missing in action.

Happy…May Day?!?!

Time flies when you’re having fun; there’s no other way I can describe the past month! Several of my friends are on the hall committee, and consequently I’ve been involved in helping with some hall events recently.  I also spent the first three weeks of April rehearsing for a performance with the Gilbert & Sullivan Society, which was an amazing experience.  I met dozens of fun, interesting, and incredibly talented people and got to formally sing for the first time this semester.  Though it was a bit hectic learning over a dozen songs in about 2.5 weeks, every moment was worth it.

The performance itself went so well–I was struck several times on- and off-stage by the energy and joy radiating from everyone in the cast.  I challenged myself musically, as I had previously sung very little G & S.  In addition to being a member of the chorus, I was Marta in “Do Re Mi” from The Sound of Music, Mona (“Lipschitz”) in “Cell Block Tango” from Chicago, and Edith in “Climbing Over Rocky Mountain” from Pirates of Penzance.  My biggest challenge, though, was getting ill a couple of days before dress rehearsal.  I woke up the morning of the performance with a cough and barely any voice; I proceeded to spend the entire day drinking tea, eating spoonfuls of honey, and trying not to talk.  It turned out so, well, though, and the audience was incredibly receptive and engaged.  Owl Eyes, the student magazine of St Andrews, published some photos here: http://www.owleyesmagazine.com/gallery/night-musicals.

A few days after the performance, I had a paper due for my Scottish Music module.  The day it was due was one of those gorgeous Scottish summer days that make all of the cold, rainy ones entirely worth it.  Unfortunately, I was stuck inside sick and trying to write a paper.  My academic dad decided that I needed a break from my essay, so he came over after dinner and brought Ben & Jerry’s ice cream and some excellent music.  We went outside and swing danced barefoot in the grass for about an hour, taking a break to enjoy some ice cream.  It was by far the best study break I’ve ever had!

I’m not sure that I’ve explained academic families yet, so let me do so now.  Academic families are a St Andrews tradition; upperclassmen (some starting in 2nd year, others in 3rd or 4th) “adopt” incoming freshers during the first weeks of classes.  JSAs and JYAs (Junior Semester or Year Abroads, aka study abroad students) often get adopted as well.  Some people adopt singly, others choose to adopt with a friend of the opposite sex like my “parents” did.  My mum is my English friend, Laura, who is going into her 2nd year as the president of Swing Dance Society.  She’s so wonderful!  My dad, as I mentioned above, is my Belgian friend, Lawrence, who is treasurer, and now vice president, of Swing Dance Society.  He’s pretty great, too.  I met both of them through dancing, and most of the time when I see them that’s what we’re doing!

Lawrence and Laura, my academic parents, swing dancing outside of the Library

another angle; we were selling tickets for our ’600 Minutes of Swing’ Speakeasy.

Another highlight of April: I cooked, by myself, for the first time!  Though I’ve done a good amount of baking in my life, I never did much cooking before I came to St. Andrews.  But we have to fend for ourselves every Saturday and Sunday evening for dinner, so we do a lot of cooking in the hall together.  In the middle of a paper for psychology, I decided that my break would be to challenge myself and cook solo.  A friend picked up some groceries for me while in town and I made myself some chicken fajitas.  I was so surprised–they were delicious!! I wish I had access to more spices here, but I thoroughly enjoyed it (as did a few friends: I made way too much for just myself!).

My first time ever cooking by myself was a success!

I’m off to go meet with a professor, but I have so many more stories to tell you (like dancing for 10 hours straight)! And don’t worry, I promise I have not forgotten about sharing photos and stories from my Easter holiday travels.  I will write soon; it’s week 1 of revision and I know I will want study breaks!

Sing, Sing, Sing

Out of all the talents God could have given me, I’m so glad He chose singing. As I look back on my life and all the opportunities I’ve had to share my voice through song, I’m thankful but I’m also disappointed.

I’m thankful because each and every opportunity has provided me with a wonderful platform to share my testimony, but I’m disappointed because there have been one too many opportunities that I’ve turned down simply because of fear of rejection or criticism.

It’s hard when you expose yourself to people through a song. The song itself becomes a part of you and you embody the lyrics and the emotions behind it. Then you present it to the audience and after that you just wait for the criticism. Of course, some of it is very constructive so that you can improve and make your craft even better. Some of it is positive which helps give you that extra confidence to keep going. But some of it is negative and it’s hard to get trapped into only focusing on the negative comments.

I say all this because it took me so long to realize that singing isn’t something I just do for fun or even something I do to minister. It’s truly my passion.

I love business. I love journalism. But i truly LOVE singing.

In a way, I don’t even want to imagine myself doing anything else for the rest of my life. Although, I’m not sure how realistic that is. Everyone tries to tell you can’t make it but I say that if that’s what God is preparing me for (through music theory, aural skills, and voice lessons) then so be it. Who am I to doubt God and put Him in a box? If I have a voice and song that needs to be heard, He will surely open the doors for me and allow the people that need to hear it to do just that.

As of late, God has actually opened the door for me at Mt. Zion Baptist Church in Belton, SC. I went to choir practice there last night for the first time and I was immediately greeted by every one of the choir members. They prayed for me. They encouraged me. They ministered to me. It was just practice but I LOVED it and cannot wait to become even more involved with their music ministry.

The  music that goes beyond the ears and eyes and straight to the heart…that’s the kind of music I enjoy, that’s the kind of music that I hope to share with people one day, no matter how big the stage. I have a voice and I know God gave it to me to use for His glory.

Choraleers

I’m in the process of planning the end of the year banquet for the Choraleers and it’s all kinda bittersweet. I realize I only have one more year with this precious group of people. Sure, from time to time we get on each other’s nerves, but at the end of the day, we are a family that sticks together and encourage each other. We share laughs. We share heartaches. We share triumphs. We share failures. But at the end of the day the greatest thing we get to do as a group is minister to people and in turn get ministered to by the very people we’re singing for. I’m actually going to miss people next year. Let’s be real, sometimes people just get on your nerves. But for what it’s worth, I’ve shared a lot of nice moments with the seniors that are going to be leaving next year. Time goes by so fast and at a time like this I feel compelled to make better use of all the time I’ve been given with the people that God’s placed in my life. You can learn something from people if you just take the time to get to know them. You don’t always have to like the person, but we are called to love each other.

The banquet will be this Friday afternoon and I’m looking forward to it. We’ve got some great gifts prepared for our director and accompanist and the fellow officers. We’ve got a slideshow ready for people and are prepared for lots of laughter and reflection on past memories. It’s going to be a great time of fellowship.

Highlight of the Year: Spring Fling ’12

Being the editor-in-chief of The Mirror, our campus newspaper, definitely has its perks!

Last month, Erskine’s Entertainment Board announced that Corey Smith would be performing at Erskine for Spring Fling. I decided to hold a contest to get more readers out to The Mirror site and the winner and I got to interview Corey Smith before he went on stage.

This just goes to show you how involved students are in the activities on Erskine’s campus. EEB is run by students who try to bring in bands they know Erskine students are going to love. The Mirror steps in to get student’s questions answered by their favorite artists. Student photographers capture the moments along the way. It truly is a cool process when you just think about it. Yeh, we have faculty advisers but we really do get to make most of the important decisions for our organizations. It’s pretty neat and the product is one that is enjoyable for many students and faculty and staff on campus.

If any of you readers are Corey Smith fans, take time to read the following transcript from the interview.

Corey Smith Interview

Schadell Brooks and Jacob Blakely

S: Who would you consider your biggest musical influence?

My dad. It’s all encompassing. It’s impossible to say one. My dad sort of filtered what music I heard when I was a small kid.

S: Tell us about your educational background.

I went to Gainville College, transferred to West Georgia College and then I transferred to UGA. I was a social studies secondary education major.

S: How many years did you teach?

4 years. Mostly world history, some geography, philosophy, guitar.

J: What kind of musical background did you have? Did you take lessons or anything?

I sang for as long as I can remember. I sang in church choirs. My dad was in bands so they were always having band practice around the house. There were always guitars sitting around. He would show me a few little things here and there but I never took interest in guitar until I was about 15. Then I just picked up a bunch of books and sort of applied. You know its little things like how to hold the guitar, fretting the chord that can take you a while to learn but because I’d been around it a lot of that just sort of came to me pretty quick and I picked up a lot of these books like Bob Seger, George Strait, or Garth Brooks. And I could already sing so I would start out singing and playing the chord. I had a youth pastor at a church that I went to when I was in high school that played guitar and he showed me some stuff and when I went to college I took formal lessons for a year.

J: How do you actually write your music? Does your music dictate your lyrics or vice versa?

It varies. It happens both ways. Sometimes the lyrics and the melody hit at the same time. More often it’s the music first and the music sort of dictates the vibe. But there’s more than one way to skin a cat. I think it’s important to experiment with a lot of different approaches.

S: Who are some of your favorite mainstream artists right now?

I like Kings of Leon, John Mayer, Adele, that’s good. Those are just a few. You might notice the glaring absence of country artists.

J: Do you record most of the guitar parts on your CD’s or do you let someone else do it?

I play guitar on every CD, on every track. It varies from record to record. Certain records I play all the guitar, electric and acoustic on. I don’t have a session player that I just go to. Now I have a great guitar player on tour with me.

S: Tell us about touring with Florida-Georgia Line.

I’ve been doing shows with them for about 6 months. I met them through my agent and had them on a few shows. It was a good fit. Fans seemed to like them. They’re younger so it’s nice to have the youth and the energy out here.

S: Any advice for them?

Take it slow. Enjoy it but don’t be in a hurry.

S: For those who saw your tweets before you got here, tell us about going to your boys’ recital and their musical background.

They’ve only been taking piano lessons for maybe 6 months. I want them to come to enjoy it on their own. I’m trying to be careful about forcing it on them, pushing it on them but they have drum sets and guitars and stuff already. They don’t listen to me when it comes to instruction though.

S: You’ve come such a long way in your career. What has motivated that? What’s the driving force?

God. Some people would call it God. It’s my calling you know. It’s kinda like I’m believing that I’m doing things for a reason and then certain opportunities come up and I weigh the options. I had a friend of mine explain life like a fork. At some points its like things just make sense and you have these tuning fork moments where you’re like aw, this is what I’m supposed to do. You don’t have those a lot but as you get older and you look back it all starts making sense and you realize that’s kinda your path. I feel like music has been that way. There was a time that where it was purely just what I did for enjoyment. I would play for friends at a party. I started playing in bars for crowds of 50 people. I played for my students at school. It felt right. My goal was just to be able to make a living doing it so I expected to be touring about three hours from home and playing for a few hundred people every night and the next thing I knew I was playing for thousands of people and now I’m touring all over the country.

J: Do you have any classical musical influences?

When I was in college I took pick style classical so that was the training there.  It’s only recently that I started listening to classical music. I think classical music influences everybody whether they realize it or not cause it’s such a part of popular culture underneath the surface. Now, I listen to a lot of Gershwin and Eric Copeland.  But that’s just kinda stuff to relax to. The Gershwin stuff though is really helpful as a writer cause he’s really hooky and has great melodies.

S: How do you deal with people who have negative things to say about your music?

I try to ignore it but sometimes it’s hard to. I just quit going to the places where I know I’m going to find that stuff. I think there a lot of negative people out there who just use [the internet] as an outlet. I don’t mind criticism especially when it’s fair. I think all different types of people are guilty of it. I have a hard time fitting in anywhere. I don’t fit in well in country because I’m too progressive or too untraditional. I don’t fit in well with rock because when they hear me all they here is country. So I just get in my own little group.

Corey Smith & I before the interview

Jacob Blakely, the contest winner, with Corey Smith

Katie Putnam, Photography Editor, with Corey Smith

Taylor Wolfe, EEB Chair, with Corey Smith

A Reunion

All right, you’ll have to bear with me for this one a little bit, because I am about to get a little sentimental.

Jordan and I as high school seniors after the musical, "Once Upon a Mattress."

Yesterday evening I drove just over an hour to the Greenville area to see one of my best friends from high school in her senior recital, and it was probably one of the most distinctly “senior” experiences that I have had so far.  Jordan was, as we always say, my “right ear” during high school – we started the first day of freshman year sitting next to each other in the alto section of last period chorus, and we have been friends ever since.  We both auditioned and got into show choir the next year, we did the musicals every year, auditioned for All-State Choir together. . . you get the idea.  Even when we went away to different colleges, we both ended up with one of our majors with music (though she turned into soprano to the surprise of both of us!).

I have gotten to see her a couple of times these past four years, visiting Furman once for a concert and once for their production of “Sweeney Todd”, and we even had a chance encounter in Madrid (yes, in Spain) in the middle of a crosswalk. . . but that is an interesting story for another time.  The point is that we kept up with each other, even if not consistently, and we both continued to surrounded ourselves with music and theatre.

A year and a half ago we ran into each other in Madrid. . . providence.

Finally, in the past month, she managed to find Due West to see my senior recital, and I returned the favor to see her last night.  I think both of us were a little shocked at how much we had changed since the last time we heard our little high school selves sing – I know that I was, and this made me think about how much I have changed.  It’s amazing how much four years, especially in the important years of early adulthood, can affect someone.  I thoroughly enjoyed hearing her sing, seeing her and her family again, and reminiscing on how much we have matured.  It’s hard to believe that so much time has passed since we met eight years ago, or even since we last sang together.  I also began to realize more fully that I don’t know where we’ll both be even in two years, just as with my classmates at Erskine.

There is so much uncertain about the end of college, even if you know where you are headed next, as I do.  There are so many friends and classmates who will be dispersing, moving on to other colleges, getting jobs, moving all over the place. . . and we will never all be here again, in tiny, quirky little Erskine, taking classes and living together.  It’s funny what makes the strongest impression in periods of transition, because these are often not what you expect them to be.  However, I have confidence that since Jordan and I have stayed friends through these four years, we can maintain our friendship for the next four, no matter where we go, and I think that I will be able to manage this with friends at Erskine as well.

Good Morning– It’s Tour!

Sarah and I on the bus

I’ve got a confession to make. It takes me an inordinately long amount of time to wake up and get ready in the morning. By college standards, at least, a full hour and fifteen minutes—during which I get ready, have devotions, eat breakfast, and straighten my room before departing—is quite extravagant. I don’t seem to be able to successfully mirror the vast majority of college students who roll out of bed, throw on clothes, and are ready to meet the world with a  smile—or a least a somewhat pleasant-I’m-essentially-awake look—within fifteen to twenty  minutes. My roommate is one such person, and, especially since she highly dislikes waking up, she knows how to squeeze every possible minute of sleep from the morning before jumping out of bed to look chipper and lovely within minutes.

Orchid in the Botanic Garden in D.C.

It takes me, on the other hand, at least an hour to wake up and render myself presentable. And heaven forbid I not have time for breakfast or leave my bed unmade. Until, that is, a morning last week when, for the first time in my college career…my alarm didn’t ring. Ironically enough, that morning happened to be the only day of the year when an entire bus full of people was waiting on me to get ready. Yes, I didn’t wake up the morning of choir tour.

Schadell, Aimee, Hannah and I with our first host family. They welcomed us warmly into their home with ice cream, Oreos, and good conversation, followed by a scrumptious breakfast of eggs, cinnamon rolls, and fruit the next day. Mmm.

You see, each year the Choraleers leave on Thursday morning for tour. Since midterms and classes don’t end until the Friday before Spring Break, this departure time means that the week before tour is a rather hectic time of scurrying to take tests early and write papers due on Thursday and Friday. I stayed up until about 1:30 a.m. –not bad, really, in a setting where all-nighters aren’t uncommon—packing for the trip and completing a paper that was due Friday. Then, I blithely set my alarm for 6:40 p.m. (whoops!) and went to bed.

Stopping for a meal en route

The next morning, I awoke to the sound of my alarm ringing insistently. When, bleary-eyed and blind (praise God for contacts!), I reached to turn it off, I discovered that I was, in fact, receiving an incoming call from my friend Aimee. And it was 8:35 a.m. What?! Frantically recalling the injunction to arrive in the Due West ARP parking lot at 8:00 or 8:15, ready to roll out at 8:30, I half-shouted into the phone in half-awake disbelief: “Aimee, Is it really time to go?!” (I’m devastatingly witty in the mornings.) Aimee calmly told me just to come as quickly as possible and that she would send someone to help carry my luggage.

Within ten minutes, I was walking onto the bus to the good-naturedly joking welcome of friends who had been on the bus for the last thirty minutes or so. I may have looked and felt frazzled, but an in-bus breakfast and en route devotion soon restored me. At any rate, it was quite an exciting start to tour! Though one I don’t hope to soon repeat…

Choraleers On the Move

A couple of weekends ago I went on my first Choraleers mini-tour since my return from Spain. I wasn’t exactly sure how the trip would be, since I’m still getting to know the freshmen in the group (who are wonderful, by the way) and was, *cough*, less than certain of all my notes. On Saturday afternoon, we embarked on our drive to August, Georgia, where we rehearsed at a couple of different churches and were treated to dinner by one of the host churches.

Next, we were assigned our roommates and families for our home-stays—one of the best parts of Choraleers mini-tours. Every home-stay has been different for me, and I’ve actually ended up in a couple of mansions (no, I’m not kidding—if ten girls all have their own bedrooms,  the home qualifies as a mansion) during past trips. Whatever the size of the house, though, it’s always fun to get to know different people from the congregations of the churches where we’re singing. During this most recent trip, I had the pleasure of staying with an Erskine alumna and her sweet family. We enjoyed talking about all kinds of topics over a plate of delicious cookies, but when we landed on the subject of Erskine—which involved our friend’s reminiscences about her time as a Choraleer—we just couldn’t stop talking. We had such fun–even getting to flip through old Erskine yearbooks together– that it was quite late before my fellow Choraleer and I finally realized that we’d better head to bed if we were going to be ready for our early morning performance! Despite our less-than-optimal amount of sleep, our Sunday performances—two in the morning and one in the evening—went well, and the trip in general was great fun.

Being in Choraleers has been one of my absolute favorite parts of my experience at Erskine. Honestly, I didn’t realized how much I’d missed singing with the amazing group that makes up the “Choraleer family” until I came back from Spain and felt a though a vital part of my life that had been missing was suddenly restored. What a joy it is to sing—especially once you know the notes—and what a blessing it is to be able to sing to God’s glory with good friends! We also have an amazing new director this semester, Dr. Nabholz. It’s been a lot of fun learning his directing style and seeing the musical effects of the techniques he’s teaching us.

Friends and I on Choraleers tour at Universal Studios (not where we performed...but a lot of fun) in Orlando my freshman year.

Speaking of which, I was incredibly excited recently when, in preparation for our Spring Break tour to Washington, D.C., Dr. Nabholz had us split up into mixed formation during rehearsal. This mixing of the sections resulted in my being flanked by a tenor and a bass, with a soprano directly behind me. Wow, was it amazing to hear the way all the parts meld together! It’s one thing to be in one’s own section, with a somewhat foggy idea of what each other part sounds like—but to hear the subtle contours of each other musical line? That transforms a “piece” into true music. Of course, I may, *cough*, have noted—no pun intended—that I perhaps don’t know all my notes as well as I ought. Gone is the wiggle room of being able to listen the person next to you when you’re no longer in sections. Which means someone will be frequenting the practice rooms quite a bit between now and our departure for tour. D.C., here we come!

Grad School Auditions: Check

I am officially finished with grad school auditions!  I feel so content, almost relaxed, now that they are all done.  Although there are many big things to be working on now – not the least of which is my pre-recital hearing next week – none of it seems to compare to the preparation and nervousness of the last few weeks.

I had two auditions this weekend: one at UNC Greensboro and the other at UNC School of the Arts.  Luckily, my friend Emma lives in Charlotte, so I imposed on her family’s hospitality and gratefully accepted the offer to stay at their house for the weekend.  From there, it was a manageable hour to an hour and a half traveling to Greensboro and Winston-Salem for my auditions.  Being around people I knew and not having to deal with the extra burden of finding a hotel to stay in was a relief.  After everything else that I was dealing with in those two days, it helped me relax quite a bit knowing where I was going to sleep, and having familiar faces around.

So, the big question now, I suppose is: “How did it go?”

One of my great challenges: the runs in "Parto, parto" from Mozart's 'La Clemenza di Tito'

Well, I had a good experience at both locations: I liked both campuses (and found them easily, thanks to my friend Rachel’s GPS that I borrowed!), the judges and other facilitators were friendly, and I sang well.  It’s a satisfying feeling to walk away from an audition and know that I couldn’t have done much better.  The aria that I was most worried about (Mozart’s “Parto, parto” from La Clemenza di Tito) turned out to be a personal best performance!  I never sang those long, complicated runs as well as I did on Sunday, and I am so proud of that.  I also did my sight-reading perfectly and easily on Saturday, which boosted my confidence.

I think the only small mishap involved my preoccupation in driving to UNCSA on Sunday – I was so absorbed in my thoughts, running lyrics, and warming up that I didn’t notice my gas tank quickly emptying.  Finally, my gas light went on about a minute before I reached the campus, startling me and causing me to make a detour through Winston-Salem to find a gas station.  After driving for a few minutes through the city and not finding one, it finally occurred to me that I had a GPS, which has the capabilities to find something like, say, the nearest few gas stations.  After trying the first three that came up on the GPS (all of which were closed or non-existent), I happened upon one and breathed a sigh of relief as I pulled in to fill up.  This small crisis certainly didn’t help my nerves, but it is easy enough to laugh at it now.

 

The music building at UNC Greensboro - my second possible home next year. (from their website: performingarts.uncg.edu/music)

After everything, I am left with one definite rejection, one probable acceptance, and one totally ambiguous.  UNCSA had call-backs last night, which I wasn’t asked to stay for, but I’m okay with this.  For one thing, it is nice to know for sure, even though the result is negative.  Plus, it was a great experience to get a little bit of a feel for a conservatory, and to be in the presence of so many talented, aspiring opera singers who share my passion.  So now I’m waiting for word from Converse and UNCG; the former seemed quite positive when I auditioned, and I have no idea what the latter thought.  Regardless, now I just have to sit back and wait, and do more of that simple thing called “schoolwork”. . . piece of cake, after three grad school auditions in two consecutive weekends.

Grad School Auditions: Part One

Wow.  This morning I had my first of three grad school auditions, and I ever since I got back to Erskine it seems surreal – did that just happen?  It went well, but I think what makes it seem so hard to believe is that after so much preparation it was over so quickly.

Blackman Music Building at Converse College - one of my prospective homes next year (from their website: http://www.converse.edu)

Last night I went to bed exceedingly early for a Friday (10:30!), and I left at 7:30 this morning for Spartanburg, where I auditioned at Converse College for their Masters program in Vocal Performance.  I arrived in good time with a little over an hour left before my audition, so I was shown to my practice room where I leisurely warmed up and ran through my repertoire before being summoned to the audition room.

I met my accompanist a couple of minutes before, and we went right in for my audition.  I sang, then sat down for a brief interview with the faculty judges, and it was over – a short ten or fifteen minutes later (I was too preoccupied to keep a very accurate measure of the time!).  I lingered for a little while longer, walking around the music building to get a lay of the land and talking with a couple of professors.  Finally, there was nothing left to do but drive back to Erskine, and I even made it back in time for lunch in the dining hall.

The whole trip took only five hours, all of Saturday morning, and that was it – now I just have to prepare for my other two auditions next weekend and wait for a reply.  The whole process of applying and auditioning for grad school is a rather nerve-wracking, yet exciting, experience.  Like many things in life, there is a long period of preparation, then the time finally comes and it is over.  It is nice to be partially finished, though, especially since I am satisfied with my performance today.  If I can perform equally well at my two auditions next week, I don’t think that I will worry about where I get in – I will have done the best that I could, and I know that I will end up where I am meant to be.  What a good feeling.

Jeremiah 29:11-13

This afternoon I turned in a rather interesting first assignment for my Research & Criticism class (the final course for senior music majors) – my musical autobiography.  I had to write about several events, people, or other experiences that have helped develop me into who I am now as a musician.  It was interesting to sit down and think about all the causes, since I was little, that have led me to where I am today; putting all this into a narrative, though abbreviated, gave me a new perspective of how profoundly everything affects us, even when we do not realize it.

The more I mulled over and analyzed these events in my life, the more I was struck by what a marvelous plan God has for me, putting all these elements in place to bring me to where I am.  At twenty-two years old, I have found my passion in music, my dream of where I want to take it, and my motivation to work hard to get there.  I have been blessed along the way with so many supportive teachers, and had countless opportunities to learn, grow, explore, and perform.  What a comfort to trust in the Lord and His control over our lives – to be able to see it clearly once in a while is a convicting experience.

So, with this new comfort and renewal of faith, I am determined to worry less about my impending grad school auditions, and focus more of that energy on doing what I can to prepare – He will take care of placing me where I need to go, as long as I stay open and trusting.

 

“For I know well the plans I have in mind for you, says the LORD, plans for your welfare, not for woe! plans to give you a future full of hope.  When you call me, when you go to pray to me, I will listen to you.  When you look for me, you will find me. . .”