Sacrifice of Praise was an exciting event this year! I was looking forward to it, but also dreading it. This year a small group from the choir went on tour. The tour part was looking really big to me, but as the week progressed, I really enjoyed it! I hope they do it again next year. 😃
For those of you that don't know what Sacrifice of Praise is... Every year (this was the 7th year!), a church in Cheyenne, WY sends out a list of about 14-16 songs. We have about a month or so to learn them and try to memorize the lyrics. Then, those who have been practicing get together and we practice more, but as a group. The church asks a chorus director to come and lead us. He adds special "effects" to the songs to make them come alive. The practice starts on a Friday at 5 pm and goes till 9. We meet the next morning again and practice till 5 pm. On Sunday, we give a program at the church in Cheyenne, then we give an evening program. They usually have the evening program at a different place every year. We had it at an assisted living once, this year, we had it at the Cheyenne Civic Center.
We left Griswold around 7:30 Friday morning, June 2nd with Matthias and Valeria, three Fantons, and Leon, Shawn and Jason.
I worked on this during the semi-boring drive to Cheyenne. We were listening to some of the Ball Brothers' songs. When "Mercy Said No" started playing, I wanted to get the chorus put onto a picture. It has blessed me so many times! I don't have to be afraid because God's mercy is never going to let me go. 'Thank you, Jesus, mercy said, 'No!'"
I didn't get any pictures Friday night, sadly. This was Saturday morning. Saturday evening, we split up into groups to share and pray. They ask everybody to read through their songs and share in the group about something that has blessed, challenge, or encouraged you. Here, Josh is going through his songs.
Relaxing during a break...
There was always a big crowd around our director, Benjamin Good.
Soprano and tenor sections
Waiting to be arranged on the risers
Ben Good's little boy was crawling around on the risers as we waited. He had everyone's attention! I don't think anybody was paying attention to Ben. 😂
Once we get our standing arrangements figured out, we file out, then number off. Here, we're standing where our seats would be the next morning. Sarah Grace and I were the only girls in our row. We also got to stand on the top riser! It was amazing up there!
This was our view.
All the children arrived toward the afternoon to practice their songs and arrangements.
The guys had one song all to themselves. They had to get different standing arrangements for that song.
The children were so cute!
This is a small clip of one of the children's songs.
They started doing a pizza supper Saturday night after everything was finished. It's the perfect finish to a long day of singing!
Foursquare was a pretty popular game that weekend!
We stayed with Willard and Dawn Kauffman this year. When we got back Saturday evening they had a campfire going and were roasting marshmallows and hot dogs. I kid you not, I was so cold that entire weekend! Coming from Iowa's hot, humid weather to the cold, dry air of Wyoming certainly was a shock! I hadn't thought to bring any hoodies along. Now I know better!
We gathered early Sunday morning for a few more trial runs through some of the songs.
I'm so grateful for the intermission during the program! We get to sit down and rest for a bit. 😄
A group of young people that had been on Sent 1 (that's a three month mission trip to Ghana) shared a few songs after the program.
Lunchtime!
We gathered at the stage entrance at the Civic Center later that afternoon, waiting for the door to be unlocked.
There was a sun dog around the sun!
Finally in! The Civic Center is a huge theater that has hosted different famous people over the years. It was so exciting going through the stage entrance and being able to be "back stage."
They ushered us down dark stairs and passageways deep into the bowels of the theater. At the end of the video you'll see me trip. The stage director warned us about that little step, but I was so busy looking at my phone during the video that I forgot to pay attention! 😂
We rounded a corner and bam! this room just seemed to spring out of nowhere.
The man in the black shirt was the Civic Center's stage director.
It was amazing (to me at least) to see backstage. These are curtain and prop ropes. Incredible!
The theater
Waiting to be arranged...
The bright lights shining in your face made it hard to see the audience. They also made it hot up there on stage!
(Thank you, Leon and Shawn for sharing some of your pictures!)
We lined up in one big long line...
The line goes all the way down there.
After getting our new standing arrangements and practicing a bit, we gathered back in the "room from nowhere" for supper.
We were allowed to use the dressing rooms upstairs for bathrooms, etc. It was so fun! 😀
I was very grateful for the sandwiches, but, no mayonnaise? Ugh.
You can't see the stage door, but we filed on stage through a big doorway to the left. It was the most interesting feeling walking in from the gloomy backstage into the bright limelight of the stage.
A light snack was served afterwards. We were encouraged to go out and meet the locals that attended. I had a very interesting conversation with one lady about how music has deteriorated over the years.
We were so tired that evening! But, we weren't finished yet. The first Sacrifice of Praise Tour was looming in the future...
