First Post From Gaithersburg

GAH!
I have much to catch up on!
Lost my job. Utah trip. Youth camp like crazy. Zambia trip a few weeks later. Worship conference. Kicking up dust about an internship. Chicago trip. Texas trip. I get the internship! One week blows by, and I'm on the road to Gaithersburg for the fall. And now here I am.

So let's back up to this internship thing. May, June and July were commendably full, but I knew unemployment couldn't continue indefinitely. Engineering loomed as nothing but a dark cloud of mind-numbing regulations and unexciting work (I don't believe that's true, but it feels that way), and I wasn't convinced that the right thing was to unthinkingly plunge myself back into that field in order to make myself ready for marraige as soon as possible, and spend the rest of my life in that mold. I also balked at the utter dedication and abandon required to (hopefully) make it in music or recording, whether or not I decided to spend 2 years and $60,000 on a degree in audio engineering.

In between those extremes an idea began to emerge of seeking an internship for the fall, unpaid if necessary, through any and all connections with people in Sovereign Grace. Live sound, recording, audio engineering... I would take anything. It would at the least enable me to serve my church better, at middling allow me to evaluate this field as a career choice, and at the most lead to another opportunity that could begin the course of a career in sound.

So I made some phone calls, sent some emails, and, with Jeremy's forwarded email going before me, introduced myself to a bunch of people at the WorshipGod 09 conference in early August. It became clear quickly that an internship at Covenant Life Church / Sovereign Grace Ministries was the only viable option, and it was with disbelief and joy that I got an email in late August asking me to come down. Yesss! I have something to do! :-)

I had one week between returning from a trip to Texas and my targeted departure date. In that time I furiously worked on finding housing, and with much prayer from many dear people and kind help from folks at CLC, an arrangement worked out on Monday the 7th, a few hours before I headed out. Greg Coss, from the church, has agreed to let me stay in his townhouse for a month, free of charge. What a blessing!

Such were the arrangements. It didn't feel all that exciting as I packed up on Monday, short on time and in an empty house, with Mom, Dad and Daisy out on a Labor Day camping trip. I had to remind myself that this wasn't just a couple-day trip, but I was leaving for months! My leaving/ending sentimentality rose up, and it took a mental resolution and Def Leppard records to keep the sadness away. After weeks of pleasant sunshine, of course this day was gray, overcast and rainy. I didn't get on my way until 5pm, and Labor Day traffic choked the roads for several long stretches. I had no idea what my living conditions would be like, except that it was a single guy, so there wasn't the prospective buzz of life that comes with a family.

That all changed when I pulled up to 1*7*2 Pintain Lane and saw Greg outside waiting for me. He helped me take all my stuff in, and welcomed me in immediately. He's laid back, deliberate, considerate, and there was no barrier to us starting to talk and get to know each other. The townhouse is sweet, and I basically have the run of the place until he gets back late in the evening most days. It's about 5 minutes from the church, for which I am amazed and grateful, and honestly, I can think of hardly any situations that could more easily fit with my personality and lifestyle. It's been great so far!

Much encouraged, I did some arranging and unpacking and hit the hay. Tomorrow, at last, I would start to DO STUFF!

Tuesday started out fantastic. I went to Dave Wilcox, who is the full-time technical director for the church, and he drove us to Panera to talk. Dave is a great guy - technically brilliant and accomplished, but truly humble, friendly, and caring. He was very considerate in bringing me in, going over what I could do, asking what I wanted to do, and getting me started. And THEN. His wife started going into labor! Thus ended the honeymoon. Dave was gone, and the rest of his staff--Ben and Jenn--were left in the lurch, along with this orphaned intern from Pittsburgh. So we plowed through the rest of the day, and I left at 5 to go grocery shopping and settle in at the townhouse.

Wednesday began similarly slow, but after a few hours I connected with Ken Boer, the director of music and worship and one of the four guys I'm interning under. He pretty much took me under his wing, let me set up in his office, and began loading me up with things to do. Joy! By the end of the day I had a plateload of projects and had started learning about the music end of things at the church. When I got home I went for a jog, which felt really good, and even found my way back home after forging into unknown geography. I was about to start dinner when Maritza, who befriended the Pittsburgh and Akron groups at the worship conference, gave me a call to start connecting me with people and activities going on. I ended up going to an "Introducing God" training course that night, which was surprisingly encouraging, and let me meet some more folks. I don't think I'll actually be able to help with the course (an evangelistic course like Alpha or Exploring Christianity), but I still benefitted from the evening.

Thursday was more work with Ken Boer, plus a few small live sound setups, which is always good. Any event which requires sound equipment is an opportunity for me to learn the myriad details of how stuff is set up, where stuff is, and how things are done. Key to being useful, and to gaining experience. Technically most office folks end their days between 5 and 5:30, so I left at 5:45, with 45 mintues to kill before sitting in on some music auditions at 6:30. I ended up driving around in search of a Wal-mart, not finding it where the GPS said it would be, going back to the church, finding no one there, driving out again to explore the countryside, taking some sunset pictures, and returning at 7:30, glad to find people there this time :) There was one voice and one drum audition, and it was cool to see how Ken ran them, what his goals are for them, and how he goes about trying to learn what he needs to know about each person's ability. This week has been a constant barrage of methods, technology, equipment and personnel that become necessary for a church this large. It's a new way of thinking for me, and has been quite interesting, and pretty impressive.

I got home from the auditions just in time for the kickoff of the first regular season game of this football year. Steelers vs. Titans, baby! Greg had just drafted Roethlisberger as his fantasy team quarterback, so we were both rooting for the Steelers. We had good man-food and drinks, and it was a nice relaxed time of talking and hanging out. AND, we pulled out a win in overtime! Let the domination begin.

Today was a much anticipated day for me. At long last, Bob Kauflin, my boss, was back in town! And later in the day there was a 10:31 meeting, which is the youth group. Full band in the auditorium equals big-time learning opportunity. More on Bob below. For 10:31 we were short a couple tech people, so after helping set up the stage and patch everything in, I took the role of "Stage Manager" for the night. Which sounds more impressive than the actual role, which is to walk around stage during rehearsal and talk to each musician, see what they need in their headphones, and relay it to the monitor mixer. It was great though, because it was a needed role, so my presence was actually useful--something I am acutely grateful for anytime it happens. It's the best way to learn, too - just jump in and start doing stuff. I enjoyed meeting the guys in the band and on the tech team, finding them all to be nice, friendly christian guys. This evening has left me freshly appreciative of the great joy it is to work with God's people. There's no one like 'em, and I'm a fan.

The meeting itself was enjoyable to watch, and I felt God's presence during worship, and cried out desperately for God to "bring me to the cross"--to bring me to truly love Him more than anything else, and rest in Him and Him alone, not in being seen or being impressive or in having the accomplishments or skills that I so miserably want. I've started to read "Worship Matters" by Bob Kauflin (after receiving a free copy from Ken), and just the first two chapters cut to my heart as he talked about the process of God bringing him from seeking to impress people to loving God more than anything else. As mentioned above, Bob was in for the day, and I got together with him after a SGM staff meeting in the morning. He too was effusively kind and welcoming to me, and I believe that comes from a heart that is resting in God in truth and reality. It's something I don't think I have yet (more like a destination that I'm further from than these guys), but I see quite clearly that I want. Bob hooked me up with some video editing projects, and took me on a tour of the Sovereign Grace offices, which are shawEET. The breakrooms there and up in the CLC offices are tricked-out - basically like a Panera or Starbucks interior. AND, they're both stocked with ice cold Dr.Pepper in the fridges! Ah me. Poor teeth.

So, I got home about 11 tonight, after the 10:31 meeting. Hung out with Greg and Wes, a realtor from the church who was looking over the place, and then sat down to write this. Tomorrow I am stoked to sleep in and get rested up--waking up at 7:30 has been taking its toll on me. Hopefully I'll run some laundry, cook up some chicken tenders that have been marinating in Mexican seasoning, and head to the church around 1 to play around with FinalCut (video editing program) for a few hours and help with setup and rehearsal for the Sunday service. This is my one weekend to learn all I can before attempting to serve as Assistant Technical Director for the 1st and 3rd Sundays. Bring it on! Let the learning begin! (or continue, as the case may be)

Things are quite pleasant, and the blinder view I always have is good. I must remember to consider the broader view of what I'm doing - what I'm learning, what roads I'm cutting for myself, every first impression I make, and the relationships that will be so much set by what happens right in these few days. Time managment has also become apparent as critical (duh), with a swarm of unrelated projects at work and a MILLION, BAJILLION wonderful, profitable, enriching and desirable things I could be doing in my free time. Oh life, must you be so choked and strangled? Alas. What I am doing is good. I must rest in what God has for me, not what I wish I was.

Good night, Gaithersburg.

--JPB