Happy SITSmas!

Happy SITSmas, everyone!!! If you're one of the few people who found me in other ways than The Secret is in The Sauce, click on that link <--- and you'll see what I'm talking about.

If you are a fellow SITSta, welcome!!! I decided I'd take this opportunity to introduce myself a little bit since we probably don't know each other very well.

This blog isn't full of cute Christmas crafts and you will probably never see photos of my apartment--unless I actually manage to clean it. I may--may--post a recipe or two but that will be an amazing day when I do, because I don't really cook. But what I DO love is finding the extraordinary in the ordinary. I believe that God created the earth and everything on it (including us) and that makes everything extraordinary. So you can find beauty in the darkness, joy in sorrow, and salvation in heartbreak. You really can.

So, here's some info on me:

This is me. Hi.

I work in the HR/Payroll department for Potbelly, a restaurant that's mainly in the Chicagoland area, but we're in about 13 other states as well, and we keep getting bigger! I love the company, it's full of wonderful people, it's a great concept, and I've really learned a lot. I very much hope that I can continue to advance my career in the company, because I do love it. I don't blog about work much though, because I like to keep my passion for writing separate from my "day job."

I also sell Mary Kay skin care and cosmetics. Love the stuff. If you've never tried it you really must. If Chicago isn't close enough to where you are, find a person in your area.

Other than that, I write, I take Zumba, and I try to sleep. Emphasis on try. Being a night owl and having a day job is not easy.

Oh, and I forgot to introduce the man in my life:

This is Mau-be.

Mau-be is Vietnemese for Tiger. He's the man in my house until I meet someone human. But I love him to pieces.

So I know I'm supposed to tell you all about what my 2009 has been like, and what I want to do/be in 2010, but honestly... I'm gonna be late for work if I write any more. So I'm gonna post this as-is, and hopefully get back to it later today. But if not here's the thing... want to learn more about me and see how 2010 works itself out? Just give me a follow. Don't worry, I really do my best to write interesting posts. :)

So Merry Christmas everyone, and have an Extraordinary Day!

So... How Did it Go?

Alrighty, I'm sure you've been waiting eagerly to see how my song went... and thank you all for the supportive words and prayers, I really really appreciate it!

My communion song was O Come, O Come Emmanuel. I sang the first two verses in Latin, then did three verses in English. I did the three verses that are in the hymnal I own... there are many many verses. I'm quite proud of myself for being able to figure out (thanks to the internet) which Latin verse was which, and then be able to pronouce it somewhat well (of course it hasn't been a spoken language in so long it doesn't really matter how I pronounced it).

But I have to say: in the long run the whole event was a comedy of errors... but the great thing about a comedy is that's the one that ends well.

I prayed two things before I sang: God, despite whatever happens and however it sounds, please minister to people. And God, please let it be beautiful.

So the practice on Saturday was fine after I broke down in tears because someone hadn't realized I couldn't find my key while they were noodling around on the guitar. I didn't get anything recorded like I had asked because the sound guy didn't think I wanted a recording while we were practicing. But ok, whatever, I knew that Sunday would be great after the pianist, percussionist and I had finally worked it all out.

And then Sunday the percussionist called in sick. And my pianist was sick, although thank God she was there. And she'd added a trill to the piano part that is a more conventional sounding trill than I wanted, and all of a sudden I lost how I had sung it for the last 2 weeks when I practiced it, and we didn't have it recorded to listen to. And we had to have a new percussionist, so we only actually sang through the song once, and my pianist forgot to come in on the chorus.

And I haven't gotten more than 5 hours of sleep a night in a good week.

And halfway through worship I realized I was losing my voice. I stopped singing, and drank a lot of water, but I could feel my throat hurting. (Unfortunately I forgot my training or I would've drank some really hot water.)

So it's finally time for the song, and thank goodness the pastor spoke for a good 8 minutes before we started to sing, because it took that long for my heart to slow down. This was my church family, you'd think I wouldn't be so nervous! But I was. I kept drinking more water and my mouth was dry as a bone.

But then the song started. The percussionist came in on time. I hit the right key. The pianist came in on the choruses with perfect harmony, and my voice actually sounded richer and more full than it had any other time. And even though the trills weren't what I wanted, they weren't horrible.

And my right hand was shaking so much holding the mic (I'd practiced that way) that I had to hold it with both hands.

And then I felt it... the phlem. I lost about half a line. Thank God I had a pause built in at the end of each line, because I spent about 5 of those pauses coughing into my shoulder before I dislodged it!

But you know what? I got through it. I sang it start to finish. They even applauded, and someone said Amen. And a few people came up to me afterward and told me that it was lovely, that it was really great.

And both of the pastors told me it was beautiful. And one of the girls in my Bible study said that all she could think of when she saw me singing was that I was beautiful, that I looked like a cameo. And I think, I hope, that some people were touched. Because above all this song was a call and response: the People eagerly yearning for their Messiah to save them, and the Angels singing down to them "he is coming!"

So all in all, despite everything that happened, I'm pretty sure it ministered to people. And, as I've been told, it was beautiful.

I think that pretty much sums it up.

Six Word Saturday

Singing at Church Sunday: Rather Nervous!!!

The Worship Ministry at my church includes all vocalists, musicians, sound and A/V team members. As such, I have been on the worship team for a few years.

But all of that has been at the back of the church in the sound booth, sitting behind a computer.

On Sunday, I'm going to be at the front of the church behind a microphone, with about 75 pairs of eyes on me. Yikes!!!

Technically, I'm only singing one song, the communion song.

Somehow that's not making me feel much better. Why? Because even though people will be filing down the aisles and gettig their communion and praying and stuff, still it's just going to be me and the backup vocalist up there! And yeah, she's the backup. Wow. I sooo can't believe I'm actually leading a song. I mean really, that's what I'm doing. I'm leading people in worship for this one song, the song during which people are communing with God before they take communion.

I am not making myself feel any less nervous.

Part of my nervousness is that I've not led a song before, haven't stood and said ok, this is how I want the keys and percussion to sound, this is the key I want to sing it in, etc. And of course, I don't really know. I mean, I can hear it in my head, but it comes out differently when I actually sing it. And since I don't play piano and can't tap out the rhythm I want to hear while I sing without messing myself up, I'm gonna be going into practice today feeling somewhat unprepared.

I know, I know, it'll be ok. But please send prayers and happy thoughts my way as you read this, would you?

Because here's the thing. I go to a church that does modern worship songs. And I love it. But a few people think that "Christmas Carols" are too worn out, too cliché to be used on Sunday morning.

I think these people should be wrapped in tissue paper until they submit are missing something very important, however, and this is very specifically why I have chosen O Come O Come, Emmanuel as my song. Not only because it's a hymnal song (written originally in Latin no less) but it's an Advent song, a song for the coming of Christ.

When these songs were written, they were modern worship songs! They were full of passion and joy and expectation, and celebration. This is the birth of Jesus Christ, Son of the Living God, our Savior, our Messiah, the One who died and went to HELL for 3 days so that we would never ever ever ever have to experience one second apart from God.

Hello!!! It came upon a midnight clear, on a silent night: angels we have heard on high, singing o come, o come Emmanuel, Gloria in Exelsius Deo!

Forget the fact that people all over the world sing these songs just because everyone sings them. Listen to the heart behind them, imagine the joy, the exultation, the triumphant celebration in Heaven when Jesus God came down onto the earth to restore humanity to Himself. And He came as one of us, to be the humanity we should aspire to become; to be sin replacing our sin, to be the sacrifce we should be forced to give.

And when you sing these words, sing them from your heart. Sing them to your Savior, and sing them to yourself, and this time really listen to what it is you're saying. Because after all, aren't we all waiting for our Salvation to be lived out? Don't we all ardently desire God to come among us, and don't we rejoice when He does?

O come, o come Emmanuel,
And ransom captive Israel.
That mourns in lonely exile here,
Until the Son of God appear.

Rejoice! Rejoice! Emmanuel
Has come to thee, o Israel.

Fictionary Friday - Immutable

So here are the rules. I will post a word and its definition. It will be a real word, and its real definition. But then I will create a fictionary definition for the same word, and invite you to do the same. Sound good? Here we go:

Dictionary Version:
Immutable: adj. Not subject or susceptible to change

Fictionary Version:
Immutable: adj. Someone you can't get to shut up

I Should Give My Exhaustion a Name

I have been staying awake far, far, far too late for someone who has a day job. But the problem is, I love being up late. I'm a night owl. I read in O magazine somewhere that there truly is a difference between the people who are at their "peak" at 9am, and those who are at their peak at 9pm.

Guess which one I am.

So I think I'm going to give my exhaustion a name, since I seem to be living with him now. I think I'll call him Earl. Earl has me so insanely tired I want to take a nap allll the time. He makes my head all fuzzy and makes it hard to concentrate.

Of course, if my exhaustion gets a name, then I think my night-owl-ness should get one too. How about Claude? Claude would not let me get to bed last night. He just kept me up for hours and hours on end. I don't even know why, I could barely focus on anything.At some point I had to just give up and let him run the show.

Did that sound dirty enough for you yet? Because Claude and Earl both found it hysterical.

Well, goodnight, all. Goodnight Claude and Earl. I'll see you in the morning, as soon as I roll over and open my eyes.

Wit & Wisdom Wednesday

Time for Wit & Wisdom Wednesday, where I post a quote from a well-known (or not so well-known) person. Please feel free to comment with quotes that have touched your soul.

~

"I can't change the direction of the wind, but I can adjust my sails to always reach my destination."

~Jimmy Dean~

You're So Cute I Want to Hurt You

I have a friend who is a wonderful mother. I mean it. She's got a husband and five boys and still manages to sleep and take care of everyone who comes within 3 miles of her house. She just oozes maternal comfort and love.

And she wants to eat your children.

Have you ever seen a baby that's so cute you have to come up with words to describe how cute they are? And do you find yourself using food and eating-related words? What are we, cannibals? But how often have you said this: "You're so cute I want to eat you!" or "You're so cute I want to squish you!"

Wait a second! Now, I don't have any children, but wouldn't you as a mother kinda freak out if someone walked up to you at the park or--worse yet--church, and said "Your baby is so adorable I want to eat him up?" aaahhh!

So, yeah, we's weird people. Not that I'm any different. I say the same things. Especially when I see my friend Heather's baby (photo above). Except the only difference is I generally take it to the hyperbolic level. You should try it sometime. Next time you see a cute kid, go up to them and say "You're so adorable I want to commit bodily harm upon your person."

Just make sure the mother knows you're kidding. :)