Gig complete!

Tonight was the night of our first Nashville gig at BCC.

We arrived at the church at 5:00 tonight for a pre-service rehearsal. But, of course, most people were late and rehearsal didn’t actually start til 5:30. Still, we got to run through everything once, so that helped. Gerald and I had taken time to rehearse during the day, so we felt well prepared. But as we ran through things, my mic was still not working! I mean, it may have been working for those in the audience, but I couldn’t hear a thing. Not one single note! Not only is this disorienting when you’re on stage, but it also meant that I couldn’t tell if my harmonies were fitting in with the key of the song. I had complained about this all the night before, and really didn’t want to complain again, but I also didn’t want to be making ugly sounds into the mic. So after rehearsal, I made one more request for my mic to be turned up. I crossed my fingers...

The kids attending the service started to gather around 6:00 for pizza and basketball and just hanging out. Such a great place for them to gather! A few minutes before the service, the music and ministry team gathered for prayer. We then moved backstage where we waited for a music countdown before going on stage. I was so nervous. Singing with a band like this is something I never really do. It’s much more rockstar than my normal kind of music. I felt miles outside my comfort zone. Standing backstage, I took a minute to pray silently, and what I mostly prayed for was to remember that I was not there for the band or the music or the sound. I was there for God. I was there to serve God and to bring His children closer to Him through worship. I prayed that focus would replace nerves, and that everything I did tonight would be in service to Him.

When we got out on stage, our first song was uptempo, and the kids stood up and started singing along right away. That was a great response, and it filled the room with energy. “So Good to Me” is actually a duet, so when we hit my solo verse, I started to sing, and I could actually hear myself! Yay! I sang out, and it felt good. Now that I could hear myself, I felt tonnes more relaxed and the rest of the set went very quickly. I played tambourine, sang harmonies, and even did a nice little ad-lib here and there.

Gerald had a wicked guitar solo coming up on one of the songs. When his time came, I was so excited, I turned around to watch him. But nothing came out of his guitar! Now that my mic was working, his wasn’t! That gorgeous solo was lost in the barrage of sound! Arg! They hooked him back up for the rest of the set, but it was disappointing that no one got to hear his solo in the service.

After the service, we said our thank-yous and headed out. The night before, we had seen a house with lots of Christmas lights in the distance. Since it was dark now, we decided we would drive around to try and find this mystery house... but you would not believe what we found!

Mom, get ready for this: We found a small little street where each and every house was completely covered in Christmas lights! I don’t mean a few wreaths in the windows and a string of lights in the bushes, I mean all-out-North-Pole-freaking-Christmas-lights! I don’t know if they have a local Christmas lights competition or what, but this was truly and wonderfully insane!

Each and every house on the street was all lit up from lawn to chimney. There were wreaths, Santas, candy canes and gingerbread. One lawn had a vintage near-life-sized Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs. One had lights in the shape of a family ice-skating, and another shaped like a carousel. There was a huge arch with elves welcoming us to the North Pole. There were more elves throwing presents into Santa’s sack. There was Christmas music being piped into the air. There were several nativities, but the best one was all white, and larger than life! And the piece de resistance: One lawn even had a real live Santa who would greet you and give you candy canes! Seriously! They had Santa on their lawn!!!

It was so awesome! I didn’t have my camera with me, so we’re going to go back another night and try to get some photos. I only hope Santa is still there!

For people who don’t get snow, these Southerners certainly know how to do Christmas!