This Is Your Normal Life.

This past weekend I was in NYC for the first time. And it wasn't just for fun or just to sightsee, although it was fun and I did sightsee. 

I was in NYC to sing as part of a mass choir in Carnegie Hall for the 25th anniversary performance of the modern oratorio "Saviour".

The choir + soloists in Carnegie Hall

I want to write about this trip so badly, but I'm so overwhelmed by and in awe of everything that happened this weekend that I hardly even know what I should say.

Let's start with what keeps standing out in my mind. My friend Julia was asking me on Monday what the hardest part of leaving New York was going to be for me, and I responded with,

"Having to go back into the routine of my normal life."

Her response came without hesitation, and it surprised me.

"This is your normal life."

It caught me off guard because it's true! So often we go on an amazing trip, or do something else that's really exciting or inspiring, and we feel like going home again is a whole different reality. And while it may seem true, technically Julia is right.

Everything you do is your normal life.

Sure, it makes sense for us to say that our 9:00-5:00 job is what constitutes our normal life, but personally I don't think it should be that way. For my internship, I was reading the book Saturate by Jeff Vanderstelt, and he made a point that has stuck with me since the moment I read it a couple weeks ago. He talked about how often we equate our identity with our job. He went on to write about the fact that we find out what someone's name is, and then the very next question we ask is, "What do you do?" or "Where do you work?" or "What's your job?"

Now, this isn't to say that I'm now saying that my identity is found in the fact that I sang in a mass choir at Carnegie Hall. While that would be a pretty cool identity, it just ain't true. With that being said, my identity isn't found in being an intern for Église 21 either.

My identity is found in the God whom I sang praises to in that mass choir at Carnegie Hall. Forget Carnegie Hall though. And forget singing, and the fact that my internship is one with a musical emphasis.

Everything in life is about God and about who He says I am. As Francis Chan put it,

"All that matters in life is what you do for Christ."

And I pray that that's true of my life. That whether I'm singing at Carnegie Hall or sitting in Starbucks typing out book reports, weekly reports, or picking out songs for a Sunday church gathering, I'm remembering that my identity isn't found there.

It's all about Christ, and seeking to serve Him and glorify His name in every aspect of life.

This post has taken a turn down Rabbit Trail Lane, but I still want to talk about NYC a little bit, so let me leave you with some pictures + highlights:

• Seeing a scarf that I liked at a stall in a street market, realizing I didn't have any American cash on me at that moment, so a friend bought the scarf for me
• Coming back to the hotel after eating pumpkin pie cheesecake to see that Travis Cottrell was in the hotel lobby
• Talking to Travis Cottrell about how powerful and impactful his arrangement of "What a Beautiful Name" and "Agnus Dei" has been to me

Meeting Travis Cottrell in the hotel lobby at like, 11:00pm

• Going to Dunkin Donuts and Chick-fil-a
• Going to Times Square at night and experiencing it being super bright and lit up even though it was dark outside

Times Square adventures with Julia

• Seeing Carnegie Hall

• Singing in Carnegie Hall

I'm kinda in the center-ish of the photo

• Going on the dinner cruise after the concert
• Going to take pictures outside on one of the decks at the dinner cruise, looking over and seeing Travis Cottrell also just taking pictures outside on one of the decks
• Talking with Travis about Canada, Ontario, our Bible college, music degrees, and having him tell us to bug him on Instagram to remind him to come visit Ontario
• Having Travis get someone to take this group picture of people from my Bible college oN HIS PHONE. I'M ON TRAVIS COTTRELL'S PHONE. And then he airdropped it to Kenzie!!!

• Seeing the Statue of Liberty up close and personal

• Going to talk to Wes Hampton with Esther and having him say, "Oh, do you guys want a picture?" And then trolling him about thinking he's so famous that everyone just wants a picture, when really we came to talk to him
• Talking to Wes Hampton about my fav Gaithers song "He Is Here", how excited I was that he sang that at the concert, and the fact that my dad, our friend Phil, and I sang it as a trio just over a month ago
• ...Aaaand eventually admitting that Esther and I did want to get a picture with him

• Needing good picture lighting outside on the ship deck, so getting Travis Cottrell to hold Esther's phone flashlight while we took pictures with Wes Hampton, and then getting Wes to hold the flashlight while getting pictures with Travis

• Getting to spend three days with my parents, and with friends who have known me for longer than the past three weeks

   

All in all, New York City was an absolute DREAAAM and I think I could just talk about it forever. I'm not generally a big fan of huge, super busy cities (hahaha, sorry @Montréal @Toronto - tbh, we all know that Montréal is growing on me), but NYC was AMAZING, even when I was in the thick of the busyness at 10:00PM in Times Square. I felt like I could have just stood there forever, taking it all in. 😍😍😍

But until I return to my dream city, it's time to continue on with embracing my normal life, and what it is that God has me doing each day. And at the same time, reminiscing on the fact that singing in Carnegie Hall is a memory that I can add to the list of things I've been privileged to accomplish within my normal life!