The Neely Team

This past weekend, we were again honored and blessed to be able to sing with our dear friends the Kendall family at a few Memorial Services. Along the way, we were encouraged by family devotions, humor and joy around the piano, dinner table, and corn-toss boards, as well as the wonderful and uplifting conversation in the van to and from Columbia. Of course, there was much more to our time there, but for some things, pictures communicate so much better than the alphabet.

This weekend will definitely be among the many “highlighted” weekends in our imaginary “record books”…

Highlighted for the

Terrific,

Inspiring, and

Motivating

Encouragement

That was given and received.

Praise be to God!

When we were in Greenville, SC, for music lessons a couple weeks ago, Aunt Miriam (aka Auntie Fun-Fun ) made our day extra special by bringing us lunch to enjoy together. It was a good reminder to us of the joy and blessing that simple acts of kindness can bring to those around, even when the action seems small or menial. “Be ye kind one to another…”

Aunt Miriam is definitely a giver!, so when we were in Greenville again this last weekend for a homeschool convention, she surprised us with St. Patrick’s Day goodies to enjoy at our hotel. Too much fun!

So, look around you, and see who needs an extra touch of kindness today. Sow an act of kindness, and reap a harvest of joy!

Thank you, Aunt Miriam!!

We have known the Sorensen family for a few years now, and what an encouragement they have been to us! Enthusiasm, energy, joy, creativity, educated refinement… these traits combined with a wholehearted love for Jesus Christ make this family a shining example for the Lord. They are just… well, simply Sorensen.

With great anticipation we looked forward to a visit with them for several months, and finally, it happened! The hospitality of the Sorensen Lodge was incredible. We came away immensely blessed and refreshed.

Playing Airsoft and walking the perimeter of their property:

Fun with the swing:

The Sorensen’s treated us like royalty. On Saturday, we took a trip to a local bowling alley for an afternoon loaded with strikes and spares… well, not exactly. A sparing few were so blessed, but the rest of us just realized how strikingly rusty our bowling techniques are. At any rate…

Then… they took us to a Japanese Steakhouse for a special birthday celebration. Most of us had never visited one before, and what an interesting, delightful meal awaited us!

On Sunday, we attended church with them and were privileged to be there on a week when Mr. Sorensen was preaching. He spoke from the life of Peter; we saw the perfect timing of the Lord played out again as the message seemed tailored to the current events of our lives. Praise the Lord! Thank you, Mr. Sorensen, for letting the Word dwell in you richly, and for standing boldly to make an impact for the Kingdom of God.

Thank you, Sorensens!

You may be seeing this title and thinking, New Years?? That was already four weeks ago!! (Yes, I know – hard to believe, isn’t it?!!) But though there have been many other exciting things going on since then, we still couldn’t bypass that wonderful event that kicked off our 2012!

But before I get to that, I have a few thoughts I’d like to share. First of all, this year I’ve really enjoyed the idea that God has given us a new year to live and work and praise Him in! I think it’s partly because our 2011 was so crazily busy, but whenever I think of the rest of the year before us, I have this exciting feeling of freedom – and anticipation. Looking over our calendars, there are so many little squares representing our days – 366 of them, to be exact – and I wonder, How will the Lord fill these days? Many of them are already filled up, and more are being filled each day. But there’s still so much time in a whole year – time that we need to be using  for God’s glory!

And yet, on the other hand, there’s really not that much time in a year. Sure, there are about 8,784 hours in 2012 (some 550 of which are already gone forever, leaving us with  closer to 8,200), but compared to eternity, that is only just an infinitely tiny speck. When I think of it that way, I am reminded that I need to be spending every bit of this speck of time to advance the Kingdom of God. Some verses that I’ve thought about a good bit recently are Proverbs 3:5-6. Yes, they seem to be extremely common, and I think we often quote them without really thinking about them, just because we’ve heard them so often. But think about the richness in these words: “Trust in the LORD with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding. In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths.” So as we enter (or keep living in) 2012, let’s purpose in our hearts, by God’s grace, to acknowledge Him in every area of our lives, including the seemingly insignificant things, so that He can work in and through us, directing our paths for His own glory!

But back to the start of the new year: we were in New York the week between Christmas and New Years, and had a wonderful time up there, working, playing, and visiting with family. We were planning to leave on Saturday, get a hotel about half-way back to our home, and then finish the drive back on Sunday. But we were surprised and delighted when Dad announced that we would be able to spend that New Years Eve with the Wilkes Team instead of by ourselves: they graciously allowed us to use their home as our hotel!!   We had a fabulous 24 hours together, and one of the highlights was the time that we spent “praying in” the new year. Around 11:30 pm, we gathered together and began praying – praising God, thanking Him for His many blessings, praying for our homes and for our nation. We prayed for over an hour, right over the stroke of midnight. It was such a precious time, and an incredible blessing – we would encourage everyone to do that sometime! There is something strengthening and exciting about knowing that you’ve just spent the last bit of the old year, and the first moments of the new in fellowship and communion with the Giver of time itself.

So, even though it’s a bit late, we still mean it very heartily:
Have a blessed 2012, Everyone!!

We’re back-tracking in time, because we just realized that, due to the craziness of other things going on at the same time, we never wrote anything about a very important event that occurred last fall! But, keep in mind, that the timing of this post has nothing to do with it’s importance in our lives!

This “event” was a much-anticipated Hymn Arranging Seminar, put on by our wonderful violin teacher, Mr. Pinner (with Pinner Studios). Seeing our interest in learning more about writing, composing, and arranging music, Mr. Pinner graciously put together an exciting weekend for us, complete with sessions, master class opportunities to have our pieces critiqued by guest clinicians from Bob Jones University (Dr. David Rasbach, Mr. Duane Ream, Mrs. Joan Pinkston, and Dr. Dwight Gustafson), productive Q & A, a choral concert written and directed by gifted composer/publisher Craig Courtney of Beckenhorst Press, and a whole morning in the BJU computer lab working on Finale software with Dr. David Parker! We were humbled… honored… amazed by all of the opportunities that weekend presented. The things we learned were tremendously helpful and we look forward to doing more in this field of music in the future. We also came away encouraged by the focus of the clinicians. In everything they did, they stressed our purpose in life: to glorify the Lord.

Thank you, Mr. Pinner!!

We arrived home from Maryland in time for three days at home, and then we were off to Virginia for our cousin’s wedding. Marshall was the first “Conn Cousin” to be married – and out of 26 cousins, 24 were present for the special occasion! What a joy to be all together again!!

Rehearsal dinner:

Wedding!!!

After the wedding, the family met at Fuddruckers for dinner and more time together.

Just 2 1/2 weeks ago…

We were on our way to Maryland to witness the glorious union of our dear friends Joshua and Lisa!

Here are a few pictures to give you the story……

They’ll do a better job than words….