What I've been doing:
South by South West - One of the perks of doing this residency is the amount of very unique opportunities I get to be the recipient of. One of those opportunities was the ability to work at the MTV Woodies this year at SXSW. The main portion of SXSW is a week long music festival where every coffee shop, restaurant, back yard and anything in-between turns into a music venue and nearly half a million people partake. The MTV Woodies was a show held in a large parking lot showcasing some of the rising musicians from 2016. I got to be a part of setting up the venue as well as handling audio in the green room. It was by far the biggest magnitude of a show that I’ve been a part of. Our system consisted of an entire semi truck of gear double stacked plus another box truck of gear. I have never wrapped so much cable in my life when we loaded out. It is such a cool experience to see everyones hard work come together and watch that work translate into an unforgettable night for the audience. I wish I could put into words just how unique and rare of an opportunity this was. So much growth came from those few days and I will be able to take so much of what I learned back to what I do to serve the Lord in the Church, as well as investing that into those I am training.
Training Others - As I was casting my vision for this residency, one of the major visions I had was to be trained and equipped so that I could in turn train and equip others to serve the church well in audio. Over the past moth or so, I have had the opportunity to begin training and equipping a few volunteers on our team. It is surreal to look back to the season when I began my dive into live audio and then to see these volunteers in that same season, but having the ability to pour into them and teach them the things I wish someone would have taught me when I was first learning. My hope is to continue to pour into them as I learn and grow, and help them sharpen their skills to ultimately help serve the Church and God’s purposes through that. Pray that God would continue to help guide and lead me as I lead others.
Audio Engineer Development with Andrew Starke - As you know, I am part of a weekly audio engineering class to learn both the theory and skills of live sound reinforcement as well as live mixing. Recently, we had the pleasure of inviting Andrew Starke to come teach the class and share his story and wisdom. Starke was formerly the head audio director of Hillsong (you may have heard of them) over the better part of the last decade. That night turned into a very special night for all of us in the class. The first portion of the class, Starke took the time to share his story, from the highs to the lows, and what it meant to truly put your identity in Christ as a son or daughter of Christ first and foremost. That was such a needed reminder that placing our identity in anything else other than christ will lead to emptiness and discontentment. When our hope is placed in Jesus alone, He can use our unique giftings and crafts for his glory and purposes, which ultimately leads to our joy. Starke then went on to teach us his mixing philosophy, which was extremely insightful and helpful. It’s very rare that people get the opportunity to learn and be taught from someone as highly regarded as Andrew Starke, so I am beyond grateful and blessed to have been graced with that opportunity.
Prayers
Abide in Him and His Word - At every season of life I’ve thought that I was as busy as I could possible be and I keep being proven wrong. Although this is such a great season and I am so grateful for it, its a very busy one. please pray that in the midst of the chaos, my focus would still be to abide in Him and His word. I know that everything thing else will take care of its self.
Support due to Health Care - I am about to begin the process of having to raise a little more support. Due to changes with our healthcare system, I am about to be in the process of having to be placed on a specific healthcare plan with the Austin Stone. Because of that, I will have to raise a little extra support to cover that cost. Please pray that God would stir the hearts of some to graciously help with that, and that He would place the right people in front of me for that.
Lastly, there will be some changes coming with my blog. Instead of going longer spans of time between blogs and trying to cram in everything that has happened in those gaps, I will be sending out more frequent post. These coming posts won't be quite as long and will give a more frequent look into what God is doing through this residency. I feel as though that will better serve you and will help blog posts to be more engaging.
Thank you so so much for all that you do in support of me. I am continually blown away by God's goodness and grace on my life. It has stirred more and more humility and grace in my heart. Grace and Peace.
Pictures From My Residency
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