Concert prep

On April 23rd I am singing in a concert to raise support for Glory House Services and Haiti. I think I've talked about this before, but GHS was founded by my friend, Idalbert, and provides support for Haitians in the KC area and also supports a school in Northeastern Haiti. The concert on the 23rd will be to provide information about GHS and to receive donations. Tonight Mike and I were practicing a couple of songs that we'll do that night. One is a JJ Heller song, "Your Hands" that Mike will play guitar and I will sing. The other is "I saw what I saw" by Sara Groves. That songs is huge for me b/c it was kind of the reason why I ended up going to Haiti in the first place. I've played piano for a long time, but have yet to play and sing at the same time. Doing that has always been a challenge for me. Luckily, the accompaniment for this song is easy enough to where I can sing and play together. I went through it tonight and thought it went well. I'll have to see if the night of the concert I'll be on a piano or keyboard b/c that will make a difference on how it feels to play. Tomorrow I am meeting with a Haitian praise team to go over a few songs that we will do that night. I need to listen to the songs a bit tomorrow and hope it goes well. I am looking forward to the 23rd, but to be honest, will be really glad when that evening is done :) Being involved in this concert has not been a burden by any means, but something that has been in the back of my mind for almost two months now. It's too bad the one person who got me into this can't be there that night b/c of Respite up at Lakeland. I am also singing the Haitian National Hymn and need to practice that as well. Maybe I'll try it for the Haitians tomorrow and see what they think. I still have some junk in my throat and sinuses and really hope it is gone by next Saturday. I also hope that I won't be hacking too much tomorrow morning during the practice.
  It is raining outside and the sound of it will be nice to fall asleep to. When I put Anna to bet there was a bit of thunder and lightening. That didn't set well with her and I went back in a 2nd time b/c she was upset. She calmed down quickly and then got back into bed for me to rub her back for a while. It was really precious when she sat up and said, "Mom, can you say a prayer to make the thunder and lightning go away?" I said a prayer asking that Anna would feel safe and fall asleep knowing that she was okay. At that moment I was very thankful that saying a prayer was something that comforted her and helped her feel good. Storms stressed me out when I was a kid, so I can sympathize and praying always helped me feel better. At the conference I went to on Tuesday the speaker said that for young children the act of doing something, like prayer, is sometimes more important that what we actually say. I think that was true tonight. I'm not sure if Anna took in the words I said (I wouldn't be surprised if she did), but she knew that the act of saying a prayer was important and significant. Small moments of divine connection that happen everyday. So grateful for that.