open mic

Tonight was the last 937 of the year. I'm really sad now, actually, because I know I'm gonna miss it a ton. They made it an open mic 937. Free for all, anybody go up and grab the mike and talk. Denyse went up and talked about the fall retreat, when we stood on the shore of the lake and sang across it, listening to it echoing back to us. Alyssa talked about 937 over the last three years and how much different it is now. People talked about their Bible studies, small groups, and all of the King's community. Jason pointed out that not everybody feels like they belong in the King's community...and the funny thing is that I didn't even think about it till then, but I felt that way until a couple of months ago. Now, of course, I know that I belong (it's amazing how much of a difference such awesome friends can make) but I think about how at Christmas I was convinced that I would not be back here next year. Now I can't imagine NOT being here. Matt, too, had something that I found really interesting (partly because it's something I've been thinking about for a while). He mentioned names and how much of a difference it makes when you say somebody's name. And I totally know EXACTLY what he's talking about. Ethan ALWAYS says my name when he greets me, and I always smile and say, "Hi, Ethan!" It's an automatic response. I wanted to imitate this, because I think it DOES make a difference. It's not even hard. It comes so naturally. I mean, think about walking down the hall and nodding at someone, saying, "Hey," compared to stopping for a sec, smiling, and saying, "Hey, ____, how's it going?" I dunno. I don't like small talk but I do like to hear how people are doing...is that a paradox? Ah, whatever.

Another thing about 937 was that throughout the whole thing, I kept thinking about Bekah's blog post ( kay for some reason it's not linking so here's the link: http://bekahhbekahho.blogspot.com/2010/03/249.html) from a while back and thinking that today was just like that. Especially in the last few songs. Everybody was singing, and half the people were dancing. I was laughing, thinking about this, people were singing mostly well and at least enthusiastically, and it was just a blast. I know that we need to have our silent and sombre moments, but we need these times too. And we have just spent all of Lent in 937s of reflective songs, quiet, and confession. Sometimes we just need to praise.