Crunch Time

The opening is this week. Thursday night. We're all scrambling to put the finishing touches on our projects. Daniel is spending hours on end in the darkroom writing and recording the music for our film. He's about halfway there. Kristine and I are prepping the gallery space and providing moral support. The entire project is cutting out leaves. It will take every person involved with this project to make this happen. That's one of the things I love about it. It's collaboration out of love, not obligation. There's no "I'll do this for you if you're there for me later." We're all in this together.

I love art students. I love listening to their perspectives and the way their brains work. There was a random moment about a week ago where someone found a ball of yarn and proceeded to connect each of us together with it. And people just laughed and let him. We sat there & continued with our meeting, tied together with yellow yarn. No one really questioned his logic.

Another awesome thing about the students this year is their attitude. The schedule we're keeping and the topics we're exploring and the city itself have created an environment where many of us are getting the opportunity to see the parts of ourselves that we don't like. It's really hard, but people are pulling together and working together despite the difficulties. And giving those parts of themselves to God...I've heard several comments about how this is a blessing that we're getting to learn these things about ourselves. I've never heard anyone thank God for allowing them to see their sin except in the context of salvation stories. It's awesome.

A few of us got stuck on a train on our way into the studio earlier, and one of the girls commented on our schedule in comparison to the other tracks (which tend to have more free time). It wasn't a negative conversation though. I watched as another student commented "I wish we had more time to experience the city, but I'm glad we're on the arts track with this schedule." Her logic? Our time at home is this hectic. Life isn't going to slow down any in the near future, and this project forces us to learn how to live our lives for Christ and rely on God in the midst of the chaos.

I'll say it again...I love our students. (the staff are great too) :)

Like I said, it's crunch time. Back to work. Be praying for us. If you're in the city, come to our show...and help with PR. Change your profile picture to the Intersection flyer.

Editing

We're in the editing phase of our project finally. We've got a little more left to shoot, but we have most things shot & ProRes-ed. (I know that's not a word...At least not yet.) The goal is to start composing the music tomorrow...and finish everything by Tuesday. Please be praying for all of us.

We're having some trouble with technology. I'm learning how to make it work for me not against me, but that takes time. Which we're a bit tight on. I had hoped to have something for Daniel to start composing to by today. The editing of this isn't incredibly complex in regard to story, but the footage itself is a lot for the computer to process, so it takes time. On the plus side, while we're waiting for the computer to do it's thing, I've been able to help cut out leaves for the Invitation group. I secretly love it. I spent close to four hours cutting leaves out of invitations today. It was very monotonous, but it definitely had a hand in keeping my stress level down. Keeping my mind occupied is a good thing when I'm watching the clock.

It's encouraging to see God working in people's lives through this project. Including mine. Though usually it's more frustrating in mine...it can be really hard to see your weaknesses. Especially those that you didn't realize you (still) had. God is faithful in showing us our weaknesses, but He's also faithful in sticking with us & guiding us through them. I miss certain things & people at home, but I'm really glad God has me here. And I'm really thankful for the people who have helped me get here. I appreciate you all more than words can express.

Please keep praying for us. We've got a lot to get done before the opening next week. I have no doubt that it will get done the way it needs to be done though. God will get us through. This is all for His glory.

Things Progress

The students have been here for two weeks now, and we're really getting into the swing of things. We divided up into seven groups this past weekend, each with a different word: Invitation, Anticipation, Reunion, Intimacy, Betrayal, Sacrifice, and Pursuit. Last night we pitched ideas based off of these themes. Overall, it went well. We're all still adjusting to how to critique and accept critique in a setting like this. We're all in this together, and we're not making 7 individual pieces, we're making one collaboration that includes seven pieces.

My group is contemplating anticipation. The words were chosen randomly, but it ties in really well with us. All of our mediums utilize time, and so much of anticipation is watching the clock. We've decided to make a short film...technically two that complement each other. It's going to be hard, but it will be awesome if it comes together. Please be praying that God stays the center of our endeavors. We're about to take on a pretty big task, and it won't happen without Him.

I'm adjusting to the schedule finally. Your prayers have helped. I'm not nearly as exhausted or stressed after 12 hours in the studio as I was last week. There's still stress, and there's still exhaustion, but it's in moderation. I have Psalm 62:5 written on the wall in front of my workspace, so everytime I look up, I'm reminded to find my rest in God. It's been helpful.

I'm still short on support. We've been asked to have everything in by the end of the month. That's today. I've asked everyone I can think of. Most people who have given so far weren't even asked to give. I know God will provide...whenever I start to forget, I listen to Consider the Ravens and/or read the passage that it's based on. If you're willing/able to give, it would be greatly appreciated.

Also, I will be posting more pictures soon. I need to acquire a card reader to transfer them from my camera to the computer. For now, here's a photo of the first colla

boration exercise (Art in a Bag) that a friend took:

oops...I almost forgot Fact of the Day again.

Fact of the Day: I like peanut butter and bananas together...actually peanut butter is good with a lot of things.

update #3

This is going to be a bit short, but I wanted to get something up. This experience has been good, but things are hard that I was not expecting to be hard. I'm exhausted, mentally & physically. I'm getting enough sleep, but I'm tired like I haven't slept in over 40 hours (those of you who know me well know that I'm familiar with that feeling). I'm used to being able to sleep random hours (anywhere from 3-12) each night and be fine. I don't know if it's the city, the structure of project, or even a spiritual attack, but it's getting to me. It's a struggle that I didn't anticipate (ha. that's my word for our collaboration groups). I'm still learning how to deal with it.

I've spent the last hour up on the roof just praying and listening to music. God is good. I'm finding rest in Him. I just wish I didn't need it so badly by the time I have a chance to just sit with Him.

Please be praying for the project. We're all feeling exhaustion, and we're not that far into it. Pray that we find rest in God, and that we won't fight God or each other in our stress.

The end of week 1

It's been a good week...some of the days early in the week were difficult, but a good difficult. God is stretching me.

This year we'll be doing a few things differently. The days are more structured than they were in 2008, and we're incorporating a few new things such as our "T&A" times. One of our directors recently spent a year studying Theology, Imagination, and the Arts, and she will be sharing some of that knowledge with us through Theology and Arts times. They've been really cool so far. During our lead into the first T&A time, a few questions were posed:

What compels me to create? Does God enjoy creating? Where is the evidence of this? If God creates to display His glory, can we accuse Him of vanity? This last one was initially a shock, but I found it interesting that nearly all of the small groups that discussed this question came up with the same answer & reasoning...I was going to share our answer, but I changed my mind. What do you think?

One more question: If God creates to display His glory, what should our creation display?

I'd like to encourage you to think through some of these questions, especially if you like to create.

Our first discipleship group session was this week, and it went well. I was worried when I first met my girls that I'd be too socially awkward and be unable to lead our time together. I was worried for nothing though because God is good, and He led our time together. The group this week also included one of the directors, and the four of us clicked. It was good. We continued to talk and hang out for a while after our D-group time was officially over.

We met our mentors last night. Another girl, Kristine, and I have the same mentor. She's also a filmmaker, and I'm excited to get to hang out with two other Christian women filmmakers. And we're all at different stages in life, so we all bring something different to the table. I'm excited to see how that relationship develops.

Other Highlights : Babette's Feast (a play at the IAM space), students arriving,

Fact of the Day/Week: We've got a really good group of students & staff this year for the arts track....I'm sure the other tracks are awesome too, but I've had limited contact with them.

I'm Here :)

Day 2, and I can already see that God is going to stretch me and teach me much these next few weeks.

I made it here. My roommates & I didn't oversleep & miss the plane. The plane didn't crash. My luggage arrived in once piece. The E train wasn't running, and I had to brave the J train (which was a much longer trip) and lots of stairs with all of my luggage. I saved roughly $38 by doing this (taxi=$45, airtrain to subway= $7.25) It wasn't really frustrating though. It was more of a "welcome back", and it reflected the rest of the day...we dove right in. I arrived at the airport at 8:45AM, got to check-in at 11:30AM, got to my room at 12:40PM, got to staff meeting (lunch in hand) at 2PM. I was very happy to see my bed last night.

I have learned a lot more about what I'll be doing specifically while I'm here. The intern team (Brian, Tiffany, and myself) will be leading prayer for the project, and I will be assisting one of the staff women (Amy) with Special Event planning, along with discipling two women. I'm excited to see what God will do this summer. There's definitely a bit of nervousexcited mixed in with the happyexcited, but excited nonetheless....I like that word, nonetheless :)

Tomorrow the staff have a day off, but Tiffany, Brian, and I will be working putting together our plans for the first prayer event. I'm looking forward to working with them more tomorrow, both to get things done and to re-establish a relationship with them. I know them already, but working together will be slightly different. It's another form of collaboration, and I think it's going to be great.

Fact of the Day: We actually have a shower in our room :)