Rewind

what a year it’s been! wow. so much has happened…for all of us, i’m sure. i am in awe of all the LORD has done in me & all that He’s allowed me to see and experience.  if i could sit down and hit the rewind button on 2009, here are some moments i’d probably stop on, hit the play button, and watch for a bit:

- hanging with my whole family & watching my dad get sworn in as Circuit Court Judge.

- Travis Cottrell’s live CD/DVD recording…and my 2nd time to ever attempt Environmental Projection.

- meeting Jeremy Stanley, Jacob Blaze & Matt Olson for the first time…at the same time…very funny story… #allroadsleadtonorthdakota – and now they are some of my best friends in Nashville!

- Nate & Shelly’s wedding … and on Feb 14th of all days! (fun fact: this is also the anniversary for Grateful Inconvenience. #awwww)

- Moving into our new studio at Marathon Village & our friends at Global Support Mission sharing the space with us.

- being introduced to Crema.

- the Good Friday experience at Journey Church

- VJ-ing the Dove Awards

- Ryan Kerr, Nick Rivero & Camron Ware all visiting Nashville the same week… outdoor projection, deep theological & technological discussions over a fire-pit, Star Trek at the IMAX, Pancake Pantry, & Baja Burrito!

- visiting Portland & getting to see my bros Dave Lubben & Allan White. (first thing i thought when i saw Multnomah Falls was, “i’ve seen this in a motion background before!”)

- LOST Season 5

- my first of hopefully many visits to Hong Kong & China

- getting to meet Mrs. Earl (Jo) Waldrup

- meeting new friends (you know who you are) @ various media/worship conferences: #ENTER09, #gurusoftech, #echo09 & #Dirt09 - Twitter & blogging is cool, but getting to build relationships & engaging in meaningful conversations helps me to gain a clearer understanding of the Church, worship & why visual art is effective! This has led to some blog posts i thought i’d never write.

- finally releasing our own media content on WorshipHouse

- releasing “AWAYO”, the story of a friend of ours in Indonesia…the release delayed for many reasons, but God had His perfect timing with it, b/c the same week it released was the same week the missionaries from the Moi Tribe just happen to visit New Tribes HQ in Florida…and it just so happens that we were in the same city! so we all got to watch it for the first time, in HD & final audio mix, together!

- my 10 year High School reunion. Go Jackets Go!

- vacation in San Diego (and not telling anyone where i was!): staying with Roy Cochran & his family (my SoCal family), hanging with Vicky Beeching & Alex Roller, learning to surf, and being 100% disconnected from social media & my iPhone for the whole week! (OK! so 99.9%)

- after 256 small-world connections, many emails, text messages & Twitter @replies/DMs, Daley Hake & i meet face-to-face. the beginning of the end.

- Living Proof Live: there were so many moments that it would take a whole blog post to mention them all. Nate & I are so honored to serve alongside Beth Moore, Travis Cottrell & the amazing LifeWay/LPL team. If I had a road family, these people are it! it still blows my mind that we get to play a part of these unforgettable & powerful Jesus-centered events.

- going to Disney World for a day (for FREE!) with Travis, Beth, Nate & Shelly, & the LPL praise team

- going with Mocha Club to Gulu, Uganda… a place that’s been heavy on my heart for years. I love to “talk worship” a lot, but going to places like Uganda shows me what true worship is really all about.

(And going on my first safari wasn’t too bad, either.)

- Integrity Live’s seminars4worship: these events helped me grow as a visual worship leader…from the teachings i received, to the teaching sessions i had to lead, to the fly-by-the-seat-of-your-pants environment that would keep any VJ on his/her toes… “DEEPER” was a very fitting name for this year’s tour.

- Travis Gravette (one of my best friends & founder of Global Support) marries Maggie Foster…what an epic day!

- getting to reconnect with my worship mentors Mark Pierson & Sally Morgenthaler. I’m still processing our conversations, and hoping to flesh some of them out in 2010.

- Phil Moody joined us as our Fall Intern and brought some creative awesomeness to our projects & websites. we call him “Philawesome” for a reason.

- both Grateful Inconvenience & worshipVJ get rebranded and new websites!

- making it snow inside on some really fun Christmas tours was pretty cool…not gonna lie. But something else trumped it all…i’ll give you one guess.

- finding new music (my 2009 soundtrack): Invisible Children, Paper Route, Star Trek, Christy Nockels, M.I.A., Vitamin String Quartet, MuteMath, Matt Redman, Joy Williams, Adiemus, David Crowder*Band, Chris Tomlin’s Christmas, Tiesto, Eric Whitacre, Nicos, Kings of Convenience, Travis Cottrell, Ratatat, Joshua Radin, Switchfoot, Andrew Bird, & saving the best for last, Owl City. Also, compiling the worshipVJ iMix/playlist was fun.

- most memorable visual worship moment: at #Dirt09, the morning session, where “everything” was turned off. a powerful time of “visual silence”. — don’t get me wrong…i had an abundance of amazing worship experiences where art & visual media were used…and i also got to lead some moments of “visual silence” myself… but this was one time where i was being led, and i had no idea what was coming next. Neil Greathouse & the New Life team led me in worship in a very refreshing way that day.

- and finally & most recently, Christmas vacation…this year, i got more sleep, watched more movies, re-watched more episodes of LOST, spent more time with family, lived life offline longer & ate more unhealthy food than any previous year! Thank You, LORD!

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If you could rewind 2009, what moments would you stop and watch again? I’d especially like to hear what your favorite visual worship moments were!

Thanks for hanging with me this year! See you in 2010!

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“But be sure to fear the LORD and serve Him faithfully with all your heart; consider what great things He has done for you.”   ~ 1 Samuel 12:24

“The LORD has done great things for us, and we are filled with joy!”                      ~ Psalm 126:3