i need a banjo plucker

Posted on May 23, 2013 by stacy

A simple glance through my posts would tell you that music plays a pretty big role in my life. We’re a musical family, from top to bottom. My mom is one of the best piano players I know. She can hear a song on the radio, walk over to the piano, modulate up or down, and play it like she wrote it. Kim’s dad (and grand-pap) has been part of a Southern Gospel quartet forever; I was in the group for a few years myself. Kim will probably clobber me for telling you, but she plays a mean saxophone!

This spring has been remarkable on so many musical levels. From the selections that the school choirs are doing to last night’s Godspell, from leading worship for midtown at the State Theatre to some family jam/worship, from the beginnings of some songs to the hope of some epic worship nights with folks this summer…I am pumped for this summer!

I’m thinking that I want to try some different things this summer. I’ve got a buddy (Caleb) who has the connections to pull together some version of a Tower of Power. I’ve been wanting to set the Bluegrass Band loose for a long time. So I need a banjo plucker! There’s got to be a few pickers and grinners around midtown, right? Somebody help a brotha out…

And for your listening pleasure, I submit the following:

how come nobody told me

Posted on May 22, 2013 by stacy

The only thing that I really knew about Godspell was that Ben Stiller quoted from “Day By Day” in one of his goofy movies. Sadie had a role in Singing Onstage‘s production of Godspell Junior (modified for younger actors), which ran tonight at the fabulous State Theatre. So to get ready I did a little homework.

Turns out the whole shebang is based on the the life of Jesus from the gospel of Matthew, using parables as the pieces to move the show forward. There have been lots of adaptations, and tonight’s show was set in a classroom. The kids did a great job telling the story of Jesus, and Parker Kingshipp was fabulous in the role of Jesus. I don’t know that I’ve ever seen a 5th grader look so natural and comfortable on stage. I was proud of all the kids, but especially so of our little Sadie, who is turning into a pretty good little singing actress herself!

As I listened to yet another evening of the gospel being presented through the arts (Lilly’s 9th grade concert was last night) I wondered how many of these students are being taught that this isn’t just music, art, and entertainment. I wanted to stand up at the end and tell all the proud parents that this is the real story–that Jesus did these things, taught these things, and literally lived and died, just like the kids sang, just like the choirs have sung, just like the masters have written. It might not have gone over really well, but that thought lingers…

survey says…

Posted on May 21, 2013 by stacy

A few weeks back Calvary dedicated some Sunday morning time to our yearly survey, asking questions about spiritual practice and health, spiritual disciplines and growth. We’re trying to track trends, to see if we’re growing as a church. Most of the time when churches want to see how they’re doing they (we?) count N’s: noses, nickels, and newbies. We’re looking at a lot of different pieces of info, checking it against last year’s answers, and plotting it out from gathering to gathering.

The data has been sliced and diced, sorted and collated, folded and spindled…Local data guru Jim Fong (Calvary attender and sports-card aficionado!) walked us through his team’s initial findings and helped us get a handle on some of the information that the survey delivers. Then our staff spent hours praying and thinking and talking and examining and asking what it all means.

To be honest, this isn’t my favorite way to spend a day. Too many numbers and details and theories about who answered this questions this way or that way…I had to keep pulling my mind back to focus on the task at hand, because it’s very important. While I’d rather be playing music or playing in a creek, I know how to put on my big boy pants and take care of business when I need to!

We wrapped up the day by starting to set some goals for us as a staff and as a church, followed by a pretty intense time of prayer around the table.

I may not dig the numbers and minutia of digging through the survey results, but if this produces a more clear picture of where we are as a body of believers and what God is doing in us, then I’m all in.

running in all directions

Posted on May 20, 2013 by stacy

It was a crazy busy weekend fro Team Sublett. Kim took off with Charlie Thursday night for the yearly “Bedford Yard Sale.” We try to get rid of all our good/useable/unwanted clutter once a year, selling it to the good people of Bedford at minimal prices. I don’t know the grand total, but Kim netted enough to cover a meal for the fam at Big Bowl Noodle House, so that’s something!

Josie turned 16 Saturday, and we celebrated by sending her to Wisconsin. Yep. That’s not how I would have drawn it up, but she plays rugby for the high school, and they got invited to the HS national tourney in WI. It was a good trip, even though they got smoked in their matches. Josie has had a blast with the girls, and they’ve been great to her. It’s been nice to see her make some friends.

Isaac and Sadie went to the middle school dance Saturday. I’m pretty sure that it was a dance for 7th graders. Sadie got to go because she’s on the student council, so she decorated and got to serve. The pictures make it look like They coordinated their outfits. They would have you know that it’s merely circumstantial. Check out the boy in the bowtie!

I preached at midtown Sunday. Sunday night we all traipsed back out to church for our monthly corporate prayer gathering, where all the Calvary folks come together to flood the valley with prayer. We call it Flood the Valley, cause we’re creative like that! We were praying especially for the high school students, and some of them helped lead worship. I started bawling just about the time we hit the door. Seriously. I didn’t stop crying until we were on the way home. I’m not sure what was up with that…

Here are some pics for your enjoyment…

if I had my druthers

Posted on May 16, 2013 by stacy

have you ever heard that saying? Maybe it’s a Georgia thang. It means that if I got to choose my preference, my way…if I could pick, this is what I’d do.

While I find my attention drawn to a pretty diverse and wide-flung set of attractions/passions, there’s a part of me that always comes back to leading people in worship. It’s been part of the way I lead and pastor people, part of the way I teach and shape their hearts for as long as I have been in ministry.

Lately God has been bringing some wild-eyed and wondrous worshipers into my life. There’s a buzz in the air, and a freshness to faith. I’m starting to hear these young men and women talking about Jesus in a way that’s captivating. They’re getting together to pray and seek God’s face, to sing unscripted, unbridled, uncharted songs. It’s not neat or clean or polished. But it’s good. It’s real. It’s authentic and inspiring and life-giving.

Worship flows from hearts touched by the love of God. Worship is the response of a heart that has been forgiven, redeemed, transformed.

I’m hopeful that new songs will come out of this–songs that express what God is doing here and now, songs that capture the essence of a movement of God, songs for us, by us.

I don’t know that anything we write or sing will have lasting power, but I believe that there are songs in my heart that need to be sung. They may not be the masterpieces of Lennon-McCartney (dadgum creative geniuses), but they’ll be real. They’ll be mine. And that’s something…

is being cute enough?

Posted on May 14, 2013 by stacy

Sometimes I’m tempted to think so, that surface-y stuff is enough to get through the day, that looking the part or knowing the right things to say or having the right gear will carry the moment. But deep down, I know that it’s about CHARACTER. There have been lots of books and blog posts written about the importance of character. Sermons have been spoken, lectures have been levied…when it comes down to it, I want to surround myself with people of character.

Character is trustworthy. Character is genuine, more concerned with my good than personal gain. Character isn’t afraid to tell me that I have broccoli in my teeth, or that I need to apologize when I get out of line. Character is willing to hurt my feelings for the hope of my future, for the greater good. Character does the right thing because it’s the right thing, regardless of what it costs. Character speaks the truth in love. Character…

And at the end of the day, I want to be a man of character. It matters for me, and it matters for my family.

But it probably doesn’t hurt to be cute, either!

my wife is weird

Posted on May 13, 2013 by stacy

Some moms want to be coddled and pampered to celebrate Mother’s Day. They want the big gifts, the spa treatment, the big fuss. Not my wife. She’s weird, I suppose. Gift giving is her love language (Hmm, it appears that gift GIVING isn’t on the list), and she’s a bit of a floofy girl–former Mary Kay lady, etc.

Instead, her perfect day involved us going to church together, a lunch at Waffle Shop, and an afternoon working in the yard together. We cut and weeded and pruned and pulled and trimmed and raked and swept and lopped and snipped all over the yard yesterday. There’s a line of brush from one end of the property to the other! We had ripped gloves and false poison ivy sightings and dirt under our nails and dirt in our eyes. Our yard is starting to come together, and our family is making some memories.

The kids all wrote a little note to Kim yesterday, except Lilly–she wrote a novella. Sadie baked a fruit crisp thing that sounded weird and tasted great. We went to bed tired, but in a good way.

We are a family blessed to call her ours…She puts the WE in WEIRD, and was the one to claim our family motto: Weird is good. I can’t imagine a life without you, Kim! I love you and am a man most blessed. Thanks for being who you are. All the best parts of our family point to you. And most of the weird/good ones, too!

practice, er, play what you preach

Posted on May 9, 2013 by stacy

Today I ran into Victor Wooten. He’s a musical genius, an innovator, and an educator. Take 5 to watch him teach you a few things:

This I got to put his words into practice…I mean, into PLAY! I usually pull my guitar out to run through the songs for the upcoming weekend, hiding away from little fingers that want to strum, avoiding the other music going on in the house. But not tonight.

I let Charlie strum to his heart was content. I even sang some silly made-up song for him to celebrate his running around without pants! Then Levi walked in from work and wanted to YouTube a song for his Spanish class. So we did. And it’s a beautiful song:

We found a chord chart for the song, played along, then I played it for Levi to sing. That lead us down the road of some Sister Hazel, Deep Blue Something, Five For Fighting, and Del Amitri. It was like a 90′s tv show happening in my living room. All that was missing was the cast of Friends. But it was one of the most fun nights that I’ve spent in a long time.

Making music is fun. Making memories is even better.

the difference between 6th & 12th grade

Posted on May 7, 2013 by stacy

Kim and I rolled out for the 6th grade spring concert at the kids’ middle school tonight. We took Isaac and Annabelle with us. Annabelle likes the music; Isaac likes the people! As we were walking into the school a group of students were getting off a bus, returning from a sporting event. Isaac got a little, “Hey Isaac!” from the girls. He didn’t hate that…

We did the math, and this was the 6th such Spring Concert that we’ve attended. Band, Chorus, Orchestra…we’ve made the rounds. And since Charlie is in the pipeline, we’ll be there for years to come. Over the past 6 years we’ve heard more than our share of middle school violins and cellos and saxophones, of the obligatory “Blues Breakdown” solos, and the choir trying their best to roll with some song in German or an African dialect. We smile at the boys with ties dangling down by their knees, the girls wobbling up the risers in their initial foray into the world of high heels.

But something marvelous, something borderline miraculous happens in our schools somewhere between 6th grade and graduation. There has to be some element of natural talent, some innate ability to sing, to carry a tune, to hit a note. Maybe that’s present in every school district, every little burg or ville in the world.

When I say that our program (our–as though I have something to do with it!) is exemplary, I am not exaggerating. I told you that at their latest adjudication event (in Toronto) they came home with EVERY first place award presented. Every band, every ensemble, every choir. Men, women, co-ed. Every. As in EVERY.

Best choir, orchestra, band, jazz band, men’s chorus, women’s chorus, and Master singers all got top spot. 6 people won best solo (voice or instrument). Best rhythm section (jazz band). Every award that they gave Gold for went to State High, except for the Spirit Award!

So what takes our kids from “Aww, that was cute” to “Holy cow. Did your hair stand up on your arms when they sang that piece?” How do they make such a big jump from 6th grade to 12th grade?

I think it’s a cocktail of hard work on the kids’ part, encouragement on the part of the parents, and a top-notch group of music educators who poke and prod and beg and cajole and demand and praise and pound and pull the best effort out of our kids. They teach them to love music, massage and shape the raw materials, polishing the gem until it shines like a star.

So from a dad who regularly gets to see the finished product as well as the behind-the-scenes, thank you, dear music educators. You have spoken into and shaped the lives of countless kids. I know that I speak for the parents when I say thank you.

I caught my son out dancing & gambling

Posted on May 7, 2013 by stacy

It was bound to happen. Probably happens to most families in the course of time. Levi and some of his friends stayed out all night dancing, gambling, and partying like it’s 1999. (That’s an old reference, but I’m old. So there ya go.) I’m not really concerned about it–I was there, too.

It’s the end of his junior year, and it’s prom season. Our high school throws a HUGE All Night Party after the party to give the young rapscallions an alternative to going out drinking. They rely on parents to staff the shindig, everything from the food to the games to the store. Students win pretend $ from the games, which they can spend on items donated by local businesses–everything from pizzas to microwaves to blu-ray/dvd players and tvs–you know, the essentials for their upcoming college move! I’m pretty sure that they even raffled off a car to some senior!

For the second year in a row I worked in the casino. From midnight to just after 4am I dealt blackjack, and I had a blast. Of course, getting up at 6:15 to get ready for church, leading worship twice, then heading over to the high school for Josie’s last home rugby game made for a long day! It was a good weekend though. Check out me and Isaac–we dressed alike Sunday, completely unintentional!