Purdue for the Holidays

I had heard the Purdue Glee Club several years ago, an energetic powerhouse of a male choir that presented one of the most engaging musical shows I'd ever seen. So when Joan Maxwell told us the church's Evergreen group was going to Purdue for their annual Christmas show, I told Evelyn, "Let's go!"
I could have only imagined what a wonderful program it would be. Today was the day. We left the church about 7:30 a.m. for the three-hours-plus drive to Lafayette, which gave us plenty of time to go to the restroom after we arrived and be at the doors when they opened at 11:30.
As soon as we entered the theater, we were serenaded by Christmas classics played in an upbeat style by a versatile theater organ. Then came time for the show. The first half--about an hour--was a tour de force of singing and dancing by the school's several different choirs in a musical revue that's worthy of Broadway. It's hard to imagine that Purdue doesn't even offer a music major and all these students are volunteers. The act ended with the stage full of all the singers, more than 200 of them, and the arrival of a flying Santa as the finale.
Then came the second act--with all these hundreds of singers arranged in silver robes on risers in a massive choir to sing another hour of sacred Christmas songs. You won't hear a more Jesus-centered, God-honoring program in any church this season. It was thrilling and remarkable.
It's difficult to describe the impact of these always-smiling, moving, performing singers. When they used choreography, it was perfect. When they were moving freely, each singer expressing his own personality, it was engaging. When they stood perfectly still and sang a capella (only once or twice in the whole concert; the rest was accompanied by a top-rate live orchestra), their performance was perfect.
(For a clip of last year's show, go to http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=leXQrGQCWFU, which gives a better idea of the impact of these performers.)
We ate dinner as a group before leaving Lafayette and enjoyed happy conversation with the 51 others on the bus, all the way there and back. It was a great day. And we got home in time for me to report on it here!

 I snapped this picture of the stage as guests were arriving for the noon show today.

Shower of Blessings

Ken and Susan came in yesterday evening so Susan could attend a wedding shower for Jennifer at Christ's Church at Mason today. Just as they arrived, our Internet went out, and I spent an hour on the phone with Cincinnati Bell trying to solve the problem before giving up and yielding to hunger pangs and going to dinner. Finally last night about 11:30, I checked one more time and the Internet popped on. I quickly posted yesterday's blog post, which I had written but not published before the Internet went down. Whew! I thought for a minute there I was going to miss my goal of one post per day.

Ken and I went to lunch with Sam Stone while Gwen joined 15 or 20 other ladies for Jennifer's shower. All reports afterwards were more than positive. Laughter, almost some tears, wonderful gifts, great visiting and catching up--just a foretaste of all the fun we'll have at Jennifer's wedding reception (which somebody reminded me today is NEXT MONTH!). 

"Maybe it's because it was yours," Evelyn said to Jennifer on the way home, "but I think that's the most fun I've had at a shower in a long time."

We piled the gifts on the dining room table so Jennifer could look at them again and show them to me. There's leftover carrot cake in the kitchen, and we're going to enjoy some soon!

Mary Lautzenheiser and Cindi Cooper planned and hosted the shower. What a nice thing they did!

Evelyn, Carol Ray, Joan Maxell, Susan Aulen, and Jennifer let me snap their picture as they arrived for the party.

Mary made the centerpiece, a tower of towels and cloths and other
kitchen necessities, all atop a nifty over-the-sink cutting board
and colander combination thingy.

A Friendly Welcome

Once a month  Evelyn and I stand at the Welcome Center at our church. Joan Maxwell recruits the Welcome Center volunteers and is always there before any of the rest of us on a Sunday morning to make sure things go well.
She is such an encourager of everyone around her—she spends her Sunday mornings hugging, chatting, smiling, laughing. It would be fun to take a count of everyone she greets on a typical Sunday.
We had a lull in the action this morning, and I couldn't resist snapping her and Evelyn and their pretty smiles.

Every so often I play piano during Communion in either our Blended or Classic services. Today was my day to play in the Blended service, and I decided to snap a picture of the worship team leading the Communion song as I waited "backstage" before walking out to the piano on the platform to play meditation music while the emblems were served.