Sun, 06 Sep 2009 06:47:32 +0700WeeblyFri, 17 Apr 2009 09:24:24 +0700http://www.isayyes.net/1/post/2009/04/i-amthe-color-purple.htmlI feel like a crayon. Worn down to just a nub. Paper wrapper torn. However I find myself sitting content in God's big crayola box.

Easter 2009 was by far the largest weekend we've had at Woodmen. Over 11,000 people came through our doors over the course of two days, six services at two campuses. The services went great. The stages look good. All the art forms from dance to video to painting came off well. Spoken words, visuals, lights, and textures enhanced our theme of "Resurrection Road: The Path of a Burning Heart". Any director of worship arts should be proud...and I was. A dear friend stopped by the sound booth where it seemed I lived for those two days asking "how many months  have you been choregraphing this service?"  On the outside I smiled and thanked him for the kind words but on the inside I just wanted to cry. The creative process for this Easter was more difficult than in the past. Time seemed to be moving faster than any of us were aware of. Weren't our Christmas Eve services only yesterday? When had 2009 gotten so much steam that it rolled in like a freight train delivering Easter at our feet?  Our team had been so focused on the "Amazed: Worship 24/7" series and all the creative elements needed for those weekends, we didn't...I didn't have the mental capacity to get everyone together in a formal brainstorming session and therefore the creative process became messy, stressful and draining. Tension mounted between team members, complaints came second/third hand and I just wanted the whole thing to be over.


Then the first service came. As I watched, listened and observed how people were responding to the whole experience, it was then the image of a crayon box came on my mental  radar right there in the middle of "All the Way My Saviour Leads Me". A crayon box? You have got to be kidding me. But  I saw it, the purple crayon, pointed tip worn down to a knub, torn wrapper sitting in the box and I knew what God was trying to show me. Despitely being humanly tired, questioning whether this Easter service going to make a difference in anyone's life and wondering if I was crazy to keep doing this, my loving Creator reminded me that REALLY we're all just a bunch of worn down crayons that He continues chooses to use and when He's done, the masterpiece has more color than anything we could have possibly imagined. It was obviously that while I was running around frantic, He had assigned different colors to each of us and He was having a ball coloring both inside and outside the lines of this Easter service. Details I was missing during the process now came together with bold, bright colors and together we all witnessed a masterpiece take shape that we, ourselves were a part of.

I love being the purple crayon.


 

 

]]>Sun, 03 Aug 2008 19:00:09 +0700http://www.isayyes.net/1/post/2008/08/surpriseart-day.htmlRecently I surprised my staff team with a day away from emails, phone  calls and endless meetings. This day was simply about being creative artists. Artists who needed a little fun and a whole lot of creative input.  Our surprise day revealed a trip to an art gallery in Golden, a Mexican lunch and an afternoon at the Denver Art Museum. Loaded with colored pens, pencils, sketch books and chocolate, the goal was simply to capture anything...a word, an image, or idea that caught their attention, making them take a second look. Stain-glass windows, textured floors and white walls drew us in to explore, think and wonder. Impressionist paintings, colorful photographs and 3D artwork leaped off the walls and found their way into the blank pages of our sketch books. Later in the day, as we made our way back to reality I took a little time to really look at each artist and thank God for the way he's gifted and wired them. Each could choose to use their talents elsewhere but instead they live out their call in the context of the local church. They're called on to bring forth colorful, creative ideas in a moment's notice.  They pour out so much in the planning of our worship services, ministry events and any other task which calls for creativity. Surprising them with a special day of full on ART was both a privilege and an honor.

]]>Sun, 13 Jul 2008 18:45:00 +0700http://www.isayyes.net/1/post/2008/07/first-post.htmlBlog, blog, blog. My friends blog. My co-workers blog. Everyone blogs...or so it seems. Never in my wildest dreams did I ever think I would find it necessary to write down thoughts for the whole, wide world to read. For years hardbound journals have held my private thoughts and feelings safe, having been seen only by the very pen used to write the words themselves.  But maybe the time has come. Maybe it's time for me to take my place among those who are miles ahead of me. .

In the upcoming weeks, months and maybe even years (let's not get too far ahead...remember I just started) I hope to share some art/life moments as they unfold. One of the main lessons I've learned only recently is that while each day is made of up 1440 minutes, not every minute is a moment. To live fully present in each...using all five senses...I pray to God that I'm alert to each one as they unfold. I invite you to join me on this artistic journey. So, fellow-bloggers, here we go...

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