Wednesday, August 5, 2009

Come Thou Long Expected Jesus

I really apologize for my lack of posting. I am sure you all understand, but still, I have wanted to keep you all updated and informed and aware, but I just haven't been able to. Not to mention I have wanted to keep track of my travels for my own sake. Hopefully this one can bring you up to speed a little bit.
I am still in Hungary at the Summer Institute with the Halo Ensemble. Things are going well but there has been a tension this whole time between the ensemble and the festival. We are technically here as volunteers and our job assignment is to be "dorm parents" but the festival still needs a lot of help in the office and they look to us to get it done. It is great to be needed, but it is terrible when you can't provide the help necessary. As much as they need us to help, we need to be rehearsing. We are giving a concert on our own on Friday and really need to work on the music. So that has been very difficult.
On top of that, personally, if I know I have a move or something else important to do in a week, I start getting anxious to prepare for that thing, so my mind is pretty much already in Finland. So that tension is also present.
As a group a lot has been going on. We played in what's called a Creative Church service and it was a very powerful experience for those participating. It wasn't quite so powerful for me, but it was important in a different way. It was very significant for us as a group and for us to be used by the LORD despite the confusion and lack of preparation. We also learned afterwards that we may have the opportunity to make a cd with a therapist from Austria? Germany? So that is pretty exciting. We just hope it works out that way. We have also as a group had a chance to work privately with this therapist on improvising and worshipping in the Spirit. I personally had a very hard time with this. It brought up a lot of insecurities, but it seemed to be great for the group.
I think that is all I am going to say for now. In general it has been a great trip and again, like MasterWorks, I think I have grown, although not necessarily in ways I can pinpoint.
If you would like to keep me in prayer, I ask for thanksgiving to the LORD for His faithfulness and for prayer for my figurative heart because it seems to be in a couple of different places and I would like for it to return to me. Also pray for rest for me and the group. It is very busy and we are now starting to get very tired.
Thanks for being my friends and for being so wonderful. I do love you all and miss you very much. (Even if I am the only one reading this.)

5 comments:

Marc said...

Hey Heather,
Thanks for posting. You know me I am sort of a blog dork so you I am reading this.
I am not sure what a creative church service is or why you might need a therapist.
I am praying for you right now.

Mimi Collett said...

Thanks for the update, Heather! It is great to read about your experiences. I am sorry about some of the tension in Hungary. I hope it isn't like that in Finland, but it seems like you're learning and growing, so that's great. A CD would be really cool! How wonderful to worship with Christians from all over Europe.

Andrew said...

Just to state the obvious. There are at least 3 people reading this...

Hang in there, and keep praying. We miss you - especially Ollie. He says woof.

The Wibbler said...

Right, I forgot to tell you what a Creative Church service is. It's really just like other church services, but is generally a little more seeker-focused and uses art in very central ways.
Thanks for your support guys!

The Wibbler said...

Golly I miss Ollie, too!