Mission Trip to New Orleans

I am having a tough time trying to put this trip into words! The experience this past week was exhausting, rewarding, fulfilling, and fun!

I am the accompanist for the youth choir at my church and I get to go on their annual Mission Choir Tour. Doug went as our bus driver and he was able to secure a BRAND NEW Prevost bus - beautiful! We sang three concerts in Kenner, Metairie and Covington, LA and ran a day camp from 9-3 Monday-Friday. We got to do a little sightseeing: French Quarter, Jackson Square, Cafe du Monde (yum!), Aquarium, D-Day Museum, swamp tour (saw lots of gators!) and a AAA baseball game! It was a full and tiring week, but the Lord truly blessed our efforts. I love choir tour for the experience of seeing our youth "step up" and perform duties and take on responsibilities that they would not otherwise have an opportunity to do.

Every time we sang, there was an obstacle for me to overcome: Sunday a.m. concert - HOT and couldn't see Stephen very well; Sunday p.m. concert - 4 sticking keys in the middle C octave of the piano, which I play often; Wednesday p.m. concert - sound system that wasn't great, I couldn't hear the kids and they couldn't hear me, thus I relied on Stephen's conducting and beat! BUT, I must say that God worked miracles in those concerts. Every time we talked to people afterward, they loved the music, complimented me and were blessed by the choir. God knew I needed a confidence boost before our concert at Baylor tomorrow (more about that soon!) and the experiences on choir tour certainly made me see my strengths as an accompanist.

The two pics are of Doug and I at the New Orleans aquarium and of a building on Jackson Square in the French Quarter.