December 17, 2007
Christmas 07 Final Presentation = WOW!!!
Posted in AIM
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Okay. I just got back from what is quite possibly my favorite presentation of all time. Let me tell you all about it! The occasion was the 2007 Christmas Session Final Presentation. We were to arrive at 5:00 and practice (mostly because we learned a new song while one of the guys [Josh] was on vacation). We would present at 6:30. We arrived at 4:00 to do some devious scheming. See, we had two big schemes for this presentation. In addition to the Christmas songs, we were going to present a special surprise song for our parents ("Mama Prays" - Chris Rice). We were also going to present a special song for Tess and Jory and Jorge and Kristi (our rechoreographed version of "Thank You" - the Ray Boltz classic - that now stars a husband and wife). At the end of Thank You, we were going to give gifts to the Rolfs and Madrigals - roses for Tess and Kristi, a gift card to a Christian bookstore for Jory, and a birthday cake for Jorge (decorated with the Costa Rican flag and the words "Feliz Cumpleaño Jorge!" [Happy Birthday Jorge in Spanish - his birthday was Friday]). Those of you who know Jorge will understand. And we knew that Tess loved roses, and we knew that Kristi loved flowers in general, so that was an easy decision. And... well, we didn't have any brilliant ideas for Jory, so we figured a gift card was pretty safe. ;) As far as the song - well, for those of you on AIM teams, picture having four directors. Now picture trying to learn a new song without ANY of your directors knowing what you are up to! This was difficult, but we did it. One of our team members (Melissa) attends the Methodist church right up the street, and we went over there right after practice the past two weeks and worked on the song. The first week Josiah and Jacob both had to lie to Jorge about where they were going in order to get out the door without him knowing. The second week the youth pastor and his wife were watching us, so we gave a mini-presentation of End of the Beginning and In the Light on the spot! Very fun! So anyway. We arrived early because we wanted to hide the gifts for the Rolfs and Madrigals on the stage somewhere so they were easily accessible when the time came to give them at the end of the song. No such luck - there wasn't anywhere practical to hide stuff on that stage, so we finally ended up sticking everything in my car and I brought it all into the hall adjacent to the sanctuary while they presented the song. Then we went and tried to get props but couldn't find the flags. Wonderful. Then we sat around for awhile and waited for everyone to get there (remember, we were an hour early). When everyone arrived we had them sign the cards we were giving to the Rolfs and Madrigals. Then we were going to work Josh into Mama Prays, the song he hadn't learned. Problem: Mr. Lyell was sitting watching us practice! Just then Tess (who was still at her house) called, and she said I should have Kristi (who was working at the AIM office in the church) try to get him out of our hair! Ha. Ha. She basically just asked him to leave. And he did - he went and sat in the foyer. So we taught the song. I think we got in three run-throughs, which is really not too shabby. We then talked through the order and ran transitions and practiced the first half of the order before Tess showed up and parents started coming. Then the team prayed while the SALTeam talked with Tess about stuff for the new session (and asked her where the flags were!). Then Tess told me who was talking when (although this changed several times during the presentation) and we got set. Tess opened and then the presentation started. Here's our lineup: Celebrating Jesus This Baby One King Still Her Little Child I Believe in Bethlehem Grown Up Christmas List The Gift Gloria Mama Prays (which the parents didn't know about) Thank You (which the leaders didn't know about) I didn't really pay much attention to the songs because I was kinda busy. First, I was trying to tape some of the songs (which didn't work out all that well; the battery died halfway through The Gift, plus I missed Celebrating Jesus). I was also preparing stuff for our devious scheme, and planning what to say during my speaking parts. And of course I've seen all the songs a bunch of times and don't always pay all that much attention to them anymore. :) At the beginning of Grown Up Christmas List, Tess told me I was speaking after The Gift about our presentation at Rockaway Beach. That went pretty well, I think. I did an analogy about physical and spiritual needs which seemed to fit pretty well. It was kinda rough after that, but then I hadn't spent a whole lot of time preparing. I've noticed that in public speaking, I tend to do worse the more I prepare, so I don't stress it all that much anymore. After Gloria I got up and transitioned to Mama Prays. I didn't plan to do an invitation because I figured everybody would be saved (it's mostly parents anyway), but I later found out there were some Jewish people in the audience. Great time to decide not to do an invitation, Katie. Brilliant. And we did Mama Prays, and mama cried, and so did papa. You should watch the song from the last time we did it, it's pretty neat. We all gave our parents cards thanking them for everything they've done for us. So that was special. Then I got up and handed out the certificates to Mom (glove washer) and Mrs. Lilly (super-duper LITE team member). I had the SALTeam come and do it to give Jacob a chance to sign the certificate to Mrs. Lilly (he was the only SALT who hadn't had a chance to sign it). I did Mom's first so he would hopefully see that his name wasn't on there (and see the pen right by the certificate!), but no such luck. I whispered to him as he went back to get the other one, and talked long enough to give him time to scribble his name. Initiative on stage, public speaking style. :) Then finally, my FAVORITE PART OF MY FAVORITE PRESENTATION!!! So I said, "There are a few more people we'd like to thank..." and then I said who it was. And then I told them to come up. And then I told them to sit down on the front row. And then I told them we wanted to honor them for everything they'd done for us and for everyone else. And then... well, then the song started! I missed most of it because I was making trips to the car to get the cake and flowers, but I saw the end - the part where Jesus tells the couple thank you. And when everybody signs - and everybody signed right at the four people on the front row! Tess and Jory were crying, Kristi was crying, even Jorge was crying, which is really saying something. Even the people on stage were crying. Makeup was running. One girl was about to burst into tears right there on the stage, and by the time we finished, there weren't very many dry eyes left in the room. And then I had to stop the music. And then I went up front and we all hugged and Jorge and Kristi prayed (Jory asked them to do it... I think because he was crying too hard to be coherent! ;))... and then I hugged Tess and Kristi, because I hadn't been able to hug them at first... and then Jory prayed to close... and then it was over. Not totally, though. We didn't leave the church until 9:20 - we just hung out, talking, telling the Rolfs and Madrigals all about our devious scheming (that was fun!), eating Jorge's cake, etc. I gave all the girls mime gloves (black and white striped!) - it's unanimous, they're wearing them in the Adoration Parade next year! And Kristi gave me picture CDs and now I'm going to make the ECMT video for the Madrigals! What a day! Keep your eye on our website - videos of some of these songs will be posted soon, and several (Gloria, Mama Prays, and Thank You) are already on the website from other presentations (albeit in slightly different versions!). Getting the videos up is my next order of business after the Madrigals' video. Wow. I don't think I'm ever going to forget this day. God, thank you for Mom and Dad and Jory and Tess and Jorge and Kristi and Jessica and Melissa and Madison and all the guys... God, thanks for AIM! And thanks for the final presentation. And thanks for Christmas. This really is the most wonderful time of the year! |
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