wacky week

I feel like I start every single post with an apology for not posting in a while... Sooooo um sorry I haven't posted in a while, I guess I just haven't done anything interesting enough to talk about BUT this week I did!!!

This past week I had the privilege of dancing in Gateway Church's "Wacky Week", which can be best described as vacation bible school on crack. It's insane, in the best way possible and I am so incredibly thankful to have been a part of it. I danced in the opener, day 1 & day 2 closers and got to be a dance-worship leader. (Seeing as I often feel my calling in life is to be a worship hand motion choreographer, the last one was especially fun) Today I want to share a couple of things that made this week so special to me...

I'm not a member at Gateway so I was pretty nervous that Olivia & I would be excluded because we were outsiders. But everybody there was SOOOO nice, it wasn't hard at all to see Jesus in each and every person I met. I made tons of new friends and was welcomed by everybody, by the end of the week I felt like part of their huge family. What I admire the most is that status didn't matter. The dancers shared a dressing room with the actors and singers and nobody was more important than another. The people who on a TV show would be portrayed as the diva or the condescending genius, were the sweetest of them all. The female lead singer, Anna, especially warmed my heart. She is an amazing singer, yet she is incredibly humble and is a ton of fun to hang around with. She constantly praised us dancers and was enthusiastic about taking weird pictures of Olivia and me backstage. It was also surreal getting to hang out with/dance with so many members of Ingredients dance company, which I wrote about in a previous post (read it here). It was crazy getting to dance alongside so many people that I look up to. 

I'm gonna try not to get too sappy here but a month ago today, my dance teacher, Connie, had a preventative double mastectomy (meaning she had it to lower her once very high chances of getting cancer - NOT because she had it!). On the way to our first Wacky Week rehearsal, Olivia and I went and visited her in the hospital and yesterday I was dancing with her onstage! God does amazing things for amazing people! One of my new friends said the other day, "Connie, you are literally my inspiration" She laughed off the comment but its so true, and if you know her I think you'd agree. She's inspiring in the simplest ways, and in big ones too. For me, she inspired me to want more from my dancing, showing me that there is more to dance than just steps. Throughout this week Connie has thanked  us immensely for helping her out and I always feel like I'm the one that owes her thanks. Most of the other dancers come from Christian studios and companies, so it may not have been that big of a deal to them  but this was the first time I had gotten to do dances created specifically to glorify Our Lord! IT WAS AMAZING!!! And now that I know how it feels, I never want to go back! So Connie, if you're reading this I love you, thank you so much for allowing me to dance & worship this week, you're seriously the coolest person I have ever met. 

During sound-check one day, Pastor Ken, told us about how every generation seems to say that the generation below them is the "generation that turned their backs on God". He said that it's people like us, people who use their talents to glorify Our Creator, not worldly things and imitation love, who can change that and I truly believe he's right. I wish you all could have seen the kids  attending Wacky Week when we danced and led worship - even the boys in the back row were jumping around and lifting their hands in praise. Knowing that I contributed to kids encountering Christ is the most gratifying thing in the world. This week, though for the children, was a retreat for me as well. 

When I was little and went to VBS, I always had a "favorite" big kid. There was always one person I watched and looked up to and wanted to be just like. They never knew how much of an impact they made on me and now that I'm a big kid and there's probably a little girl who looks up to me. It sounds so silly, but what made this week so special to me is that idea. I'll never know her name, but I have touched her heart and that fills me with enough joy to last a lifetime. 

Once again I'm really thankful for this week, making new friends, growing closer to my already friends and growing closer to God! I'm also excited because I get to do it all again in July!!!

In His Name, 

Meredith 

questions, comments or prayer requests? Feel free to email me: meredithmunro@icloud.com 

**PRAYER REQUESTS** 

All of the kids who went to Wacky Week

Connie in her recovery, her caretakers and doctors

Here are links to some short videos from WW...

Opener: http://instagram.com/p/ppWXq0rE3W/

Alive (my arm is on the big screen haha!): http://instagram.com/p/ppWvu9rE3z/

I'm the one in the center-ish, wearing pink pants and a blue jacket.

we waited all week to take a picture smashing our faces against the glass of the drum cage haha

okay this is in SL town square but I've always wanted to open a dance studio in this building and the store is closing so my chance is now (lol I'm not opening a studio any time soon though)

this fantastic portrait of a horse is in the green room, so I had to do some snap chat story-ing with it...

in a box

pretending i'm in the noize

these guys & girls were amazing in the skits all week

Olivia, Connie & me - purple version

Rudy & me trying to be hardcore... except I did the "I love you" sign instead of "rock on" oops

most of the dancers

Me, Tressa & Olivia

meet me at the corner?

So today was my last day of sophomore year (yay!!!) and it didn't really feel like any of my other last days of school. This is mainly because I only had to be there for one class period, but also because it came so fast. Usually the last few weeks drag out up until the last day of school but this week really snuck on me this year. That's not what this post is about though... You're probably wondering why this post is titled "Meet me at the corner?" and I will explain! My best friend, Sarah, lives just across Parkway and a block down from me so whenever we hang out we "meet at the corner" between our houses. Those words will always make me happy. But we don't say them very often anymore - NOT because we aren't friends, but because we can drive and even though it only takes two minutes to walk to the corner, we usually waste gas and pollute the atmosphere by driving. You grow up a lot during sophomore year, mainly because you or at least some of your friends can drive and can have jobs and it's all just a weird mixture of freedom and uncertainty. All of the things you couldn't wait to do when you turned sixteen are actually options and sometimes it scares me. For example, in the past two weeks I've been hired for two jobs (yep, two). I'm excited to make my own money and stuff but it's still so weird to me that I'm getting a paycheck with my name on it and that somebody trusts me to please their customers/ teach their students. 
As you grow up and discover who you are, you gain and lose a lot of friends. I'm really lucky to have Sarah, who has been my best friend since third grade and been through all of the awkwardness and confusion of adolescence with me. We aren't involved in the same programs at school so it's nice that we actually have things to talk about that the other person doesn't have any ties to or preconceived ideas of. Also, as my mother would say, Sarah has more boy experience than me, so she gives good advice on that kind of stuff (even when I don't want to hear it) 
It was today when we weren't in school that I started thinking about the good old corner. We were doing what we normally do: go to market street, come back to my house, bake and watch old Degrassi episodes (because the new one is horrible). I would love to do a post on why Sarah is such a great friend but 1) its not that simple and 2) if I could find adequate words to describe our relationship, the post would be at least a mile long. My point isn't that Sarah is great (we all already know that). My point IS that a year ago today we may have still been baking and watching Degrassi, but we would've met at the corner and begged my dad to drive us to market street and then he would have paid for whatever we decided to buy (today it was ingredients for slutty brownies). It's odd to think about how some things change and others stay the same. Even though we've developed relationships with other people, we're still best buddies (ok lame sorry) and I don't anticipate that that will ever change even as we grow up and open a Bookery or get married or whatever else we end up doing. 

Proverbs 18:24

A man of many companions may come to ruin, but there is a friend who sticks closer than a brother.

I didn't feel like searching all the way back to 2004 so here are some recent pics ok. 

at the #DallasBIG sign outside of the AA center before Imagine Dragons! 

Sarah made snare captain (it is a big deal!!!)

In His Name, 

Meredith 

questions, comments or prayer requests? Feel free to email me: meredithmunro@icloud.com 

**PRAYER REQUESTS** 

Me as I start working

Students taking final exams in the next few weeks (NOT ME <3)