Confessions of a Nagging Secretary

Howdy, Campers!

Don't forget to submit your bulletin updates before you leave today! You can still get the EarlyBird rate if you submit your updates before 9:00 tomorrow morning; anything after that costs the full rate.

Thanks!

Rachel Lulich

Activities Director
Bulletin Dictator
Receptionist Extraordinaire

And that's how it all started. An simple attempt to make the weekly reminders I sent to the church staff feel a little less ... naggy ... and a little more fun. But it didn't stop there. Oh, no.

Writing Hymns

Most of my poems are what's called lyric poetry.* Lyric poems are typically short, written in the first person, and deal with specific emotions, concepts, or moments. This is in contrast to, for example, a narrative poem which, as you may guess from the name, tells a story. So, The Gray Havens' song lyrics are typically narrative poems, whereas Ginny Owens' are usually lyric poems.

My own poems are most often born out of a concept I've been thinking about, or a significant time in my spiritual walk.** Sometimes, an idea comes married to a piece of music. I've written a few poems to melodies created by Ginny or Sara Groves or Amy Grant, and every now and then, I get to write words that fit the melody of a beloved hymn. Those are always gifts. Faithfulness, which I've shared on this blog before, was one such poem. Another I wrote shortly after a bit of a personal/professional crisis, which I also blogged about without posting the poem. I am including it now.

Christmas Poems

A few years ago, I wrote a fun little poem about the last-minute purchase of my Christmas tree, and a long time ago, I wrote about how my brothers and I used to sneak out after Mom and Dad went to bed on Christmas Eve to lay on the floor by the tree, talking until we fell asleep.

I wrote another Christmas poem back in 2002,* when I was living in Germany as an exchange student my senior year of high school:

Interview With Ginny Owens - Part Three

This is the third and final installment of my interview with Ginny Owens on the intersection of art and faith. Click to read Part One or Part Two.

Most of your music is overtly Christian, but you’ve also released a few songs that are not. Do you write many of those?

I do. This past weekend I wrote a Country song with a couple other writers. I also have a song in a new movie about human trafficking. I'd even say that, while many of my songs are explicitly Christian if you are a Christian, listeners who don't share Christian beliefs might not hear them that way. In the future, I plan to release more of both.

The Gray Havens

                               This Saturday, we're hosting The Gray Havens at our church.

                                     It's free, so click the link to reserve a seat and join us!

Last year in September, Lake Bible Arts hosted its first ever special music concert. We brought Ginny Owens out, and she was fantastic, personally and professionally. It was a really wonderful evening, and everyone who went loved it. My pastor even motioned for me to come sit next to him midway through the concert and asked, “Are they leading worship tomorrow?” At my affirmative response he said “Good” rather emphatically. I knew then that the concert was a success.

A few months went by, and I decided I’d better start looking into setting up a concert for this year. There was no guarantee we would do another one, but I’d never dreamed we would do the first one, so I figured I’d poke around and see what happened. That’s how I found The Gray Havens.

What We Have to Offer

So there I was, pacing the floor in the middle of the night, having a rather intense conversation with God.

You see, I was experiencing a bit of frustration. Surely, I thought, God would not have called me to write, and certainly not to leave my job to do so, unless he meant for me to actually write– to do something with it. Yet, despite my best efforts to figure out a way forward, and my not-quite-best efforts to “do the work,” progress was nonexistent.

I went to a conference once where the keynote speaker talked about failure, and how the only way we fail is if we don’t show up – our job is to write; the results are up to God. So what had happened? I’d shown up; I’d left my job, moved back to Oregon, self-published my poetry book, and attended writers’ conferences. I was doing my job, trying to write, but almost all of it was drivel, and not in a “you’re your own worst critic” sense. I know drivel when I read it.

It was drivel.

The day before the pacing incident, I’d made a solid attempt at two poems. They were horrible. But the next evening, I’d felt inspired. I was listening to Ginny Owens’ new album,** and I’d just gotten to the end of “The Fire.” I paused the music, picked up my pencil, and flipped open my notebook. I took a moment. I bent over the page. I began to write.

An Introvert's Guide to Event Planning

Perhaps, like me, you’ve started an arts ministry at your church. You’ve had an idea – a Most Wonderful Idea. You shall plan a Grand Event – a special treat – which will be a blessing to Everyone.* Good for you! But now you have to actually plan it and make it happen, and if you’re a hard-core introvert like me, there are a few things you should keep in mind:

1. Booking agents are not introverts.

When I decided to check into bringing Ginny Owens to Portland, I got in touch with her booking agency to see what it would entail. I did this via email. They responded by asking when (not if) I’d like to talk on the phone.

Thankfully, after six years in the Air Force, I know how to pretend Scary Things are no big deal. The phone call was made, followed by a series of calls and emails until a mutual commitment was reached, at which point communications were handed off to Ms. Owens’ management team, which was much more email friendly. Bottom line: when dealing with booking agents, be prepared to speak verbally to an actual human being in real-time.

2. Getting permission will require you to interact with people.