In case anyone didn't already know, this is what my Sundays now look like:

9:00 am - Frank and Penni pick me up and take me to the church so Frank and I can work out instrumental stuff on the songs before the singers arrive, and so that I can actually practice, since I can no longer make it to worship practice because of either work or class every night of the week.

12:00-1:00 pm - I go to Frank and Penni's house. I goof around while Penni makes a lunch that never fails to be home-cooked and tasty. We sit around the table like a family - Frank, Penni, Betty, Heather, usually Elaine, sometimes that bratty (but hilariously fun) kid Wyatt, and me.

1:00-3:30 - I do my laundry and some homework.

3:30-5:00 - I watch a movie with Heather and eat an awesome home-cooked dinner, courtesy (again) of Penni (doesn't she sound like a mom? Well, she is!)

5:30 - Elaine picks me up for kid's choir. No, I'm not in it - I run it! It's so fun! I'll talk about that after this.

7:30 - I am dropped off by somebody at my dorm.

8:00 - I type on here.

Isn't that great?! Sundays are just great. Structured fun and relaxation, that's what it is.

Today was the second week of kid's choir. We had a few new kids who didn't know the song I had taught them last week.

Last week, I wasn't very prepared, but it wasn't my fault. I was as prepared as I could be. I didn't know what age range of kids I had, or how many. I had never led any kid-thing before! So, I wrote a basic vague plan. It went a lot better than I thought it would - in fact, it went as well as it could for the lack of plan I had (which, again, wasn't my fault). So, this week I was prepared! I set aside about 3 hours one day and worked on stuff. Man, this is a time commitment! But it was still fun.

Here's what we're doing (I'm so darn proud of these kids, I have to share what they're learning and doing!): Today, we sang Joshua 1:9 to the tune given by "GT and the Halo Express", which we had learned last week. This time, I had made up some hand motions to the song, and I taught those to them. I really wanted to give them some background, instead of just plucking that verse out of its historical context. I wanted to tell them the story of the Israelites - how they had been wandering in the desert, and God promised them a wonderful new land, but when they got there they found other people living there! God said to kick out the other people, but the other people were very strong, so God told Joshua to "Be strong and courageous. Do not be terrified; do not be discouraged, for the Lord your God will be with you wherever you go."

So, I wrote a skit! I had a Moses, a Joshua, a God, and a Jordan River. The Jordan River divided the room in half. Half the people were Israelites, and half were not; the Israelites were on the desert side of the Jordan, and the non-Israelites were on the Promised Land side. And I narrated about how hot and tired and sore and thirsty the Israelites were, and had them act it all out. And I had the non-Israelites act out how happy they were to be in the nice land. I had God talking to Joshua. Yeah, it wasn't a complete story, but it gave me the context I needed. And it was great. Those kids...man, I know kids have lots of energy! I've babysat for years and I have my own significantly younger sibling. But these kids never. run. out.

Then we took a break while I figured out chords to "Jesus Loves the Little Children" and "Jesus Loves Me", and we sang those. Then we played "Statue", where I played "Joshua 1:9" while they danced around, and when I stopped playing they had to freeze. Because there are so many younger kids, I didn't think it would work well to have them be "out" if they moved after I stopped, or something like that. It was just fun. Then we played "Duck Duck Goose" which is really a crowd favorite. Emily had the bright idea that the kids had to say "Joshua, Joshua, Joshua, Joshua, one-nine!" instead of "Duck, duck duck, duck, goose!" It was fun because some of the kids had trouble saying "Joshua" so much, and some forgot the "one-nine" part.

And then, amazingly, we were done!

These kids are so great. They love to sing. This morning I went over to them before church. The first thing they were asking was, "Hey, Amber, is there kid's choir tonight? What time? What time is it now? How many more hours?" They could not wait! They're so enthusiastic and energetic and not at all shy.

I'm so happy. I love this.

I'm going to clean and finish up my math lesson now. Thanks for listening to me having a great day. I hope you do too.

Amber