BrauchTalk

Shopping for a new car is supposed to be fun, right? Ever since my car took its last ride before taking a permanent dump in Iowa, M and I have been obsessively looking for a new car. When we first started looking, I was really excited. Who doesn’t like the idea of getting a new car? But now, a week and a half later, I am ready to collapse on the floor. I had no idea car shopping could be such a chore and strain on our relationship. If you’re in the same situation as M and I, I recommend you read on and prepare yourself for the “joy” of car shopping.

A few months ago, M sold his Grand Am in order to get rid of a car payment. My Buick had been paid off since the day I got it, and M’s parents let us use their little Festiva as a run-around car. So for a few months, we were living in bliss with no car payment. As we know, that quickly changed when my car broke down and left us stranded in the humid heat of Iowa for 6 hours as we waited for M’s dad to come rescue us. The engine was shot. We both decided we were done with my Buick. It wasn’t worth fixing. So that only means one thing: we had to get a different car. Continue reading ‘Buying a Car the Right Way’

Road trips can really test your relationship with your significant other. It tested our relationship. In “Our First Long Road Trip: Part One”, I talked about where and why we went on a road trip. I love them because you can think and talk about all sorts of fun stuff. We definitely had fun, but we also had a tough time.

We headed down the middle of last week to Kansas to see my friend Jeff. We drove all night and got down there about 9:30 in the morning. I drove most of the way. I love to talk when I drive and contemplate ideas and thoughts. Well, it was late and B was tired so she slept off and on. That left me with time to think. It also made me a bit sleepy. We had smooth driving the whole way down. B’s car would click and flash a few important lights on the console when I would use the blinker. That was a bit scary.

We got down there and Jeff showed us his house he bought this spring. It was a neat house! B was really impressed! He also showed us where he teaches and the town he lives in. It is a really nice town with lots of things to do. It was fun for B and I to see the town with Jeff. His girlfriend is down there also. This allowed B and I to see them together down there and how they acted as a couple. They are happy with each other! We had a great time hanging out with them.

We headed home at around 12:00pm on Saturday. We left then so we could get home to see our Pastor preach again after a time away on a six week sabbatical. I wish more churches would give their pastors a sabbatical. Being a Pastor is tough work! I think we would see more Pastors stay in the ministry if they had time to reflect and dive deeper into the Holy Spirit and seek a refreshing cleanse and a renewal. So, we wanted to get home to support him and hear what message he had from God. Continue reading ‘Our First Long Road Trip: Part Two’

In these days full of successful Christian worship bands such as the highly popular Hillsong worship team in Australia, the Christian music world has become glamorized. For many, singing into a microphone with a band backing you up and “stealing the show” sounds like nothing but fun. How hard can it really be? Picking out the songs for worship would be pure joy, wouldn’t it? And leading the worship team, and ultimately the congregation is easy, right? Being a young worship leader myself, these were all things I once thought. Leading worship will be easy and fun. But if you ever get the responsibility of leading people into worship, you will soon see how much work it really is. That’s right, I said work. So if you think you are up to the challenge of becoming a worship leader, read this first and get a heads up on what you are getting into. It is more challenging than it seems.

When I was finally confident enough in my musical and vocal capabilities, I became the youth worship leader at our church. I was so excited. I couldn’t see anything that I wouldn’t like about it. I soon discovered that there is a lot of behind the scenes work that must be done before even stepping up to the microphone. Picking out music started out to be a blast, until the music selection seemed to get smaller and smaller every week, and it soon seemed like we were repeating songs until they lost all meaning. And choosing songs is a chore. It takes a lot of time to dwell on the direction you think you need to go for the worship service for that day. On top of that, you have to pull the music for yourself and the worship team. Sure, it doesn’t sound difficult, but you’d be surprised how draining it gets having to select and pull music every week. Continue reading ‘The Truth About Leading Worship’