So I know I've pretty much failed this month at writing blogs. I'm now at the end of the internship and It's been almost 4 weeks since I wrote a blog, I apologize! It's been a great month! I know I can't possibly touch on all that has happened in July, but I will definitely try to touch on the highlights.
I will begin with Thursday July 7, a very out of the ordinary day. On this day, my mom's birthday by the way, I had to be at the church at 11AM for a worship planning meeting. I had decided to arrive a few minutes early to the church to set up some coffee for the meeting. About 10:45AM Lucy and I are walking into the church together. I'm rounding the corner to enter the greenroom, in full speed ahead focused on getting the coffee made, when I am totally surprised by Jeremy Fain sitting at the table holding a bundle of flowers. All the while, William is speedily snapping pictures as I turn beet red and back away from the camera in shock. I was completely surprised and excited that he would make a trip down here, as part of his birthday present, to spend time with ME! That was a very good weekend. A group of us traveled to downtown Disney that Friday night. After the hour journey of finding a parking spot, we enjoyed some Ghirardelli chocolate and watched the many fascinations of Disney night life. The rest of the weekend included 5 worship services, movies, PF Changs, and some great hang out time. The week ahead was one of the most busiest and challenging. After a really great and unforgettable weekend with Jeremy, I took him to the airport to head home early Tuesday morning.
Monday through Friday of that week was Worship in the Arts Camp here at Northland. Kids ages 8-13 gathered to focus on the arts: singing, dancing, or visual art. Each intern served as a counselor for a small group of kids. Basically, we traveled with them and made sure the kids were where they needed to be at all times. The week ended with a performance Friday night where parents and family gathered to watch their children on the big stage. Early Saturday morning I headed to the airport to fly home for Jacob and Brittany's wedding! I was so excited to go home if even for a short two days, and it was totally worth it! The wedding was absolutely beautiful and one of the sweetest weddings I've been too. It was also really great to see old friends at the wedding. Although my mom wanted me to stay longer, I had to head back Sunday afternoon to Atlanta to catch my flight.
The next week was back to a normal week at Northland. Monday the interns had our first class on personalities with Mrs. Connie Rainwater. I am fascinated by how incredibly complex and unique individuals God has created us to be. Learning about myself and others through this class has been eye-opening and very helpful in realizing how we work together in relationships and within the body of Christ. Tuesday we visited Full Sail University on a field trip with the interns. Full Sail is one of the most successful media and recording arts schools in the country. Their graduates have been a part of major artist recordings and major film productions. The remainder of the week included rehearsals, meetings, and preparation for the intern-led worship weekend. It was a very busy week indeed.
This week is our last week as interns here at Northland. It's already been filled with much emotion over leaving each other soon. I absolutely cannot believe the eight weeks is almost over. We have one more weekend to lead in worship. My time here has been very fulfilling and I've made so many life-long friendships and connections here. I feel like I have a home and family here in Orlando now. I really look forward to future connections with Northland and the other interns I've made significant relationships with. God is so faithful and so good!
Thursday, July 28, 2011
Tuesday, July 5, 2011
Beach, Boom, and Barbecue!
It has definitely been awhile since my last post. Well, we are just at the half-way point of our summer at Northland. I cannot believe we're already past July 4th! So much has happened since my last post, but I will try to remember. Let's see, we will start back at last Friday.
On last Friday, July 1, besides forgetting my best friend's birthday (I'm terrible and really sorry Alex!!), I went to the beach with 4 other interns. It was absolutely gorgeous there! On our way it was raining and we had our doubts about the weather. However, once we got there the sun decided to show up around 11AM. I used lots of sunscreen, took way too many pictures, read lots of my book, and just chilled with Lucy, Andrew, William, and Geoff. It was a great day. Also, my first time at the Atlantic coast! Friday night we returned from the beach and went to Brittany's house, one of the interns, for some home-made Mexican food! I ate WAYY to much that night.
Saturday, July 2, was a pretty relaxing day. I slept in, watched a movie, and prepared to go to the church around 3:00. Saturday night I led worship in kid's church for "Camp Venture." It's amazing how much Northland puts into the services for their children to help create an environment for 1st through 5th graders to worship in. My favorite part of the night was watching one little girl near the front close her eyes and worship Jesus wholeheartedly during "Here I Am to Worship." That night closed off with some fun card games with the interns at Lucy's house. Christian introduced us all to The Great Dalmuti card game.
Sunday, July 3, began very early at 7:30AM sound check at the church. I sang in both the 9AM and 11AM services. William did a great job this weekend of leading most of the worship up front on the platform! After the services a few of the interns came over because my house is very close to the church. We cooked lunch and fell asleep for a short time before returning to the church at 5:00PM. That night I went back to kid's church just to help and hang out. Sunday night Shane took us to a big event called Red Hot and Boom in Altamonte Springs. We went to see the fireworks, which began around 9:30PM, along with the other 50,000 people there.
Monday, July 4, was pretty uneventful during the day. We didn't have to be at the church that day, so I slept in once again. Lucy and I went to scout out an obnoxious 4th of July outfit for the parties that night, but we found nothing. We tried target and goodwill, but I found no American flag shirt or big shiny star jewelry. Needless to say, I found a plain blue shirt in my closet to wear. The festivities began around 5PM at Sarah and Kyle Mattingly's house. They had basically all of the Northland worship team over and many other staff, family, and friends. The night ended at Brittany and Lauren Roberts' house (same house where we ate Mexican food on Friday) with fireworks, swimming, and karaoke!
WOOOO so much information, i know! I had to catch up from the weekend. I know that might have been boring. I'm currently babysitting Pete's kids with Katie and William, so I should probably get back to that now. Hope I didn't bore you. Thanks for reading!!
On last Friday, July 1, besides forgetting my best friend's birthday (I'm terrible and really sorry Alex!!), I went to the beach with 4 other interns. It was absolutely gorgeous there! On our way it was raining and we had our doubts about the weather. However, once we got there the sun decided to show up around 11AM. I used lots of sunscreen, took way too many pictures, read lots of my book, and just chilled with Lucy, Andrew, William, and Geoff. It was a great day. Also, my first time at the Atlantic coast! Friday night we returned from the beach and went to Brittany's house, one of the interns, for some home-made Mexican food! I ate WAYY to much that night.
Saturday, July 2, was a pretty relaxing day. I slept in, watched a movie, and prepared to go to the church around 3:00. Saturday night I led worship in kid's church for "Camp Venture." It's amazing how much Northland puts into the services for their children to help create an environment for 1st through 5th graders to worship in. My favorite part of the night was watching one little girl near the front close her eyes and worship Jesus wholeheartedly during "Here I Am to Worship." That night closed off with some fun card games with the interns at Lucy's house. Christian introduced us all to The Great Dalmuti card game.
Sunday, July 3, began very early at 7:30AM sound check at the church. I sang in both the 9AM and 11AM services. William did a great job this weekend of leading most of the worship up front on the platform! After the services a few of the interns came over because my house is very close to the church. We cooked lunch and fell asleep for a short time before returning to the church at 5:00PM. That night I went back to kid's church just to help and hang out. Sunday night Shane took us to a big event called Red Hot and Boom in Altamonte Springs. We went to see the fireworks, which began around 9:30PM, along with the other 50,000 people there.
Monday, July 4, was pretty uneventful during the day. We didn't have to be at the church that day, so I slept in once again. Lucy and I went to scout out an obnoxious 4th of July outfit for the parties that night, but we found nothing. We tried target and goodwill, but I found no American flag shirt or big shiny star jewelry. Needless to say, I found a plain blue shirt in my closet to wear. The festivities began around 5PM at Sarah and Kyle Mattingly's house. They had basically all of the Northland worship team over and many other staff, family, and friends. The night ended at Brittany and Lauren Roberts' house (same house where we ate Mexican food on Friday) with fireworks, swimming, and karaoke!
WOOOO so much information, i know! I had to catch up from the weekend. I know that might have been boring. I'm currently babysitting Pete's kids with Katie and William, so I should probably get back to that now. Hope I didn't bore you. Thanks for reading!!
Saturday, June 25, 2011
Weekend Activities
Hello it's Saturday here in Longwood, FL. I'm currently sitting in the green room at the church awaiting our service at 5PM. Yesterday we went to Wekiva Springs, one of the many natural springs here in Orlando. Despite the extremely hot conditions outside, the springs was quite chilly, 72 degrees chilly. My breath was taken away when I stepped in. It was absolutely gorgeous though. Katie and I didn't last very long in the heat, so a few of us headed back around 2PM. Last night Anna, Katie, and I babysat Pete's kids, the most precious 2 and 4 year old little boys EVER. We ended the night with a hang out time at Katie's house, and I ended up spending the night over there. Today, not much has happened besides preparing for tonight's worship service. I painfully sat through the playing of my announcement video I recorded this week for the services this weekend. I'm not a fan of watching myself on video, haha! Anyways, I'm excited for the rest of the weekend of leading worship. If you haven't watched a service before, just go to www.northlandchurch.net to watch live. Services are Saturday night at 5PM (ET), Sunday mornings at 9AM and 11AM, Sunday night at 6PM, and Monday night at 7PM. Have a great weekend! Thanks for reading. Here's some pictures of Wekiva Springs.
Tuesday, June 21, 2011
LOVING it
Wow, I cannot believe an entire week has gone by without me blogging! My time here is going by very fast. I've been here two weeks now! I can't possibly think of everything that has happened the past week, but I will share a few cool things that I've really enjoyed.
Every Monday we have a class with Teresa, the sweetest lady you'll ever meet, on spiritual gifts. The first three weeks are on the gifts and the last three Connie is teaching on personality. I've become so interested in this study! We took a test last week and then discussed this week in full detail the gifts of prophecy, mercy, and giving. My underlying gift is most definitely prophecy. The main characteristic of prophecy is possessing and extreme discernment between right and wrong. A prophet bases everything off of whether it is right or not. They long to see the pursuit of Christ-likeness both in themselves and in others. It's really cool discovering how God has created me and what motivations He has placed within me to carry out His work. It can get pretty complicated though when you begin to think about personality with gifting. We are extremely layered and complicated human beings, so I've learned.
Another really neat thing about this past week deals with my personal devotions and learnings. Every Tuesday night the worship interns have a bible study at Pete's house. He has given us the book, "The Knowledge of the Holy" by A.W. Tozer to be reading this summer. This book is all about the attributes of God and the importance of learning just how holy God is. I've been amazed realizing just how complex and incomprehensible the Lord is. He truly is beyond anything our creature-minds can imagine, and my very thoughts of God that are unworthy of Him are considered idolatry in His eyes. To think that I can contain Him in my own mind and self is ridiculous and offensive to God, wow! So this bible study has been extremely encouraging and fulfilling.
There is so much more I feel I could talk about, but I know how boring it is to read super long blogs. Other than this, all the interns are just continuing to grow together, hanging out almost every night. It's been great! Oh, and Sabrina is in Orlando now and I'm SOOO grateful to have hung out with her a few times already. How funny that my best friend is doing an internship in the same town as me this summer!
Well I hope to update this more often. I really don't want to slack off as the summer goes on, so add a comment and talk to me people! Thanks for reading.
Every Monday we have a class with Teresa, the sweetest lady you'll ever meet, on spiritual gifts. The first three weeks are on the gifts and the last three Connie is teaching on personality. I've become so interested in this study! We took a test last week and then discussed this week in full detail the gifts of prophecy, mercy, and giving. My underlying gift is most definitely prophecy. The main characteristic of prophecy is possessing and extreme discernment between right and wrong. A prophet bases everything off of whether it is right or not. They long to see the pursuit of Christ-likeness both in themselves and in others. It's really cool discovering how God has created me and what motivations He has placed within me to carry out His work. It can get pretty complicated though when you begin to think about personality with gifting. We are extremely layered and complicated human beings, so I've learned.
Another really neat thing about this past week deals with my personal devotions and learnings. Every Tuesday night the worship interns have a bible study at Pete's house. He has given us the book, "The Knowledge of the Holy" by A.W. Tozer to be reading this summer. This book is all about the attributes of God and the importance of learning just how holy God is. I've been amazed realizing just how complex and incomprehensible the Lord is. He truly is beyond anything our creature-minds can imagine, and my very thoughts of God that are unworthy of Him are considered idolatry in His eyes. To think that I can contain Him in my own mind and self is ridiculous and offensive to God, wow! So this bible study has been extremely encouraging and fulfilling.
There is so much more I feel I could talk about, but I know how boring it is to read super long blogs. Other than this, all the interns are just continuing to grow together, hanging out almost every night. It's been great! Oh, and Sabrina is in Orlando now and I'm SOOO grateful to have hung out with her a few times already. How funny that my best friend is doing an internship in the same town as me this summer!
Well I hope to update this more often. I really don't want to slack off as the summer goes on, so add a comment and talk to me people! Thanks for reading.
Tuesday, June 14, 2011
Unexpected Visit
Well, I got a surprise visit this morning by the Casselberry Police Department. Apparently I'm supposed to turn the alarm off before opening the door to outside. I already had a sticky note on the bathroom door to remind me, but I guess I need one on the back door as well. I woke up around 8:30 this morning to use the bathroom, planning on going back to sleep for another 30 minutes or so. However, Snickers was begging to go outside, so my plan was to let the dogs out and then go back to bed. As soon as I opened the door I regretted my decision. The security alarm blaring, I ran to try and turn it off, attempting random access codes but nothing worked. Finally, after about 3 minutes of panicking I remembered I have a remote on my keys to turn it off! Just as the alarm shut off I began to hear sirens outside from a distance...oh great! The police didn't arrive for another 15 minutes for some reason, but we got everything figured out. The poor father-in-law had to come over too because the security people called him, how embarrassing! So lesson learned...I need another sticky note on the back door. Needless to say, I haven't gone back to sleep.
That incident aside, we just completed worship at Northland for the weekend last night at Monday's service. Today begins a new week of planning and scheduling. We're already onto this weekend and the next two weekends! Today is a relaxed day where we're just preparing for the songs for this weekend. Tonight we have bible study with all the interns at Pete's house! I'm super excited to meet his family. Something the Lord really showed me this weekend....we cannot contain God. We can't limit him in worship or any other area of life. Northland uses every resource available to worship Christ. I was really encouraged to worship with them this weekend and truly experience everything coming together. I feel right at home and a part of the family already!
That incident aside, we just completed worship at Northland for the weekend last night at Monday's service. Today begins a new week of planning and scheduling. We're already onto this weekend and the next two weekends! Today is a relaxed day where we're just preparing for the songs for this weekend. Tonight we have bible study with all the interns at Pete's house! I'm super excited to meet his family. Something the Lord really showed me this weekend....we cannot contain God. We can't limit him in worship or any other area of life. Northland uses every resource available to worship Christ. I was really encouraged to worship with them this weekend and truly experience everything coming together. I feel right at home and a part of the family already!
Friday, June 10, 2011
Ending Week 1
helllloooo. Today was a great ending to my first week here in Orlando. All the interns plus some other really cool people loaded up this morning and headed to Universal and Islands of Adventure theme parks! In other words, a REALLY fantastic day! We began our journey in Harry Potter land, which not being a fan of Harry Potter, I probably didn't appreciate it as much as others. Then we rode just about every ride in Islands of Adventure. Later we headed over to Universal, which I had never been to come to find out. My favorite ride there was the Mummy. It was completely unexpectedly more intense than I was thinking. So, pretty much the entire day was great. Of course there's always the downsides to theme parks...long lines, sweat, disturbing smells, blisters, and the blazing sun. But the adventure of it all greatly outweighs the downsides. I counted about 2 mullets and surprisingly zero fanny packs (besides mine, j/k):)
Tomorrow begins the first weekend leading worship with Northland. I'll be singing Sunday morning and Monday night this weekend. I'm excited to observe kid's worship tomorrow night during the service! I can't wait to get into the flow of the schedule and really be involved with the planning and preparing of worship services throughout the week! Tomorrow also begins a week of living in my host home alone because my host parents are taking a cruise! This means lots of partying and playing of catch phrase at my house with the interns. I also get to take care of my cute little doggies at the house, Bella (thencutest yorkie you'll ever see) and Snickers (The Schnoodle). Until then, I'll be sleeping very long tonight and enjoying my morning off tomorrow. Goodnight and God bless!
Tomorrow begins the first weekend leading worship with Northland. I'll be singing Sunday morning and Monday night this weekend. I'm excited to observe kid's worship tomorrow night during the service! I can't wait to get into the flow of the schedule and really be involved with the planning and preparing of worship services throughout the week! Tomorrow also begins a week of living in my host home alone because my host parents are taking a cruise! This means lots of partying and playing of catch phrase at my house with the interns. I also get to take care of my cute little doggies at the house, Bella (thencutest yorkie you'll ever see) and Snickers (The Schnoodle). Until then, I'll be sleeping very long tonight and enjoying my morning off tomorrow. Goodnight and God bless!
Tuesday, June 7, 2011
Day 2
I just finished my second full day here at Northland Church in Orlando. I am already amazed by the people and community of believers a part of this church and the relationships I've made so far. The Lord is sooo good! Yesterday consisted of lots of orientation time and information shock. Our fun outing surprise together...drum roll please...GO KARTS! We had some pretty intense competition on the "slick track" at the Lil500 go kart track! The rest of the day consisted of more information and sitting in on the Monday night service. I sat in the video control room for last night's service with two other interns, completely astounded by the work and creativity that goes into the video production for just one service. I've never seen any church use media and tech like Northland does! Every ounce of creativity and work that goes into a worship service is purposed to create the best atmosphere to help people truly engage in worship and experience the brilliance of the God we serve. It's also really neat to see how the Northland staff works hand in hand to achieve this!
So today began with an interview, meeting time with the three main guys taking care of us interns: Sarah, Pete, and Sean. The rest of the day consisted of lots of time spent with the worship interns. Pete went through a typical week in the life of the worship department. Around 2PM we all met with Tim, the main worship pastor, and Teresa and Laurie, two of the sweet ladies over vocals. Each of us sang for them and answered lots of questions, getting to know them better. After that, anna and I headed back to my host home to rest after a LONG day. For some reason I've been really exhausted today. I guess I'm still recovering from the travel and getting used to the new schedule. So far, I have been blown away by everything that's happened in only two days. I'm so blessed.
So today began with an interview, meeting time with the three main guys taking care of us interns: Sarah, Pete, and Sean. The rest of the day consisted of lots of time spent with the worship interns. Pete went through a typical week in the life of the worship department. Around 2PM we all met with Tim, the main worship pastor, and Teresa and Laurie, two of the sweet ladies over vocals. Each of us sang for them and answered lots of questions, getting to know them better. After that, anna and I headed back to my host home to rest after a LONG day. For some reason I've been really exhausted today. I guess I'm still recovering from the travel and getting used to the new schedule. So far, I have been blown away by everything that's happened in only two days. I'm so blessed.
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