Wednesday, 23 May 2007

485-4-65-2-1

The past five days have been some of the best I've had in a long time. I cannot believe how God has blessed me with some amazing friends, wonderful profs at Hope, and a memorable field placement at Holland High School. I put several hundred miles on my car in a very short time and spent more money on this conducting project than I anticipated, but the whole thing was EASILY worth it.

It began with quite a laugh-apparently I missed the memo that I was staying with Ross and drove to Nate's house, only to discover that Nate's entire family was gone either in Coopersville or Holland. After being instructed to find Ross, I found out he was in Holland as well and ended up finishing Blue Like Jazz while standing in the Johnsons' driveway until Nate's mom finally discovered me. Nate finally did arrive back awhile later after I had been let inside, nearly flattened by his dog, and introduced myself a little more thoroughly to his mother. It all turned out well, though-killer grilled burgers at dinner, getting schooled by Nate, Mark, and Ross on the frolf course, some delicious rhubarb pie, and some time in fellowship and prayer with Ross inside his airplane house (no joke, ask him about it). Friday meant my return to Holland High School and the Treble Choir for a final regular rehearsal. I was encouraged by how things went, although I admittedly was a little concerned with how they sounded so close to concert time.

However, I had to direct my attention then to other things back at Hope. I was REALLY encouraged at the meeting with Dr. Randel-she said she really liked what I did with my paper on Felix Mendelssohn between first and second drafts. Ever since botching my research paper in Perspectives in Music, I've been rather unforgiving to myself in writing papers for Music Lit, so to get some really positive feedback made me happy. And of course, it was pleasant to surprise Dr. Richmond too, although I was honestly not surprised to see him in Nykerk.

Round 2 of visits to Marne & Holland might be even more interesting. I knew on Sunday I'd be staying with Nate, but for some reason ended up playing cell phone tag with him, Ross, and Maren trying to figure out where I was supposed to meet anyone, and also discovering I had a burned-out headlight. It led to a quick visit to Mars Hill Church (wow, it's BIG), very chaotic conversation in Ross' car (two guys, three girls, and one cell phone having three simultaneous conversations). We finally reached Nate's house again and were thrown into a frolf game with Mark & Nate-I managed to throw the forehand of a lifetime towards the clothesline and played decently for the remaining round and then proceeded to get smoked in Cutthroat Pool. The best was saved for last, though-Nate and I were up past 1 exchanging testimonies, just catching up on life, and in prayer, but it was worth the missed sleep.

Monday morning meant being up at 7:30 and jumping into Nate's trick shower. I had the luxury of then getting stuck behind a truck on my way to Holland, but luckily I arrived just in time for the dress rehearsal with the Treble Choir. I came back to Marne for the afternoon before the concert and found myself heavily involved in the removal of three shrubs and also got demolished by Nate and later again by Nate & Mark on the frolf course. I'm honestly surprised they didn't completely laugh me back into the house. Happily, they were forgiving to a guy who is horribly out of practice throwing frisbees. Although I was sad to leave before dinner was ready, my hosts were understanding and I actually made it to Holland HS a little too close to concert time than I was comfortable with. Luckily, it was no problem and the concert went like CLOCKWORK. It was a true rush to be actually conducting a choir for real and actually have them following my gestures.

I did all this with the fairly simple intention of just coming back to my field placement and conducting the Treble Choir in concert so we could finish "Danny Boy" together instead of me having to suddenly leave and never come back. It was just a casual mention at the iHOP run to Nate that I wasn't sure how I'd do it all that led to a stay with him and with Ross. But it resulted in a lot of good things: the time I spent again with Mr. Daab and the students was rewarding, I was glad to see Dr. Richmond and Dr. Randel again for a short time, and I was blessed to spend some true quality time with two really good friends out in the sticks in Ottawa County.

I'm happy to be back at home and settled down for awhile, but I've really seen how much teaching music has come to mean to me. And I've seen yet again how much my friends and Brothers in Christ mean to me.

485 Miles of Driving, 4 days, 65 Dollars in Gas, 2 Good Friends, and 1 Choir Concert. All worth it.

Currently Listening Worship Again By Michael W. Smith You Are Holy see related