part 1-WARNING: VERY ADD IN THIS VIDEO. PLEASE ONLY WATCH IF YOU CAN HANDLE SOMEONE WHO CAN'T THINK STRAIGHT ;)
Hey Everyone,
Here's a little update:
We arrived in California at around 11am on Thursday, Sept 1st. The weather was/is perfect around here. It's averaging about high 70's during the daytime and high 60's at night. It's perfect beach/coastal weather! For awhile, I've been getting settled and getting familiar with the area. The first day I got here, we just started out by finding out where I was going to live and where the church and school was. We managed to get lost many times due to the lovely road signs that were stuck in the grass rather than put on a higher pole (just like IL). It was definitely a funny, but yet stressful situation all at the same time.
We managed to find the town-home I am staying at. I got to meet my host-mom briefly and she seemed very nice just from talking with her for about 5 minutes or so. I'm very happy with where I ended up. :) (at this point I hadn't seen the room yet)). Honestly, I've been losing track of the days and what I've done on all these prep days. So bear with me as I try to remember and track down what I've done so far. At the end of the day, we ended up eating at some awesome fish shack downtown Huntington Beach along coastline. It was very cold that night but the food was well worth it! I had smoked fish for the first time (I can't remember the type of fish it was but it was sooooooo good. I definitely spoiled my appetite for my main course which was shrimp on a skewer). I ended with skyping my friend Leah from back home at around 11pm her time. What a trooper! :)
It was a great day.
Sept 2nd (yesterday): I had orientation for the School of Worship. We arrived there and the first thing that they did was take pictures of all the student individually with a dry-erase board (with our names on it). it was a cool idea. Then we all had some time to just meet and greet other people and I met so many cool people. i think it's going to be a great year for all of us! I'm super excited to see what God has in store for everyone! Overall, the orientation was about two hours and it was nice to hear from the director and all the teachers. I have class 9:00am-12:00pm (Mondays through Fridays). It was very refreshing and comforting all at the same time. I have different classes that range from music theory to a 1st Corinthians class! It's going to be a very busy semester with all these classes and all the readings I have to do for them! I'm looking forward to being on a strict schedule! I am also required to do three hours of some sort of ministry involving volunteering or getting involved with a bible study! I'm very excited to explore that and see where God wants me to go! Meanwhile....after the orientation, my parents and I went shopping for a lot of things for my room. It was a very LONG day for both my parents and me. We slept well that night! :)
Sept 3rd: This day was going to be devoted to the beach, but we still had to buy more stuff. Ultimately, I had to buy gluten free stuff due to my new diet. Before leaving for california, I was able to go to a specialized doctor involving diets and stomach problems. They did a lot of blood work on me and I will soon find out whether I have celiacs disease or not. People who have this disease need a specific diet. I've been using the diet and it's been improving everything about my body! I'm very grateful for the change of diet! :) So this day was devoted to finding a place with gluten free food. Check! Found it.
After all that, we were able to drive to Huntington Beach (after 30 minutes of getting lost). We ate at Ruby's out by the pier and it was so beautiful! Plus, they had gluten free options on the menu which was great! :) It was really good food I enjoyed! We proceeded to go back to my host mom's home and get everything put into place for the last and final time! I was planning on stay that nigth because my parents had an early flight the next morning. I said goodbye to them and all was well! I called my friend from back and just talked for awhile till I had to go to bed.
Sept 4th: I woke up late this morning due to the hectic schedule the weekend prior. It was a very chill day and I didn't go much! I slept on and off and just let my body adjust to the time difference (2 hours behind midwest). I made this my "alone" day. It was good to finally have some peace and quiet.
Sept 5th: (today): I woke up at around 8:30. Took a nice shower. Got ready. Had some lovely gluten-free cereal and coffee. Then made a list of what I was going to do today.
List included:
1. Bike to church/school of worship (this was intense...I had sweat coming down my neck and shirt. GROSS). :(
2. make a friend
3. Bond with the little girl Noel (host mom's daughter)
4. Start conversation with family in general
5. play some piano
6. Skype sister
The only thing that I didn't accomplish was making a new friend. However, I was able to watch Tangled with Noel and do some coloring all at the same time. We talked about what she liked to do and what she thought of school. It was a good bonding moment for both of us. It's about 6:15pm here and it's dinner time! Gotta go. This update was so brief but I'm sure they will get more in depth as time goes on.
Helene
Hello everyone!
So everyone suggested that I write some type of blog when I'm out in California. At first, I thought, "Uhh...that takes a lot of effort and I'm a horrible writer..etc..." However, I decided to give this a shot and see what happens. So I thought I would give some background about this spur of the moment move to California. (It wasn't really spur of the moment...but I guess for a lot of my friends...it was!). :) So here it goes: (this might be very choppy and I have a weird obsession with parentheses these days...bear with me! :D).
This past summer, I was questioning a lot about my degree at The University of Missouri-Columbia. I was majoring in Education-Language Arts (grades 5-9) and at that time I loved kids, writing, and reading. However, I didn't see it as a full-time passion I could handle. If any of you know me or knew me...I am not very certain about what I like to do...I switch very frequently. I went from business major, to music major, to communications, to education. UGH. Not a very stable situation if you'd ask me. This past semester I struggled in many different aspects which led me to thinking I wasn't going to be successful in this field. I failed College Algebra (such a shocker, haha) and I needed to pass it in order to move on into more education-based courses. I was forced to take it again this upcoming fall semester (2011). Ugh. Not my idea of a "fun time." Off and on, I was working at the MU library this summer. I didn't like it much. For my time off, I was able to return home (Chicago) for a little time at the end of May before starting my second round of work there for June. This is where the story turns.... :D get ready....
Back home, my friend Angela Ballmaier (Hey gurlll!) was planning on attending a Worship Conference in Indiana and originally I was going to go but things didn't work out. The day before she was leaving we were hanging out and I got a text from my worship leader (who was going to go to the conference as well) said "Hey I have an extra ticket to this conference because I signed up at a certain time...did you wanna go?" I thought, Wow, what an awesome opportunity! I should really go! I asked my parents and the next day I was off to Indiana for a four day conference!
The experience at the Worship Conference: Amazing. I learned so much about leadership qualities, song writing, God (in general), and the purpose of what worship is and how it plays an important role in a church service. It taught me so much and it was very overwhelming for me...in a very positive way! The main worship leader who was leading us into worship, Scott Cunningham, was so encouraging and so informative about many things involving worship and certain aspects of it. I found out on the third day he was the director/leader for the School of Worship in Costa Mesa, CA. I was very intrigued by this place and the purpose it shared when he discussed it with all of the other worship leaders. At that moment, I was thinking I really wanted to go there, but I knew my parents wouldn't approve of going there. Period. I knew they would shut down the idea as soon as I would mention it. But, for some reason...I knew I had to mention it to them when I came back. (total God thing right there).
So. When I came back, I told my parents about how cool the conference was and...I decided to mention the School of Worship. My parents responded, "Well maybe you can go there when you're done with your degree at MU." BOOOOOOOOOOO. I was a little disappointed but I accepted it and thought it was smart for me to receive a bachelor degree first before doing something TOTALLY different. Yay for math a second time around!
About three weeks after that, I was in Missouri and my mom called me to just talk about my future and what my ideal plans were consisting of. I told her that I wasn't confident about MU anymore and that I wanted to do something different. I said I would pray about it and see what God had to say. For about a week, I just really dug deep into the Word and prayed and asked God what I should do. By the end of that week, I was certain that The University of Missouri was not an option for me. My mom called later on and asked what I was thinking...and I said...I'm not really feeling like MU is the right place for me right now...I need a change and I want to pursue something involving worship. That's when my mom shocked me and said..."How about you just apply to the School of Worship for this upcoming fall semester." I thought, "WHAT?!?!?! are you serious? Did you actually just say that?" At that point I was really excited and I wanted to hug my mom over the phone. So, yes. I applied, sent in a sample of my music and was accepted two weeks later.
Yes, this is all so fast, but it's good this way. I have one chance to do this and I'm so excited for it! It's a great way for me to draw closer to God and see what plans He's made for me. I want to take this music thing a little more seriously. All glory to Him! He's the reason why I'm pursuing this! It's going to be one great adventure and experience. Needless to say, I am very fortunate and blessed to have parents and friends who support this new change of direction in my life. Of course I thank God for giving me this wonderful opportunity to pursue more of Him through my passions for worship and music in general. I want God to be glorified in all I do. That's it!
What I will be doing at this School of Worship: First of all, here is the website to the school so you all can check out the details about this place: School of Worship I will be learning about worship in general, song writing, rhythm, all the instruments, recording, biblical history, personal experiences from various christian artists, and etc. It's a time to confidently see how God works in all aspects of worship before, during, and after a church service. I'm excited! :D
I ask that you all keep me in your prayers. Pray that I would seek God through all these new changes and go after the things He wants for me. In the past, I've always wanted to be in control of everything so please just pray that I follow the One who has set a specific plan for my life! Pray that I would make great friends out here and I wold familiarize myself with this town. I need all the prayer I can get.
I will be blogging once a week or so to tell you all what is happening out here! I might even share some new ideas for a song or just my personal thoughts. Feel free to comment and just enjoy this wild journey with me.
Love you all!
<3 Helene M. Gerts
