Saturday, April 19, 2008

So I Sing ... lalala

There are some days in life that are simply good.
Sometimes it’s because we had amazing moments which made our days spectacular.
Other times it is because nothing bad happened.
Sometimes God blesses us with things that make our hearts smile.
Today was one of those days.
I woke up this morning filled with many emotions. It’s my last Saturday of course, so that just makes it interesting. I got up and thought over my day. I had so many things to do before the concert. I had to burn all the CD’s and write on all the cases, practise for the evening, and shower and get ready and somewhere find time to breathe.
As I started working on burning all the CD’s onto disks, it seemed to take forever. I had made around ten when I checked one and realized that for some reason – none of them had worked. I quickly fixed that problem! Needless to say by around 3:30 I was ready to go CD wise.
Then I had to get ready. That was quick. I’m pretty low-maintenance. I wanted to look good, but it was about glorifying God – not me.
At 4:30 I headed up to the International Lounge to set up. I went through my songs. A crew member Drew did sound and he did whatever funky stuff he needed to! That was good. An hour later I ate dinner and then just sat around for an hour. I wanted to be relaxed.
7:00 came! All of a sudden I was nervous. All week I have been unsure of this night. I feel funny making a big deal about myself, but I wanted to bless my friends and bless God. It has been such a blast to make the CD. I can not explain how fun it was. When I recorded at home it was so much more serious and that was fine but here it was so low-key. I was the one who was deciding everything. I would listen over and re-record the song or just let it go.
Music played throughout the room until about fifteen minutes later I headed up. I really was nervous and yet not at all. I played thirteen of my songs with some talking in between. It was fun. I told the crowd at one point that ‘just because I am not smiling does not mean I’m not having fun. I’m just nervous!’ and it was true!

It was incredible. I just wanted to laugh whenever people would clap, because it is so funny to me that people are hearing what I sing and liking it. In high school I never felt worthy to play my music and was never given big roles for anything, but now I see that God is using me. I only hope I can praise Him enough.
I do not quite remember how long it lasted, but afterwards I sold all twenty-five of the CD’s I had made and I have a list of people who want more. It was such an incredibly blessing. I did not know how many people would come, but the room held many people.
On the CD I wrote- All Glory to God. That is what I wanted. I have been taught in the last few months from God that it is all for Him. That is the truth. It is all for You my King!
I headed back to my room to put my music away and saw my friend Jenn, who was working on the ward. They had played my music live through to there so she had been able to hear.
I went to B-ward with her and seriously, that was the highlight of my day. Maybe even of my time here in Liberia. It summarized why I came.
I have spent so little time on the ward, but tonight was amazing.
There were kids going crazy. We took office chairs and sat in them and raced down the hallways. It reminded me of last year in student counsel at MEI when we would race our chairs down the hallway hoping not to get caught!
I held little kids who were beautiful. I was told that I was beautiful by funny Liberian men. I was told that I should marry one of the guys! It was just fun and lovely and yeah.

I had to sing to them because they had heard me on the TV and wanted to hear more. That was hilarious!
As it was late, almost ten when I left, they were having a devotional near the end. I stayed for that. They sang their amazing African songs and shared and it was such a blessing. To look around the room and glimpse people who are in awe of God and who love Him with everything that is in them.
As I walked away from there, they all said ‘goodbye’ and then as I looked back through the door before closing it, a little girl was looking at me and we blew kisses at each other for a minute.
God is so good!
Being in that room makes me want to be a nurse for the one purpose to come back here and love on these kids!
The pictures are from last outreach from our Communications Team.

3 comments:

tomandlynette said...

Wish I could have been at your concert, and playing with those kids! I'm so proud of you, Nadine. Love Lynette

The W's said...

Wow - good for you Nadine! Thanks for sharing the excitement of your concert with us. What a great last Saturday for you!! That last picture is priceless. Enjoy every moment of these last days before you come home.

Greg said...

Where do I send my request for a CD, and when's the next concert?

I'm lloking forward to seeing you in 2 months.