We're ok...very busy!

Hey yall...quick update b/c we've got to head off to the night academy session. After crazy flight schedules, flights went alright. We've been going for around 12 hrs a day with some short breaks, but things are good. It's great to be able to find a way to plug in with the kids via music. Finding it's mainly just a vehicle to get to know them...opens the doors to communicate with them very well! Just as an idea for you...with the older kids at night, we've got 5 electric guitars, 3 acoustics, 2 bass and 2 drummers all practicing in 1 room = VERY loud! :) Many of them are pretty good, so we're having a chance to learn more songs...got some budding rock stars in the group!
Much love to you all...need to jet so someone else can use this thing...I'll try and get back on before we head back. Thanks for praying...everyone involved needs it!!
Whew - Lori :)

I can't believe the time is almost here! I'm beat...it's been a long day at work - nutzo at the end (of course!). I must give a big thanks to 2 of my co-workers. They are really stepping up to help cover my responsibilities while I am out. Whether or not they know it, they are indirectly a very active part of our mission team, b/c without them, I'd be staying in Nashville this next week. Thank you JoBeth and Kates - you all are incredible!
God also warmed my heart this evening since I didn't have to spend it alone! It has been nice to have my sister along for the ride this evening as she's staying with me the night en route to Chattanooga...errands and packing are much more bearable when there's someone to share them with!

"And He has said to me, 'My grace is sufficient for you, for power is perfected in weakness.' Most gladly I would rather boast about my weakness, so that the power of Christ may dwell in me...for when I am weak, then I am strong." 2 Cor. 12:9-10
May we admit our weakness and trust that God will be faithful to supply the power that we don't have. He is huge and I am small!

small

God is so HUGE, and I am so small

31 "Can you bind the beautiful Pleiades?

Can you loose the cords of Orion?
32 Can you bring forth the constellations in their seasons

or lead out the Bear with its cubs?
33 Do you know the laws of the heavens?

Can you set up God's dominion over the earth?
34 "Can you raise your voice to the clouds

and cover yourself with a flood of water?
35 Do you send the lightning bolts on their way?

Do they report to you, 'Here we are'?
36 Who endowed the heart with wisdom

or gave understanding to the mind?

Job 38:31-36

Stuff

The meeting went well yesterday and I'm getting more and more excited with a few details. Our team of 8 seems pretty laid back and will hopefully gel well here in the coming days. The format is similar to what I mentioned previously...a short program at 1 school each morning (and whatever else they may want us to participate in...ie-1 day we'll then be leading break-out sessions with the kids in smaller groups) and then a heavier focus on the Creative Arts Academy in the afternoon and evening. All that we teach the students in the Academy will then culminate in a 1 - 1.5 hr concert on Friday night with the intention for the students to perform what they learned (be it song, dance, drama, etc.) in an effort to reach out and minister to parents and the community at large. Apparently this is a pretty big deal in Ballymena, b/c last year they had around 200-300 people show up without a great deal of advertisement (it's been a meeting of both Protestant and Catholics...even the mayor came).
Our team is only 8 strong which works well for Hillside Community this year as their congregation is taking over more and more of the ministry. We've got a drummer, guitarists, singers, visual artists, teachers, dance instructors, drama, etc, and a huge demand of students this year (can someone say David and Goliath?...but a must to keep reminding ourselves that the battle is the Lord's). We'll be coming alongside Hillside on their worship team on Sundays (by the way, there are 2 morning services and 1 night service on Sunday!) as well as in Kids Zone (ie-Sunday School for the kids of the church and community). Then during the week, we'll be taking our cues from Hillside in the schools and with the Academy.

Lots of music for me during this week :)...we've been told to prep around 15 praise and worship songs to play over the course of the week...on Sundays and in the schools, and also a couple cover songs to teach the kids in the Academy at nights (in the past they've done anything from Coldplay to U2 to Switchfoot, etc)...fun!

We'll also have a chance to see a few things in the area. Steve has said if we're not doing ministry, we're going to be trying to see something. Anything from the Giant's Causeway, to touring in Belfast, to seeing the amazing landscape, to visiting historic pubs and restaurants (and I'm sure I'm leaving out a few things). One restaurant we'll got to is very old and historic...that C.S. Lewis and J.R.R Tolkien used to meet up in. Another is a pub that was built in the 1600's that apparently has "jam sessions" where locals will bring in their instruments...we'll definitely be taking guitars to see what they can teach us!

Whew...I am typed out for now...so much stuff!

Goals and Training

Well...great excitement...the financial goal has been hit (and then some), so anything over that goes to the general fund and team members who may need $ toward their goal. Praise God and thank you for your financial support...yall are AWESOME! Thank you for being faithful to God's call to give! The battle continues on our knees!

A couple months ago, a good friend of mine asked me to join her and a couple other buddies in training for the Music City 1/2 Marathon at the end of April. While I've got an out of town wedding to go to the day of the marathon, I decided to at least give training a shot. I've never really been an athletic person - I do exercise, but mostly out of need. It has been an interesting journey to push myself. I've really started to gain a new appreciation for all of the Biblical references of running a race. A lot of the battle is mental - realizing that I won't explode if I take one more step, or keep on jogging up a big hill or even as I learn to deal with being "the caboose" of our little running troop, etc. You really start to learn a lot about yourself when you push your body beyond what you mentally think you can handle. When you realize you do have the capacity to do more than you thought, it can lead you to want to do more. Yes, it takes a lot of practice...I'm usually up around 5:00 am during the week to give myself that time to practice (and it's a great time to ponder life too). A lot of the improvement is gained in the day to day sticking at it. Now apply any of it to a spiritual level, and there's interesting lessons to learn. I love it how He can teach us through the most common, day to day stuff we do if we just open ourselves up to it. God really is a "chatter box" at times - I love that.
Off to hit the warm showers...heh - that's always a nice thing to look forward to after running around in the snow like we've got today!
Cheers!

F-l-e-x-i-b-l-e

Hey folks, here's a quick post before I head off for work...more this weekend. This is an excerpt from an email received from the pastor leading the trip:

"saturday is best for our meeting, especially in light of the phone conversation i just had with folks in ballymena! plans have been slightly rearranged..any suprises?..we will be in one school each morning..and will be focusing alot of attention on the elementary group from 3:45 to 5:15 each afternoon with songs, dance, art. we will then do music, art, drama with the high school age in the evenings. they have sent me the songs for us to do in the afternoons, and the songs have dance moves with them!
get this..it looks like one assembly will be at st. patrick's high school, the flagship high school for all saints cathedral...we will be taking this assembly with father paul symonds and the high kirk presbyterian youth director jeremy _____...this is monumental!!!! how do you spell ballymena?.... f-l-e-x-i-b-l-e!!!!!!!!!!"

So as you can see, the team has our 1 and only meeting this Saturday @ 4:00 where we'll be trying to plan out a bit of what the week may (or may not :) ) end up looking like.

Please be praying for some soft hearts and open "heart eyes" among the kids over there. I do remember that the first time I went many of them thought that since they were going to a church or had gone to a church at some point in time that they were ok (sound familiar?). More to come later, but pray for Christ to invade in their lives. Praying that for them and for all of you!

Sidenote: I clicked over to some celtic music on my ipod yesterday...can we say I'm getting excited?!? :)

The Grinch and Tall Horses

I love it how God can be so quick to shed some light on prayers and further prove that yall are on your knees regardless of knowledge of prayer requests. At the time I'm typing, I haven't even told people about this blog, let alone the entry on 2/12 which contains prayer requests. I just got a great lesson in adequacy this morning - something finally clicked.
In my study time this morning, the phrase "the battle is not yours, it's His; the victory is not yours, it's His" stuck out like a sore thumb. (Yes, God, I'm tracking with You on this one). Then shortly after I got to work, I was instant messaging a co-worker discussing Valentine's day. She told me how she had written some extra-special cards for her daughter's nursery-mates for V-day. I told her for me it felt like a normal day and I wasn't planning on doing anything special. She replied that she wished she'd had a chance to pull cards together for all her friends to make sure that kind of thought pattern (ie-just another day) didn't happen. It was then that God gave me some application to the point from my Bible study earlier and "a Grinch moment".
1) First the Grinch moment: Yes, you can say my heart grew a few sizes larger earlier today when I really started to consider the meaning past the commercialism of it all. I am quite single, but this is no reason to stick my head in the sand and pretend like I don't have a plethora of folks that I love and love me. That's one of my tactics though when there's potential hurt - just pretend like it doesn't exist and maybe it'll go away. But in doing that, I also closed myself off from appreciating all the people that are in my life and the good of Valentine's day. (Be gone whiney, single alter-ego!).
2) Now the realization: When my co-worker said she wished she'd gotten her friends a card so they wouldn't feel that way, the light went on. My heart change (aka Grinch moment) didn't come because she did or didn't get me a card (although it would have been very appreciated, touching and encouraging-don't get me wrong on that). Yes, God used her in an object lesson, but ultimately, it wasn't her causing lasting change - it was God working on my heart through our discussion. Now - apply that to Ireland and musical-adequacy prayer request on 2/12. Nothing I can do musically (or anything else for that matter) is going to change someone's heart. "Helloo, McCurry (yes, I am speaking to myself here)...you have been victim to the enemy's attack via your pride, so c'mon down of that high horse and show that the battle and the victory are His. Sure, play your best as you play your heart out on that guitar with those kids, but your ability can't effect heart change for good or for bad."

God may or may not involve me in His turning on of someone's heart light (Neil Diamond, anyone?), so I need to realize when I'm being attacked by Satan and be careful to keep any hints of pride in check!

Ability and adequacy

Here we go, kiddies. Ireland is just around the corner, although it still seems far away. It hasn't sunk in that we'll be on a Europe-bound plane in under 2 weeks! (just had a reality wave hit me full on...maybe it just started to sink in a little!).
A little request for personal prayer for the moment. I've been struggling with feeling adequate for the Creative Academy, and I'm pretty sure Satan has been using that to his advantage to lay out a spiritual attack on me. When I say adequate, I mean from a musical standpoint. I can hold my own alright with a guitar and singing, but the fear comes when I realize that I'll have to be teaching these kids about things I still feel like a novice @ myself. I was encouraged to hear from a friend @ church who went last year, that it will actually be less technical than what I'm painting in my head...but the doubts are still there. Also good to know I won't be alone (other musicians going and already there). So if yall could be in prayer for that, I'd really appreciate it.
On an exciting note (and scary too :) ), Steve (pastor leading this) got word that there is almost too much demand for the Creative Academy...so we'll be busting @ the seams, it sounds like! Wow!
Keep checking back here - I'm going to try and be pretty regular about posting over the coming days and hopefully while I'm actually on the trip!
Thanks to all for your support and prayers!!