Independence Day Celebration (Sunday, 7/5/09)

It was to be a very busy day! Everything was geared up for the celebration that evening!

I ran the church van like every other Sunday, and the morning service was a blessing. However, after dropping the kids off, I headed back to the church for setup. Lydia had set aside a plate of food for me… but my main focus was getting the sound equipment ready. Noah had shown up with his brother Zeb, and they helped Greg, Sam and I get things ready. Our soundman from church, Jeff, made sure got us connected to the church's outside speakers.

We ran over several songs, hoping that we'd have no problems later on…

The evening service was a bit different from the norm. We did our VBS closing presentation. Each class did something special in regards to the theme, and Pastor's message was a rundown of each night showing Jesus' ministry and purpose here. Our auditorium was packed, we even had people sitting in folding chairs in the foyer! I asked our youth pastor how many was there for the services, and he said that they were unable to take an official count. He said that it's been estimated that there were over 400 in the building! We believe that it's a record!

After services, I ran down the hill behind the church. We set up the mics and pulled away the tarp from the piano. We started singing around 7:50pm. I estimated that we had about 55 minutes worth of songs, back to back. So with minimal talking, we ran through most of them!

Halfway into our program, we took a small break, and my brother-in-law Moses got a pie in the face! He was representing the boys for VBS, and we had lost on the penny march. But it all went for a good cause! Our church raised $1,040 in pennies, and they are going to go toward playground equipment for our new building! Hooray!

During our quartet's program, we had some sound problems. One of our speakers would crackle from time to time. At first I wondered if it was Noah's high notes or my low notes, but come to find out, we were just a little loud over all! Whoops! Once we figured out what was going on, things went a little smoother. However, toward the end, we were tired and getting wore out. Poor Noah was starving, he hadn't grabbed even a bite during our break!!!

Greg's daughter, Katy, sang the national anthem before the fireworks started! She did a great job. I found Lydia and the kids with her family. They were sitting on blankets on one of the hills. We had a great view of the fireworks. Malachi was a little scared at first, but as long as I had him sitting by my side, he was fine. Mysia enjoyed them too, and even though she started watching them with her hands on her ears, she made sure to comment on her favorites!

When it was all over, Lydia stayed on the blanket with the kids while I helped pack things up. All of our sound equipment went back into my car, and I also had to pack up our chairs (which we didn't use), and the empty cake pan.

We were one of the last to leave…. and Malachi had fallen asleep in Lydia's arms while I was putting things away. So when we got home, it took us no time to go to sleep!

Oh… before I forget…. They've estimated that there were aver 600 at the food, singing, and fireworks after the evening worship service! Wow… biggest crowd we've sang for so far!!!!

~Matt