CCS & The Getty's?

Whaddaya think guys?  The fellow in charge of Getty concert tours (Jani, with the delightful Irish accent and would you believe it? ... the sweetest impish look of a .... a leprechaun!) lives locally in St.Catharines and he happens to think a Southern Ontario tour for the Keith & Kristyn Getty Band is very plausible.

hmmm.... this has me mind a twirlin'....

The Gospel Coalition (TGC) Live!

Or put another way, TGC from someone who is living the experience 

for the first time and is VERY thankful for it.

 There are approximately 7000 people registered and roaming at TGC here at the super conference aka Chicago's famous McCormick Place - a facility that makes the Metro in Toronto look like an exceedingly small fry with no biggy size option.  Indeed, the spaciousness and beauty of this place make it rather difficult to believe we are in the company of so great a crowd.  There are vendors and exhibitors abounding and a bookstore to rival Books a Million...

and with 35% off most titles? 

I am utterly undone.  

No. 

I am tortured in the extreme.

      Today's line-up of blockbuster experiences?

• Roundtable Q&A What I've Learned from Years of Preaching Christ in the Old Testament featuring Phil Ryken, Alistair Begg and Mark Dever
• Introduction to Conference by Don Carson 
• Corporate Worship with The Getty's 
• Studying the Scriptures and Finding Jesus  John 5:31-47 by R.Albert Mohler Jr.
• Getting Out (Crossing Over) Exodus 14 by Tim Keller
• From Foreigner to King Jesus Ruth by Alistair Begg
• Panel Discussion Preaching from the OT                                                                                    featuring Tim Keller, Lignon Duncan, Crawford Loritts, Don Carson, Bryan Chapell
• Concert Sing Them Again:  An evening of Old and New Hymns

The WOW factor antennae have not stopped vibrating all day long and my cup runneth over - is in fact, spilling all over the place!
Thanks to a dear friend back home, you are hereby supplied a link to a live coverage stream online: http://thegospelcoalition.org/conferences/2011-media

(Thanks Lilly)
Now those who truly desire to tap into this enriching spiritual feast can follow what's happening here without my having to sort through a pathetic convolution of notes.  

As my hubby calmly suggested after witnessing my desperate hair-on-fire attempt today..

"we'll buy the CD"   

There is also an Art Exhibit in the Grand Lobby entitled Resonant Vision featuring the work of nine Christians who make contemporary art. They were each asked the question, "How does your Christian faith inform your work?"
This is none too familiar territory for many of us and makes me eager to snoop around
and explore this exhibition;
particularly because it is a world that our 3rd year theatre/arts double major baby girl is pursuing with great gusto at Redeemer and one in which we need to gain a deeper understanding.

Dearest choir peeps, Voila!  The uilleann pipes we spoke of once before while listening to the Getty's recording of By Faith --- played before our very eyes!

Part of the apparatus of simulcast wonderment was parked right beside our row in the Main Stage which by some feat of the miraculous, seated all 7000 of us comfortably and effortlessly.

 A steady stream of Coach buses delivered and retrieved conferee's every half hour throughout day one;

a day that ran so smooth from an organizational standpoint - the team behind the scenes get a five star rating from the two of us and everyone else whose company and conversation was our pleasure today.

Tomorrow's schedule begins at 7am and culminates with a Getty Concert of Praise at 9pm.

This girl needs to go to bed 

-- like right now  :)

Toodles and sleep sweet, a directive I will surely follow if I can shut my mind off.

Great Hymns of Faith and other Favourites

To stave the clamour about the delay of our new CD, I am posting this peace-offering. We hope to have the final - finished - FABULOUS labour of love from the CCS community in your hands by November this year, at the very latest! As you play this video however, you'll want to keep the volume down (considerably) because the louder you go the more distortion in the quality of sound.  Heave heavy sigh.  Smilebox is a great little program for slideshows but it doesn't rate too high in the transmission of personal music files just yet.   I trust the 'better than nothing' motto will score me some understanding. Only three songs were permitted on this video - another silly restriction of the Smilebox program. But then, we can't give too much away can we?   Besides, the warbling of sound waves on this preview is really  too disturbing for ears that have tasted and tried the real deal.   Soon now, very soon.

Editor's addendum.  The pathetic soundtrack on the above slideshow was more than I could bear. I refer you to this site for a most remarkable replacement:   CCS CHOIRBLOG Thanks to the SWEET sweat of the resident computer whizkid over at CCS.

Wowsers

Our son and his one and only.

Today is the big day.  I think we're ready over here.

I'm going down to brew a strong pot of coffee - we're going to have breakfast on the deck and give everything a final look over.  

Yesterday, my little boy came through the kitchen with two rubbermaid totes of personal belongings, 

en route to his own home.  

I quickly turned away and busied myself with the dishes.

Ugh.  Why does a grand moment like this have to stomp and squeeze my heart?  

Nevermind all this.  I am ready.  

I think.  :)

House Rules and Asperger's

It's been a crazy few months around here for varying reasons. I saw a fondly held dream of mine unfold right before my eyes (& ears) last week with about 75 others, holed up in the great acoustic chamber of a church to record 19 songs for a new CD recording

accompanied by more than a dozen very gifted musicians!

Talk about surround sound.

The experience was both amazing & exhausting.

Two grueling recording sessions culminated in a

Grand Finale Concert

on the Friday evening of last week.

I am consistently plagued by euphoric terror as we approach these events but the response of a truly wonderful audience set me so much at ease, I quite frankly had the time of my life!

The spirit of our theme: Ephesians 5: 19,20 went ringing loud and clear that night -

Speak to one another with psalms, hymns and spiritual songs.

Sing and make music in your heart to the Lord, always giving thanks to God the Father for everything, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ.

I did however, need to stay in house and jammie-clad for at least three days afterward

for a time of recovery. The fact is, a whole week later I'm still chillin'....

I've been listening to HOURS of unedited audio and am regularly stirred to tears. First for the sheer joy of what I am hearing and then .... how do I say this? I feel almost embarrassed to realize how slavishly everyone worked to bring to this project, the caliber it owns.

*******

And I've treated myself to reading again.

Silence too, can be sublime.

A thoughtful family member gifted me with a hard cover copy of Picoult's newest work of fiction with a firm suggestion to put my feet up and rest awhile with it which is precisely what I've done. The couch, outside Muskoka chair, and a high back library lounger have never seen so much of me -- to the utter abandonment of any so called house rules around this place.....

There's a haphazardness around here that must be (and beloved? it will be) addressed but first....

..... the disconnect that sadly developed with my little grandpeeps due to my hectic schedule could only be restored with a minimum two night sleep-over.

Hence, the delightful haphazardness continues to reign supreme for a wee bit longer.

And doesn't the DVD player dare to malfunction at this critical juncture?

Little Einsteins & Fifi and the Flowertots by laptop it is.

Naps? Whatever. When a thumb will do nicely??

Yes, I know the temperature is dropping as we speak but I heated the water....

Och....my little leapster, it's so good to be snuggling with you again.

Lazing around, drinking.

The book I just finished was fascinating for subject matter it tackled - the fairly recent phenomena of Asperger's Syndrome - the rise of it's appearance and effect on interpersonal relationships.

Do you have any Aspie's in your life? Could you be one yourself?

House Rules is fictional but the subject matter is most definitely not.

Sadly, the author employs enough raunch and expletives to make a drunken sailor sit up and take notice - *sigh*

...so I'd recommend a search engine to tap into the glut of information now available to those who know of, care for and love an Aspie.

The story and arduous work by Craig.Kendall@AspergersSociety.org for the love of his son and family is decidedly non-fictional and very much worth a serious look.

From his site:

Asperger’s Syndrome was first defined by Dr. Hans Asperger in 1944, when he identified symptoms that included a lack of empathy, an inability to form friendships, one-sided conversation, intense absorption in a special interest, and clumsy motor skills in a study of boys who were autistic. Prior to this, autism was thought to be a symptom of schizophrenia. But Dr. Asperger felt that these “little professors” – as he called them – could contribute to community. A lot of Dr. Asperger’s work was lost in a bomb attack during World War II and his findings weren’t translated into English until after his death in 1980.

It wasn’t until the 1990s that his findings gained acceptance, and that Asperger’s syndrome became a diagnosis for high-functioning autistics worldwide.

*******

The 2pm yawning stretch has struck with a vengeance and the three musketeers are tucked away in their beds with an armful of books apiece to enjoy some 'quiet time' -- code for:

yer grandma needs a nap :)

Talk to you again soon.

Late night (early morning?) Ramblings

I love these people. I call them my choir peeps. They are 25 strong and are working very hard with me preparing for a CD recording in two weeks time. We are singing an album entitled

Great Hymns of Faith and Other Favourites along with the CCS kid's choir (which is 37 peeps strong) plus a full scale orchestra. I am up at this ridiculous hour filled with the typical terrified euphoria that always grips me as we approach deadline..... it's a strange type of 'happy' terror that propels me to reach for the best we can be but remembers

to enjoy it at the same time.

Does that make any sense to you?

.... Ah well, do late night ramblings ever make sense?

Don't bother answering that.

Just know, I am happy - even at this hour.

When words leave off, music begins. ~Heinrich Heine

Truly to sing, that is a different breath. ~Rainer Maria Rilke

Music is the shorthand of emotion. ~Leo Tolstoy

C.S. Lewis Song lyrics

If I find in myself, desires nothing in this world can satisfy,
I can only conclude that I was not made for here
If the flesh that I fight is at best only light and momentary,
then of course I'll feel nude when to where I'm destined - I'm compared

[CHORUS]
Speak to me in the light of the dawn
Mercy comes with the morning
I will sigh and with all creation groan as I wait for hope to come for me

Am I lost or just less found?

On the straight or on the roundabout of the wrong way?
Is this a soul that stirs in me, is it breaking free, wanting to come alive?
'Cause my comfort would prefer for me to be numb
And avoid the impending birth of who I was born to become [CHORUS]

[BRIDGE]
For we, we are not long here
Our time is but a breath, so we better breathe it
And I, I was made to live, I was made to love, I was made to know you
Hope is coming for me
Hope, He's coming

The Prince & Princesses of my life

There's a little girl inside of me that identifies strongly

with the events of this day.

The grandkids are sleeping over this weekend and we ended our day with a bible story from the best children's bible storybook ever:

The Jesus Storybook Bible

where every story whispers his name....

We read the story on page 256 entitled The Friend of little children which ended with this paraphrase of Matthew 18, 19, Mark 10 and Luke 18: "No matter how big you grow, never grow up so much that you lose your child's heart: full of trust in God.

Be like these children.

They are the most important in my kingdom."

I'm beginning to realize what the true gift of grandchildren is. God wants us to keep that small wondrous frame of mind and heart. I am so very thankful for these reminders in my life!

We are ultimately all princes and princesses of the Great King.
Good versus evil, redemption for the lost, and only when
The Prince arrives
do we find the Happy Ever After.

Even the Disney Dynasty submits to the order of That Story.

Same Kind of Different As Me

A sunny balcony away from the routines of regular life.

A birthday book begging to be read.

Me....

Boasting that the deed is done and telling how,

I'm blessed for it.

Same Kind of Different As Me

A gritty, gut-wrenching true life story that you can't put down.

Read it if you dare.

Favourite line: (maybe a spoiler)

...I found out everybody's different -- the same kind of different as me. We're all just regular folks walkin down the road God done set in front of us. Truth is, whether we is rich or poor or somethin in between, this earth ain't no final restin place.

So in a way, we is all homeless -- just workin our way toward home.