There is presently playing a wonderful commercial on Fox of assorted folks singing "This Little Light of Mine"....not sure what was being promoted, but I enjoyed hearing and watching it. It has been a goofy day weather-wise in north Florida, starting with sunshine and plenty of wind. While at church, it began to rain and feel incredibly chilly. That feeling and wetness stayed until just before kick-off when it appeared that the sun was attempting to make a come back. On the ride home, I got a phone call from my friend, Gretchen, reporting that she made it safely across the Buckmann Bridge in spite of the rain. She was pretty freaked out about driving in the rain but she was victorious! Unfortunately, in her haste to get home, she missed out on the Cookie and Candy sale after worship...
I, however, did not miss out on the sale, and managed to make myself nearly ill on the ride home, eating some of my purchased goods! Folks brought festive baked goods or seasonal treats which were bought by the pound by people like me. Two frosted sugar cookies and two Special K green wreaths were simply delicious and took the place of breakfast and part of my lunch. Some of the kids had reindeer made with marshmallows which were dipped in chocolate, with mini-pretzels making up the antlers. On a stick! And very cute!
The day began as it normally does on the Lord's Day with preparations for Bible study and worship, only today Good Shepherd was hosting a special song service for worship. The joint choirs of Victory and GS, plus the bell choir from Victory were participating in the service, bringing Advent anthems to the congregation. Before we had our rehearsal, the Bible study folks gathered in the Fellowship Hall to run through a service called The Compline which we will be using on our next midweek Advent service, to help those who have never heard or done it, become familiar. (Some of us who stayed later on Friday at the School of Worship Enrichment participated in this more contemplative close of day worship.) Before long though, it was time to head over to church to rehearse with the other choir members, once the bell choir was done with their run-through.
As quickly as we could, Rachel put us through our paces, practiced the processional and recessional hymns, plus portions of each of the anthems for the service. We had people coming in and out during the practice, not unusual at all but one of our newer members had her rather unruly son sitting in the church with her the entire time. She got fed up and tried to take him out, but he got a grip on Rachel's pants leg as his mom dragged him away....nearly took Rachel with them! Rachel never missed a beat!
At service time the two choirs gathered in the back of the church for our processional and were ready to go, only waiting on Pastor so we could begin. I head the exterior door from the sacristy slam and knew he was on his way. Guess we were just anxious to get underway! The service was lovely with few glitches, the musicians performed admirably including Suzanne and our new member, Sterling, who plays in the Navy band. For one choir number, he played the bassoon, and it was well done. Robbie was our accompanist this week, and next week it will be Rachel's mom, Esther. She has not rehearsed with us so this could prove interesting for all involved.
Normally nothing gets done in the sanctuary until all the members are ushered out, but since it was raining outdoors, more folks clustered in the doorways and entry. The bell choir got busy almost immediately in taking down their tables and pads and packing things away while the live musicians were still playing the post-service music. At one point when folks were just mingling, Robbie and Suzanne began playing "In Christ Alone", and I was singing. Anne H. heard me singing and said, "Let's go and sing...should we?" and off we went. Poor Suzanne and Robbie ended up playing the hymn all the way through yet another time as more and more of the choir members made their way over to the piano, grabbed music and began to sing with us. A flash mob, Good Shepherd-style!!! Carol told me she wanted so badly to come over and sing but was on the opposite side of the church and in conversation with someone, and she did not think it was 'appropriate' to leave that person and come sing with us. BUT, she was singing in her head, and talking, in Carol's words, "multi-tasking", something she never does!
Next Sunday we do this service again at Victory with their wonderful accoustics making our offerings sound so much more full. Justin is staying the night here with me, driving me to Victory, and then from there, to the airport! "In Christ Alone"!!
