Every Time I Turn It On...

Andy, Asia, myself & Beth | Sometime between 12 and 1 in the morning | February 10th, 2013

This is the picture that I see every time I turn on the computer.

I love it, but not just because it's a picture of a few of my dear friends.

I love it because it's a picture of the power of Jesus, the work of His hands.

I love it because it shows a healthy, healed Asia.

I love it because though Andy is sick, he's still smiling and still proclaiming that God is good.

I love it because Beth and I are standing together, like we did for 3 weeks straight.

I love it because this group- we prayed together every day, all the time.

I love it because though we all had bad days, though we all were tired and messy, we stood by each others' side through it all.

I love it because we laughed and cried, worshiped, sang, and prayed- together.

I love it because we fell on the rock of Jesus Christ everyday, and clung to it for precious refuge.

I love it because we got to work together all year long, and watch so many God stories of Asia's senior year.

I love it because it brings back so many memories of one of us going to another and exclaiming, "Guess what God just did!"

And I love it because each of them showed me the love of Jesus, and I praise Him that we got to be His hands and feet to each other every day.

I love it, because I am blessed.

(Yes, My Fair Lady closed back in February, and I'm just now writing about it. Better late than never. :) I've been waiting to post until I had more pictures (*hint* you know who you are), but I decided to go ahead with just this one.)

When Jesus Says "See How Much I Love You?"

I'm really sentimental. Those who know me in real life know that.

This year, I'm in HPA's My Fair Lady (What!?! I know. I haven't talked about casting at all.) and one of my mom's best friends is the choreographer for Seussical. She has a precious 3 year old, Crew whom I have the privilege of watching while she's teaching. She's also due with her 6th baby in 2 weeks. I'm really pumped. :)

But anyway. I watch Crew while Mrs. W dances. We read stories and do projects and be spies and pirates and play games. It's so fun and I love it. But a few weeks ago, Mrs. W started being scheduled in small little groups, and she always had a son free to watch him.

In the past few days, I realized that my days watching just Crew were probably done. Today was supposed to be another lighter day and by our next rehearsal, Baby W will be here. It made me kinda of sad, because I really wanted one final "This is my last day with just Crew" day.

I was getting something ready for breakfast yesterday morning and in my head prayed, "God, It would be really cool if You could call the full cast so that I could watch Crew one last time."

That's it. I really "knew" that it wouldn't happen, because HPA people don't change plans easily.

Then later that day, I discovered the Seuss email in my inbox.

There was a purple box that read "Full Cast. 10-11 Choreo. Mrs. W."

I was floored.

It was then that God whispered to me "See what I can do with a simple prayer? Have faith in Me, darling. My plans for you are good."

The My Fair Lady (MFL) email hadn't come in yet, but I knew (for real this time) that God had everything in His hands.

And sure enough, when the email arrived, I had the whole morning open. Completely free to spend 3 hours with my little boy.

Wasn't he just this little?!? {Thanksgiving 2010}

So today, I'm going to doing everything I talked about yesterday. I'll relish this last practice of being devoted to just Crew.

And then I'll come home and get really excited for the 27th and to see if Baby W is a boy or a "girl with braids" as Ellie and Hannah say. :)  (Random note: wouldn't it be strange if baby girls were born with braids? Poor E & H will be quite disappointed if this baby is a girl, because, although s/he supposedly has lots of hair, I know for a fact it won't be braided.)

More soon. <3

Another Example of Working Prayer

Our leads for Wonka have been working hard. exceptionally hard. Final dress rehearsal went amazingly well. They sang. They danced. They improv-ed. especially Breilen. He belted so hard that Friday morning (Jan. 27) - opening night- he woke up with a sore throat.

The day went downhill from there.

When we arrived at HPA, his momma was pinning a sign on his shirt that read, "I'm on voice rest. Mum's the word from me!" As playful as this seems, Breilen was not smiling.

We didn't hear him speak until he sang the opening note of the show that night and as he worked his way through both acts- with the help of tea, raw honey and gargling salt water in the kitchenette- my heart hurt for this young man who had worked so hard, yet had to perform under circumstances that were beyond his ability. The moment the show was over, his parents swept him home to rest.

That night I prayed and went to bed. Around one I woke up. and no matter what, I couldn't go back to sleep. God brought Breilen to mind. So I spent about an hour praying for him.

We were up bright and early, at HPA by 9:30 to be ready for the two more shows that day. We poured out effert, prayed hard and cried. We -the crew- poured out ourselves to do anything -anything- we could to help this cast.

By the end of the day, I had talked to 5 other people who, from 1-2 that morning, had been awake and praying for Breilen.

That night I had chills.

It was amazing to me that I was able to be a part of something bigger, something stronger. Never before had I experienced being part of a group prayer... when the "group" wasn't together. Mrs. C told me that she had told Breilen that he was being bathed in prayer, but she hadn't known how much. Only God could unite our hearts to lift up our "Wonka" during a time when we all should have been asleep- but were petitioning on our knees instead.

(For those wondering, that Saturday's shows went better than could be expected. God came through, answering prayers, giving strength and voice. This weekend's show were amazing. A healed Breilen did wonders for this cast and no pain enabled Breilen to be Wonka- to be himself- and to be better then we ever could have prayed.)

Opening scene- a healed Breilen Wonka. All praise due to Jesus Christ.

"I have created Two Hundred Original and Sensational Candy Bars- Each with a Different center and each one sweeter and creamier than the last...."
Photo Copyright by our show photographer

Prayer- It Works!

Don’t ever tell me that prayer doesn’t work.

Jesus uses it to work miracles.
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I don’t know if you know how much work it takes to design lights for a show. It takes hours. Hours and hours of dedicated, intense work sitting over a computer and running back and forth changing light bulbs and checking scripts. For Wonka, we have three geniuses who designed the lights: Breilen, Peter and Adam. They have put in over 20 hours and we are all so thankful.
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A few days ago, I was helping Adam finish up a few final light cues for the hour as people practicing swirled around us. He and Breilen had already worked for over 3 hours that morning and we were crossing one more thing off the never-ending list. Adam was typing in the final cue when a message flashed onto the screen.

EON has encountered a problem and needs to close.

“No way.” Adam whispered as my pulse picked up. He kept up the whispered “This is not happening!” as he began pushing buttons and when the system rebooted, nothing was there.

The song floated through my head “If we’ve ever needed you, Lord, it’s now.”

His face drained of any color, Adam sent his chair flying. “I need to go get Breilen.”

Me? I sat there and prayed, prayed harder then I ever had for a computer system and a bunch of lightbulbs.

A few minutes later, Adam and Breilen were there again. Breilen sat down-he too a bit paler then usual. At his first move of the mouse, the screen lit up and cues filled the space we all stared so hard at.

“Well... I think I see everything...” Breilen glanced at each of us, a bit puzzled.

“That was so not there a few minutes ago.” Adam choked out. Glancing at me, they knelt around the board, watching all their morning work load before their eyes.

As Breilen went back to practice, (the show’s kinda named after him, he’s Willy Wonka!) I looked up into Adam’s face towering above me.

“I was praying so hard... Jesus is here, Adam. He’s watching out for us.”

I can still hear Adam’s reply, his voice still a bit trembly as his fingers took a break from pushing all the save buttons.

“Lindsey, I think that’s what saved us because both you and I know... Our work was gone. He really is good.”

~~~~~

Yes, Adam. He really is.