Chains be broken, Lives be healed, Eyes be opened, Christ is revealed

The weekend is always good. It's a time to stop, take a breathe and prepare for the week to come.

This week wasn't too bad. Went to classes Wednesday-Friday. Assessment time has started so I'm kind of freaked out. Every worship and creative arts student is in a songwriting class and for our assessment, we must each write six songs by the end of semester. That's a song with chord charts, lyrics, and an mp3 recording. Woah! Let me tell you, I'm a drummer, not a songwriter. But I will say that I'm kind of excited and it will be good for me. I was relieved to find out that we can co-write with other students. And if I were to write lyrics, someone else could create the melody and someone else can sing for me. So for the next three months I'll be pouring into writing songs!

So, I miss playing drums. I really do. God has been humbling me in this area of my life. Back home I was spoiled. I got to play drums pretty much every other weekend. I think sometimes I took it for granted. Here, I've hardly even played. There isn't a whole lot of access to a drum kit. As a result, I haven't really been able to move forward in my drumming. Let me tell you, it's hard. And to be honest with you guys, the college isn't what I was expecting really. Well, the music side of it I guess you could say. I've just been having to work through everything and figure out why I'm here and how to respond to some things. Don't get me wrong, it's good. The biblical side of things is really good. I've been learning a lot in my bible/ministry classes. I really enjoy them. I know things will come together and work out and there is a reason why I'm here, but right now I'm going through a season of doubt and disappointment, which I need to just give up to God and trust Him in this situation. Prayers would be helpful right now. I thank you all for your support.

This morning was Street Teams. It was amazing. We went to a woman's house today to clean it out. Her name is Leslie. She has been having issues with her back and she hasn't been able to clean her house for four months. You can imagine what it was like; packed, smelly, dusty. From what I understand of Leslie, she was living with her daughter. Apparently, her daughter kicked her out and they are now on bad terms. That is the extent to which I know of her story, but it's a pretty heartbreaking situation. I felt such compassion when I saw Leslie. She was small, shaky, and grubby. She was on the verge of a nervous breakdown and she had to take medication. (I don't know if it was for her back or if something else was wrong) Basically we got in there and just began cleaning everything. There was one point where Leslie was looking through her closet for a certain pillow case and she was getting extremely frustrated, about to break down. I told her I would look for it and we told her not to worry but that we would find it. Her closet was looking like a mess so I decided to rearrange it. That is what I did for the morning; unfolded, folded, and stacked bath towels, dish towels, sheets, pillow cases, and blankets and set them nicely in her closet. She kept thanking me and at one point she just hugged me. It was such a blessing for her and for me. It was painful to see her in such a lonely situation, but I know that we planted a seed in her heart. We did what we could and that was to share God's love with her. God is doing amazing things through Street Teams and it's awesome to be a part of it.

I've got church tomorrow, a day off on Monday, three days of school, then Easter break until next Thursday! Thanks again for your encouragement and support in my life.

Blessings.