Ah! The fabulous days of summer are upon us again! If you have been at Council Road very long at all, you know that all things for kids and youth are geared up and ready to happen. From a popsicle fest to the really big Magnified Vacation Bible School and Kidventure week for kids, to Super Summer and Falls Creek for Youth, our focus is on making great things happen in ministry for these age groups.
Over the last few months, our church has gone through a transition of unifying our worship. The goal has been to create more unity within our church body by worshipping with the same music during both Sunday services! It has been beautiful to witness our church come together and find its own unique expression of musical worship.
When Eric first asked me to help record “We Praise Your Name,” I had no idea how much work had and would go into creating this song. Eric originally sent me a rough draft of the song to practice with before we went to the recording studio. Once we got there, we ran through the song 10+ times to make sure we got the right sound, harmony, and fit. After that, I got to see Eric and the recording studio owner interact and mix the song in lots of different ways. It was so cool to see how many decisions went into making the choice on which to use. There were even some lyric changes that were made by Eric to better fit what the song was supposed to portray.
Late last summer, Eric Wall asked my husband, Dave, and me if we would be part of playing on a recording of “We Praise Your Name,” a brand new song he had written for this year’s Easter season. Dave was all in, but I was hesitant as I was still healing from a shattered wrist and had not played my flute in eight months. I had never played on any kind of professional studio recording, so instant doubts flooded my mind.
Naming an album that’s going to be published on all streaming services and will last for years to come can be overwhelming. Should the title be based on a theme? Our church name? History? Our Worship Minister, Eric Wall, revealed his decision to our arts team: “Council Road Worship, Vol. 1”. Don’t worry, I asked him why!
Every year CRBC has a Missions Season to focus our attention on what God is doing here and around the world in Missions. This year our Missions Season is April 17-June 1, 2025. We chose our theme verse Romans 10:15, “And how can anyone preach unless they are sent? As it is written: “How beautiful are the feet of those who bring good news!” When Paul wrote this verse, the good news was beginning to spread to the Gentiles (Romans 10:11). Since then, the good news has spread, but there are still people who have never heard.
My two-year-old daughter Zara was recently gifted some beautiful necklaces that she treasures dearly. I say beautiful – and I guess they are to her – but they are cheap plastic beads strung together and look like Mardi-gras décor. They are quite a treasure indeed. When Zara isn’t proudly wearing them or slinging them around the house, she stores them in a place of honor by hanging them on her “jewelry box” hook. Said hook also happens to double as a handlebar to my range stove. Even if the handlebar can work as a jewelry hook, that isn’t quite its intended purpose.
I have two absolutely beyond adorable granddaughters who live in another state. Last week, their mother sent me a video of them singing to me the much beloved Happy Birthday song. As I was relishing in their bed head cuteness, they followed the familiar lines with a verse that repeated the phrase, “How old are you now?” Since the answer to their question is higher than one of them can even count (and is still quite shocking to me!), I had to choose to not allow the question to momentarily dampen the celebratory vibe of the song.
