Let the River Run Wild and Free...

"Let the river run wild and free,
the river of Your love for me.
Fill my heart and my soul,
till I overflow."

This weekend I had a fantastic time with brothers and sisters from Clemson and Central, but really we had people come from all over the state just for the rafting trip. It was a great time of camp fire chat, games, good food, great fellowship and rafting!

We really had a blast and I am so glad we were able to go to celebrate Kyle's birthday. My heart and soul were filled with wonderful memories and some great laughs! Here are a few pictures. More can be accessed here.

Peace

I have been studying Peace from a Fruit of the Spirit bible study... The study last night was on Psalm 91 and says to start at verse 14 and insert your name for all he/him words... this is what I got...

Psalm 91: 14-16

"Because Maddie loves me," says the LORD, "I

will rescue Maddie; I will protect Maddie, for Maddie acknowledges my name.

Maddie will call upon me, and I will answer Maddie;

I will be with Maddie in trouble, I will deliver Maddie and honor Maddie.

With long life will I satisfy Maddie and show Maddie my salvation."

Pretty powerful. Try your name. Say it aloud for the best effect.

So here's the point: I am working on getting peace in my life. :)

It is a done deal!

So today I registered for the 5K. I am going to do it. I have set my mind to it. I have been thinking about it for a week and since then I have ran  2 miles on 3 separate occasions, ran 1 mile, and walked 1 mile every day that I wasn't running... The hard part will be finding time to run at camp next week...

My goal: Realistically, I cannot run the entire thing. I would die. But I know I can run twice as much as I walk. And if I walk as little as I am planning, my goal is to do the run in under 38 minutes. Hey, not record breaking by any stretch, but it breaks any record for me as a Jurek (maybe even faster than my soccer-playing Harlan days...) 

So here is the point: Pray. Hard

 

Step by Step

Ok. You know how you get those crazy thoughts in your head sometimes? You know, the ones that just put you in bad mood? Well- tonight was one of those nights. I thought, I am going to go buy a new pair of shoes after church. That will help... Well, I found no shoes. Then I get home and think, okay- I am going to go on a walk with Mac. That will help... Then it escalated to, I am going to go on a run with Mac. That will help... Then it finally reached, I am going to do 2 neighborhood laps with Mac. That will help... and I feel great! 

2 Miles in 30 minutes. We probably ran 1.5 and walked .5. I pushed myself. And to top it off, when I really was having a tough time, my fav. song "Don't Stop Believing'" came on (my iPod)  and I thought about all the great times rockin' out to it with my best friend and I DID IT! 

So here's the point: Now I am thinking about running a Candlelight  5K with my college  roommie Jenn. Thoughts? 

"She's just a small town girl..." 

This is what I do...

I work with 150 choral students out of a program of 275 every day. I listen to complaints, deal with poor attitudes, file music, write receipts, file uniforms, talk through broken hearts, speak comforting words when times are not so great, write referrals (I hate doing this!), look at baby sonograms (twice this year alone), arrange chairs, chaperone bus trips, fill out paperwork, make programs, organize, organize, organize. What I really do, is encourage young musicians to find their inner voice in life to stand strong. We make music with our lives. At our final Spring concert Thursday night, these students made music. 

Ascribe to the Lord- All women's piece. Really Great. 

Psalm 23- Please listen to this. It is my favorite piece of music. (Lauda means Praise) 

Omnia Sol- SATB, 10-12th grade. The text speaks for itself. Just stunning. 

Somewhere far from nowhere, I grew both strong and tall…
Longing to become, but knowing not the path at all!
But the footprints of the winter melted to fields of spring;
One last embrace before I cross the threshold: To life we sing!


O stay your soul and leave my heart its song!
O stay your hand; the journey may be long!
And when we part, and sorrow can’t be sway’d….
Remember when, and let your heart be staid.

Omnia sol temperat,
Absens in remota.
Ama me fideliter,
Fidem mean noto.

(Translation: The sun warms everything,
even while I am far away.
Love me faithfully,
and know that I am faithful.) 

Weave the dance and raise the chorus; grieve no more…
Through the strength of Orion, find refuge from the shore!
Let courage be your oar, let passion be your sail;
Wisdom and truth will guide your deep heart’s yearning, though all travail!

O stay your soul and leave my heart its song!
O stay your hand; the journey may be long!
And when we part, and sorrow can’t be sway’d…
Remember when, and let your heart be staid.

Omnia sol temperat,
Absens in remota.
Ama me fideliter,
Fidem mean noto.

Omnia sol temperat, (Ah ah ah ah ah ma)
And when we part, and sorrow can’t be sway’d…
Remember when…
Remember when…
And let your heart be staid… Be staid.

Sleep...

What makes you tired just thinking about it? For my current class, I have tried twice in 24 hours to read assignments for this week. Within 5 minutes of reading, I have been out like a light. Must be something about a 4 inch book on Music Research Articles....and the thought of the 20 page final thesis paper due at the end of June... 

What is making you tired just thinking about it? 

Working like a mad woman...

Well, seeing as the date of my last blog was my anniversary- Things here have been a little hectic. In fact, as a write this blog, I am sitting at DHS on a Sunday afternoon waiting on music packets to copy for our Spring concert Tuesday.

I had a great time with the students in Williamsburg last weekend, but really weekend trips mean working 12 days in a row, which is just crazy when you throw in concerts and other end-of-year madness.

It is the final countdown...

3 School Related Performances
2 Chamber Singers Performances
1 School Chorus Banquet

and I am OUT for the summer. I start back with my next Master's class tomorrow to top it all off. Yikes!

So here's the point: In three weeks, will June 4th really be here??