Saturday With the Band

Thank you to everyone who listed name ideas for our band. We still haven't chosen one. Although you guys had some great ideas...nothing really seemed to be THE ONE yet. (I especially loved the ones with the word grace in them...and "Falling on Faith" was an awesome one! Thanks Holly!) I will keep praying and seeking on this. For now, I will just refer to our little group as "The Band".

O.K., let me just say that the past few weeks leading up to our little "gig" in the park have been filled with some of the most intense spiritual warfare and overwhelming feelings of weariness and struggle I have had in a long time. I spent a lot of time in prayer and in the Word. The struggles in the days leading up to our performance were really hard. Our family has been so very busy, running to and fro. Sometimes, even serving can be tough. It's hard to minister to others when we are feeling this way...hard to get in front of people and share or sing. We had little time to just be...as almost every moment was filled. Marthas...that's what we were...desperately needing to see the preciousness of sitting at the feet of Jesus, like Mary... but feeling burdened with the responsibility of the next thing on the list. Not that we are not grateful for the opportunity to serve. We are. So grateful. And, we know that there are times when you have to push through those feelings and persevere...trusting the Lord to equip us when we feel unable to take one more step. And...He is always faithful!

I felt like I was drowning beneath a list of unanswered emails, unshipped shipments, unwritten blog posts, unkept rooms in my neglected house, unsent bills, unwritten thank you notes, unanswered phone calls, unfilled-out paper work...the list goes on and on. And then there were golf tournaments to attend and band practice. Errands to run. School and work to return to. Children to spend time with. A marriage to nurture. A sense of unworthiness and condemnation settled over me in the last few weeks. And, it felt a little like our family was in a pressure cooker and the heat kept getting turned up a notch as each new commitment was heaped a top our pile.

It's like that sometimes. I would love to say that I always have it together and float through life peacefully. That I never grow weary and feel overwhelmed. That I always clean my house, never snap at my husband, never raise my voice at my children, and never feel completely exhausted. But, I would be lying.

As the days approached, I grew more and more overwhelmed. The morning of the performance, I prayed early in the morning. And, the Lord led me to this perfect, amazing psalm as He urged me to focus on praising Him, instead of looking at the giant before me. I want to share it with you, today...in hopes that you will find encouragement for whatever you face.

I will praise You with my whole heart;
Before the gods I will sing praises to You.
I will worship toward Your holy temple,
And praise Your name
For Your lovingkindness and Your truth;
For You have magnified Your word above all Your name.
In the day I cried out, You answered me,
And made me bold with strength in my soul.

All the kings of the earth shall praise You, O Lord,
When they hear the words of Your mouth.
Yes, they shall sing of the ways of the Lord,
For great is the glory of the Lord,
Though the Lord is on high,
Yet He regards the lowly;But the proud He knows from afar.

Though I walk in the midst of trouble, You will revive me;
You will stretch out Your hand
Against the wrath of my enemies,
And Your right hand will save me.
The Lord will perfect that which concerns me;
Your mercy, O Lord, endures forever;
Do not forsake the works of Your hands.

Psalm 138

Isn't that awesome?! His word so ministered to my weakened, weary, broken spirit. I shared the Psalm with the boys in the band and we prayed before practicing that morning. The "gig" turned out pretty well. There were plenty of little glitches, but it was a lot of fun and a blessing. I felt strengthened and encouraged. And, grateful for the opportunity. Tim and I are so thankful for Dave and Ryan for their willingness to join us for this. They did a great job! And, we are so thankful that we were invited to do this. Most of all...we are thankful for the faithfulness of our God who is able and willing to perfect that which concerns us. Because of His faithfulness...I want to praise Him with my whole heart...to sing of His ways...to praise Him with singing. And what a privilege it is to be allowed. Thank you for your prayers. They were felt and much appreciated!

Pastor James also had some encouraging words that I feel are valuable to share for those ministering to others in various ways. Sometimes, I struggle with the performance thing. I want to focus on the Lord and not my own performance or ability....to take comfort in His strength, not cower in my weakness. James wrote these words: "I always try to remind myself of what “success” means anytime I minister. So often we look at success as did a lot of people come, did it sound good or go good, were the people happy? When God has laid on my heart that success is simply being obedient to His will and letting Him take care of the fruit."

Well said, Pastor James...we love you!



Here are some pics of "The Band" from Saturday...We performed 17 praise and worship songs! (The most I've ever belted out at once!)

See the look on my husband's face...He is so ornery!



I won't even tell you what he just did with his guitar right before this picture was taken! Can you see my hand pushing it away? He is a stinker!






This picture made me smile, because Tim and Dave mastered "The Look" to cue each other on the endings and tempo changes...





I cracked up when I saw this pic. Dave and I both have the same "we're holding our breath" look on our faces!


Tim and I singing This Little Light of Mine...




Tim and I with Ryan "Sufficient Bass" Tackett...


May God get the glory...