Day 4:: Tour 2025

Day Four —our final day of rehearsal— dawned a lovely morning; one could feel a fresh energy and anticipation the moment he stepped in the door. Quite a few of the members arrived well before call time, and the little foyer where we rehearse was humming with conversation and smiles as the clock approached nine.

As routine would have it, Lyle opened the day with a morning greeting, and then turned the time over to Katrina. Now you must know, Katrina is one of the sweetest souls one will ever meet. She cares for people so well, and has done a fantastic job at filling her role as manager of this Laudate season. We simply cannot thank her enough! If you haven’t had the pleasure of making her acquaintance, be sure to do so at one of the concerts...anyway, Miss Katrina got up this morning, and reminded us of what was ahead today. “It’s going to be a good day. It’s going to be a hard day…” were some of her opening words. But then, before going on to the schedule, she related to us a very clear reminder that God has us here for a specific task, He needs all of us, and He is going to take care of all of us: in her commute to rehearsal this morning, God spared her from being a victim of what would have been a very tragic car accident. As she spilled to us the story, we couldn’t help but shake our heads and be awed by the protecting hand of an Almighty God.

After sharing this encounter and giving us some more encouragement, she prayed with us. —it was an incredibly meaningful and memorable days’ opening; thank you Katrina.

Now, instead of going immediately into vocal warmups and general rehearsing, Lyle first sat down and engaged us in a concert/recording prep talk. This was good, and definitely appropriate, seeing as it was indeed our last rehearsal. But to say it was encouraging, one would have to grab the truth by the throat and give it a little twist, for it was rather discouraging —in a comical sort of way:) Lyle had recorded each song the day before, and posted them on our group chat for us to analyze. During this prep talk, he then asked everyone what they learned through listening to these recordings. One by one the hands came up, as we expressed our inner woes about the blend, clarity in enunciation, muddy chords, and such like. Karl described our one cutoff as being more of a “cluster of percussion”, rather than a unified consonant break. And to borrow Cliff’s summary of our groups’ self analysis, we are “pitchy, rhythmically challenged, and can’t start our songs.” —So, I guess there you have it. Enter our concert halls at your own risk;)

Next up, was five minutes of vocal warmups, and then off to the stage for the beginning phase of dress rehearsal. Most of the two-and-a-half hours remaining before lunch break, were used in trying many different standing arrangements, while simultaneously executing much needed musical repairs to critical issues, such as described by Cliff in the previous paragraph. (It might also be noted that most of the day’s rehearsal was done in a standing position, which I have discovered is one of the most effective ways to make your back and feet throb with severe discomfort.)

The food here has been incredible, and today’s noon meal was no exception! Jordan and Laura, and some of Laura’s family provided us with a fabulous meal —thank you so much!

Before going any farther, I would like to take a short moment to recognize my three co-tenors, who I am so blessed to call my friends: Matthias, Nathan, and Karl —seriously, some of the most kind, humble, and encouraging men I have ever been privileged to make tenor sounds with! It would be my hope that you all get to come meet them; I would be so honored to introduce you!

After lunch, Lyle assigned a much needed sectional workout that lasted for thirty minutes. We then resumed our collective rehearsal where we had left off at our lunch break. This carried us to 2:30 or so, where after a ten minute break, official dress rehearsal began…At this point, we were tired. There was honestly no nice way to say it. But about that time, Lyle’s sweet wife, Maria, kindly asked if she could have a few words with us. This was another monumental time in our day. She reminded us of the work that we were doing, how God would use it, and that this really isn’t about us at all. She brought things into perspective, and at a time when needed most. —Thank you Maria!

The last chord of our final song was ringing on the downbeat of 5:00 p.m. We then all gratefully  descended upon the church pews, as Katrina was called to give us tour instructions.

It is hard to believe that our formal rehearsal is finished. It has definitely taken a lot of energy, but it was so good! Thank you to all who put out so much effort to help! And a huge thank you to Lyle for being so patient, easy-going, funny, and efficient in leading out with our rehearsals.

We ended the day with another beautiful evening back at Cliff and Trina’s. We can’t thank them enough for their hospitality! —You guys are great!

Please join us in thanking God for His protection this morning for Katrina, and in asking Him to go before us through the coming days. This is His work, and we cannot, nor do we desire to do it without Him.

To God be the Glory!

-Delwyn