Tennessee Site 2

As the 14th year of Sheltered Reality gets underway, it still amazes me that our ever-powerful musical ministry can empower people of ALL ages in so many ways!  Last night I had the pleasure of watching 15 new potential members all come together in Shelbyville, TN...on its way to being the 2nd site in TN, the first new SR site of 2010, and a successful outcome of a lot of hard work from our Nashville coordinating family...Scott, Sharon, Sierra, and Dakota Frech.  Last night's turnout ranged from 3rd grade on the young end, through 4th, 5th, 7th, and 9th graders, and then onto adults and one very special young lady named Mercedes.  Mercedes has Aspberger's syndrome (related to autism) and usually folks with either of those do not like loud things...but Mercedes' mom really wanted her to see and experience SR...and brought her to our community show back in November.  When she heard she could Take A Chance, should Never Give Up, should do Whatever It Takes, to learn to Believe in Herself, to reach out to others and Be A Friend, and all of this would strengthen her Belief in God...well, she wanted that...loud or not.  Last night we got to watch her work SO hard and master many drum skills and our first 3 songs...and it was a wonderful experience for all!

So, to Scott and family...kudos for hard work that once again has paid off in TN...many lives will be changed.

To ALL in SR...wow...once again it is awe-inspiring to watch God bring people together, connect them through music, and put them on a journey to change more lives...all through our very special, and very loud, world called Sheltered Reality.  Enjoy this one!

BLOG question of the day

Today's question for you all is deeper than I have done so far...and it will be repeated several times, in different ways, once we get everyone in the country logged on here.  But, I am ready to try this out...so here goes...

I am planning many changes to "my" version of the SR show this year...one of them is to start to include many more of your personal journeys in SR in place of just "one" story of the day...because all members of SR change in many ways, and I think it is time for the audience to know this.  Jovanna, you started this, just so you know!  When you emailed about how you have changed since you joined SR...which has been noticeable to me...but unknown to the audience...I realized that we are missing a much bigger picture.  I think the audience deserves to know ALL the reasons we play drums...why you are all in SR...and how your lives are changing by doing this musical ministry.

SO...my question of the day for you all is:

Why do you play the drums in SR?  Especially since many of the drum parts keep getting harder?

There ya all go...have fun with it!

BLOG working SO well!

After 2 days of being in a motel with no internet (well, actually internet that we would have to pay for, which we try not to do) I came back to find all of these wonderful conversations between members in SEVERAL different states...who have never met each other...all starting with the temperature when they got out of bed where they live...and drifting into school buses potentially getting stuck in the snow and ending in some German and Latin exchanges...goodness...I could not be happier.

I am very happy that God pushed me into doing something that I was not sure would work...but seems to be working beyond my wildest expectations given that we have not even let 85% of the members/sites know about it yet!

So, to all, keep up the good work...keep getting to know each other, and I will keep posting things to help you out :)  Such as today's question, coming next!!

Temperatures and Mirrors

For today's 2nd post...1 or 2 things for you all to do :)

1.  Post what temperature it was when you got up this morning (come close), as well as where you live (or in my case, where you got up!).

2.  IF YOU DO NOT have a picture of yourself up on the follower's list, or at least a graphic, please learn how to do that...so that everyone can see something about you...besides the generic picture that is up for many of you.  If you don't know how to do this, perhaps internet guru Kelli Lair can help :)

My answers to number one:

Fairfield Inn, Phoenix Airport is where I got up, and it was a bit over 50 degrees out, and hard to leave.  Sadly, we had to get up at 340am to get to the airport on time...not a good time to start the day :(

From the Road

Jordan and I just finished the first 2 official 2010 practices...and had a great time in both Salt Lake City, UT and Phoenix, AZ.  More fun in Phoenix actually since that was a nice, warm, 70 degree experience.  YAAAY!  But, sadly, that is all the warm weather for us for quite awhile, as we rejoin all of the midwest sites in the frigid cold that is out there...and that you have all suffered through for a few days already.

It is fun watching folks start to listen to the new songs I have picked out and as we have now played them a few times, I know which are working, and some of the things I want to put in them...including a LOT of shared drumming on both sides (for those that don't know...that means playing on your drums as well as those to your left and right).  We also have a nice new "snake part"...and again, for those who don't know, that is moving up and down the entire row of drums so that an entire row moves as one...we called this the snake part many years ago...and it is time to do it again.

SO, you all have this to look forward to!

I wanted to thank all of you so far because I am seeing:

1.  Many of you commenting on my posts.  Thanks for reading!
2.  Many of you commenting on EACH OTHER's posts...that is even better...because this is how you will all make new friends!

In the coming weeks I will start doing the following:

1.  More challenges and contests, some with prizes, some without.

2.  Asking one of you at random to answer some questions about your site, your time in SR, your favorite stories from SR (my stories, or better YOUR OWN stories)...just so members from all sites can learn about other sites.

3.  Asking you want YOU want to see on this blog...since this blog is about YOU.  I will say this many times and many ways...but I never want you to forget this.

4.  If I don't see a comment from you at all, after many posts, I will ask you directly to post...so in other words, don't be shy.

It was fun after 2 days off the internet to sit down and read everyone's posted 2010 resolutions.  If you have not posted there, do so...and read the other comments.  I posted mine as well...so you can all go back and read that.

I will be off the internet now until about Saturday, so nothing more in the next 2 days...but you can all start thinking about the things above...as well answering the question of the day for everyone's "amusement"...see today's 2nd post.

Take care!

GOOD JOB and FUN question

YAAAY!  We have grown from 19 to 34 followers since I looked 2 days ago.  I am proud of you all!  We are leaving Phoenix and going to SLC today...boarding the flight soon, so I cannot post a lot.  Today is the first practice of 2010!  WOW...another SR year underway...with several new songs to come, and perhaps even one or two removed from the current show.  Who knows??

TODAY's assignment:  What is your 2010 New Year's resolution, if any?  Not only do I ask you all to POST IT but also to READ each other's posts...and maybe even return to this one and repost something to everyone once all are done.

I am going to work very hard to get you all reading what everyone writes and thinking about it and using it to get to know SR folks you don't know.

More in about 2 days.

HAPPY 2010 PLUS challenge

Happy New Year to all SR follower's!  I see we have some recruiting to do from the sites I have been to already to talk about this...Minneapolis, Rochester, Eau Claire, and Fox Cities.  Currently, Fox Cities has the most followers who have completed the first assignment...to get signed on here...but they are still missing some folks as are all other sites I have seen.

So, let's put the power of communication to work...all current followers...use all the other means you have at your disposal...and see which of you can get the most new folks from your site (or other sites) joined on here.

Remember...the ultimate 2010 goal...to have EVERYONE in SR reading this post...as a way to find things out fast...to find out about each other...and to communicate through one place to everyone in SR...SO...we need to make sure we get all of those missing folks who have heard about this on here ASAP.

No prize on this one...but more prizes still to come!