More "firsts"....

It is fun to think that even after 8 months of touring with these children that I still have the lucky privelage of experiencing "firsts" with them. Firsts for everything defined the start of tour- watching their faces laugh and tears of happiness come from the simple push on a swing, seeing their shocked faces at the idea of a washer and dryer (and hearing their confident statements that they can hand wash their clothes better!), seeing them marvel at a McDonald's playplace, watching them trying to eat spoonfuls of jam when they realized how sweet it was, or calling bacon "piglet" at the first taste...

Sometime later after travelling through many states and staying with so many different kinds of people on different walks of lives and in an aray of neighbourhoods and homes the pattern and routine of tour life has become comfortably familiar. Last night the church we were hosted by took us all out to mini golf and pizza. I can still think back and remember the children's first taste of pizza even in their first week in America- and how that was once a newly special treat of an outing! But last night mini golf was definately a first for most and I had a blast! Sometimes I wonder if I get more joy watching the children or if they get more joy from playing.

I got to mini golf with Hannington, Christopher, and Gilbert Big. Hanny and Christopher are two of our youngest boys and they were delighted to be playing with "their friend!". Gilbert Big, one of the oldest boys in the choir- and one whose facial expressions and sayings crack me up acted as a fatherly coach to the mini golf session. I watched as Gilbert methodically calculated how to gently tap the ball into the hole as Hanny and Christopher looked like they were playing a game of curling with the mini putter, and cheering the most when the ball jumped the rocks and they had to fish it out of the little ponds. Christopher's hole in one was definately one of the game highlights as he came running and screaming into my arms. And then I laughed as Gilbert Big coached the boys to "come on, putt gently boy!"

That was our last stop in Georgia as now we've moved on to Tenassee. Georgia caught me by suprise with its beauty- rolling hills and green everywhere! Our first stop in Tenassee was in Signal Point- the church the children sang at sat right at the top of a moutain, and the day after the concert our host drove me and the boys to the lookout point off the mountain- I've attached some pictures, although I wish I could've taken a shot which would have captured the panoramic beauty of it!

Enjoy the pics- I must sign off now for the night. We have just stayed all together at a missions house- I love staying alltogether and having the chance to stay up and talk with friends from the team, but it means I am feeling tired tonight! I also have 8 of the girls from the choir at the host home tonight, and I am sure that has added just a littled to the tired feeling:)

Do I always start with food?

I was just about to start my blog for you today with describing how delicious the cilantro hummus is on my sandwich, when I stopped to wonder if starting off my letters, e-mails, updates, and blogs to you with how great something is tasting is becoming a common trend. My last support letter definately began with describing how tasty my cinnamon crunch bagel was, and I am beginning to fear that my personal e-mails start with something along the lines of "wish you were here to enjoy this chai " or "just writing over a great lunch", or option 3 " I love starbucks and wish you were here too, love you bye!" Even as I write to you now, there's a break between every sentence for a bite of bread! Oh dear. It's really just because coffee shops are the kinds of places I find most relaxing to sit and write and read for a day off, but I have to laugh at what has surely become a common thread. If you were to go back and look over your letters from me I'm sure I would find it very emberassing. I will have to switch locations before writing my next support letter- my last one was definately written at Panera bread too!

Tour has reminded me of many things- the simple joys that come from childhood pleasures, that time always goes by too fast when you are enjoying yourself, you need to make time to take care of yourself, how to accept generosity, what it means to be a servant, simplest things are the best, and many other life lessons as I continue to grasp for wisdom in parenting beyond my years. One of the other things tour is a continual reminder of for me is how fragile life is to change. One day I thought I knew where I would be travelling for the next couple months, and the following week I was in Canada and then Nashville recording with country artists I love. Today we're in Georgia, and on Friday we'll be in Tenessee! Just last week we had a team of 9, and beginning this past week we are now a team of 8 as our tour leader Andrew left to return home to be with his family, and be a support to his father who is sick.

Life is a beautiful pattern of being blessed with time to know people and form deep roots in your relationships, and then at sometime say goodbye from your everyday with them and move on to the next place and people you are being called to. I worked at a summer camp for years, and those proved to be some of the best years of my life. I left with 3 of the closest friends I'd made scattered over several provinces and left with a hard transition back into school after saying goodbye. But then if I hadn't said goodbye to that chapter of my life I wouldn't have made the friends I did in Ottawa, in University, or now- here. I guess the other part of life's pattern is bitter sweet in its beauty. The hard part is the goodbyes after becoming so close, but the beautiful part is that for those precious close friendships the depth of the relationship is unchanged by the changing distance between you. Andrew was a wonderful leader for our team- very hardworking, gave great spiritual insight, and was always someone to laugh with. Last week our entire team stayed together at a missions house supported by the church. It was perfect to be together to just be in each others company before he left, and the kids were excited to have a party together for him- recapping memories of their time with Uncle Andrew in Uganda and with lots of dancing and goodies later on.

So now Lindsey has taken over as our tour leader, Angela doing speeches for shows, myself now doing media interviews for the news and t.v, and with Steve on vacation Rachel is driving the bus and doing the sound for shows...and helping Lindsey with her admin roles! It is amazing how this team each has their individual strengths, but talents that can cover for others as well- I guess that's what makes a great team!

Pay it forward

Last week I enjoyed the most ideal day off. One of the church members found out a group of us had the day off he offered his kyak and got a canoes to us from a friend to take out on the lake for the day. Do you know the song "Be still and know that I am God?" I always sung it in Sunday school- and it came to mind as we enjoyed the warmth of the sun beating down on us as we paddled. There are few moments I can recall where I have felt a complete and true sense of peace and stillness- but for that whole day I did.

This week for my day off a lady whom I didn't even know from the church we were staying at offered to drive Angela, myself, and Patrick to do our errands when she found that some of us had the day off. She hurried through cleaning up after making all the of the children lunch to run us to Walmart, and then when we asked if we could swing by Starbucks on the way home she offered it as her treat to us. I turned to Ang as she dropped us of and wondered out loud if I would have done something like that for somebody in my situation- I can only hope that I would be so intentional in being sensitive to the needs of someone else and generous to help them. I don't know if before tour I would have the foresight to be so intentional in how I could bless others, but Angela reminded me in our conversation that now after tour I have the hindsight to someday be the person who can look for ways to bless someone else.

That's one of the things that I look forward to. I have learned and experienced that it is not easy to always be on the receiving end of being blessed- it is so easy for me to feel guilty when I accept someone wanting to go out of their way... or on the other extreme I believe we can become complacent to the spirit of giving and thus loose a spirit of genuine thanks. It is a very humbling position I'm in to always be the one who is served, cared for, and thanked and praised. Humbled I am indeed when there is no real way to repay those that bless me daily, but to just think that someday in the future I will be able to pay it forward. I have certainly come to learn a lot more about how to be thoughtful in my intentions- and I think it's one of the greatest things I've gleaned from tour.

Even in Washington when the venue we were singing at found out the children had the afternoon free they quickly got together 4 large taxi vans to take us to the national zoo! After such a busy schedule of rehearsals and long days of travel the afternoon out in the sun for hours watching the animals with 26 excited children was the perfect way to end my time with them.

Still working on catching you up...

Let's go back a couple weeks together...

After Nashville4Africa I had a plane ticket booked for me to continue on with 31 as they travelled to Washington D.C to sing for World Malaria Day. We took a very early morning flight to arrive at a very ritzy hotel called the Topaz. Couldn't resist trying on the zebra and cheetah print robes availabe for a purchase of $150 dollars with the girls that were in our room! That evening we went for a soundcheck at the venue before dinner. Now, I should just come out and say it right now...

I didn't meet the Obamas.

I didn't ask about their dog.

I didn't meet former president Bush.

And I didn't meet the Clintons.

I was told they would be there, and so excitedly I told all of you! And then in talking to some of your parents and friends you've told them that I would be meeting Obama myself! I've had to then explain that apparently they were invited to come, but were never actually there. So sorry to those of you who passed on what we thought would have been very exciting news from my time in Washington! The event wasn't as large as I'd expected, but it still added to a lot of exposure for the choir and our work which is exciting. A let down from thinking I was meeting the president yes- but not a let down if those who came that day for conferences and lectures were moved and felt the hope of Africa through song.

It was interesting to me- I feel as though in the past couple weeks I have heard a lot of promises and goals being made. In Nashville one of the artists spoke that it was their goal that there would be no more poverty by the year 2015. At world Malaria day the speakers that I was able to hear confidently spoke for an end to malaria by 2015 as well. I must admit my skepticism to you- it is such a high goal on a timeline whose goalpoint lies only 6 years away. But then again I think of a quote I read somewhere: "Our fear in life is not aiming too high and not acheiving our mark, but setting our mark too low and acheiving it."

I have learned from this tour that I am not the kind of person who is a visionary leader, but rather I am much more detail oriented by nature, and I must work to put together a bigger picture. I may not have seen the famous faces I boasted about, but I have seen a great deal of visionary leaders in the past couple weeks. The details on such an ambitious goal seem blurry to me and it makes me question whether we could ever get there. But then I have to turn it around and ask myself- is that really the question? Or is it more important to aim our goals high and work hard even if we don't meet them? I think I've come to see at least in doing that our hard work will produce greater progress and efforts even if the goal is not fulfilled. And I think that is the answer I have for now...

Nashville4Africa

My dear friends- I once had this great idea that I would blog every week...well, I am afraid to check on the date of my last entry but I know it has been awhile since I caught you up on where I'm at. This past month has been a whirwind for me- in the past week I've shaken hands with probably 20 celebrities, conducted a choir on 2 songs for a cd recording, taken 7 planes, crossed over to Canada, slept in my bed for one night, saw friends and family for the first time in almost 9 months, and learned and taught 6 new songs to a different choir in 3 days! What a reminder of just how quickly life can change and how flexible your direction, course, and ideas are in it all!

One giant surreal blur of an incredible opportunity and adventure later I am "settled" back with my choir in Georgia and surrounded by the familiar faces of my team and smiles and relationships with my children. A week ago I was in Nashville with choir 31 to help them learn 6 new songs for a large country music benefit called Nashville4 Africa with (for a country music fan) an incredible line up of artists: Big Kenny (save a horse ride a cowboy anyone?), Damien Horne (an artist who has done a lot of work forming partnerships with the Sudan), Keith Urban (who we opened with!), Faith Hill, Dierks Bentley, Brad Arnold, Ashley Cleveland, and the SteelDrivers. I met up with the choir 31 team in Monreal and from there travelled with them to Cambridge ON- I never thought I'd see the day when I cheered for the 401 and took 6 pictures of the Canadian flag- all poor quality taken from the bus window and really not worth posting- but it felt so good to be home! It is funny how just being near home an in a familiar place has such a feeling of comfort attached. Between being in Montreal and Cambridge I ran rehearsals with the kids for probably 10 hours and they learned 6 new songs! I felt so happily relieved by the end of our second rehearsal that everything had come together so well, especially with so many people counting on me for the event. After rehearsals my parents picked me up, and from there I got to see my sister again and my close friends for dinner too.

The best part about it? It felt like it was just the other day since I'd seen them and we were all enjoying dinner together and talking. Nothing felt strange about being surrounded by the people dearest to me from home- it was so natural to all be talking at the dinner table and comfortable and relaxed. What a comforting reminder that distance doesn't change the depths of good relationships. Not even 24 hours later I was back in Cambridge with choir 31 boarding the bus for a 2 day long trip to Nashville. When we finally got there we spent our first day in Oceanway recording studios- a studio set in an old church with such beautiful acoustics! From here on there are so many good stories to tell but I will highlight my favourtie moments. I don't remember a lot of details from the best memories, but how I felt in the moment is what remains...

1. At the recording studio recording with Dierks Bently. I was lucky enough to conduct with his manager for the cd recording. I hope amidst my nervous energy and excitement I did some justice to my conducting classes! My lasting memory is the creative energy of his manager- and his excitement in working with me. In any doubt of why I studied music- that feeling of how the music just stirred something within me when I conducted with him is the answer.

2. Conducting solo our third recording song and having the studio manager come out to the children after the first take- with no words, but a smile and tears. Every hour of rehearsal was completely worth it just for watching how their work and singing could then move someone.

3. Sound checking with Keith Urban for his hit single somebody like you- was I really on the same stage as him just last week?

4. Seeing how genuine Faith Hill is- she had the house band cover one of the chilren's songs from concert. I overheard her saying to her producer "this night is for the kids- it's about the African Childrens Choir- not about me. I'll sing off to the side- but I want the focus to be the kids. I'm not about to try and be the star for a song they've done for 25 years!" She left soundcheck after introducing herself to each of the children and the chaperones. The next day before the show she gave each of the children silver bracelets with the love verse from Corinthians engraved on it, and her daughter (maggie who's 10) donated all her money to the children that she'd been saving for the past year. At intermission she even came to the children's green room just to get more time in to play with them!

I had a lot of fun working with the team of 31, and leading their children in rehearsals. I also left after seeing the influence that fame has on our generation. In a society that idolizes celebrities I can say that I saw first hand the impact someone of such stature and wealth can choose to have on this world. How encouraging to see it be used for the positive!

Blessed.

There are few greater things in life than the simplest of things. Listening to the rain beat on the roof as you sit warmly and safely tucked inside- good conversation-laughing...

That's where I'm at right now. Listening to a good storm as I sit cozy in bed in Florence Alabama- suitcase looking much neater than it did earlier today as I get packed up again to move on to Birmingham tomorrow. I have spent the past three nights with a widowed woman by the name of Carolyn- upon hearing it was my day off today she quickly could not stop laughing in excitement. That is the way that Carolyn approaches everything- something so simple as fixing us breakfast in the morning finds her laughing, driving us to the church for the day, hugging us goodnight- her genuine joy for life has grabbed hold of me and touched me.

Smiling- this morning she pulls herself a cup of coffee and sits down to keep me company as I eat breakfast. She asks me lots of questions about my family, myself, my life- not because she has too fill space or silence, but because she genuinely wants to know me. We continue to talk and she tells me about how she fills her time now that she is retired. Carolyn is a very active woman. She fills her time with being a spokesperson for the Breast cancer society, after battling breast cancer herself and loosing her husband who was terminally ill and whose life was taken by the struggles of cancer. She tells me that she cannot be sad or worried that she is not cancer free, but happy for what it has given her- for the speaker she now is to encourage many, and for the friends she has been blessed with who share a similar story as herself. "It is the only thing to do- to be positive" she tells me happily- "that's all there is to it!" She knows that an attitude like that will serve her well to battle through any struggles, and I can only imagine how many more lives she has touched because of her outlook- beyond the life of her husband and my own.

I leave here now encouraged. It has been so wonderful- if only for a mere couple days to be truly included and feel so apart of her family. Her friends, who knew only of my work with the choir and that I am Canadian fought over who would pay for my lunch, and then when Carolyn found out I needed new concert shoes, she sent her daughter shopping with me tonight to find some. Her daughter bought me new shoes for concerts (whoever is reading this from my team I know you are very happy indeed!) and another just for fun because she "wanted to help me out!"

I just finished reading the book "Eat, Pray, Love" by Elizabeth Gilbert (go read it! It's one of my favourites now. But I will warn you that if you read it you will often find yourself laughing outloud, so I caution reading in public) At the end of the book she concludes by saying that too often we try to excuse the blessings of other people- we try not to take them, that we feel guilty- and instead we should learn to accept and just be so grateful and thankful in moments of blessing." Today these people who had just started to come to know me hugged me at the end of the day- thanking me, asking if they could call me from time to time, telling me that I was inspiring, and hugged me saying they loved me. Those are powerful words. Hosts often tell me that because of what I've done I will indeed be richly blessed at the end of the journey and in the future...the thing is? I already have. Many, many times over- and in trying to heed Elizabeth Gilbert's advice tonight I just want to share with you that I am so thankful.

Looking back...

I know it has been awhile since I've been able to blog- when I've had the time or the days off I haven't had the internet access to write. I've had to pull up my March folder of pictures to jog my memory of all that's happened this past month and what exactly I want to highlight. Sometimes I want to rush ahead too fast- everything seems so exciting and I think ahead to the next great thing before I have even lived in the moment I'm in. Sometimes it is easy to think that April is half over already as I look forward to camp, or that Easter is almost here as I try and plan out teaching new music for the Easter service, with new music for summer festivals to learn, and a vacation to think of planning I find that mentally I've already reached September sometimes and am already wishing for my time with these precious kids. And then I go to write a blog update and need to pull of a folder of pictures to remember March? It's then that I realize that in tour life I am not as good as living in the moment as I ought to be, or as I have been in the past. I should go through memories more often, recount good days more frequently, love them and learn from them, and be excited about looking back- not only in looking ahead.

Over the past couple weeks I've stayed in so many homes and have heard and shared in so many stories of people who have been affected by the hurricanes that swipe out these areas of the deep south. Sometimes it is too easy to be quite honest to judge the family you've met too soon, or wonder if you'll have your own space, bed, and internet. Staying in homes where the families have not been able to get their heating systems restored, where half of their homes are missing, and where the wall to the guestroom is half collapsed and messy can upon first impression seem inconvenient and uncomfortable. It is humbling then to realize that the woman who gave up her bedroom with the half collapsed wall is sleeping on the living room couch for you so that you may have privacy and comfort. That the unfurnished bathroom has proper plumbing again just done in time for your arrival. That the people at the house with no heating yet has 10 children sleeping on the floor so you would be comfortable in a bedroom. I think of myself and how I would react in this kind of situation, and I doubt that if my house wasn't in perfect shape to host that I would- but these people have shamelessy and warmy welcomed me into their homes. It is a humbling experience to realize that I may not have even offered my home in that case in the first place.

I am so thankful to come from a place where hurricanes leave no devestation to my home town. The faith of the people in this area to rebuild with faith for a good standing home is incredible- I have enjoyed seeing the different homes that have been constructed, and hearing the hearts behind the building plans, and the joy in sharing the success of their well standing homes now with me.

Visiting New Orleans was also a big eye opener to the devistation and ruins that Hurricane Katrina left behind. It came as a suprise to me to still see so many areas being rebuilt. The city itself however is still vibrant and exuberant in its culture. I love the big city! Ang, Steve, Patrick and I all took the ferry into the city for the day off. I had only one desire in New Orelans and that was to hear live jazz music- I got to hear so many different street bands and we ate lunch over listening to a group where the lead singer's voice sounded just like Louis Armstrong's himself. To top it off we wandered around the French Quarter and ate a morning snack of french beignets-1/2 doughnut, 1/2 powdered sugar.

Tomorrow night we don't have an evening concert like we usually do on Sundays so we have the afternoon free to spend with our hosts! I am already excited to make homemade hamburgers together and walk down to the local icecream shop that is apparently to die for in the evening. However, I am trying not to get ahead of myself again-being thankful for the rest of this evening and a morning concert and open afternoon still to enjoy.