The Joy of Singing

This past weekend, Josh and I sang in the Colorado Springs Chorale's "Deck the Hall" concert. We performed at the Pikes Peak Center in downtown Colorado Springs. It was such a good turnout and a wonderfully fun concert. A bell choir from a nearby city joined us as well; their performance was so amazing and interesting to watch. Someday, I think I might want to try being in a bell choir....maybe when I'm old and my voice is too warbly. Josh and I both had solos in the performance, which made it an extra special event for us.

On Saturday, we went to a small town called Cripple Creek to perform some selections from our concert at the Baptist church. Cripple Creek is an old mountain mining town, with a lot of old history...and a lot of casinos. Nevertheless, I found the little town charming. I found the little church we sang in even more charming. People from all over that mountainous area came to hear us, and they packed that little church to the brim. The concert was free, and donations were being taken for a local charity in need. Singing in that church was one of the most joyous things I have done in a long time. The people were closing their eyes, laughing, singing along, and joining in our musical celebration of Christmas. They were a warm a hospitable people, and so many people came up to me afterwards to thank us for singing. I was filled with joy and satisfaction that I had made these people happy with singing.

It has been a long, dusty road since moving to Colorado. I have never questioned my abilities and my faith more than I have in these recent months. But something about singing in that church with all of those people gave me hope. I felt truly joyful to be here. I felt at peace about moving here with Josh. Singing for the glory of God and the true meaning of Christmas was a true joy. I thought, "If this was all I did to celebrate Christmas, I would be content." I would be content to know that I had given all of my voice to Jesus to celebrate his birth with these humble people. "They sound like angels from heaven," was one comment made by an audience member. The angels sang the of Jesus' birth that very first Christmas, and we are still doing it today. Praise the Lord for his faithfulness in our lives. I know he is being faithful to me this Christmas. He gave me what I needed--HOPE. Hope that Josh and I are in the right place. No matter how hard some days feel, I have hope that God has a good future for us here. I just need to be patient enough to let it happen.

Soli Deo Gloria!

Christmas is Here!

On Friday, Josh and I did some Christmas baking in our apartment. We also made a pizza that looked like a snowman and watched "How the Grinch Stole Christmas." We are celebrating Christmas in full swing and having a great time. Christmas makes us both giddy and happy. But we absolutely can't wait to celebrate Christ's birth and great gift with our families in a few weeks.

Josh and I also spent a night in downtown Denver. We booked a hotel for one night that had a package to get discount VIP tickets to the Van Gogh gallery at the Denver Art Museum. After we visited to art gallery, we were walking around town and noticed a lot of people gathering along the streets. We had no idea that Saturday night was the night for Denver's Parade of Lights. After a nice dinner out, we joined the masses to watch the parade of lights and floats go down Denver's downtown streets.

The next day we slept in and went to a nearby cafe for brunch. Then we went to the Buell Theatre to watch "White Christmas" the musical. The tickets to the show were a wedding gift from Josh's sister, Joy, and her husband, Philip. It was a wonderful show and ended up being one of the best weekends we've had since we moved to Colorado. I will share some pictures of our fun weekend.

MERRY CHRISTMAS and GOD BLESS YOU THIS SEASON!