From the Inside Out

We celebrated the end of an era at Abundant Life Church today. It was the last service to be held at 2021 E. Park Blvd. in Plano. For many, it was a bittersweet day. Everyone is excited about moving into our new facility, but we also leave behind a space where many fond memories were created. I came to ALC as a teenager in the Fall of 1988. At the time, I wasn’t happy about leaving the church we attended, but I know now it’s where God meant for us to be. My relationship with Him deepened there, and I was blessed to have one of the best pastors in the world, Dan Rigdon. I also experienced one of the most momentous occasions in my life in that building. It’s where I met and married my husband.

I have many great memories from my 21 years at ALC — there are just way too many to list them all! The great thing is that even though we’re leaving the building behind, those memories will follow me wherever I go. I have no regrets. One experience is ending. Things will never be the same, but through that ending, we have a new beginning. We have a remarkable opportunity to create new memories and to reach more people in our community by sharing the love and saving grace of our Saviour, Jesus Christ. What an amazing privilege!

In honor of our last day in the Park Blvd. building, we held a special “reunion” service. The day started early for those of us in the choir/worship team. We arrived at 8 am for a 90 minute music practice before service started. It made for a long day, but it was worth it!

We had a good crowd before practice ended. By 10 am, the place was packed full. We had our regulars in attendance and many former ALC’ers showed up to celebrate also. I think we set a new record for attendance — 660! Wow!

The choir kicked off the day with an “old school” song from years past, “Total Praise.”

The presence of God filled the room and lingered the entire day.

I was scheduled to sing on the worship team today, and I was delighted to have the opportunity to help lead worship one last time at ALC. I’m not very sentimental, but as I sang, I experienced many emotions. I am so blessed. God is incredible. I’m amazed with His grace and thankful for the fabulous group of people we have at ALC.

We baptized 22 people today!!! They alternated between the baptistery and the “old school” method.

Jeff Manning baptizing “old school” in a trough

Memories video

Dan Rigdon addresses the congregation

Anthony Mangun shares his thoughts and leads the church in a prayer for Jeff, Miquell, and our church leaders.

NOTE: all photos are courtesy of (ahem…stolen from) Sheila Horvath.

Gary and I decided to audition for a few local theatre productions this summer. We took head shots, got our resumes in order, picked out monologues, and prepared for the adventure.

Last night we auditioned for the McKinney Repertory Theatre’s production of Hartburn Hotel (a melodrama by Whitney Ryan Garrity). The theatre is located in the historic Collin County Courthouse in downtown McKinney. Our appointment was at 7:30, but they were auditioning in small groups so we had to wait for a couple of other actors to show up. Once they arrived, we were ushered into the casting room to meet the director, producer and stunt coordinator. Each one of us performed our comedic monologues first. I did “Roller Coaster” by Wade Bradford. It’s hilarious, and I had a lot of fun with it.

Since I listed my singing and piano skills on my resume, I was asked to play a few bars on the piano and sing a short folk song acapella. I was also asked to do a cold reading of two female parts. Gary got paired with the other male actor for a cold reading, and then Gary and I read together. After that, we were done. Since Friday was the last night of casting, the director told everyone that he’d notify people on Saturday if they were cast in a role.

Gary and I thanked them for their time and left to grab some dinner. Since we were already in downtown McKinney, we decided to walk around the town square and find a place to eat there. We ended up at a great Italian food spot called Emilia’s. We talked about the audition over dinner — discussing what went well, what didn’t, and what we would’ve done differently if we were to do it again. All in all, we felt pretty good about how it went.

This morning I was awakened by a call. Gary was already awake, so he answered the phone. It was the director letting us know that we had both been cast in the production. When we first set out to audition, we didn’t expect that we’d both get cast in the same play, but we’re delighted that it happened. Gary will be playing the role of the Sheriff, and I’ll be Miss Ivory Keyes, the former entertainer now piano player at the hotel. While the parts aren’t huge, they both look like fun characters to play. Besides, who doesn’t love a good melodrama?

Rehearsals start on Monday. Performances will be held on July 10, 11, 17, 18, and 19th. Mark your calendar and make plans to be there! You will be entertained…I guarantee it!

Also, don’t forget that Sunday is ALC’s last day in our 2021 E. Park Blvd. location. We have a special “reunion” service planned tomorrow at 10 am. It will be a momentous day! Please join us to celebrate the old and the new!

It’s 2:45 a.m on Wednesday. You’re alone. You need money and cigarettes. What do you do?

Why not grab a sword, dress in black and rob a 7-Eleven?

Sound like a bad idea? Well, Phong Nguyen didn’t think so. He robbed a McKinney 7-Eleven while wielding a sword and dressed in black. Very “Ninja” of him, don’t you think?

Too bad he wasn’t as smooth or stealthy as a real ninja. Just minutes after the robbery was reported, the police stopped his Nissan Altima near the store. He still had his sword, the money and stolen merchandise with him.

Perhaps he should stick with something like “Ninja Gaiden for the Xbox” and lay off the cigarettes.  Real ninjas don’t smoke anyway.

bus·y [biz-ee] bus·i·er, bus·i·est, verb, bus·ied, bus·y·ing.
–adjective
1. actively and attentively engaged in work or a pastime

Okay, I know it.

I said on Monday that I’d start blogging again regularly, but I had to skip yesterday…sorry!

Once again, I was overly optimistic about my ability to keep up with all of the activities I’m juggling these days. We had a marathon choir practice last night, and I didn’t get home until after 10 pm. Once I got home, I had more work to get done, so there was no time for blogging.

Today started around 6:30 am since I had to drive downtown for a conference focused on social media marketing. It’s a 2-day event being held at the Dallas Convention Center. I’m enjoying it so far. The sessions, networking, and discussions are sparking many creative ideas for my social media plan at work. There’s just too much to do and too little time! I’ll report more about the conference in tomorrow’s blog when I have more time to write a proper post. In the mean time, how about a few pics?

Chris Brogan speaking at the summit

Inside the convention center

View of Reunion Tower from inside the DCC

Another view of the Dallas skyline

My view for the 1.5 hour drive from downtown to Allen — traffic is horrible these days!

You may have noticed that I took a two-day holiday from the blog, but tonight I’m back with a quick “holiday in review” post. Normal blogging will resume tomorrow. Okay, here it goes…my weekend in 10 bullets:

• Attended FNL in Dennison
• Got some much needed rest — finally!
• Went with Gary to pick up his new acoustic guitar. We held a few “jam” sessions over the weekend to test it out. It was fun — Gary played the guitar while I sang and played the piano. We’re our own mini band..haha!
• Fantastic worship experience at Abundant Life Church on Sunday — God’s presence showed up in a special way
• Auditioned for a local stage play
• Had dinner with my parents to celebrate my Dad’s 65th birthday. Happy Birthday, Dad! I love you!
• Watched the new Terminator movie — it was decent, but could have been better
• Spent some quality time with Gary — we’ve been so busy and stressed out lately that we really needed some “alone” time and a brief respite from the craziness of our lives
• Enjoyed the gorgeous sunny weather by spending some time outside in the pool

Amidst all of the activity, I also took some time to say a prayer for all of those brave men and women who are currently serving in the military. I pray that God will keep them safe while they are working to protect our country and maintain our liberty. My thoughts and prayers also go out to those whose loved ones died in our nation’s service. I am forever grateful for their service and sacrifice which has enabled this country to remain “the land of the free and the home of the brave.” Let us never forget the cost of our freedom. Keep our soldiers in your prayers — not only on this “memorial” day, but every day.