... is powerful. Your story, my story, is real. People connect with one another because of story's. As Christians, "our stories" are also known as "testimonies."
Oh man, churchy words. So intimidating sometimes...
Testimonies. I have always seen them as a super scary, on the spot sort of thing. Up until recently, I didn't feel like I had the nerve or reason to share mine. Or maybe I had just convinced myself I never got the opportunity. Either way, FEAR or lack of opportunity is a lame excuse to not reach out to people. There is always someone to share your story with... whether it's a friend, family member, stranger at the store, another surfer out in the water, etc.
Something that has been a helpful tip to me- Find common ground.
"Hey I like those shoes. I have some kinda like that..."
"That's my favorite cereal. Nice choice..."
"I like your skateboard."
OK, cheesy...
WHATEVER! It helps bunches to get a conversation flowing. It is the key to facilitating these opportunities. I have to step out side myself and express interest in somebody else, besides ME. Seems basic, but I really struggle with this. I get so focused on Haley and what I have to do, that I completely lose sight of my purpose. To be the hands and feet of Jesus... in real life. Not just when I am on a stage singing.
More and more I am realizing THIS: There are people everywhere that are dying to know there is hope. Being a new creation is Christ and being in a relationship with the Almighty God, I carry that hope with me where ever I go. I carry this light, a reflection of who God is. Sometimes people can just see it and are drawn to it, BUT sometimes we have to open ourselves up, be vulnerable, and step out for people to see it. I like it when God makes it easy and it is the first option :)... but as I grow and develop it seems the second choice is the popular one.
It's tough stuff. I get so frustrated with me. Some days I am fired up to connect and spread this joy the Lord's goodness fills me with... and then there are other days when I just want to isolate and seem to forget how good God has been. How can I forget?! But i do. Man, oh man...
Lord,
You are so worthy of my praise. Forgive me when I forget who You are. It's in this place I fall into sin, settle, and become complacent being distant from You. This is the TRUTH- When I remember who You are, I remember who I am. Who you have called me to be. Father let Your light shine down on me, through me. No matter what today or tomorrow brings... No matter what the circumstances are... Let me be a reflection of Your love. Fill me to the point I overflow with stories of how You saved me. Of how You continue to save me. Unbutton my lips, despite my unwillingness... Use me to reach those You want to reach. Teach my heart to be more like Yours.
<3
*h.
Saturday, July 26, 2008
Monday, July 21, 2008
Calvary Church- Los Gatos!
This past weekend was so much fun! Me and the band got invited to open up for artist Andy Gridly. Andy and Jack (electric guitar player...) go way back. The night was held at a church in Los Gatos called "Calvary". Let me tell you this church is gorgious... and huge. To be honest it was probably the biggest stage I have ever set foot on let alone play on. I felt so small... literally and emotionally. I had one of those moments with God where I got to remember who He is. And that I am nothing with out Him. I couldn't believe I was there on that stage, with this amazing band, getting to lead worship... who am I. God calls each and every one of us to a life that is greater and better than we can fathom. It is hard to put into words how thankful and blessed I feel and am... this summer has just been a beautiful picture of God grace played out. So humbling. That was bit of a tangent...
So Sunday morning we got invited to play for the youth at the church. It was so rad. It was out side, kind of on the corner of the street. In a weird way it felt like that was how church was intended to be. My brain went to bible times and thought, "Well they us have worship a lot outside..." So in a nutshell we kicked it old school. This group of people was super mixed, ranging from up coming jr. highers to college age.
It is always a cool and unique experience leading for that broad of a group. The youth pastor, Steve. Holler!
(I would just like to take this opportunity to point out that he is proud owner of a NEW Haley Montgomery T-shirt. Be cool- be like Steve and get yourself one!)
And that brings us to Sunday night...
Everybody we got to work with was fantastic! James, "Sweaty" aka. Scotty, all the guys in Andy's band... to many to count. The stage was legit as well. I mean, there was an astronaut hanging from ceiling! Enough said. Oh and there was a fog machine... we didn't use it but we got to see it be used :)
So in short:
*new friends
*new t shirts (shirts)
*new place
*The worship time was awesome...
Good trip!
So Sunday morning we got invited to play for the youth at the church. It was so rad. It was out side, kind of on the corner of the street. In a weird way it felt like that was how church was intended to be. My brain went to bible times and thought, "Well they us have worship a lot outside..." So in a nutshell we kicked it old school. This group of people was super mixed, ranging from up coming jr. highers to college age.
It is always a cool and unique experience leading for that broad of a group. The youth pastor, Steve. Holler!
(I would just like to take this opportunity to point out that he is proud owner of a NEW Haley Montgomery T-shirt. Be cool- be like Steve and get yourself one!)
And that brings us to Sunday night...
Everybody we got to work with was fantastic! James, "Sweaty" aka. Scotty, all the guys in Andy's band... to many to count. The stage was legit as well. I mean, there was an astronaut hanging from ceiling! Enough said. Oh and there was a fog machine... we didn't use it but we got to see it be used :)
So in short:
*new friends
*new t shirts (shirts)
*new place
*The worship time was awesome...
Good trip!
Wednesday, July 16, 2008
How to build a pedal board.
by Jack Roan
Building a basic pedal board is surprisingly easy, and will save you time, money, and wear and tear on your pedals. Having all your pedals prewired on a board helps keep setup and set change times to a minimum, and the on board power supply sets you free from the hassles of 9V batteries. I built this small board for Haley in an afternoon, for under $50 (not including pedals).
The first step is actually the last thing most people think about - you need to find a suitable carrying case for the board. This doesn't have to been anything fancy, and old suitcase, a toolbox, etc. We used a cute little toolbox from Sears for Haley's board.
It helps to have a general idea of how your board will be laid out when selecting your case. I like to mock the pedals up on a piece of cardboard to ensure a fit before cutting any wood. Don't forget to allow room for connectors, both 1/4" and for 9V power.
A piece of plywood is all you need for the board. I used 1/2" but 3/4" works as well. Keep in mind that it will need to be thick enough for you to screw into for your rubber feet or any serious cable clamps. Painting the board makes it look nice; I chose black since most of the cables and wiring are black as well.
A few other tricks of the trade are wide industrial velcro (this will attach your pedals to the board) and various zip ties. I'm especially a fan of the small 4" black zip ties for keeping cables and wiring nice and clean.
I prefer to put the hook side of the velcro on the pedal, and the loop side on the board. This is a personal preference, but many of the pedals I've bought on eBay have it done this way as well. It seems to be a bit of a standard.
The final thing to tackle is the 9V power. The easiest way is probably to buy a OneSpot or similar AC adapter and wire it to your pedals. If you've got a lot of pedals, something like the Voodoo Labs or Dunlop power supplies might be your best bet. These usually come with plenty of patch cables to connect up all your pedals.
If you or a friend are handy with a soldering iron it's very easy to make your own 9V power supply. For example, I bought this 9V adapter at Sears for $3, and it even came with a 1 million candle power flashlight! (ok, it was on clearance)
When choosing an AC adapter there are three things you want to pay attention to: the voltage, the current rating, and the polarity.
* The voltage part is easy - you want 9V DC. Sometimes instead of saying DC it will have a symbol like this: - - Don't use an adapter that says AC or has a squiggly symbol like this: ~
* The current is the next number you'll see. In this case 300mA. Most guitar pedals take between 10mA and 100mA. The important thing to recognize about the current rating is that this is not the maximum current the power supply will put out. Rather, it is the rated current at 9V, meaning when you pull 300mA out of this power supply, it will be at 9V DC. If you pull less than 300mA, the voltage will be higher, perhaps 10V DC. If you pull 0mA from the power supply, for instance if you just plug it into the wall and not to any pedals, the voltage could be as high as 12V DC, even though it says 9V DC on the supply. Try to match the load your pedals will pull to the number on the supply. An adapter with a higher current rating will likely have a higher voltage for your pedals. Up to 10V DC is probably ok for most pedals, but I wouldn't go higher than that. You may have to experiment with a few before you find an AC adapter that will give the right voltage for your pedals.
* The final thing to look at is the most important and where many people go wrong. Polarity. You'll see a little + and - and a symbol indicating which one is "tip" (inside) and which is "ring" (outside). Most AC adapters, like the one I picked up at Sears, have the + in the center of the plug and the - on the outside. Most guitar pedals are not set up this way! Check your pedals and you will probably see that they expect the - to be in the center, not the +. Reversing the voltage to your pedal will damage it! If you are building your own power supply out of an off the shelf adapter like I have done here be certain you have the polarity correct for your pedals.
After you get that sorted out it's very easy to cut the wires to the correct lengths and build a little daisy chain for your power supply. Building your own supply as I've shown here is the cheapest and usually the neatest way to power your pedals, though be sure you understand the issues above, and always check your work with a volt meter before plugging into any of your pedals.
Once you've got the power and 1/4" cables ready to go, wire up the board, slap the pedals down on the velcro and rock and roll!
Building a basic pedal board is surprisingly easy, and will save you time, money, and wear and tear on your pedals. Having all your pedals prewired on a board helps keep setup and set change times to a minimum, and the on board power supply sets you free from the hassles of 9V batteries. I built this small board for Haley in an afternoon, for under $50 (not including pedals).
The first step is actually the last thing most people think about - you need to find a suitable carrying case for the board. This doesn't have to been anything fancy, and old suitcase, a toolbox, etc. We used a cute little toolbox from Sears for Haley's board.
It helps to have a general idea of how your board will be laid out when selecting your case. I like to mock the pedals up on a piece of cardboard to ensure a fit before cutting any wood. Don't forget to allow room for connectors, both 1/4" and for 9V power.
A piece of plywood is all you need for the board. I used 1/2" but 3/4" works as well. Keep in mind that it will need to be thick enough for you to screw into for your rubber feet or any serious cable clamps. Painting the board makes it look nice; I chose black since most of the cables and wiring are black as well.
A few other tricks of the trade are wide industrial velcro (this will attach your pedals to the board) and various zip ties. I'm especially a fan of the small 4" black zip ties for keeping cables and wiring nice and clean.
I prefer to put the hook side of the velcro on the pedal, and the loop side on the board. This is a personal preference, but many of the pedals I've bought on eBay have it done this way as well. It seems to be a bit of a standard.
The final thing to tackle is the 9V power. The easiest way is probably to buy a OneSpot or similar AC adapter and wire it to your pedals. If you've got a lot of pedals, something like the Voodoo Labs or Dunlop power supplies might be your best bet. These usually come with plenty of patch cables to connect up all your pedals.
If you or a friend are handy with a soldering iron it's very easy to make your own 9V power supply. For example, I bought this 9V adapter at Sears for $3, and it even came with a 1 million candle power flashlight! (ok, it was on clearance)
When choosing an AC adapter there are three things you want to pay attention to: the voltage, the current rating, and the polarity.
* The voltage part is easy - you want 9V DC. Sometimes instead of saying DC it will have a symbol like this: - - Don't use an adapter that says AC or has a squiggly symbol like this: ~
* The current is the next number you'll see. In this case 300mA. Most guitar pedals take between 10mA and 100mA. The important thing to recognize about the current rating is that this is not the maximum current the power supply will put out. Rather, it is the rated current at 9V, meaning when you pull 300mA out of this power supply, it will be at 9V DC. If you pull less than 300mA, the voltage will be higher, perhaps 10V DC. If you pull 0mA from the power supply, for instance if you just plug it into the wall and not to any pedals, the voltage could be as high as 12V DC, even though it says 9V DC on the supply. Try to match the load your pedals will pull to the number on the supply. An adapter with a higher current rating will likely have a higher voltage for your pedals. Up to 10V DC is probably ok for most pedals, but I wouldn't go higher than that. You may have to experiment with a few before you find an AC adapter that will give the right voltage for your pedals.
* The final thing to look at is the most important and where many people go wrong. Polarity. You'll see a little + and - and a symbol indicating which one is "tip" (inside) and which is "ring" (outside). Most AC adapters, like the one I picked up at Sears, have the + in the center of the plug and the - on the outside. Most guitar pedals are not set up this way! Check your pedals and you will probably see that they expect the - to be in the center, not the +. Reversing the voltage to your pedal will damage it! If you are building your own power supply out of an off the shelf adapter like I have done here be certain you have the polarity correct for your pedals.
After you get that sorted out it's very easy to cut the wires to the correct lengths and build a little daisy chain for your power supply. Building your own supply as I've shown here is the cheapest and usually the neatest way to power your pedals, though be sure you understand the issues above, and always check your work with a volt meter before plugging into any of your pedals.
Once you've got the power and 1/4" cables ready to go, wire up the board, slap the pedals down on the velcro and rock and roll!
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