Two more late comers have arrived at the ball this week:
Thumbalina and Thomas (or Tom). I felt sort of jealous for my other clay people because these two seem to be more flashy with the flower dress and the acorn hat (ignoring her vampireish lipstick job and his beauty mark of course.)
Anyways, the real point of this post is to describe being in a youth church choir. Everyone already listened to us at Stake Conference, but I just wanted to share the point of view of a single choir member.
I love being in youth choirs. For one thing, it's hilarious. Get a bunch of us obnoxious teenagers to shuffle into one room and watch the volume rise. People joke, turn around in their seats, burst into loud laughter, tease, kick each other under the seats, talk, text, you name it. It's like being in primary class again.
And then the music starts. In a flurry of shushes and nudges, all of the week's events are temporaily forgotten and everyone becomes more focused on their sheet music. At least in the choirs I've been in. And I think it's great!
I loved this last one because our director decided to make the guys start off most of the songs. And I know that sounds rude, but during practice, the girls were placed in front. And there's just something about the strong sound of guys voices. I'm not sure what it is but it made me a blubbering, mascara mess at EFY and gave me chills during one of our practices.
And when it was us girls' turn to come in, the feelings were the same. It was as if every petty difference was gone. We were all sisters. Beautiful sisters. Daughters of our Heavenly Father.
I'm not sure why the effect was so strong on me this time through. I guess it's just the fact that they were all my peers. I'm becoming more and more aware that the Lord truly does know us teenagers. He knows the strong influence we have on each other and he knows that it can be used both negatively as well as positively. I think that's the reason for these choirs. For young women's and young men's organizations. For EFY and youth conference. He wants us to see that there are people just like us--hundreds if not thousands--who are trying just as hard. There is indeed strength in numbers and He wants to show us that we are not alone.
Our super-hero of a director was awesome. I've never seen a woman with such a strong passion for music. She probably could've gone somewhere amazing with it. Yet she agreed to the task of taking all us goofy kids and teaching us the power of the songs we were singing. She made sure we knew exactly what we were singing and taught us that heart came before the notes.
I'm not sure how well we sounded in the big stake center, but I loved being there! Because of my lack of height, I was placed front and center where I could perfectly sing into one of our stake leader's ears. But I still loved it! The feelings of the words really came through and I had to keep reminding myself not to sing too much louder than those around me because I really get into music like that (refer to lawn-mowing story).
The weird part is that this summer I won't be in that group anymore. I'll be considered an 'adult'. My writing abilities end at trying to describe how unsettlingly strange that feels. Did I mention that just last week I ran around my grandma's house in boots, belts, and a cloak trying to be a 'shadow hunter'? And that I used a NHS assighnment of wrapping shoeboxes to watch Sleeping Beauty? I know I've described these sorts of things a lot, but they're on a daily basis! Look out college roommate, here I come.
Anyways, the real point of this post is to describe being in a youth church choir. Everyone already listened to us at Stake Conference, but I just wanted to share the point of view of a single choir member.
I love being in youth choirs. For one thing, it's hilarious. Get a bunch of us obnoxious teenagers to shuffle into one room and watch the volume rise. People joke, turn around in their seats, burst into loud laughter, tease, kick each other under the seats, talk, text, you name it. It's like being in primary class again.
And then the music starts. In a flurry of shushes and nudges, all of the week's events are temporaily forgotten and everyone becomes more focused on their sheet music. At least in the choirs I've been in. And I think it's great!
I loved this last one because our director decided to make the guys start off most of the songs. And I know that sounds rude, but during practice, the girls were placed in front. And there's just something about the strong sound of guys voices. I'm not sure what it is but it made me a blubbering, mascara mess at EFY and gave me chills during one of our practices.
And when it was us girls' turn to come in, the feelings were the same. It was as if every petty difference was gone. We were all sisters. Beautiful sisters. Daughters of our Heavenly Father.
I'm not sure why the effect was so strong on me this time through. I guess it's just the fact that they were all my peers. I'm becoming more and more aware that the Lord truly does know us teenagers. He knows the strong influence we have on each other and he knows that it can be used both negatively as well as positively. I think that's the reason for these choirs. For young women's and young men's organizations. For EFY and youth conference. He wants us to see that there are people just like us--hundreds if not thousands--who are trying just as hard. There is indeed strength in numbers and He wants to show us that we are not alone.
Our super-hero of a director was awesome. I've never seen a woman with such a strong passion for music. She probably could've gone somewhere amazing with it. Yet she agreed to the task of taking all us goofy kids and teaching us the power of the songs we were singing. She made sure we knew exactly what we were singing and taught us that heart came before the notes.
I'm not sure how well we sounded in the big stake center, but I loved being there! Because of my lack of height, I was placed front and center where I could perfectly sing into one of our stake leader's ears. But I still loved it! The feelings of the words really came through and I had to keep reminding myself not to sing too much louder than those around me because I really get into music like that (refer to lawn-mowing story).
The weird part is that this summer I won't be in that group anymore. I'll be considered an 'adult'. My writing abilities end at trying to describe how unsettlingly strange that feels. Did I mention that just last week I ran around my grandma's house in boots, belts, and a cloak trying to be a 'shadow hunter'? And that I used a NHS assighnment of wrapping shoeboxes to watch Sleeping Beauty? I know I've described these sorts of things a lot, but they're on a daily basis! Look out college roommate, here I come.
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