Weekend of Open Windows

What an exciting weekend!

Thursday marks the end of my week, and thus my weekend begins. William and I were able to spend the afternoon with our good friend Jennifer. She's been hitting some rough patches lately, but there is no doubt in my mind that God is going to carry her through (Ben & Jerry help with the process as well). We just relaxed and talked the afternoon away, and now I have a sunburn. But that's okay because there was awesome company involved. Oh how I love my friends!

I can't recall what happened Friday... It must have been amazing if its not logged in my memory unit...

Saturday was my dear friend's birthday. She's been going to school in Canada, needless to say we haven't seen each other very much this last year. Layne was able to fly down here for the weekend to be with us all. Oh, how I can't wait for December to come so that when she comes home I can harass her more readily!

And then Sunday morning was chaotic, but still surprisingly fun. I watch the little ones in the nursery during Sunday service. Usually there are two or four heads rolling around the room, but this day there were at least seven of them. How thankful I am to have help with me in this zoo!! Yes, I'll admit that the babies are often times preciously adorable, but then there are other times when there is nothing I'd enjoy more than steal all their lollipops (moms and dads, don't worry - they don't really get lollipops). But I'm just too nice of a person to commit such a crime. When it was time for mom and dad to rescue them from the animal-festive walls, we turned out the lights and all lay still on the floor. To my recollection, this is the first time turning out the lights has worked on these busy bees. (Note to self: Very successful - attempt longer periods of blackout)

When the last bee was carried away, it was my turn for lunch and then back to work. And let me tell you, my brain just wasn't feeling like going into overdrive after being in the nursery. But once we got back to church with food in my belly, the brain power slowly started turning back up. By the time rehearsal was over my functionality was almost up to 100%.

Prayer meeting had already started by the time we got into the sanctuary. I went with the purpose of praying for our company and our church. Instead I started having a hard time breathing during the service. It has been a long time since the last time this happened, and how greatly I dislike when it does... it feels like lungs are shrinking and air can't get in. But how Great is our God that there is nothing He cannot overpower?! I'm not sure what exactly changed, but things became easier and by the time the meeting was over, breathing was normal again. Our God is good to take care of His children! How thankful I am that He does!

How great is our God

Sing with me how great is our God

And all will see how great,

How great is our God!

A handful of us spent the remainder of the evening in Paneras chatting the time away. We all know how this goes: one thing leads to another until a topic comes up that makes the hours fly by like minutes. And such a subject was brought up. For those of you who don't know, an amazing opportunity has come up for Masquer. It is likely that we will be joining with a European company, Greater European Mission (GEM). Their mission: Disciple all peoples of Europe through rapidly reproducing churches. And that we will be going over during the the 2012 Olympics. How AWESOME of an opportunity to share God's Love for all His children! This is something we are still praying about, and every day we are getting more and more excited for this adventure!

There are things that happen to us every day that we can either scorn or praise our Lord for. There are times when doors are closed so that He can open windows for us. All this weekend, all that I saw were windows opening left and right.

My Reminders

There were a few different times today where it seemed I was told to worry so much about everything, and give myself time to relax. While, to many people, this seems like a grand idea for the self-proclaimed workaholic, I know that this is a weakness for me. There needs to be something what I can be constantly working on, otherwise I fall into this mindset of, "Oh it'll be there tomorrow" or "But that's okay, God's got it all sorted." And with this procrastination nothing ever gets done. Its true, "If it weren't for the last minute panic - nothing would ever get done," but why would I want to give God a scribbled rough draft when there is ample opportunity to give Him a published series?

At the same time there is always the tendency for me to let the hours slip past, forgetting that sustenance (physical and spiritual) is a very important thing in daily life. My friends seem to know when to pull me away from such-and-such project in order treat me to a salon afternoon, or take away my computer so that whats-it-called can be drafted later in exchange for a few hours conversation and burgers. I like to think that when friends intervene during these times it was God that planted the seeds of conspiracy for my greater good.

Yesterday was our first read-thru for Jōb. I'm very excited to see what God has in store for this production. Don't get me wrong, I am absolutely blessed to be a part of this project, yet at the same time there is nothing more I'd like to do than just relax. I realize that this latter part is where Satan just loves to get into my head to say that this, what God wants me to do, isn't important. Quite frankly, and unfortunately, he's very good at making me believe this. For this reason, it has become a habit that I paste my letters of encouragement on my wall where I will see them every day.

This way I reminded of several things:

1. Its okay to take a few moments for myself between tasks
2. What I do does matter, because ultimately it all goes to HIM
3. When things get hard, give it up to God.

Lately this last one has been hard for me. We all know Satan is oh so very good at what he does, and that there are times when, like with Jōb, God allows things to happen (like missing the bus, loosing a job, forgetting to complete the assignment). He allows these terrors so that He can later bless us seven times over. Just while the trials are happening, it becomes so easy not to be able to recognize what is going on and to blame God for the wrong reasons. I'd prefer to blame Him for the right reasons.

Amazing!

Wow... How great is our God? Sing with me how great is our God!! And all will see how great, how great is our God!!!

Its been completely amazing these past three weekends. Despite physical, technical, mental, and spiritual warfare, we were able to pull through some tough moments. And none of us can take the credit for any of that. That was all God! I think He likes to show off His power to remind us to keep humble. We're His tools for whatever He wants to have done. It really makes me smile now that I'm able to look back over the run for Risen, 'cause I feel so silly for those moments of sheer panic or frustration.

With every passing show Masquer produces, there is something new the Lord will just randomly throw into my life as His way (I think) of saying, "Just look at the amazing things I can do. If you can see that I take care of the fields and the valleys, the mountains and the oceans, why can you not realize how much more I shall take care of you?" And then I'm able to relax, let go, and breathe.

I am where my Lord wants me to be. When He decides the time has come to move on to where He might put me to better use for His glory, so be it. But in the mean time... Masquer is my extended family. And as a family, we've done some pretty amazing things with His blessings.

If you weren't able to come to Risen these last few weekends, I strongly urge you to put forth a greater effort to visit a Masquer show in the future. Its not about the donations, or the hanging out with friends, but rather think of it as witnessing God's Power in action. There is no greater humbling and simultaneously uplifting feeling in the world than when you've see His Might.

All of you who visited us or even just sent out a simple prayer our way: thank you. I'd like to encourage you to bring your office mates, friends, family, anyone God impresses on your heart, to bring these people in your everyday lives to a production. Plant the seed of His power so that we will all be dancing together in His presence.

Steady Rain

How I just love the rain! Yes, I said "LOVE" and "RAIN" in the same sentence. There's nothing wrong with that! It was absolutely amazing yesterday being able to sketch notes to the sound of the steady pattering on the roof.

It seems that schoolwork has been putting me a bit on edge lately, guess you could say I've been utterly stressed. So much so in fact, that a fever hit me SSaturday evening. That my body telling me to rest and take a break (but when was the last time I actually did that?). How thankful I was that it was Amanda's turn to watch the younglings in the nursery, but there was no way I was going to miss church or rehearsal on Sunday. Okay, so Sunday school was missed due to the fact I was scolded into taking a nap.

Naptime over, William leads me to the sanctuary where (unfortunately) half the service I was in la-la land, and the rest of the time my brain able to snatch bits of what was going on.

There was a guest speaker (forgive me that I cannot recall her name) who spoke about the phenomenal miracles she'd seen performed in His name, and how we need to just put our faith that God's got us in control. At this, I was nodding to myself thinking of a blessing He's sent me to take care of school-funding and odds 'n ends. And then Pastor started speaking, and yellow papers were passed around. It must have been a good eight minutes before it struck me that these papers a way to help keep us in track for giving Him back what He's blessed to us. With the blessing He granted me, there's something I can do right now! Dang it... my wallet is in the car. Sad day... Oh, William's asking for the pen. Yesh my head hurts.

Next thing I knew, William was leading me out to the car to grab some lunch. At the time, of course I knew exactly what I was talking about because I was just the smartest person in the world! But for the life of me, what brilliant epiphany I had has now escaped me.

And now we're back at church with Panda Express. Stretches happen, and we begin the afternoon. There were a few times when I was asked who was supposed to be at which moment, and I can only imagine there was a dumbfounded look written on my face. [Can I just say that these guys are probably the most patient people in the world!?]

From out of no where, there suddenly came a steady torrent of patterings on the roof. Oh how wonderful that sound is to me! Its like God is washing away all the impurities around us and giving us something to refresh ourselves. It must have been a few minutes before I snapped out of the rain-entranced daze and came back into the moment. Well, my alertness increased substantially. Not to 100%, mind you, but enough to be able to follow that we were doing a run-through while holding down the fast-forward button.

By the time rehearsal was finished, I was aware enough to know my stomach was yelling at me for food. Yay food! I like food. Wahoo's? Sounds delicious! Shouldn't we go to what's left of the prayer-meeting? No, I was told in my state food needed to be pumped into my system, so off we went. And food was delicious! But... thinking back... wouldn't being at the last 5 minutes of prayer have been a better choice? I mean, if God can feed hundreds of villagers with 20 peanut butter & jelly sandwiches and cleanse the earth with a steady rain, how can I even try to justify leaving for dinner?

How blessed am I to have such a graciously forgiving and understanding God on my side?!

Lattice-work Continued

For our work day today, we had a lot of bodies show up to help out (even some not a part of our cast 'cause that's how awesome they are). Yay long-winded sentences! Well,

William and I were running a little late, showed up at the theatre about 10:20 or so, followed by our lovely Cathy. We enter the back room to find many able-bodied helpers ready to get cracking but... There's no director? While William and I are eating our taco bell brunch, we learn that Ian's alarm decided he required more rest, and therefore didn't go off. What's with today's technology? This seems to happen quite often. As we are all sitting around chatting the time away, one of the guys who was playing basketball in the gym announced to us they were leaving. That's our cue to draw the grand drapes! Shortly after the drapes open who should come in but Ian, and his taco brunch? Its going to be a fantastic day!

We started off by putting together our second scaffolding. You know, one of those tall cross-bar contraptions painters and construction workers use for buildings 'n stuff? Yeah, that. Its heavy. Its big. It scares me. I'll stay planted on the stage floor, thanks, and let Ryan and Danny take my place.

And we set off the move the lattice back a whole, what... 6 inches or so, to line up with the traveler. Yes, indeed this task did require the use of all ten bodies present. Two on top of the platform, four of us keeping the bottom steady and upright(ish), two floating bodies to jump in where necessary, and two of the guys to climb the scaffolds. Sure! It was a piece of cake! Thankfully we were able to move the woodwork without any injuries (I know, this makes for a boring story).

So now that we're done with the second scaffolding, time to take it apart. My goodness this is simple with lots of extra people! I don't know how the guys pull this off without so many hands hanging around. And down the bars of metal go to rest on the gymnasium floor. Also away goes one of our helpers to do things in world and leave her mark of awesomeness! You're great, Malinda! ;-)

Now that the lattice has been moved, and the scaffold taken apart, we split up to take on separate tasks of sorting wood, creating a dock, pre-paper setting the platform face, and getting a tetris game ready. The wood sorting, dock-making, and paper-ing was completed before we left. I'm not sure how the tetris game went due to the fact William and I needed to leave early so that he would be able to get to work on time. Guess we'll find out tomorrow how far the game progressed!

A Foot Too Far

Saturday.
In order for me to be able to make it to work day on Saturday, I needed to hitch a ride with Ian. At 7 o'clock in the morning. If you know me, you know that I'm programed to get to bed around 1 or 2 o'clock and automatically get up around 8 or so. So needless to say... 7 am is different. As I was staring at the fridge debating between eggs or cereal, it dawns on me that I have more time than I expected so perhaps I should gather my stuff and just grab something simple on my way out the door. "More time than I expected" apparently wasn't enough. Next thing I knew my phone is ringing from a "Good morning" text - my cue that its time to go. Guess breakfast shall have to be postponed.

We arrived at the theatre about about 7:30. With this half-hour of extra time, Ian (who had much less rest than I did) walks me through the things which need to happen for the day. As he gets to stage left we're staring at last week's beautiful work with the lattice. He walks up next to it, turns to me and says, "It needs to move." Oh yeah... the lattice was further back about a foot or so. At this moment my stomach lets out a grumble so I told it to shush. Knowing all the hard strenuous work the day has waiting for us, Ian tells, rather orders, me to call Sara or Clayton to bring food for me. Hmm... okay!

8 o'clock hits and Ian needs to leave for his meeting. I now have this awesome "To-Do List" and the theatre to myself. For now.

Ear buds in. Ready. Set.
Work!

After a few hours of doing everything possible to the best of my abilities, Clayton walks in with a bag of bananas. (Another note: if you know me, you know I'm not a big fan of most fruit, including bananas.) Yeah food! And oh my goodness! How delicious those bananas were! With renewed energy I lead Clayton through the check-list.

And then we came to the lattice. Oh the lattice...

When Sara and Ryan joined us for the afternoon we all debated different solutions on how to remedy this issue, from building an overhang to disassembling and reassembling. In the mean time the second platform and the steps were worked on so that we could start blocking right away. When our exhausted director joined us again and the boys disclosed their plans of action for the lattice, it was decided we would just leave it be, get a group together, unscrew it from the wall and carefully walk it back to the proper spot next weekend.

To be Continued...

And So It Begins

Yes! The next round to get things in order for our next show is upon us! Yesterday was a hodgepodge of sifting through things. Between needing to get ready for our next show, "Risen", and sorting through a minor part of the inventory, there was no lack of work to be found during yesterday's work party. Sure, there was some down-time when some of us couldn't really do much except keep safe, but there is always something to do! I've been noticing that especially during work days and show nights, there's this sudden attack of pain that overwhelms my body. Sometimes its a migraine, often a throbbing ankle. Whatever this nonsense is, there's no way I'm about to let Satan try and use this to keep me from glorifying my Lord! I may take a longer break than expected... But never fear! Leah shall jump back on board even if she's not supposed to! Yeah... I know, not the best idea in the world. Guess you could say I'm just not a big fan of watching everyone else pull their weight while I lay around doing nothing. But oh my goodness! I'm so proud of this group! So much was pulled together yesterday, I've no doubt God's gonna have us get this up in ready in no time!

Today was a mix of talking through some stuff and awesome fellowship. After lunch, some tables were set up so that we might all be able to gather around and have a run-thru with our hot-off-the-press scripts. This is one of my personal favorite parts of going into the next show: trying to imagine the splendor of what's going to unfold. Of course "Risen" marks my one year anniversary of working with Masquer Ministries (not to mention its also the first show I've done with Masquer), so I guess you might say I'm cheating in that I already know what's happening. Believe it or not, despite the fact we're being reassured that nothing will change, I'm pretty sure there shall be some hidden quirks here and there to throw me off. Guess this is just something I've come to expect as the director's assistant - When you think you know what to expect, expect to be surprised. After our first rehearsal, a group of us got together at Downtown Disney to "initiate" two of our cast members, Christopher Bennett and Joseph Burns. You guys are awesome! Afterwards we were able to chill out and enjoy dinner together.

I love spending time with my Masquer family. They're such an amazing support & prayer team. When someone is excited for something we all rejoice. And when Satan is able to get in and cause one of us pain the rest of us feel it. I'd like to ask that you would keep everyone involved in Masquer in prayer. Not just the cast, but the crew as well. Not every theatre company is as blessed in their supportive Christian-family audience as we have been, and for this I am extremely thankful. God is good all the time!