speaking through music

i know i haven't posted in a while, but i have so many thoughts right now that i need to put out into the universe!

i was just talking with my host family over dinner, and we were discussing the many ways we can speak the word of God to the people around us. my host mom was saying that she had always wondered if she was saying the right things to people, or if she had said different things in the past maybe she would have made a difference in more peoples lives. and i told her that it isn't what we say, but what God says through us. i have realized this year that if i took on the burden of changing peoples lives all by myself i wouldn't get anything done because i would be so stressed. if i always said, i need to use my own words and my own actions to change the lives around me, what would come from it? and how narcissistic does that sound? i am serving a God this year that has the power to move mountains. who am i if i don't beleive this same God can speak through me; and for that matter, a God that can speak through all of the Christians on this earth at one time?

a lot of the people i encounter this year at the different concerts we put on seem to think that i am perfect just because i am on a Christian ministry team. it makes it hard for people who haven't led very perfect lives to think they can approach me. for the longest time, i thought that i had to live up to their expectations of who i was going to be like, and i basically faked it. it got to be super overwhelming until one night i was praying and i realized that i could serve more people and speak to more people if i just decided to be totally honest about my life and the mistakes i had made. i was amazed by the power of God the next day, because a high school girl came up to me out of the blue and told me about all of the things she was getting in trouble for. she was into sex, drugs, alcohol, and there was trouble at home. i sat down with her and was honest about all of the things i had done that i wasn't proud of, and i got to tell her that what she had done wasn't unfixable. i got to tell her that she was a beautiful girl who was created in God's image, no matter what she had on her record, and i got to tell her this because i was honest with myself and with her about who i was. God works and speaks in amazing ways, and it isn't all on our shoulders to do the work. he speaks through us.

one other thing i was talking about with my host home tonight was the idea that God speaks through people by using the gifts He has given them. i am not very good with speaking in front of people, but God has given me the gift of singing and playing piano. leading worship this year has been very eye opening because i have realized that music can speak to people more than spoken words sometimes. when my teammates and i are leading worship and i look out into the congregation and see people smiling and crying all at the same time, i know that God is speaking to them. it has been a life changing experience using my God given talent for more than just personal gain, and i wouldn't trade it for anything.

palm sunday

since i haven't been blogging as much as i wanted to this year, i thought i'd blog again over break! today is palm sunday, and i had the honor of singing one of my favorite songs in church today with my sister as the accompianist. the song is called "carry your name" by Christy Nockels, who is an amazing christian artist. my favorite part of the song goes like this:
no other name. mighty to save. Jesus. Jesus. no greater love. God's only son. Jesus. Jesus. i will carry Your name. carry Your name. Jesus your name forever. for all of my days. in all of my ways. Jesus your name forever.
after church today, i get to travel to Radcliffe with my family to see my grandparents, and as my grandpa is dealing with some health issues right now, it will be amazing to finally see him. i have been on the road, and my family gets to see him a lot, so it is such a blessing to finally get to spend some time with him. yay! :]
an just when you think that my day couldn't get any better, bobby collins is visiting me for three days and he is driving to pella and will be here tonight! all of these blessings make me think the same thing in my head over and over again: God is good. all the time.
love,
hannah joy

Hallelujah:]

i cannot wait to go home for easter break! i get to fly out of chicago tomorrow evening and it is super exciting, which is why i used the "h" word for the title of this blog, even though i realize it isn't appropriate to use it in the Lutheran church until Easter. its just so exciting that it warranted me breaking that tradition. so anyway, life on the road has been crazy, and since i don't own a laptop its a bit harder for me to blog as much as i would like. i apologize for my lack of words this past month. even though i said its been crazy lately, it has also been pretty amazing. we have been travelling in wisconsin, illinois, michigan, and ohio. all in about a month and a half. wisconsin is old news because my team seems to travel to every nook and cranny of that state. illinois has been really great because we have had a lot of youth quakes and zones there [which are weekend retreats with hundreds of kids and two musicians and an inspirational speaker. they are held in hotels and resorts across the u.s. and youth encounter puts all of them on.] michigan was a short lived stay, but it was fun to be in a new state. ohio was wonderful because my super awesome teammate matt craig timm is from the toledo area, and we were able to spend time at his home church. 
all in all, i feel like i have a life changing experience every day i am on the road. it is awesome to meet so many people of faith, and to help people grow in their relationships with Christ through music and relational ministry. i couldn't ask for a better year, and we haven't even gotten into our vacation bible school filled summer. we get to be the music and help at churches for their VBS which should be a great experience.
some news you might be interested to know is that i now have a boyfriend. his name is Bobby Collins, and, yes, he is on my team. we talked it out and decided that it would be pointless to go through the rest of this year without defining our relationship since we are around each other 24/7, and so we had a discussion with our two other teammates, courtney and matt, and they were very happy for us. if you want anymore lovey dovey details about it you can ask me. i am a girl and i like to talk about my feelings. lol.
anyway, i discovered an amazing song by tenth avenue north, and i would like to leave you with some of the lyrics:
You are more than the choices that you've made, 
You are more than the sum of your past mistakes, 
You are more than the problems you create, 
You've been remade. 

'Cause this is not about what you've done, 
But what's been done for you. 
This is not about where you've been, 
But where your brokenness brings you to 

This is not about what you feel, 
But what He felt to forgive you, 
And what He felt to make you loved. 

You are more than the choices that you've made, 
You are more than the sum of your past mistakes, 
You are more than the problems you create, 
You've been remade. 


[yes, i realize this blog is very random. but lets be honest, when am i ever organized?] :]
love,
hannah joy <3

happy february!

the last time i wrote, we were dealing with a lot of van and snow problems. i am happy to announce that since that post we only were stuck once in green bay! the weather teased me and acted like it was spring for about a week, and then we were hit with another blizzard. but we made the best of it, and stayed in cooking delicious warm meals and watching movies together. it was some awesome team bonding time. matt, bobby, and court all ate steak... and i bought a lunchable.[ i was just craving it, ok?] but due to this cold weather i have taken up using looms i bought at hobby lobby to make hats. it has been a super fun activity do on the snow days we keep hitting on the road. 

last sunday, we led a church service in conover wisconsin. it is a super tiny town that isn't even an actual town. its more like a village. but there is a beautiful church there overlooking an amazing lake. so we got to sing lots of my favorite songs, and during offering we sang my favorite hymn, which is "it is well with my soul." my favorite verse goes like this: my sin, oh the bliss of this glorious thought. my sin not in part, but the whole, is nailed to the cross and i bear it no more, praise the Lord, praise the Lord, oh my soul. after the service, an older man came up to me, and he told me that he loved the way i smiled while i sang. he said that my voice was great, but what stood out to him was the way i smiled all the way through our service. i don't usually take compliments to heart, it has just always been hard for me to take affirmation seriously. but when he said that, it made me really happy. it was just another one of God's reminders that i am in the right place serving Him this year.

on a different note, we found out that we are doing an event with 800 people at the wisconsin dells! i am super excited to worship with that many kids, and i am ready for an energy filled weekend! 

much love from the snowy roads of wisconsin,

hannah joy

west lakes snow adventures 2011

i am sitting in a chapel on the campus of Finlandia University, in the UP of Michigan. it. is. so. cold. and speaking of cold, i am sure you all would like to know about the crazzzy weather my team has been dealing with lately. first of all, we were in a suburb of Chicago when the epic blizzard hit, and we were stuck in the same host home for an entire week. but no worries, it was an awesome house to stay in and our host parents were incredible. after we were allowed to drive on the snowy roads, we went up to the wisconsin dells for our second event there at the wilderness resort. it went really well and was super duper fun. after we left the dells, we stayed at a host home for the night, and left the next day to drive to Hancock which is the town i am in right now. however; we were about a half an hour out when we realized that there was nooo way we were making with all of the snow and wind. thankfully the area where we stopped was right by a lodge, and we were snowed in AGAIN for the night.

on a completely different topic, i think you all should know that we have been going through a lot as a team lately, and prayers would be appreciated. we lost our teammate phil about two weeks ago. he decided he had other opportunities outside of team that were more important. this was a bitter sweet thing, and if you would like to know more about it i would be glad to speak to you about it over the phone. its just kind of hard to put into words over a blog message. i haven't really known how to type it out, and i hope i did a decent enough job. 

you will be glad to know that we have successfully gotten through two events in chicago and in the dells without him, and we are looking forward to growing together as a four person team. i really have been reading my favorite chapter of the bible [lamentations 3] a lot lately, it has been a great help in times like this. 

fun fact: last night i saw at least five different snow sculptures depicting different books such as moby dick, narnia, and harry potter. yes. it was quite the adventure. it also was a cold adventure.

before i go, i would like to write a little bit about how great God is. this is a hard thing to put into a blog as well, but i am reminded of it every day when i see my teammates, and i see the people we get to minister to. even though times are a little tough, my relationships with my teammates are growing to be a lot deeper. God is great. even though it is cold outside, the snow covered trees are beautiful. God is great. although we might have missed a booking due to crazy weather, we were provided with an amazing host home. God is great. and, finally, even though i miss my family, i know that they support me in my year of ministry. God is the greatest ever. 

thanks for listening.

love,

hannah joy <3

to my dearest aunt jane:

i sincerely apologize for my lack of blogging. i know you were a little annoyed about it at thanksgiving... and it has been a while since then. so here is my promise: i will do my very best to blog at least once every week. yes. this has been put into writing. also, to everyone else who used to follow this blog, i love you. and i hope you still love me...
moving on to what i have been up to: i have been in many states since i blogged last, but more importantly, i have been spreading the word of Christ in lots and lots of places. it's pretty great. we have been travelling for about 17 weeks now. has there been tension with my teammates, you ask? the answer is yes, and there is still tension, but i knew that was bound to happen when i started driving in a van with 4 other people in august. prayers for better communication would be appreciated. however, we put aside our differences every time we arrive at a new place, and our ministry is still very strong.
we have some events coming up starting this weekend. i will be in st.louis this weekend, chicago the next weekend, and the wisconsin dells the weekend after that. we stay at hotels with hundreds of super hyper kids[thanks to drinks such as monster and red bull] and have 40 hours of awesome worship. i will be running on coffee and Jesus by the end of them, but i still am verrrry excited.
[[side note: my teammate bobby is watching me write this blog in a sort of creepy way, so i would like to point out that he is a very cool person in order to avoid conflict later. but really, he's pretty awesome. and it's not just because of his beard.]]
i know i have a lot more to say, but i can't really put it all into words right now, so i am going to leave you with a quote one of my teammates showed me this morning:
"i know God will not give me anything i can't handle. i just wish he didn't trust me so much." -Mother Theresa.

LOVE YOU,
hannah joy

thanksgiving:]

guess where i am now?  i am sitting at my home computer. i was able to be home for thanksgiving, and we are here through tomorrow morning. it has been quite a blessing to see my family, because i have missed them dearly. i think my teammates were a little bit scared of my huge family when we went to atlantic for my moms side of thanksgiving... but they dealt with it, and i am happy that my extended family got to meet them. this thanksgiving i am thankful for lots of things. i feel so blessed to be a part of this ministry, it really is the perfect fit for me this year. i am thankful for my family who has loved and supported me in this crazy year off on the road. i am thankful for my teammates who create beautiful music, and are some of the most amazing people i have ever met. and i am thankful that so far, we have had good health while we have been on the road. i have been reminded lately that what i do with music isn't my own gift, but it is a gift God has given to me, and it is a gift that He has called me to use this year. i am having the time of my life doing it, and i am learning a lot along the way. some things i have learned: having three boys in a van a lot of the time can get pretty smelly. 19-20 year old boys can eat A TON of food. too much pizza is pretty much always a bad thing. XLR cords are used in a sound system to connect microphones and instruments to the sound board. finally, i have learned that i tend to bouce around and head bang when i play the piano standing up.
[thats all i have time to write for now, i have to go force my teammate bobby to get a hair cut because he looks like a stray dog. seriously.]
love to all,
hannah joy