First Baptist Church. Now called Cedar Grove Community Church. My second home. My second family.
My church family is one of the reasons why I still love Livermore - why I’m still so attached to it. It’s still “home” to me.
Growing up in a church... Lots of memories: good, bad, and silly.
Good Memory #1:
It’s an ongoing memory. I’m pretty sure Alicia and I have always been on this stage together.
(That's us! I have no idea how old we were...)
Good Memory #2: (college years)
Rusty and Alicia. They’re involved in most of my favorite and best recent church memories.
One Sunday while singing “oh no, You never let go” Alicia tackled me and wouldn’t let me go. I think that’s something only a best friend could do. We’ve laughed and cried together through many songs and have choreographed others. Our microphone checks tend to be awkward (thank you, Alicia) and more informative than they need to be (again, thank you, Alicia). We also work hard on coordinating our outfits. I know it seems kind of silly, but...it’s really not.
And Rusty’s my favorite. He declared that one evening at rehearsal and it stuck. When everything seems to be going wrong, the last place I want to be is on a stage leading worship. He’s often been the encouragement I’ve needed to be brave up there. And, although he’s kinda old, he’s still super cool and is good at jumping into the conversations Alicia and I have about...everything. He also helps with tricky guitar chords, and for that I’m REALLY thankful! :)
Bad Memory:
Girls play piano. Boys play guitar. I don’t know when this misconception first walked into my life, but I was young enough to believe it. It wasn’t inspired by church, but it played out there for a while. And then something changed. I’m not sure what, but I decided that instruments weren’t gender specific. And, although Eric’s a boy, I think he’s the coolest piano player ever! I honestly don’t remember when he started playing on the team, but I do know it was before I finally picked up a guitar for the first time.
Here’s a good memory from the bad one...when I first started playing in “big church” I always wanted to stand next to Eric. The electric guitar players were intense and a little intimidating. (Which is funny, since now I’m the Princess and am always handing Paul or Rusty my guitar to tune.) Eric was my “safe” musician onstage; he was in charge and always knew what was going on. Or at least I thought he did. :) And that made him a good person to stand next to! Now I still enjoy standing next to the piano, but I don’t panic if I’m further away from it.
Silly Memory #1:
Praise Adonai. But when you’re seven years old, “praise Adonai” sounds a lot like “praise that old guy”. I don’t know when I finally realized that it was “praise Adonai”, but I still laugh every time we sing a song with that phrase in it. I wonder how many other small phrases like that I misunderstood growing up!
And, now that I’m at Moody Bible Institute, I’ve learned what “Adonai” means... It’s the Hebrew word for Lord. I actually knew that before I got here. (In chapel a few days ago, we sang “Praise Adonai” by Paul Wilbur and that actually inspired this whole walk down memory lane...)
Silly Memory #2:
The snakes under the stage aren’t real snakes. I wish this would have been made clear to me when I was younger! The stage is once again a safe place to rock out on. My fear of snakes has grown considerably since elementary school. I think traveling around west Africa had some influence on that. Alicia and I actually named the stage snakes...Albert and Bertha. It’s lame, we know, but it makes them sound less intimidating! I mean, who wants to play guitar when there are snakes just a few feet below? I certainly do not.
Oh. And it gets even better! I’m dating a guy that also grew up at Cedar Grove. I love how curious and nosy my church family instantly became! And then overly protective. The worship team ties into this because most of them knew. Before I did, I think. At least Tom did. :) The Sunday after I was “pinned” with Robert’s fraternity pin, I put it on my guitar strap so I had it with me. It was a very fun morning of sharing the news with everyone!
All that said... I love and miss my wonderful worship team peeps and my wonderful Cedar Grove family!
No comments:
Post a Comment