December 2019

Merry Stressmas

December got off to a busy start. We take Christmas very seriously around Bayside and began preparing for the services at the beginning of the month. This included long nights after services and early mornings to tear down and rebuild the stage in the main worship center at the Granite Bay campus.

We began building the Christmas set on December 9th at Bayside Granite Bay. It was some hard manual labor as we moved and placed heavy equipment (stage decks, audio, lighting, and other equipment). We unloaded and reloaded trucks and parts came in from other campuses to be able to complete the very elaborate set. It was tiring, but also very fun. I got to bond a lot with my fellow Thrive worship and production students as we were able to be involved in a crucial part of Christmas at Bayside.

On December 10th, Thrive School had a gingerbread house building contest where each D Group had to make a gingerbread house and make up a story to correlate to the house. My D Group won the contest, and you can see our victory in one of the above pictures.

On December 12th, Bayside’s 18-25 Group at Granite Bay had a winter formal, so Thrive School got to go, dance, dress up, and have a good time with our peers who also love Jesus.

On December 13th, I was able to go with my fellow Folsom worship interns to the Adventure Bayside Christmas lights drive-thru. My friend has a convertible, so we were able to see the Christmas lights with the top down. Our Folsom Middle-Schoolers were working the drive-thru that night, so we got to say hi and support their fundraising efforts for student ministries.

On December 15th, I got to lead worship for the Middle School and 4th-5th grade students, which was a good leadership opportunity and learning moment. 

We (Thrive worship and production students) continued to set up, prepare, and rehearse for the Christmas services at Granite Bay every day until the 17th, which marked our first Christmas show! I got assigned to the video production team for all Christmas services at Granite Bay. It was super fun, I had a great time getting to be a part of the worship experience by getting video shots of the worship team and pastors as they lead the campus with passion. Above you can see some pictures from the Christmas shows. At the Christmas services, there were so many people who raised their hands to accept Christ into their lives for the first time. It was amazing, praise God! The Christmas services were the 17th, 18th, 19th, 21st, 22nd, and 24th: 12 services in all!

On December 19th, my 18-22 Group in Thrive School had a Secret Santa gift exchange, and it was so fun! People got each other some really nice gifts, and it was a great bonding experience for us to be able to give to one another and show our love. I loved my gift of cute socks, a coffee mug, and a starbucks gift card. You can see above a picture of our group with all our gifts.

On Christmas Eve, December 24th, I was able to put on some live music (Christmas Carols) to help make spirits bright in the lobby at Bayside Folsom’s candlelight services. My intern director knitted cute headbands for us worship girls at Folsom as Christmas presents. You can see pictures of my Folsom fam above. If you haven’t been to a Bayside Folsom service, I’m there every week, so come say hi sometime!

December 25th marked the beginning of Christmas break and the end of the year for Thrive School. Reflecting on the past year, going into 2020, and preparing my heart for the next semester of Thrive School, I realized just how many incredible things God has done in 2019. God has taught me to trust Him and His provision. I’ve learned to risk real relationships and have crucial conversations with people even if it feels uncomfortable in the moment because it’s always better than leaving things unsaid. There have been so many lessons God has shown me through being a middle school and worship leader about how to better communicate the love of Christ to those I lead. I’ve also been able to make so many new, wonderful, healthy, mutually beneficial, Godly relationships through the people God’s intentionally placed me around. And, best of all, God has taught me more about Himself, His love, and His voice; having a relationship with God is by far been the best part of this year.

Thanks for reading!