nashville -- day 2

southern accents are fabulous! along with the word choices. "i might could pick it all up if i tried."

day 2 has been good but i'm even more draining so i'll try for an earlier bed time. i had my first voice lesson today. stephen is fun and i know i'll learn a lot. i had my first theory class. have you ever learned shape notes? each note (do re mi fa sol la ti do) is written as a shape with a stem. and "do" isn't always "c" unless you chose to use fixed shape notes (which we don't choose to do here which makes it harder for me because i'm so visual i want to see "do" in the "c" position!). so "do" is the note of whatever scale where using. for example, if we're in the key of "f" then "do" is "f". it's fun and crazy all at the same time.

the food is great. there are fresh buns at supper time that are just lovely (i think it's the sugar in them) and this morning i had biscuits and gravy!!!!! can i say YUM?! and chicken steak...have you ever had it? apparently it's steak fried like chicken. lovely! the only food thing i can't quite get used to is all the black pepper...

southern hospitality is great. and i hear the word "great" a lot. all the "yes sirs" and "yes ma'ams" are so darling. and "bless your heart" is hilarious. you can say whatever you want to someone as long as you end it with "bless your heart" for example, "your song was horrible, bless your heart" :) and i'm really struggling not to sound like a mimic.

i saw allison durham up close and personal today! oh what a voice! she's a good critic for performance training. i hope to sing on wednesday and be told what's not and what is. it'll be very good for me.

but all this light-hearted thought aside, being here reminds me to be real, to admit what's not and what is, to have heart, to give my heart...to have the faith to jump.

in worship this morning i heard something particularly interesting. we often look at all our imperfections, doubting that anything can be right. sometimes when we criticize ourselves it's as if we're telling God "you didn't do a very good job."

yes, it's good to admit that we're a mess. but the conversations can't stop there. we can't afford that. God didn't make any old thing when He created us. life has been crazy and we've messed up.

BUT

claim the but! ( i know that sounds crazy, but...)