Being back at Greenville has been one of the most natural things in the world. I walk around the campus and feel like I never left. It's like I never went away for three months.
Memories of home still fresh in my mind though, I of course miss my friends and family at home. And I'm not forgetting the precious things I've experienced this Summer. But I was pleased to see how easily Greenville could be home again, too.
Yesterday was absolutely fantastic. We had Vespers practice at 9 am... I was awake long before and ready. Well now. This practice was the absolute longest practice I've ever undergone. Besides lunch and dinner... we were at Whitlock "practicing" until about 8 pm. Everything that could have gone wrong, doggone went. The mixer even blew up at us and stopped working altogether. So the fellas went off and grabbed another one and we redid everything. All the channels, all the mixes and all the fancy stuff we had already fooled around with for quite some time. Eventually, our fearless sound guys Ben and Jared made it happen.
What was awesome to me was how the team gelled. This team was made up of the Vespers leaders, not my individual team. So the team was made up of Zach, Mitch, Jake, Chris; the four leaders. And then I got to step in and be the Girl, and Bob played bass. We stuck together so well in the midst of all the mishaps of the longest day ever. And God blessed Vespers last night to the point that every struggle in a song became the most solid and powerful, and every uncertainty in lyrics became like the back of our hands. There was a freedom in the worship last night that made us crazy high as a worship team, and as a worshipping people. It's like you just have a know... just go with it, don't think about it. The Spirit is moving, and you're in the wake of it. Every song... the new students were practically singing louder than the band through the system. It was completely incredible, and astounding. We were speechless and entirely humbled and mad excited and so swept with the exhilaration from the night.
There were countless times the Spirit just swept through like a thickness in the room that would just take over. Vocals were not a concern. Correct musically wasn't an issue. There comes a point, as a leader in worship, where you know now is the time you can let go, because the Spirit is moving, and is inhabiting our worship, and receiving our worship. He brings us the worship. And He sustains us when we worship. There is no fear. There is complete abandon and the most out of this world freedom to completely lose it in the liberty that washes through us.
There is such mystery to worship... I'll never understand it. Why does God take over in us when we're singing or playing and allow us to hit notes we didn't practice, and drum fills that are beyond us? Why does He cause us to be beyond what we are? Why does He make better music through us than we could do on our own? Even after 9 freaking hours of preparation?
We prepared the best way we knew how yesterday. We had never played altogether. In fact I just officially met two of our guys yesterday. There was some cohesion to be reached. But the way it molded together last night for the first Vespers of the year, for New Student Orientation, I think we were all oriented with the Holy Spirit in a new and moving way that took our breath away, and took away natural ability. Our team was completely together, and gelling. Communication was awesome... when my keyboard wasn't working even though I worked so hard on those darn leads... Lucas coming down from the soundboard and writing on a white piece of paper with a pink highlighter (next time use a sharpie...) and standing in the front row trying to communicate with me while I'm about to lead Desert Song with no sound in the keys... even that was perfect. It all worked out. It was awesome. And the keys came on just in time after the first chorus. Hah... point to be made.... the band followed and kept it smooth and flowing.
I have to say that I often get frustrated with a keyboard in front of me. Don't misunderstand. I play the piano everyday, and go through painful withdrawal when I am without one. But I also don't view myself as the greatest musician, and would often rather just be singing, and have my hands free to worship through raising my hands. There are times I feel like flipping the keyboard and grabbing the mic off my stand and running away with it. In righteous fury of course:) However, last night was a very different story. I had never experienced such freedom in worship while standing behind a keyboard, with my fingers over the keys.
My conclusion is this: There is no thing like the Holy Spirit. There is no freedom like the Freedom He gives. There is no ability like the Things He enables us to do. There is no song like the Song He causes us to sing. There is no spirit like the Holy Spirit.
I'm overwhelmed with excitement of what God is going to do through Vespers this year at Greenville College. I don't think there is a way we could be prepared. But I think we can be expectant. And I think we are. It's gonna be Good.
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