My friend Danielle and I went to see the classic Broadway hit, Les Miserables. It was the most breathtakingly beautiful musical I've ever seen. I can definitely see why it has been around for 25 years and probably will be for another. At least it should be as far as I'm concerned. The storyline is so moving. It involves sacrifice, love, and a beautiful story of forgiveness and redemption. Every character has a story of redemption whether good or bad. The music in it is simply amazing. It moved me to tears. The Christian theme shined throughout the whole musical. They didn't leave that out. The book it's based on is heavily themed with Christianity so I appreciated that they left that in there. Two of my favorite songs are prayers to the Lord. I cannot say enough about this musical and could talk about it for hours but I'll spare you all the details and just tell you if you have a chance to go see this musical, do not hesitate in buying tickets. It's on DVD as well so go rent it if it's not playing near you. Here's a video clip of one of my favorite songs.
On Wednesday I had the opportunity to go to a Lifeway songwriters meeting. They have these meetings once a month when all the staff writers come together and pray with eachother and share music they've been working on. The Lord works in mysterious ways. The devotion was just what I needed to hear and everyone shared what the Lord was doing in their lives. How could they have known I needed to hear that? They didn't but the Lord did. Oh I love Him so. They prayed for me and it was exactly what I needed. I'm so grateful to have been a part of that even if I never get to go to another meeting. However, I am hoping that I get to go to more. :) It was encouraging and inspiring being in a room of writers. To listen to what they are writing inspires me to write more and get better at my craft so I can one day share songs with them. I pray it's a taste of what is yet to come.
Thursday was one of the coolest experiences I've gotten to be a part of since living in Nashville. I had the opportunity to be a part of Keith and Kristyn Getty's live recording. They are the most humbling couple. They truly live out what they sing and write. Keith is hilarious and should seriously think of some sort of comedy thing. He had us laughing the whole time. What a time of worship it was. Can't wait to get a copy of the DVD.
Friday I was priveleged to be part of a worship leader conference. Worship leaders from all over the country come together and learn from folks in the industry and get to participate in classes about all sorts of topics. The ones I went to were on finding inspirations for songs and a class on co-writing. The first was taught by Joel Lindsey (Orphans of God) and the second was taught by Jason Ingram (writes for Hillsong and Passion). Both were very engaging and gave such good advice on writing. I plan to use lots of methods they spoke on. For the first time in a long time I felt like I could write again. I've never really felt like a writer. I've felt more like a singer. I'm learning though that I do have a gift and I need to tap into it more. I also had one of my songs critiqued by an industry professional and he had so many encouraging things to say about it and actually kept the CD and said he wanted to be able to say he had the original copy before it became big. :) What a sweet thing to say. He had no idea I needed that kind of encouragement at this point in my life. The Lord did.
The ending to this whirlwind of a week was watching my baby sister graduate college. She's not a baby anymore, I'm aware of this. To me though, she's still the little girl I hid in the hallway with when we were supposed to be in bed so we could watch tv. The little girl who looked up to me and watched every move I made. The little girl who needed her big sister around. This little girl is now one of my best friends and has grown to not need me so much anymore. This is the way things go. We used to fight all the time growing up. So much that one time I threatened to go live with my grandparents. I'm so glad I didn't. I would've missed out on helping her get ready for all her school dances and watching her play the lead in the school musical and the countless volleyball games throughout her high school career. She was the reason I didn't move to Nashville when I was 19. I didn't want to miss those precious last years of her growing up to be the woman she is today. I wouldn't have traded anything for those years, not even the chance to write songs. She means much more to me than any song I could write. Watching her walk across that stage last weekend was one of the proudest moments. Now she's on her own with a grown up job, her own apartment, paying her own bills and everything else that comes along with being an adult. The tables have turned from her looking up to me to me looking up to her. She teaches me so much and I think she's more of the big sister than the little sister. Watching her accomplish her goals has made me want to accomplish mine even more. She doesn't know this but she has inspired me to continue writing. Everything else last week was awesome but her graduating college was the icing on my inspiration cake. I want her to be just as proud of me as I am of her so I will continue to write. I will continue to seek the Lord and what He wants for my life. Thanks for the music sister.
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