November Update Letter

I can’t believe it’s already November! My time here is already flying by so fast! Every day seems to go so fast, followed by weeks and months! I think it’s a combination of being super busy and loving what I do. I pray your Fall is beautiful and restful as the crazy holiday season approaches.
Well as many of you have asked me, “What do you do?” let me run through an average week for me at work… though the greatest thing about my position is that it is anything but scheduled and consistent, every day is different!
Early in the week my team prepares for our high school/junior high band practices and high school/junior high school choir practices which are every Monday and Tuesday afternoon. There are four of us on the student music ministry team, and usually one of us plays with each of our student bands on the weekends. We have four services for both junior high and high school at consecutive times during the weekends, which means we have two bands playing for one weekend. I also run both of our student choir practices weekly, which is a huge growing process for me. I prepare lessons and activities for both choirs, and we have seen a lot of growth in their voices in the past couple months! Saddleback has never had a musician that solely focused on student vocals, and this has become a large part of my role here because of my gifting and the needs here. Another portion of my week is spent doing computer and administration work for our weekend programs, but the best part of my week is simply loving on students! Whether it’s the ten girls from my small group, or one of the hundred kids in our music ministry, there are always students around and it’s hard not to love them. Our music team has also been given responsibility for a new service that started in September, geared for the 20’s and 30’s age range. This is such a cool service to be a part of and to be refreshed by weekly. I am learning tons with the two seminary classes I am taking, as my professors strive to have our knowledge of Theology affect and strengthen our personal relationship with God, and I have already applied much of what I am learning in class into our ministry. The Lord is continuing to teach me time management of spending time with him, my community with friends and students, and working in ministry. I feel I have a healthy balance right now, but ask that you continue to pray that I do not over extend myself in any one area. I also ask for prayer that my team will continue to grow closer, with a solid foundation on the Rock, always relying on His will and His strength to accomplish all on our plate.
I look forward to seeing many of you when I come home to visit for the holidays! Since my time home for Thanksgiving will be short, my parents and I have decided to have an open-house, dessert/coffee evening, at our home on Tuesday, November 25th from 6:30pm-9pm. I would love to see as many of you there as our house can fit! If you can’t make it, don’t worry, we will probably do the same sort of thing when I am home for Christmas. My parent’s address is 915 E Kings Deer Pt., Monument, 80132. Love you all!