West Coast Baptist College student
Archive for March, 2010
Thankful…
Mar 27th
The Bible declares in Psalm 136:1: O give thanks unto the LORD; for he is good. Thankfulness has been my attitude for the last six months or so, now that I am in a new chapter in life, it’s so much easier to see how good the Lord has been to me.
I had a wonderful visit with my grandma and the relatives in PA last week and spend time reminiscing and finding some info about my Grandpa’s WWII service. It’s such an honor to know some of the heroes who kept us free (and the ones who supported the soldiers) in that era.
I was able to preach at my old church and play the piano at my Grandma’s church; it was such a blessing to serve over the break!
When I got back to school, I jumped right back in, and ended up playing background music and solo accompaniment for our music department’s presentation of that timeless biblical story: Cinderella.
Click on the little photo viewer to the right to see some pics of the event. If you read the blog via email or rss you’ll need to click onto the site.
I don’t really know how to express this without starting to sound redundant, but I’m so thankful for the amazing life the Lord has given me. I have the best family, I go to the best college, I play the piano for the most amazing people, and I serve our indescribable Lord! Sure, there are some hard times, there have been disappointments, some of them in the last few months, but none of them are on Jesus’ part, and I can echo the psalmist from my heart: for he is good: for his mercy endureth for ever.
Thanks for reading my thoughts tonight, I hope you have a wonderful week serving God!
Celebration Sunday
Mar 14th
I’m writing this a couple hours after Celebration Sunday, and my heart and emotions are full. It’s hard to describe the spirit of the church tonight when we had given to the Lord’s work and heard the total of the offering, which is amazing in its own right, but especially in a year that’s been tough financially.
For the last few weeks, Pastor Chappell has placed an emphasis on stewardship and supporting the expansion of the auditorium and campus improvements. The church building has been filled to capacity for months now, so this project is desperately needed, and a good portion of it was given or promised tonight.
Dr. David Gibbs Jr. preached today as he does nearly every year, and both of his sermons were powerful encouragements to support the ministry. Tonight he preached on giving to the Lord because of our love for Him, and by the time he was done, there weren’t too many dry eyes in the auditorium.
I was able to play for a piano-violin duet and for a quartet while the offering was being counted and then after the service. I haven’t had too much stage fright, once I’m up there I’ve been able to focus on the music and forget about the crowd. I think it helps
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That I don’t have to look at the crowd.
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That you pray for me.
Please keep it up, I need all the prayer that I can get!
I’m leaving on a red eye tomorrow night, see you back here on the blog after Spring Vacation!
Wow, it’s busy!
Mar 10th
Thanks for sticking around and reading the blog, I have resolved so many times to write more often, but those commitments have gone the way of my New Year’s resolutions to gain weight.
I get to teach 11 of the best piano students, and right now they’re working on pieces for their recital in May. It’s such an encouragement when they put everything they have into the piano, and it will definitely show on recital day! Yesterday I asked one of them how much he practices and he looked a little embarrassed and said “Forty-five minutes or an hour… Is that enough?” I wish that all of them thought that much was too little!
A couple of weeks ago I got to be in a smaller meeting with Pastor Chappell, and it was so wonderful to get to know him and find out what he expects from us on summer tour. If you ever get the chance to meet him in a smaller setting, jump at the chance, it was incredible!
Thanks to a bunch of friends who ask me to play the piano for them, I get to play the 9′ Kawai pianos in the auditorium, and I’m appreciating them more and more (the pianos, not my friends. Just kidding). I think Steinway is still my favorite piano, but these have an amazing touch and sound… so much fun to play! The college orchestra is working on a musical that has no piano part, and since I can play by ear, guess who got asked to come up with piano accompaniment? Pray for me, I’m busy.
Spring Vacation starts next week, and I’m going for the week to see my Grandma in PA. I’m looking forward to seeing all of the family and relaxing for a week, then coming right back into the swing of things, May is coming quickly!