Thursday, August 21, 2014

Ted Pearce and One Accord

Our church hosted Ted Pearce (internationally known Messianic artist) for a worship concert.  Since one of the days he was playing was on Shiloh's birthday, we went to enjoy a fun evening of praise songs, worship, and dance.

We arrived and settled in, but just as he started to play, some technical issues started up.  The sound crew tried to troubleshoot the problem... but he still couldn't get his program to run correctly.
(Sorry for the bad image quality--it was hard to take pictures.)




Some of the dancing we did during the concert.

He was just at the point of calling it off when he decided to call up anyone who wanted to join him on the stage!  We had four women singers, four men singers, Jordan on the keyboard, a lady on the tambourine (I had never seen such amazing tambourine playing before!), and a guy on the conga drums.

 And this was the ensemble we put together! 

It was just an incredible evening of worship!  We just sang our hearts out even though we didn't know have the songs!  Just being in the presence of the Lord like that was amazing.

Some of the congregation dancing.

Mr. Pearce is such a talented musician and songwriter!

After the concert, we had the pleasure of meeting Mr. Pearce.  After talking for a bit, he asked if we could join him on a few songs the next morning.  Wow!  What an honor!!!  We were totally stoked!

We came early to set up and did our mic check... and ran out of time to rehearse the songs.  We only knew one of the songs were we playing and the other two we had heard for the first time last night.  It was going to be all improvisation!

It turned out to be an incredible morning!  The Lord blessed us beyond belief as we played with Mr. Pearce.  It was amazing to just have everything flow together like we had practiced for days... Praise Him!!!  It was an amazing time of worship as we glorified the Lord!  Mr. Pearce was so much fun to work with and had such a fun personality. 

Sadly, we were not able to get able to get everything on film... but we were able to get the majority of two of the songs. 


 

I feel so humbled and grateful that the Lord blessed us with this amazing opportunity!  All the glory goes to Him!

Posted By:
~Bethany 

Wednesday, August 13, 2014

Baptized!

Every summer, our congregation does a church service in the park.  One of the reasons for this is so that people can be baptized (mikvah) in the river.  On that day, us four older ones (Shiloh, Jordan, Eden, and I) were baptized!

I thought I should share what I wrote prior to my baptism:
"I am so excited!

Tomorrow is a day that will be a huge milestone in my life.

I am getting baptized!!! I have looked forward to this day for quite some time now. The Lord has worked everything out in His timing and it's going to be extra special that it will be on the same day as my mother's birthday (that means I'll never forget it!).

Baptism is an outward proclamation of an inward transformation. It is where you publicly declare your death, burial, and resurrection with Jesus Christ. As we see in Scripture, repentance and Salvation in Jesus comes before baptism. Christians are commanded to be baptized. It is making a commitment to Christ.

"Know ye not, that so many of us as were baptized into Jesus Christ were baptized into his death? Therefore we are buried with him by baptism into death: that like as Christ was raised up from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life."
~Romans 6:3-4

"For by one Spirit are we all baptized into one body, whether we be Jews or Gentiles, whether we be bond or free; and have been all made to drink into one Spirit."
1 Corinthians 12:13

"A man who knows that he is saved by believing in Christ does not, when he is baptized, lift his baptism into a saving ordinance. In fact, he is the very best protester against that mistake, because he holds that he has no right to be baptized until he is saved."
~Charles Spurgeon"

I am so grateful to Evan S. for taking these pictures.  This was one incredible, amazing, awesome, and wonderful day!!!  I am so thrilled and overjoyed!

 Two little guys getting ready for the service to start! 

We were blessed to be apart of the special worship dance.
(Photocredits: Mrs. S.)

 And maybe we just had too much fun with the open dancing.  ;)

I don't have a name for this dance step yet...

Evan is quite a fantastic photographer, don't you think?  He can take armless selfies.  That takes some talent! 

Love this picture of Elanee at the river!

Now for the baptism pictures... You know, I don't think I'm going to caption them because they speak for themselves.  :)


















It was so neat to come out of the water to the sounds of the congregation cheering and the shofars blowing! 

It was such a blessing to be apart of this!!!

It was very beautiful to watch this family get dedicated to the Lord together.  

I see you!

It was very special to watch our "adopted" sister Lindsey rededicate herself to the Lord.  She is such a special person!

One moment as my heart melts over such cuteness...

Daddy helped escort people out into the water.  He is amazing!

 Happy Birthday, Mommy!

We were so blessed to have the S. family and some of the V. family join us.  Here is our group picture with our pastor on the bottom right.

We spent the rest of the day floating down the river, going off an awesome rope swing, fellowshipping, and singing praise songs together.

I think it was just a perfect day.  I will remember it for the rest of my life!

Posted By:
~Bethany 

Wednesday, August 6, 2014

Camp Dwight 2014 Part 2.

And here we are for Part 2. of the Camp Dwight Experience!  (In case you need to be caught up to date, check back here.)

Saturday night there was a big concert featuring some very talented families.  Thanks to Evan S. for taking these fantastic pictures!
Doesn't this look so inviting?  :)

The Booher brothers are amazing musicians and they have such a great stage presence!

This family had an incredible vocal blend.

The H. sisters were a delight to hear!

The J. family sang some lively songs!

The B. sisters sang a hilarious rewritten song about homeschoolers.  :)

And then it seems like Evan caught Eden and I scheming something up before we went on stage...

Mhm... something is up.

At a time like this, no one is safe!

Mission finalized!

Love this shot!
We were so blessed to be able to perform... and it was extra special to have Daddy join us on the cajon.

One Accord.

A very pretty picture of Shiloh and the harp.

I look so dramatic.  ;)

Jordan taking up the only guy vocal part!

Eden did a lovely job on her solo! 

Mr. J. and his family do such an incredible job putting this family camp together and blessing so many people!

Dr. Jerry Benjamin was a wonderful speaker!
 It was a glorious night.  
(Thanks to Paul L. for this amazing shot.)

Sunday morning our group was so tired we slept in at our "camp".
 This picture is fondly called "The Calm Before the Storm".

And why?

Because we were getting ready for this EPIC pillow fight!  This was way too much fun.  :)


And I thought I was bad at spelling...

Sunday was a lovely day of more fun, fellowship, and families.  At the end, they hosted a dance, but since I danced, I didn't take any pictures.

Shiloh singing during the hymns.

Philip and Eden photobombing.  ;)

Our amazing Daddy!

Lindsey enjoying the conversations.

Kathrina B. has such a great smile.  :)

Love this picture of Shiloh!

Thanks again to Evan for letting me use his pictures!!!  Let do a round of virtual applause for him!
I could picture after picture because each one is so special and brings back wonderful memories.  :)  I am so thankful to the J. Family for all that they do to make this such an amazing experience!  And I am so thankful to the Lord for bring such special people in our lives to share the joy of friendship with.

I can't wait till next year!

Posted By:
~Bethany