A quick note...

Rent was absolutely wonderful. Couldn't get into the piano bar we
wanted to afterwards, but it ended up being okay. More on that and
many other things when I get home tomorrow.

In The Big Apple

Well I'll give this mobile blogging thing a shot. We're in New York City now with our band tour, and I must admit I'm having a really good time. I wasn't sure I'd enjoy NY, but it's great. Went down and walked across the Brooklyn Bridge tonight, which was really cool. We also went to Ground Zero, which was really powerful. I have pictures that I'll be sharing with you all when I get home, but for now I'm getting some sleep. Big day tomorrow.

Catching Up

Thank goodness for Monday... how often do you hear that? Not very often, at least not out of my mouth. Tonight, however, happens to be a different story. Allow me to explain:

Whoever decided that Finals Week at Otterbein should be the same as Holy Week obviously wanted me dead. Taking finals Monday-Wednesday, then having extra rehearsals and services Thursday-Sunday is probably not a good idea, but I got through it, and everything went well. Now I'm at "home" (my parents house) enjoying a couple of days off before heading to New York later this week for our Wind Ensemble tour. A few highlights:

I actually got to get out front and lead at our Good Friday service. Normally I'm tied to the keyboard the whole time, but I was fortunate enough to have Bryce Bell sitting in with the band for that service. Bryce has played with some really top-notch folks, including Petra and Rebecca St. James, so not only did he give me a break from keys, he also played them much better than I would have. All in all a winning deal for me.

Sunday we inaugurated our new in-ear monitor system. I was a little nervous to do that on Easter, of all the weeks of the year, but the timing just worked out for it, and everything worked well. No major technical glitches, which was nice. Beyond that (and far more importantly), both of the aforementioned services went very well. Everything worked, the band played well, dramas went off without a hitch, and the folks in the congregation really seemed to make a connection... which is why we worry about all the other things in the first place.

I was thinking about that idea on the way home yesterday (2 hour drive allows some time for thought). My official title at Centerpoint is "Worship Arts Director" - I know that jobs like that have been around for a long time, but it almost seems a little pretentious... to think that I could (much less should) "direct" the worship of others, as if it was a play or a movie. In the end, though, I don't think that's what it really comes down to. The way I see it, I really have two major responsibilities in my job. The first (and more important) is to be a leader by example. If the people up front are worshiping honestly and passionately, I believe that it relaxes the folks in the crowd a little bit. The other is to help create an environment which facilitates the worship of others. The more I think about it, that's really what I do. More than actually leading the group, I think about things like what kind of lighting and music and atmosphere will help people let their guard down and open up to God. Granted, I'm utterly unqualified to do that (aren't we all!) but I'm really amazed by what God is doing at Centerpoint. People are experiencing God's presence and they're responding with genuine worship. I can't take any credit for that, but I'm still humbled and blessed to be a part of it.

Well, that's enough for tonight... time for a good night's sleep and no responsibilities again tomorrow... sometimes a break is just what the doctor ordered.

The Saga of a Keyboard

Ok, so this story probably won't be interesting to most of you, but I think that the whole thing is rather funny (though it has also been frustrating!).

3 weeks ago I ordered a new keyboard/MIDI controller. I had had my eye on it for a while, and thanks to a generous refund from the IRS, I decided that I could finally make it work. So I ordered it. Musician's Friend is usually really quick with shipping, so when it didn't come in a week and a half, I placed customer service call #1:

Me: I ordered a keyboard last week and it hadn't arrived. Just wanted to make sure it shipped out alright.
Them: It says it shipped, but if you don't get it by Tuesday, call us and we'll ship another one.

Well needless to say it didn't come by last Tuesday (otherwise this would be a pretty crappy story, huh?) So I went ahead and place customer service call #2:

Me: You said to call if it didn't come and you would reship.
Them: Well, we're not sure what happened to the first one, but ok, we'll send another.

Problem solved, right? Wrong. This morning the doorbell rang, and I could see the UPS truck driving away as I got to the door... excitement abounded. Open the door, bring the box inside, cut off the tape and find... 2 shiny new Korg keyboards. In one box. Oops. Hence, customer service call #3:

Me: The box finally came but there are two keyboards in it.
Them: Wow, I've never had anything like that happen before. It looks like that's actually the first shipment we sent... so we'll try to intercept the other one so you don't get a third one.
Me: So what do I do with the second one that I didn't pay for?
Them: I'll send you a UPS label and you can send it back.

The thing that kept going through my mind through all of this is that they're lucky I'm an honest person. I bought an expensive keyboard. They shipped it. I called and told them that it hadn't arrived, and they shipped another one. Immediately. No questions asked. For all they knew, I could have had the first one in my living room. Not only that, it turns out they sent not two, but three (maybe even FOUR if they made the same mistake on the second one)! I certainly could have kept them all, and resold two of them (for great profit!) and nobody would have known any better. Oops.

In any case, the saga has (finally) come to a close. I'll be dropping #2 off at UPS tomorrow morning, and I have #1 set up in my bedroom and ready to play. Things work out in the end.

A Sigh Of Relief & Simple Pleasures

It has been a very long, busy week (hence my absence from this page). Thankfully, the weekend has arrived. Granted, I've got a lot to do this weekend, as well, but it's still a relief. The last week of the quarter is always stressful, but some are worse than others, and this particular one was pretty bad. I've been writing papers, preparing presentations, rehearsing, performing, planning, and more of the like. Last night I didn't get to bed until 5 AM, got three hours of sleep, and then got up for a day that's ending, well... now. Despite all this, there are some simple (even silly, perhaps) pleasures that have gotten me through this week. they include...

1. Writing with me favorite Cross pen, even just a few words. I love the way it feels in my hand and the way it glides across the paper. That one's a keeper.

2. A full tank of gas. The kind that lets you take a quick drive to your favorite place in the evening before you start a 10 page paper. Which also leads to said favorite place. The chance to drive along the water and then across the bridge doesn't come often since I stopped working at New Albany, so it's quite a pleasure now. Put me in a much better mindset for the work I had to do last night.

3. A newly opened jar of peanut butter. Go ahead and laugh, but I love the way it looks... I love sinking the knife into it that very first time. Admittedly it's a short-lived pleasure, but definitely wonderful :-)

4. Seeing the light at the end of the tunnel... which I can see now. There's still a lot to do this weekend and next week, but it's manageable. It's staggered. It's going to be ok. That's a relieving feeling.

...and on that note... a well deserved and long awaited full night's sleep. More tomorrow.

Stopping Time

Today was a very strange day. Between the cancellation of church this morning and the switch to Daylight Savings Time last night, time seems to have almost stopped. It's as if we just suspended everything happening in Columbus, Ohio for two days. It's a very strange feeling. Mentally, I'm fairly exhausted, but my body just wants to do something after being nearly stagnant for 48 hours. I did venture out twice today: once for something to eat, and then over to the school this evening. We're getting ready for a big band concert on Wednesday night, so we had to get our percussion equipment ready to go to the hall. After my parking experience over there tonight, I think there's a very good chance I'll be putting on my boots and trudging over on foot tomorrow morning. Parking will not be pleasant. I honestly half-expected the school to take another day in order to get everything cleared out, but it looks like that will not be the case (wishful thinking, perhaps). Understandable, considering the blow that missing a full day in our last week would be. Oh well, I'm sure it will all work out fine.

Watched "The Green Mile" tonight with Dave. I hadn't seen it before (go ahead and be shocked if you'd like, I just don't see many movies). Needless to say, I was pretty blown away. Wow. I think it says a lot about the way we carry ourselves in our lives, the messages we send to people. Every week I send our congregation at church with the words "carry Christ with you wherever you go this week"... I wonder how often we fail at that critical task?

Alright... I should at least make an attempt at sleep. Tomorrow, things get back to normal.

A Day Of Rest

This might be a new personal record for "most blog entries in one day", but considering that I've been literally stuck in the house all day, there just hasn't been that much to do. Which is actually what I'm writing about tonight. About an hour ago the difficult decision was made to cancel our service tomorrow morning. That's something that nobody ever wants to do, and yet it was clearly the right decision to make. Many if not most of the other churches around our area have done the same, so all of those folks will be staying home and sleeping in...

...and I can't help but think that it's probably what God wanted.

If I could use one word to describe the people that I know (and I'm including myself here) recently, it would be tired. We're worn down, we're sick, we barely have enough energy to keep going, and yet we forge on. We push ourselves as hard as ever (harder than we should), because we don't think we can afford to slow down. But in the process, I think we often forget that we owe God our best worship. Not what we have left over at the end of the week, not what we manage to scrounge up on Sunday morning, but our first fruits, the best offering, the prime sacrifice. Is it possible that we've come to the point where we're not able to give that because we've simply stretched ourselves too thin?

And then, practically out of nowhere, it snows 20 1/2 inches in 24 hours and brings the busyness of our lives to a grinding halt. People will curse nature and even God for causing it, but it certainly reminds us of something important: we are not in control here. Is it possible that this was God's way of putting the proverbial foot down? Of telling us that we need to rest? I know that I'm feeling pretty good after a full day at home with very little to do. I imagine I'll be quite refreshed by Monday morning. What are the odds that I'll have more energy, more passion, more excitement in my worship time this week? I think they're pretty good. Amazing what a day of rest can do.

Maybe next time it won't take 20 inches of snow to remind us.

More Snow Pictures

The snow continues to fall here, despite predictions that it would end by 4:00 PM (it's now 5:35). It's quite a mess outside, and a lot of churches in our area have already canceled their Sunday morning services. We're still stewing on that one in the Centerpoint camp... probably waiting until the morning to make a final decision. For now, it's looking like another night of movies and computer stuff around here. The good news is that this has given me some time to work on a script that I'm in the middle of for church, and our internet seems to be back in full force now after intermittent service this morning.

Here are a couple more pictures of the "white death" (as we affectionately call it here at our house):

Our front sidewalk, shortly after shoveling.

My poor car - begging to be excavated.

The view across our front yard.

Buried

Well, for the first time in a long time, the Columbus weatherman was right on the money. It's been snowing since yesterday morning, but typically we don't get anywhere near the nastiness that they predict: not so this time. There is definitely a foot of snow on the ground on this morning. That's no exaggeration. On top of that, it's still coming down! This gives a whole new meaning to the idea of being "snowed in". It's one thing to see snow on the ground and decide to stay in because of it, but it's quite another to look outside and think that you probably couldn't leave even if you wanted to. Looking out the window this morning, it's hard to believe that earlier this week I was sitting out on the patio with no jacket reading. Here's a picture of that same patio this morning (now, granted this was taken through a screen door with my phone, but I think you'll still get the idea):


Needless to say, it's going to be an "around the house" type of day, since the entire city is basically shut down. As a result, I suspect this won't be the last you'll hear out of me today!

New Beginnings

It's time for a new start. Allow me to explain. I've been blogging for a long time, and up until this point, I've been entirely faithful to the same blog: http://ericfrisch04.mindsay.com. Now don't get me wrong, I like Mindsay, but after over 4 years of maintaining that page, it was simply time for a switch. My content has changed over the years, and some of the older posts on the Mindsay blog don't really reflect what I want my blog to be about anymore. Beyond that, there are some really useful features here that simply haven't been integrated there: comments from folks who aren't registered users and mobile blogging being the biggest ones for me. So here I am. I make no promises about what you will find here, but I hope that you'll stop back and read. Blogging is something that I do for myself - a chance to work out feelings and thoughts and ideas in words, but it's always more fun when others join the process. Feel free to check out the old blog as well to find out more about the journey that has brought me to this point. Until next time, God bless!