Never thought I'd make it here...

Years ago, maybe around age 12, a women's choir came to our church. I still remember it pretty well! I was in awe of these young women. They sang so beautifully, played hand bells, were wearing beautiful dresses and seemed so old and grown up. Despite my shyness, I got up the courage to talk to the accompanist; I'm pretty sure her name was Anabelle. My parents volunteered to host two of the girls in our home, and I was happy to give up my bed to, oh my goodness, college girls! :D That experience obviously made an impression on me. This memory recently came to my mind again.

Being a music major at Moody, I had to be in a musical ensemble, so I auditioned for everything but Men's Choir. My Symphonic Band audition for piano went better than I could have hoped. I was complimented on my technique, interpretation, and sight reading skills. My chorale audition, though shaky, obviously went well because I was going to be accepted! But when I went to call-backs, I declined. Now, Chorale had been my first choice unless I got into Symphonic Band. It turned out that I did get into the band, but neither that or Chorale felt right. My Women's Choir audition changed my mind. It was the last one I went to and when I arrived, they were about 30 minutes behind schedule. I spent the time in the hallway talking to WCC members and other freshman girls. I started to get this inexplicable feeling that the Women's Choir was the right choice. I prayed and prayed and when I finally went in, I felt even more sure. The conductor, Dr. Xiangtang Hong, is one of the most animated, hilarious people I've ever met. The audition was so relaxed. Dr. Hong took five at a time, and there were WCC members in the studio with us. Dr. Hong amazed me. I remember her saying, "Now, I'm not going to judge whether you are 'bad' or 'good' singers. I am listening to the color of your voice and determining how I can fit you into our choir to blend your color with all the others." Meeting her and the girls in the choir convinced me that this was the right choice.

Today was picture day for all the musical ensembles here at Moody. I'm in Women's Concert Choir and my roommate, Jamie, is in Chorale, so at 2:15 this afternoon we both started getting ready. A bunch of curls, hairspray, bobby pins, foundation, powder, blush, eyeshadow, eyeliner, mascara, lipstick, and two concert dresses later...we were all ready! I was so excited to be all dressed up. And then I remembered: those girls I admired so much years ago were where I am now. The Moody Bible Institute Women's Concert Choir and Bell Ensemble came to my church, and I never would have dreamed that about 6 years later, I would be on that stage in a black concert dress singing and ringing my heart out for Jesus.

This year, our tour destinations include Iowa, the Pacific Northwest, British Columbia and...ISRAEL! If you would like to make any size contribution to our 2011 Summer Ministry Tour to Israel, please get in contact with me!

His and Yours,

Rebekah

A Confession...and some updates!

I apologize for the serious lack of blogging on my...blog. But I'm sure you understand how busy I've been. Life has been crazy. But crazy GOOD. :)

So...my confession.
I have not gone to bed before midnight ONCE since coming here.

I know, I know! =P But the earliest I have to get up is 7am, which is only on Mondays and Wednesdays. I get up at 8am Tuesdays and Fridays, and on Thursdays, I can get up at 9am. It's not that bad. I feel great every day and I haven't gotten sick so far!

Homework has been quiet manageable. While cruising along, it's a little hard to ignore the ominous feeling that everything is going to come crashing down on your head sometime soon. o.O

My eating habits changed drastically upon coming to school. This whole summer I rarely ate breakfast, had very little if anything for lunch, and then ate well at dinner. Now I'm eating WAY more. I haven't noticed a change in my weight (though I'm sure there has been some) but I'm not worried. There are still 10 pounds that I never gained back after getting sick from my trip to Haiti last August. I lost my appetite for almost 5 months and lost 10 pounds. So I figure I have about 40 more bowls of Cocoa Krispies to go before I need to worry.

All my new friendships are continuing to grow exponentially. Houghton 3 West is full of love all the time. We spend late nights talking in each other's rooms, we pray together, we attack each other in the halls, we eat together, we laugh, we sing, we dance, we cry... We're like a family. It's an incredible community of girls who love Jesus. I would trust these girls with anything. Love love LOVE 'em. <3

It is now Wednesday--my busiest day. 8am class; 9am class; 10am chapel; 11am piano lesson; 12pm class; eat lunch fast; 1:30 PCM (Practical Christian Ministry at nursing home). So yeah. Gotta get some rest! :)

I LOVE MBI!!!!!

Peace out. B)