Beautiful Montreat!

First off, I'd like to ask anyone reading this to send up a prayer for my friend Clay. He had some serious surgery yesterday, and he's in a LOT of pain and will have a long road to recovery. He had to have two ceramic rods inserted into his back, and he had to go all the way to St. Louis to have it done because there isn't a doctor in Ohio who can/will do it. Prayers and good thoughts are greatly appreciated!!

Now back to your regularly scheduled blog.

I'm coming to you live from Montreat, North Carolina, this week! It's a beautiful little town up in the Black Mountains, and its main claim to fame is a Presbyterian college and conference center, which the Presbyterian Association of Musicians is using this week for their annual worship and music conference. This is my ninth year here, and let me tell you, it is glorious to be back!! My days are spent in choir rehearsals, handbell rehearsals, and a liturgical dance class. In my free time, I get to hang out with friends and family. We climbed Lookout Mountain on Monday, which is only a one-kilometer trail, but it sure kicked my butt. It's a beautiful view from the top, though, and we could see our amazing house. The house where we've stayed for the past seven years holds twenty-two people, but we only have eighteen this year. It's nice to have my dad here, since he hasn't come in a very long time.

The coolest thing that has happened so far was this morning's worship service. The sermon was incredible and exactly what our church members at home need to hear during our current transition period. I got to perform the Lord's Prayer with part of the liturgical dance class, and a big yellow butterfly flew in one of the open windows and was flying around -- definitely the Holy Spirit at work.

Well, I'd better go now...My friend Maddy is waiting to steal songs off my iTunes. That's another great thing about this week...