Christmas Unwrapped day 2

Well, another River Christmas has come and gone. The last day was a marathon of 1 dress and 3 services, but everyone did great. Attendance was steady throughout. Special thanks to the music team for your talent and skill, and especially for your time and great attitudes. Enjoy Christmas knowing you made a difference in the lives of many people!

Pictures coming soon in the new year.

MERRY CHRISTMAS EVERYONE! -JIM

Christmas Unwrapped Day 1

Well, I think we had two strong experiences for Christmas today. Only one technical glitch relating to the media computer. There was good attendance even with bad road conditions. 

Backstage tidbits- Gwynne pulled off two great performances while suffering from a stomach flu....wow. The food has been great, thanks to the hospitality team. Max, Glenn and the team get the award for best and biggest set ever on our stage. 

Word of the day- "hold" (we had lots of stops and starts in rehearsals). Also, it appears from the program that I am responsible for almost everything in the show (which is not true). However, the band thinks it's pretty funny and has been running with it all day (snowy day, arranged  by Jim Jensen...lunch meat platter, arranged by Jim Jensen...and so on).

Review of Sunday, December 21

We did some GREAT unplugged music for this service. I also wrote a wacky song about poinsettias and how hard it was to come up with elements for a service with poinsettias and Mary as the main topics.

We had the main curtain closed because of the Christmas set and that seemed to work out OK. We may have to think about doing that in the future if it works to our advantage somehow. 

Thats about it...on to the Christmas Production!

Review of Sunday, December 14

We had a very good band! Is was great to welcome back Mike on bass, and Rick's "first serve" on drums was outstanding. 

The Trepak I arranged came out better than I had envisioned. It was alot of fun to play. Go Tell It On the Mountain was also an original arrangement and I was very pleased with the sound we developed for that tune. 

There were too many highlights to enumerate here, but I thought it was an excellent and creative Sunday that had big impact on everyone who came.

Review of Sunday, December 7

You never know if you are going to get quick volunteers for the participation elements we do, but in both experiences we had two people volunteer very quickly for the Santa relay. That  turned out to be a funny element. Kudos to Glenn for building an enormous fireplace. 

My friend Aaron Jones is a master of finger picking guitar, and I feel sorry for anyone who missed his solo for the prelude- what a wonderful little musical treat!

My favorite tune for the day was a new one by Chris Tomlin called "Jesus Messiah." We arranged it as an unplugged tune during communion time and it became a poignant worship moment.

How to Drive in Snow

I come from Oswego, NY, where the lake effect snow can pile up over a foot in the space of just 3 hours (or less), and you basically have to know how to drive in snowy conditions. I have noticed that many Michigan drivers do not know much about driving safely in snow.

That was illustrated for me today on US23 in the afternoon. I stopped counting wiped out cars at 12, but the accidents are what really caused backups and frustration.

Look, most of the time you can drive around in snow safely and I hope that the good people of Michigan will begin to learn how to do this. I would like to humbly suggest a few simple rules for staying safe on the road in the snow:

1. knowing dangerous conditions. If the plow and salt trucks have been through, and/or if it hasn't snowed heavily for an hour or two, then you do not have to drive as slow as grandma. That is actually more dangerous and frustrating to other drivers. Obviously, if there is snow on the road or blowing snow, it's good to travel below the speed limit, but not so far below it that you become a hazard to yourself and others. Here are the most dangerous conditions- hard snow that has been falling for 30 minutes or more, rain that is turning to snow, and extreme wind combined with snow. In those conditions, be extra careful.

2. How to be extra careful. Know how fast you should be going. Wipe outs are a loss of control, which happens when you drive like normal on a slippery road. To avoid a wipe out, drive 10 to 20 miles below the speed limit on a highway, or 10 miles below the speed limit on other roads (this is a general estimate, every situation requires a unique judgement about how fast or slow to go). Make gentle adjustments. People who normally speed up quickly, brake quickly at the last minute, and turn sharply need to smooth out all their movements in bad conditions. Be gentle to be safe. Finally, DO NOT TAILGATE. Tailgating is stupid at any time, but it's crazy stupid in bad conditions. I see it all the time and it never ceases to amaze me, for it's shear dumbness. Be patient, pull back and give yourself around 10 car lengths between you and the next car. If the next car is slow, that is not a sign from the Lord that you should get on their bumper. 

3. How to pull out of a skid. Sometimes, the road is just extremely slippery with black ice or in some other way, and the best thing to do it get off the road (although this is rare in Michigan). In extremely slippery conditions you may find yourself in a skid. Managing a skid is an important skill for all drivers, and here is a link to a great explanation of how to get out of a skid:  http://www.roadtripamerica.com/DefensiveDriving/Rule30.htm

For the state that makes the country's cars, I'm fairly shocked at the lack of good driving technique. Let's change it! Share this advice with anyone you think could use it.

Review of Sunday, November 30

Overall we had a solid experience. Tony had a strong message and the elements around it seemed to work. Mario did great on "hangin round the mistletoe" by Brooks and Dunn and so did the band.

I don't think many people would guess that we were shorthanded in quite a few areas. It shows that the staff we have can pull off miracles when they need to, and it also reminds me to say that if you are reading this blog and you have an artistic or technical talent, please consider volunteering at The River. Lives are being changed and people are growing in Christ...these are eternal results and will last long after all the other stuff we do fades away. Please consider being a part of what we do, not because we need help, but because it will give you an opportunity to do something good that will last forever. There is nothing like being a part of God's plan for this world, it is the best adventure...