, #Ministry, #Music, #worship, #youthministry
