Preparations already underway

Busy with the 7th season of FireChoir coming up on us. Even though it is more than 2 months away from the opening night, we are busy preparing many of the "behind-the-scenes" things that have to be done before we start. Life is busy!! But enjoying this lovely weather too here in NL.. aahhhhh SUMMER!

3 Days...

We are merely 3 days away from our first concert!! We had a wonderful practice tonight (Monday), and we have another one on Thursday. Then Friday and Saturday, we have our 2 concerts. Life is busy!! I always forget how much these rehearsals at the end take out of me, until I'm there and remember again. So much fun, and so much work too! But it's all worth it. Then just like that, it's over for another season. Two weeks after the concerts, we have a party to end the season together with some laughs and just a general, fun time.. you'd think life would get quieter for awhile, right?

Guess Again! We are even now, already planning for the next season coming up in the FALL! What WHAT!??! So, if you're in the A'dam area, check it out.. it is FUN and challenging and you'll love it. :)

FireChoir.NL

If you want to come to one of our concerts, or even check out a rehearsal sometime, check out the website as well. Hope to see you there!!

~A

1 Month Exactly...

..until we sing our second (and final) concert of the season!

Time is flying by at such a fast pace. Right now with the preparations for the concerts comes a lot of detail work, along with coaching the soloists and different vocal sections. Mostly things sound good though, and overall we are moving at a really good pace for things. I'm excited for the concerts!

If you're in the area, our concerts will be:

Friday, 13 May at Keerpunt
Saturday, 14 May in Middenmeer

More information can be found on: FireChoir.nl

Everyone is welcome, and it will definitely be a lot of fun!

OK, that's all for now.. drop me a line when you have a minute- I love to hear what is going on in your lives as well!

~Alicia :)

It Happens Everywhere!

Directing a song with the FireChoir (I am the assistant director)

Today the internet is out at my home (since yesterday afternoon!)- so I am sitting with my Mom at McDonald's- we both have our laptops open, doing work and so on. I tried to get caught-up with a few things that couldn't wait another second.. Hopefully the internet will figure itself out soon!! :)

On another note, I have been invited to stay here for another year to work with the FireChoir. This is a great opportunity! I am busy with the choir, and also at a local church. I am one of the main worship leaders (yes, in Dutch!!), and help out with random Youth and Master's Commission events here and there. My life is- to say the least- BUSY! I could be busier if I had a twin or decided to give up menial things such as sleeping or eating..! God has opened so many doors of ministry, and I am so privileged to be able to minister in many areas of life. SO.. needless to say, there is so much need here for leadership and ministers in this country, that I can easily stay working here for as long as God keeps me here.

Blessings and much Love!

~Alicia

Flying minutes?

Time flies! I am learning that more and more.. unless you are waiting for someone to get out of the toilet, it goes really fast.

Here it is, already past the middle of October. I'm in the middle of teaching at Master's Commission Amsterdam Noord (check website here: http://mcan.nl/). I teach music/worship (imagine that?), and also girls' discipleship. And Joy (the other staff member) and I have fun going crazy with our 8 students... FUN! I'll introduce them all to you soon :)

Then I'm busy with Youth and Sunday worship at my church, Pinstergemeente Agapé (also located in the North part of Amsterdam). Leading worship is a passion of mine, and so is learning new languages. I get to combine them here as I lead in Dutch! I don't speak it hardly at all, yet somehow the words make sense when they are put to music. Go figure that one out... :)

And of course, my choir: FireChoir! FireChoir.nl if you're interested... We are down to less than 7 weeks until our concerts at the end of November.. WHAT?? How did that happen? Seriously, time is flying crazily by! Gotta love it!

Gods zegen allemaal :)

~A

Wat zeg je?

Yeah, you're thinking, what is she saying? Unless you speak Nederlands of course.. :)

Since coming back to the Netherlands, one thing that I have been busy with is learning Dutch. I haven't been actively studying it (I have my Rosetta Stone sitting right here under my desk, waiting to be uploaded onto my computer!).. but I've been going to a Dutch church that has some translation, but not everything is always translated all of the time. I start getting used to hearing what Dutch sounds like: different letters make different sounds, some combination's make other sounds, et cetera. And a lot of it is about learning to "tune my ears" into those sounds, recognizing them, and knowing what letters make up those sounds.

One of the best ways I am finding to help me out with all of this is singing. I've been helping out here and there with the worship at my church, and singing in Dutch in a couple of weddings this past summer as well. There's something amazing about how singing in a different language can help with pronunciation. I've learned that singing can be a form of mimicking, which is why it works out so well. Of course the payback is that many people start speaking to me in Dutch because I should be able to speak it when I can sing it, right? Haha, well maybe. =)

Nonetheless, it is a privilege and honour to be able to help lead in worship here in this country where I feel so called and so at home. Even before I can fully communicate in the spoken language, I can communicate through my voice, through the gift that God has given to me. How very precious.

Blessings all :)

~Alicia

FireChoir Going Strong

We are well into the season now. Generally we have around 50 members, and it's still growing! Last week I was sick with a head-cold so I stayed home and missed practice- one of the other sectional leaders was also sick, so the director had to do some last-minute rearranging and have all the Sopranos, Altos and Tenors practice together. Normally we split-up into vocal parts for the first half of rehearsal(Soprano, Alto, Tenor, Bass, but because of the wonderful "Cold Season", we had to switch it up a bit. But it worked out just fine (minus my Altos apparently missing me!) haha :)

It's hard to believe that it is already almost October... where did the year go? October means that November is right around the corner, which means that our concerts are coming up faster than we realize! If you are planning to be around, save November 26 and 27 to come hear us sing!

Relentless

"Come be the fire inside of me until You and I are One.. I don't want to talk about You like You're not in the room.. wanna look right at You.. wanna sing right to You.." (Jesus Culture, You Won't Relent)


Sometimes everything in life seems relentless (Dictionary.com defines this as:
re·lent·less –adjective "that does not relent; unyieldingly severe, strict, or harsh; unrelenting: a relentless enemy"). There are moments when I wonder how I will get out from the stress of everything that is pulling at me, demanding my attention. Even when I close my eyes at night, my mind is still going. At moments, the only peace I find is being asleep, and then even my dreams are demanding of me. How does that happen? And how do I deal with it??

There is this song from Jesus Culture called "You Won't Relent". (Follow link to hear it on YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XC0WoJfYA2E). It has been playing itself through my mind lately. I've realized that peace can be found in God, even in the middle all that life presents each moment. I know this isn't a new-found concept. However, I also have realized that the choice is up to me whether I have that peace or not- because it is there for the taking.. however, I need to take time with my Lord if I'm going to have that peace. Not because He necessarily "withholds" it until we 'earn it' or anything like that.. but it's in knowing Him, understanding His character and seeing things from His perspective that bring true peace and understanding. Knowing Someone is literally always "there" for me, and cares, and knows what I'll have to face today and tomorrow.. can really ease a burden.

So.. relent: to His unending Love and unconditional acceptance of who you are right now.

:)

~Alicia

Today's the Day

It's FINALLY Thursday!! We are starting the 5th season of FireChoir today!! If it's not obvious, let me just make it very clear: I AM SO EXCITED!!!!!!!!! This is going to be a great season, I am already feeling it!

We have around 42 people signed up for the season, and many former members won't sign up until the night of rehearsal. So it will be interesting to see how many people we have in the next 2-3 weeks of rehearsals. No matter what, it will be a fun, exciting 14 weeks!

Please keep the leadership and choir in your prayers as we go through this season, especially for opportunities to get to know the choir members better and really invest in their lives. We all love music, but we are interested in people as well! We want to see great things come from this time of 'fellowship' per se, and see lives transformed even in small ways. :)

So.. 18 hours to go...!

Hugs and Blessings to all :)

~Alicia

Learning, Cleaning and Painting..And traveling: oh my!

Well, here it is already August. Hard to believe that time can go by so quickly sometimes. The past few weeks have been filled with many things:

LEARNING: Since the missionaries that I work with were preparing to go to America for a year of Furlough and fundraising, I've spent the last 3 months learning what I could to be able to take their places this fall and spring for FireChoir. Thankfully, I am not alone in this- I am working with a Dutch guy who will be directing the choir- my main functions will be administration: aka, making sure everything keeps running! We work well together, so I'm looking forward to this season. We've also formed a leadership team to help out as well, so this season is looking great already!

CLEANING AND PAINTING: By the time my Mom and I arrived in Netherlands, my Dad had found a place for us to live in, and moved a lot of their things into it. However, one thing that is unique about moving in and out of places here is that when someone leaves the place they were living in: when they move out, they take all the light fixtures and carpet and anything else that they put into the place.. It can come across as wasteful, but the idea is that everyone has a choice in making their home "theirs" without having to remove other things in the mean time. Simply a different way of thinking :)

So, we've been doing a lot of cleaning and painting. Some flooring is in and most of the painting is done. We would have probably been done by now, except for a change in plans. Just before I left the end of April, my maternal Grandmother was diagnosed with colon cancer. What a shock to find out 4 days before leaving. Thankfully my Mom's sister and husband were available to come stay with her for awhile, and we left April 27th. I never for one moment thought that I would not see her again.

But God often has other things lined up that we cannot see. On July 21st, my last Grandmother went to be with Jesus at 6:25 in the morning. My Mom had gotten back to see her just 12 hours before, and was with her as she took her last breath. What a blessing that God orchestrated that timing. :)

We were all back for the funeral, and I was able to see several friends and enjoy some time with them, in spite of why I was around. This was an unexpected blessing as well :)

And now, here I am in Netherlands once again, getting over JetLag! I'm not a fan.. haha. If you ever wonder what it's like: it's similar to taking cold medicine that is meant to make you sleepy, and then deciding to stay awake.. yikes! :)

And now, it's time to do some grocery shopping.. Thankfully the store is only a 5 minute walk from my house, so I can get there without a car or bus! :)

Blessings all... :)

~A