Happenings

This past Sunday, I went back to the College/Career Sunday School at church, and afterwards I was invited to go out to lunch with a group of people. Woohoo! I was very excited to meet a lot of new people, including one girl I met named Christina. Most people around here have never heard of JMU, but Christina went to JMU! That of course made for quick bonding and I'm excited to make new Nashville friends.

This week at work has been mostly non-eventful, with a few notable exceptions. Monday morning I got to sit in on a staff meeting which was vastly entertaining. Today, was an exciting day, first, I got to go to a writer's breakfast with various artists, and producers and songwriters who came to mingle and hear from the president of publishing about the state of the music industry. Eddie DeGarmo is the president of publishing and he is truly one of the most inspirational people I've ever encountered. Eddie is one of the guys from the famous Christian duo - Degarmo & Key. Of note, they were the first Christian group to ever get a music video on MTV. This past Monday night, Eddie was inducted into the Gospel Music Hall of Fame. Then this afternoon I got to help with the filming of some "webisodes." EMI CMG Publishing runs the website WorshipTogether.com, which is a worship resource for churches. They put up lyrics, and guitar chords (I've typed up a number of those song lyrics as an intern. . . ) and video clips, etc. Well, these videos we filmed today, we had various artists come in and discuss the story behind the song, play a little bit of the song and then explain how to play it for people following at home. It was really cool!

I am now getting to that point where my internship, and my life here is becoming more "normal" for me. I'm going to be looking for a job here in the upcoming week, but I'm still considering the implications that'll have on my time - so if you all could be praying for that, I'd really appreciate it. I wish I had something profound to say, and leave you all with but my eloquence is not with me at present. But you can be sure that as soon as I get a moment of profound inspiration, I will post it here. For now, enjoy this gorgeous picture that I absolutely love. 

Cool Things

This week, as various schools around the area resume classes there has been numerous other interns coming in to the company. You know what this means? Other people my age and potential friends! Yes! That's been one of the highlights of this past week. Most of them go to Belmont, which is funny because I applied there and that's where I wanted to go. It is encouraging to see God's plan in hindsight, and how Belmont was not the place for me, and how going to JMU has made me the person that I am. God knew that JMU was the place I needed to go. Anyways, there's another intern in the publishing department, named Calla. She is super sweet and she comes in three times a week and that's been really great, having someone to sit next to and talk to. Yay God! 


Working at EMI, when I get to do cool things, they are wicked cool! Once a month we have an artist devotional, where one of the artists that is signed with our company comes in and talks to the staff about what is going on in their lives, in their faith and in their music. It is such a brilliant idea, because as the people behind the scenes, and behind the desks, it is encouraging to hear how what we (or more rather, they) do to help the artist, and help get their music out there, which in turn helps and ministers to so many people. Yesterday, Sanctus Real came in for the staff devotional. 


I was helping set-up for the event, so I got to hear them sound check and chat with the guys a little before it all started. We were also celebrating the success of their single, "Lead Me", so it was like a little party. Matt Hammitt, the lead singer, got up and shared and it was the coolest thing! He was sharing his heart, and told stories behind some of the songs and was updating us on the situation with his infant son's health, that has been all over the news. He was sharing how we can exchange our pain for God's purpose. According to Matt, God's story is similar to the princess stories we all know, and he said, and I quote, "Disney ripped off the Bible!" (haha, I love memorable quotes). In all those stories something starts off ugly, the situation, a person, anything - and then it is transformed and there's a happily ever after. God transforms our situations, and operates on us and in light of eternity there is a happily ever after. He also had talked about how when we're insecure, it is really us being arrogant and thinking that it's all about us, and it's up to us, rather than realizing that God is the one working and in control, so it isn't up to us. After that, they played a couple of songs and it was simply FANTASTIC!!


It's times like those when I am reminded of why I wanted to do this in the first place (way back to sophomore year of high school when I decided I wanted to go to school for music business). Music has the power to help people and speak truth to people and convey it in ways we can't define, and in order for music to get out there and help people- someone has got to sit behind a desk and fill out copyright forms, and make the phone calls, and update the databases. In order for music to get out to its audience, to make its impact . . . we have to make money. We have to make some money in order to simply run the company, so we can get the music out to everyone. 


Only two weeks working here and God has already blown me away with what He has revealed to me and taught me and what I've learned. Wow, can't imagine what He is going to do next, but I am so grateful. 

You Know Those Moments

Life is all about the moments. There's different kinds, and there's too many kinds to count. There's focused moments in class, or doing work where it seems almost mindless and the moments pass quickly. There's moments of laughter where your cheeks hurt from smiling so much. There's moments of revelation and epiphany where the fog clears and things suddenly make sense.


I've had a lot of moments lately. 


I have moments where I can't believe some of the awesome stuff that I get to do. Those moments are usually followed by a moment where I realize how relatively "normal" that thing felt - when I thought it should've felt differently. I have moments where I'm bored because my days are fairly predictable and my work slightly repetitive. I have moments where I feel fully alive and ready to embrace any new adventure that will come my way. I have moments where I'm insecure - I don't dress like the people do around here, I'm not super cute or trendy - I'm not as good of a musician as the swarm of other musicians around me, and what's the point of being a mediocre musician? I have moments where I wonder, "What on earth was I thinking?" I think about how crazy it is that I moved here just for an internship, and I have no friends here, and who knows where my life is going. I have moments of tenderness, where I feel God wrapping His arms around me, and I know that no matter what happens, what I truly desire is Him more than anything, so everything else seems insignificant. 


And then . . . I have moments where I see life for what it really is and things are instantly clear; in those moments I realize what is truly important and I come upon what it is I really want. Those moments seem out of time because once you perceive the haze lift, the conviction is so strong that it resounds inside the depths of who you are. Those moments are beautiful and terrifying. Simply because that is what I want, does not necessarily mean that that is what I'll get. No matter which way I choose, there is always sacrifice. Then, I try to find the distinction between what I want, and what I am called to. Are they the same? It is possible, and often times they can be. Your vocation doesn't necessarily have to be a calling - it could simply be something that pays the bills. Your calling could be to share life and love and truth with the people that you work with; to influence the sphere of work you are engaged in, not necessarily the job itself. Your calling could merely be the next step; whatever God calls you to do next. I don't know what God has called me to do next, but I know what He has called me to do now. I know that His intent is to reveal things to me and teach me about life and about myself and to help me clarify what it is I want, and what it is I am called to. 


And. . . just in case you were wondering, this introspective moment was the fruit of an hour and a half car ride home, alone, in traffic, through a snow storm.

American Work Culture

I know it has only been a week, but working in a corporation and experience corporate life gives me a whole new perspective on the American work culture.


Break-down: Wake-up early so you have time to eat, get dressed, and have enough time just in case you get caught in traffic. You sit at a desk all day inside. By the time you make it through traffic and get home you have very little time before you have to go to bed merely to do it all over again. Even if you didn't want your job to be your life. . . it kind of is. I mean, it's most of your day. 


I'm pretty lucky though, because EMI is such a nice company and such a nice place to be. I can't imagine what it's like for people who hate their jobs, or don't like their co-workers. I can't imagine how people have families. No wonder so many people in America aren't very healthy, and often get depressed - the work culture is so inflexible and sucks the life out of you. I think something about college that I took for granted - the fact that you have to walk everywhere. My job and my classes were all in one central location, and with my apartment about a mile away, that fifteen minute walk home was a chance to be outside, to move and to clear my head - an ideal way to finish off a day. 


I think about White Sulphur Springs, and the community there, and all the opportunities to be outside and the simple lifestyle. There's been a couple of times this week where I've thought about WSS, and the ache and the longing in my heart for that place is almost unbearable. I remember talking about this topic with my mentor from college, Brooke, and the advice she gave was very wise. She said my challenge would be to live like a White Sulphur Springs person in a place that is not White Sulphur Springs. The fact of the matter is that most of the world isn't like WSS, and we have to get jobs and God calls us to various things  - but to live intentionally. To be intentional about being healthy, about living in community, about being outside, and about living simply. It is not easy, that's for certain. 


On a bit lighter note, this past weekend I got to do some cool stuff. There's a country music duo, Joey & Rory (Joey is the girl and Rory is the guy). They're a married couple who live just a few miles down the road. Joey and her friend (maybe sister) Marcy own this tiny old-fashioned Southern mealhouse called Marcy Jo's. Every so often, when Joey & Rory are not on tour they do a special night at the restaurant and perform a bunch. So on Saturday night I went to that and it was pretty cool. Definitely a Southern culture immersion experience. What shocked me even more was when they walked on stage and I realized that the nice, pretty lady who had been pouring my water all throughout dinner was actually Joey, the singer! After that, we went to the neighbors house to play Settlers of Catan. Guy & Tracy are a super cute couple (Guy was the drummer for, I wanna say the band Fusebox, but don't quote me on that. . . ) and they've got two daughters, Catie (short for Cadence) and Zoe. I didn't win, but hey, I understand the game now and they all agreed to be on their best behavior and not get too competitive since it was only my first time playing. 


Yesterday I went back to Christ Community Church, and the lead guitarist from Petra was sitting in front of me. He still has his long hair too. I went to the college/career Sunday school class for the first time and I'm glad I did - it was good to meet some people a little closer to my age. LoL. The class is being co-taught, and one of the guys teaching, Steve, was the producer of the Dove Awards for nine years, though he hasn't done it for the past two years. Went to small group with Dave & Bev that night, which was taught by a guy named Ron who is the banjo player for Allison Krauss (oh and on the way to these people's house, we totally passed the place where Billy Ray and Miley Cyrus live. I didn't actually see the house though because it was on the other side of the hill. They bought out this old school building and turned it into a recording studio just down the road). But anyways, this guy Ron totally blew me away and taught me sooo much! It was great.


Thanks so much to all of you reading my ramblings. It gives me a chance to unburden all my thoughts and I'm so glad to get to share it with you all. 

Smooth Beginnings

I decided to get a blog after all. I may not be abroad in another country, but being and living here in Nashville is definitely a whole new adventure for me and so much happens, and I have so many thoughts, I wanted a place to share them.
I will give you all fair warning that this first post will be quite long since it'll be covering my first week or so here in Nashville. Hopefully the ones following this won't be quite as long.


Here goes. . . .

Day #1 - Had a lovely drive down here, didn't get lost, and had a very safe trip to the place I'm staying. I'm renting out a basement apartment that belongs to a family, Dave and Bev Ridge; they have two grown children Ben and Becca. Had dinner with them the first night and got settled in. I am so blessed because the "apartment" is super nice! Possibly the nicest place I've ever lived.

Day #2 - Exploring!! On Friday I spent some time on Google Maps and then hopped in my car and Kezzy and I scoped out the town. I drove up to Brentwood where my office is, to get familiar with the drive and scouted out the area around the office. The EMI CMG building is located in this large, pretty fancy business park with lots of large buildings and cute little shops and restaurants scattered in between. I then proceeded to find all the important things: an REI, two Starbucks, a Target, various restaurants, the mall and the grocery stores. Then I came back, finished unpacking and, haha, being the dork I am, proceeded to study for the rest of the day. Reading some of my old textbooks and refreshing my memory on various copyright laws, music industry quirks and EMI history.

Provoked deep thought: It's amazing to think that there are sooo many people and places in this world that go on about their business that I never even knew about. That might seem like a well known fact, but to seriously stop thinking about yourself and your little "world" for a moment and to think about the fact that there are millions of people around the world right now, just living their normal every day lives and you have never even thought of them; you never even knew they existed. *shrugs* I think it's fascinating to think about, and I'm loving the opportunity to meet more of those people, and see more of those places and learn all about another corner of the world, even if it is only in America. 

Day #3 - Took a Yoga class Saturday morning with Bev at the local rec center. Williamson County is in the top ten richest counties in the country and I'd believe it. They have beautiful large rec centers, and really nice libraries, and almost every housing development I've seen here is gated. I then went with Bev around town while she ran some errands and that helped me get a feel of the roads and the area even better (of note: I made friends with a brown puppy poodle named Fritz in the pet shop).  Drove to downtown Franklin (which is a really famous historic town, and is one of the largest suburbs of Nashville) and it's adorable! At one point we drove past a house and Bev said "Oh, and there's TobyMac's house" and caught off guard and asked her, "how do you know that's TobyMac's house?" and she replied very cooly "Everyone knows that's TobyMac's house." Apparently, in Nashville, people don't make that big deal of stars (except I did hear an exception about Nicole Kidman, who use to go to a specific Starbucks at a certain time of day, and she stopped going because too many people would follow her there) but for the most part people are pretty casual about rich and famous people, which, in my opinion, is kind of the way it should be. 

Provoked thought of the day: It's fascinating to me how the music of this region matches and suites the landscape so well. As I was driving down the freeway, listening to country radio, it just clicked that the banjos and the twangs and everything about country music simply suited the flat horizon with its sprawling barren trees. The hills here are not the gently rolling kind, they are random large obrtrusions in the landscape covered in sporadic growth. But overall the land is so flat, that it makes the sky seem bigger; wider. And because the sky is so wide, there's almost always clouds - which creates patchworks of sunlight and shadow across the plains. 

Day #4 - Church. I went to Christ Community Church. It's the church the Ridges go to (and apparently quite a few famous people go there too), it's also the church one of the elders from my church in Harrisonburg recommended, and the Pastor, Scotty Smith, is pretty well known and he's got books and podcasts, etc. First visits to a different church, and looking for a church to call your "church home" gives you a completely different perspective on the concept of American church. I'm not sure how I feel about the fact that we go in, sit down, and then come out - as if we were running an errand to the store or something. Christ Community is a large church, about 1500, so not quite as large as the church I went to in Nova, but close. The worship set-up was INTENSE! Which, I should've expected since everyone and their mother in Nashville is musical. (Of note: one of the male singer/worship leaders is the manager of Casting Crowns.) I must confess, I had a hard time focusing on the worship and on the sermon because I was simply taking in the whole "culture" and the vibe of the church and of the people. It's a very modern church, the walls are colorful and they are big supporters of the Franklin Arts Guild so there are large paintings and murals on the walls. But the whole experience just seemed so. . . quick. (And now this following commentary is more on American church in general, rather than this specific church, but it was brought to my attention by my experience today). 

I think part of the reason my experience went the way it did today was because I was with the Ridges, and people already know them, and they were just doing their church thing. But it doesn’t sit well with me, and I really don’t like that I went to a brand new church today and I didn’t meet a single person. When we had the little “meet-n-greet” time, people were polite and said hello, but no one introduced themselves, and because it’s large enough of a church, the people around me had no way of knowing whether I was a first-timer or if I had been there for years. Don’t get me wrong, I know that often times in just the way our world works, and in the sheer number of people living in urban areas, large churches are inevitable and I understand that you have to be intentional, and get involved and put yourself out there, etc, etc. But I still think it’s sad that I didn’t meet anyone today. I think next week I’m going to go by myself, sit in a different area and linger more – basically try a different approach and see if I meet more people; maybe go to the college Sunday school. 

Day #5 - Monday was supposed to be my first day at EMI. "Supposed" being the key word. However, Sunday night in came a snowstorm, pouring over us about four inches, and as you can imagine, Southerners don't deal with snow very well. 

Day #6 - My real first day! Okay, first off, the building where I work is sooo stinkin' cool! Here's a little information about the company I'm working at. It's called EMI Christian Music Group (EMI CMG), and is owned by the larger parent music company, EMI, which is a huge worldwide company. EMI CMG has multiple record labels (Sparrow, Forefront, Credential, WOW, WorshipTogether, owns part of Tooth & Nail, sixsteps) a publishing group (which is where I'm working) and a distribution group. 

So when you walk into the Publishing office, oh man, it's beautiful. The whole right wall is covered in framed Gold and Platinum records, and shelves of Dove Awards and ASCAP awards and autographed framed pictures of famous singers and songwriters. 

The work I'm doing (filing, scanning, databasing etc.) isn't always the most exciting, but the content of the files and the databases are fascinating! Bring out my inner music business dork. I'm filing contracts and agreements. I'm updating a database with information about the owners of various songs and which Performing Rights Organization they're with. I'm listening to CDs and transcribing the lyrics into a document to upload onto the WorshipTogether.com website. (Oh, and I got a stack of free CDs, holla!)

One of the thoughts that struck me early on from my arrival here was how great of a fit this is for me and how it is totally to the credit of God's grace and sovereignty. So many small aspects of my life and various experiences have led me and prepared me for this. Even something like being a military brat made the whole moving thing a lot easier and I've been able to put myself out there and meet new people. I have been following Sparrow Records and other EMI CMG affiliated companies for years, and I've always been an album credits reader, etc, and all these little things have prepared me and made this internship fit so well. I don't know what I'll be doing after the internship, but I know that this is where I'm supposed to be right now and all I can do is obey and be grateful. 

There are so many more thoughts I could share but I'll leave it at that for now.

Thank you all so much for your love and your prayers and your support in my little adventure here in Nashville, and for just caring about me and what goes on in my life!