What do I have to write about? I'm really taking advantage of the fact that I'm on summer break and relaxing to the max! Also, I decided that running a 5K would be a good goal. Since there's one in Haysville this Saturday that supports the cross country team at the school where I teach, I thought that would be a good one to run. Unfortunately I didn't decide that until a week ago, so my training time is minimal!
It might not seem like a 5K should require much training, but I have trouble running a mile! After a week of training, I am up to 2.5 miles, though. And I'm VERY sore. Hopefully I can make it.
I also am working on scheduling a concert here in Wichita, since I went to all the trouble of preparing a concert set to go sing in other states. I think it's going to work out, but I'm not sharing any details until it's confirmed. Check back for more info!
Tuesday, July 08, 2008
Wednesday, July 02, 2008
Hopefully Useful Information
After my last post, I found out that it is not such a simple thing for those of you reading to leave comments on my blog. I guess you have to register as a user here on blogger.com first. It may look like you have to start your own blog, but you don't. You just have to enter some information to create your own account, then you can become a member of my blog and leave comments any time. If anyone is still not able to do that, just email me and I'll try to figure it out with you. If you don't have my email address, you can email me at matt@twomitesministries.org
So anyway, I just got back into town two days ago after almost two weeks away. I saw my sister and brother-in-law in Michigan, as well as several other friends. That was superfun. I then saw my aunt, uncle, 2 cousins, gramma and grampa in Janesville, WI. Also fun. I got to see the flooding there firsthand! It was real flooding, covering streets and partially submerging houses and everything! Very exciting; not the kind of excitement the residents of those houses wanted, I'm sure.
And the last stop on my trip was Vandalia, IL, where a friend of mine pastors the Free Methodist church. She had invited me to do a concert at her church Sunday evening. I also helped lead the worship in the Sunday morning service. The people there were friendly; after the concert several said they hope I come visit their church again. It was a small turnout for the concert, only 20-25, but I sold a few CDs and received a very generous love offering from the church.
More importantly, the concert went well. No major mistakes on my part, and the congregation was very attentive. I think the music and words I shared encouraged some people; I saw some nodding heads and smiles. I also know a couple of the songs had a few people in tears, so hearts were definitely touched, too. (One of the songs almost had me in tears, but I got through!)
Next concert is scheduled for July 20th in Lincoln, NE, so now I'm looking forward to that one. I plan to use almost the same set that I just did in Vandalia, so that takes a little of the pressure off in preparing, but I want to finetune all the songs as much as I can, so I'll keep practicing.
I hope all is well with all of you; have a safe and happy Fourth of July!
God bless.
So anyway, I just got back into town two days ago after almost two weeks away. I saw my sister and brother-in-law in Michigan, as well as several other friends. That was superfun. I then saw my aunt, uncle, 2 cousins, gramma and grampa in Janesville, WI. Also fun. I got to see the flooding there firsthand! It was real flooding, covering streets and partially submerging houses and everything! Very exciting; not the kind of excitement the residents of those houses wanted, I'm sure.
And the last stop on my trip was Vandalia, IL, where a friend of mine pastors the Free Methodist church. She had invited me to do a concert at her church Sunday evening. I also helped lead the worship in the Sunday morning service. The people there were friendly; after the concert several said they hope I come visit their church again. It was a small turnout for the concert, only 20-25, but I sold a few CDs and received a very generous love offering from the church.
More importantly, the concert went well. No major mistakes on my part, and the congregation was very attentive. I think the music and words I shared encouraged some people; I saw some nodding heads and smiles. I also know a couple of the songs had a few people in tears, so hearts were definitely touched, too. (One of the songs almost had me in tears, but I got through!)
Next concert is scheduled for July 20th in Lincoln, NE, so now I'm looking forward to that one. I plan to use almost the same set that I just did in Vandalia, so that takes a little of the pressure off in preparing, but I want to finetune all the songs as much as I can, so I'll keep practicing.
I hope all is well with all of you; have a safe and happy Fourth of July!
God bless.
Tuesday, June 10, 2008
New song
OK, here are the lyrics for my latest song. I think I'm done tinkering (maybe)
TWO MITES (clever title, eh?)
Verse 1: She shuffled in, barely noticed among the well-to-do
Their motives were mixed at best, but her heart was true
Was she embarrassed or ashamed of her gift so small?
Or humbly honored to answer God's call?
How could she have predicted this lesson from the Lord?
I'm sure she just expected that she would be ignored
But He used her to show that giving all in trust
Is the most pleasing to God, so she'd done what she must
Chorus 1: Two mites- it's all she had to give
She trusted Him for what she would need to live
Because she knew He gave her life anyway
All she had was such a small price to pay
Two mites
Verse 2: Looking at my life, my value seems to be so slight
Once again the voices play, "You'll never get it right."
But I know in His hands, my weak gifts are strong
Giving my little for His plan never could go wrong.
Chorus 2: Two mites- it's all I have to give
I"ll trust Him for what I need to live
Because I know He gave me life anyway
And all I am is such a small price to pay
Two mites
Bridge: So dn't be ashamed, whatever your gifts's size
Giving all is the greatest gift in God's eyes
All that you are is all that He asks
He wants a willing heart more than any of your tasks
Chorus 3: Two mites- that's all you have to give
And trust Him for what you need to live
Don't you know He gave you life anyway?
All you are is such a small price to pay
Two mites
Actually I am thinking about changing the last line of the first verse to "Is the most pleasing to God; it's what He asks of us" What do you all think? I may do some other tweaking, too, I was thinking as I just typed it out. But that's definitely the gist of it.
OK. Gotta go. The peace and joy of Christ's Presence to all of you.
TWO MITES (clever title, eh?)
Verse 1: She shuffled in, barely noticed among the well-to-do
Their motives were mixed at best, but her heart was true
Was she embarrassed or ashamed of her gift so small?
Or humbly honored to answer God's call?
How could she have predicted this lesson from the Lord?
I'm sure she just expected that she would be ignored
But He used her to show that giving all in trust
Is the most pleasing to God, so she'd done what she must
Chorus 1: Two mites- it's all she had to give
She trusted Him for what she would need to live
Because she knew He gave her life anyway
All she had was such a small price to pay
Two mites
Verse 2: Looking at my life, my value seems to be so slight
Once again the voices play, "You'll never get it right."
But I know in His hands, my weak gifts are strong
Giving my little for His plan never could go wrong.
Chorus 2: Two mites- it's all I have to give
I"ll trust Him for what I need to live
Because I know He gave me life anyway
And all I am is such a small price to pay
Two mites
Bridge: So dn't be ashamed, whatever your gifts's size
Giving all is the greatest gift in God's eyes
All that you are is all that He asks
He wants a willing heart more than any of your tasks
Chorus 3: Two mites- that's all you have to give
And trust Him for what you need to live
Don't you know He gave you life anyway?
All you are is such a small price to pay
Two mites
Actually I am thinking about changing the last line of the first verse to "Is the most pleasing to God; it's what He asks of us" What do you all think? I may do some other tweaking, too, I was thinking as I just typed it out. But that's definitely the gist of it.
OK. Gotta go. The peace and joy of Christ's Presence to all of you.
Friday, June 06, 2008
Time flies . . .
And how. But I'm here now, so I won't dwell on how long it's been since my last entry.
Good news: Summer break!!!!!!!
Already, just two weeks into summer break, I have (#1) almost finished another song, (#2) scheduled two concerts and contacted about 6-8 other pastors about possible concerts or other music ministry opportunities, (#3) taken all my lesson plans from the past year and organized them in binders to help me start preparing for next year, (#4) loaded all the PowerPoints for our Algebra I and Geometry textbooks into my laptop, and (#5) read three books.
Actually I read almost all of Showdown by Ted Dekker (300-400 pages, I think) last night. I had already read less than 100 pages, and last night about 9 or so, I intended to read 3 chapters or so and then go to bed. Well, I stayed up till 2:30 and finished the whole book. It was a page-turner! Obviously.
So anyway, I am very excited to be out of school for the summer. I have goals of spending some serious time on songwriting, practicing music, other music ministry pursuits (like booking and getting published), exercising (I've been saying that all my life, but I'm really gonna do it this time!), reading, and journaling. Of course I'm also going to do some traveling to see family and friends from Texas to Michigan, I expect. And maybe farther.
I'm also looking for a new church. Another one of my goals for the summer (and beyond) is to invest more time in developing deeper friendships with other believers. It's very easy for me to isolate myself from others, especially since I live alone and tend to keep busy with my own activities. It's also very easy to keep my friendships on a surface level, which is fine for many friendships, but I think it's important to have at least a couple friendships that go deeper. So that's one thing I'm looking to find as I search for a new church home.
I guess I should mention that the school year ended well for me. They're letting me come back next year, so that's always a good thing. I finished my KPA on time-- it's a stupid 25-page paper (Trust me, you don't care about the details of the kinds of things you have to write-- just take my word that it's a lot of research and work and a real pain. As if teachers don't have enough to do!) you have to write for the state of Kansas to get a normal 5-year teaching license. Initially they give you a 2-year provisional license until you do your KPA. So anyway, it was kind of down to the wire, and I didn't know if I was really going to get it finished on time, but with the help of some other teachers in my district who were working on theirs, too, and our "leader," it all came together.
And out of both my Geometry classes, only one student didn't pass! That was a big improvement over first semester, and over last year. Unfortunately my failure rate in my Algebra I classes was not nearly so impressive. But that gives me something to improve next year!
So the bottom line is, this is a very happy time for me. I hope it's happy for all of you, too. God bless each of you.
Good news: Summer break!!!!!!!
Already, just two weeks into summer break, I have (#1) almost finished another song, (#2) scheduled two concerts and contacted about 6-8 other pastors about possible concerts or other music ministry opportunities, (#3) taken all my lesson plans from the past year and organized them in binders to help me start preparing for next year, (#4) loaded all the PowerPoints for our Algebra I and Geometry textbooks into my laptop, and (#5) read three books.
Actually I read almost all of Showdown by Ted Dekker (300-400 pages, I think) last night. I had already read less than 100 pages, and last night about 9 or so, I intended to read 3 chapters or so and then go to bed. Well, I stayed up till 2:30 and finished the whole book. It was a page-turner! Obviously.
So anyway, I am very excited to be out of school for the summer. I have goals of spending some serious time on songwriting, practicing music, other music ministry pursuits (like booking and getting published), exercising (I've been saying that all my life, but I'm really gonna do it this time!), reading, and journaling. Of course I'm also going to do some traveling to see family and friends from Texas to Michigan, I expect. And maybe farther.
I'm also looking for a new church. Another one of my goals for the summer (and beyond) is to invest more time in developing deeper friendships with other believers. It's very easy for me to isolate myself from others, especially since I live alone and tend to keep busy with my own activities. It's also very easy to keep my friendships on a surface level, which is fine for many friendships, but I think it's important to have at least a couple friendships that go deeper. So that's one thing I'm looking to find as I search for a new church home.
I guess I should mention that the school year ended well for me. They're letting me come back next year, so that's always a good thing. I finished my KPA on time-- it's a stupid 25-page paper (Trust me, you don't care about the details of the kinds of things you have to write-- just take my word that it's a lot of research and work and a real pain. As if teachers don't have enough to do!) you have to write for the state of Kansas to get a normal 5-year teaching license. Initially they give you a 2-year provisional license until you do your KPA. So anyway, it was kind of down to the wire, and I didn't know if I was really going to get it finished on time, but with the help of some other teachers in my district who were working on theirs, too, and our "leader," it all came together.
And out of both my Geometry classes, only one student didn't pass! That was a big improvement over first semester, and over last year. Unfortunately my failure rate in my Algebra I classes was not nearly so impressive. But that gives me something to improve next year!
So the bottom line is, this is a very happy time for me. I hope it's happy for all of you, too. God bless each of you.
Wednesday, March 12, 2008
Oops
Well, I guess Christmas break didn't turn out to be very good for posting on my blog. Nor did January and February. But I'm back now!
I have been doing some music, though. Last month I played piano at a wedding and also performed at a Christian coffee house. Things are so busy during the school year (especially now that I'm dating) that I've decided I might as well admit that I'm not going to have time to work on music till summer (except for the occassional special at church and such).
Actually, I am scheduled to sing at the Variety Show at school the week after spring break (which is next week) and I'll be singing at my sister's wedding on April 19th. So I'll be doing a little here and there to keep me in the musical mindset, I guess. Trying to do a whole set is just too much w/school and everything else.
I just wanted to catch everybody up on the music front. Maybe I'll have time to write about some other things before too long. Maybe spring break! Although we know how that worked at Christmas. We'll see.
Peace.
I have been doing some music, though. Last month I played piano at a wedding and also performed at a Christian coffee house. Things are so busy during the school year (especially now that I'm dating) that I've decided I might as well admit that I'm not going to have time to work on music till summer (except for the occassional special at church and such).
Actually, I am scheduled to sing at the Variety Show at school the week after spring break (which is next week) and I'll be singing at my sister's wedding on April 19th. So I'll be doing a little here and there to keep me in the musical mindset, I guess. Trying to do a whole set is just too much w/school and everything else.
I just wanted to catch everybody up on the music front. Maybe I'll have time to write about some other things before too long. Maybe spring break! Although we know how that worked at Christmas. We'll see.
Peace.
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