At the end of February we travelled to West Virginia for
what Dane and I call our “Déjà Vu Tour.” We went to the same two churches we
ministered to the last weekend of February in 2011! It was cool to see everyone
again and to make some new memories, including an intense game of Catchphrase
and an even more intense game of 4-on-a-Couch on Saturday night. We got back
late Sunday night after our evening service, and when I woke up Monday morning
I was relieved to remember that the next weekend was Spring Break.
At team rehearsal the week after break we shared our life
maps. I was so excited to be able to learn more about my team and share about
me. Last year we didn’t share our life maps until right before summer tour, and
it was a little overdue. Knowing where a person has come from changes how you
see them and lets you relate to them in a different way. A couple weeks after
we shared, I had an awesome conversation with Isaac as we talked about our life
maps a little more and how our views of each other changed after hearing about
our backgrounds. I was so glad we shared our life maps when we did.
But the next week I got really nervous when Chris (the
drummer from the Scioto Hills retreat) showed up at our rehearsal and Caleb was
nowhere to be seen. Jim told us that Caleb wouldn’t be travelling with us that
weekend and that Chris was filling in, and that’s all the explanation I got. I
was really upset for a couple of days, especially since this weekend we were
travelling to my home church, now without our whole team. It took me talking to
Colin, then talking to Jim, then sleeping on it for the third night, for me to
finally be at peace about the whole thing. Of all the people to replace the
irreplaceable Caleb, Chris was the best choice (especially since we took the
trussing system that Chris is an expert at setting up). I put my head up and
got ready for what would become my favorite weekend out of my entire touring
career.
I like to say it started when Rachel Valarik, an old
teammate of mine, texted me asking if I wanted to go for a walk. Rachel is
married now and it’s so hard to find time when we’re both free and Taylor’s
busy so we can hang out, so I jumped on it. We took a walk with her dog Max
around campus and then got some ice cream before it started pouring rain!! It
was nice to finally have a clear head and talk through some things with her; I
have always looked up to her as a more experienced teammate, and it’s good to
hear her opinion. With soaking shoes and a rather wet shirt, I drop my suitcase
at the loading dock and run to my final class.
When I got back, all the guys had surprised Colin by loading
the entire trailer! We were so excited that we might get an early start when
Dane went to check the equipment room. He came back and said, “Deanna, are we
bringing your keyboards?” We both started laughing hysterically when we
realized we almost forgot my instrument!! What’s even funnier is that this
semester we have already left one of Caleb’s drums one weekend and David’s guitar
another weekend. We were able to creatively work both of those out
(reprogramming drums, borrowing guitars), but it would have been much more
difficult to find another TWO keyboards to borrow! I told Dane we should have
just left them and I could have played on the real piano at the church. He
scowled at me jokingly.
We started in Hillsboro, Ohio at a youth retreat. We set up
the trussing, learning from the experts (Colin and Chris) and trying to
remember everything, since we were going to need to do it all this summer. The
first session went really well! We were all full of energy and pumped to be
there. After the session, it was time for church-v-church dodgeball. It didn’t
take long for it to become very clear who on our team is more competitive than
others… :) Soon after we went to our host homes while the kids spent the night
at the church. The girls stayed with a family whose daughter goes to Cedarville
and was home for the weekend. It was cool getting to know Rachel and being able
to reconnect with her at school for dinner a couple weeks later. I love it when
I can connect with someone on tour and then reconnect with that person later.
It makes the impact much more lasting.
Jim arrived the next day, just in time for our first
session. The speaker was very energetic and said some things that raised some
eyebrows. Now, it’s good to see Jim anytime we’re on tour, but for the first
time I was SO HAPPY that he was there to talk us through the speaker’s message
after the session was over. We talked about what he said and how we should
react. Later on when I interacted with the speaker, I put exactly what Jim said
into practice instead of doing what I originally thought I was going to do. And
for the first time I directly applied something Jim taught us moments after he
taught us. That is the best kind of learning; having an opportunity moments
later to apply what you just learned. I was beyond thankful for Jim’s being
there, and it changed the way I learn from him.
After the last session (ended a lot later than we thought),
we speedily tore everything down and loaded the trailer. We didn’t get to our
next church until after dinnertime, but since they had had an event late at the
church, we couldn’t set up until after dinner anyway. So we went straight to our
host home… my house!! My whole team already had met my parents, but they
finally got to meet my sister (who is the same age as most of them, believe it
or not) and see my house. I got to see Matt, our music pastor, and his wife
Kellie, and then I got to hold their new Leap Day baby girl before they had to
go home. After dinner, Matt, Dad, Alena, and my team went to the church to set
up. It was so crazy to see the stage I’m so used to ministering on every Sunday
I’m home, now occupied with the familiar HeartSong stage setup I’m so used to
ministering with on dozens of different stages. After set-up, we came back to
my house for dessert. I was so happy that the entire team could stay at my
house!
Sunday morning was a great morning for us. It was awesome
for me to show my church family what I do when I’m not home playing for the
summer and to worship with my church family and my HeartSong family. It was
also great to hear my pastor speak; it was so Biblically sound and very solid,
and it so refreshing to hear. Unfortunately we were out of time and had to cut
my favorite song, but all in all it was a great morning.
Look at how long this blog post is so far! But guess what?
The crazy part hasn’t even happened yet! We were eating lunch at my church,
talking to Jim and our pastor and my family, when Colin looks at the clock and
says, “Guys, we gotta go!” We tear down all our equipment and pack it into the
trailer in record time (literally, it only took us 30 minutes), and Colin and
Dane hop in Jim’s car and head out while we all pile into the van. Now, we had
backed into the grass to get the trailer loaded. The wet, muddy grass. And
Chris is driving; apparently he is notorious for getting the trailer stuck. So
we start up the van, and the tires start spinning, but we’re not moving. It
takes us a full hour to get unstuck, finally enlisting the help of the pastor’s
father-in-law and his big truck (much similar to the way we got unstuck over
Fall Break). The good thing that came out of this was that I got to observe how
each person responded to conflict and finally pin my music pastor as an S (shut
down emotions) and the church pastor as a D (fight). Chris confirmed his ‘I’
tendency to avoid conflict when after about the 7th try to get
unstuck he said, “Well, anyone want a blow pop?”
By now, we were so late! We miraculously did not get a
speeding ticket on our way to Bellefontaine, finally arriving an hour before
the service started. Then we SET UP in 30 minutes, another record time! As I
sat in a pew in the back trying to refocus, Jim asked me if we had the notebook
of songs for the deaf ministry. I almost laughed out loud; 2 weeks ago, Hayden
from Blue Team and I had updated the deaf ministry notebook with all our new
songs, and as we were finishing up he said, “Now, we’ll probably never need
these; in four years of touring, I’ve never needed it.” I pulled out our
notebook from the team leader bag and put the songs in order for the
interpreter. I texted Hayden later with a smile.
This church was Ashtyn’s old church, and I saw in her eyes
the same excitement I was feeling that morning. It is so cool to be able to
minister to the people you love in your favorite way. After the service, we
leisurely tore down before heading over to Ashtyn’s house for a later dinner.
As we headed back to Cedarville, we passed by a police car that had just pulled
someone over. Colin, who was on the phone with another team leader, said,
“Yeah, Jim is preoccupied at the moment, you might want to call him back in 10
minutes…”
A few weeks later Caleb was back, and we were rehearsing
music as a band again. As great as it was to travel with Chris, there is
something about having every person there who should be there. It’s a settling
feeling, a sigh-of-relief kind of thing, like I had almost been holding my
breath for the past month. It’s the same feeling I felt last weekend when I
came home from school; a sigh of relief that the semester is done, that I have
time now to do things I’ve been wanting to do for awhile, like spending time
pursuing God and His word or making [surprises] for the HeartSong girls or
updating this blog. I’m excited for this time to breathe, to reflect and prepare my heart
for the amazing ministry I will have this summer.
I'm learning to breathe, I'm learning to crawl
I'm finding that You and You alone can break my fall
I'm living again, awake and alive
I'm dying to breathe in these abundant skies
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