IYC. It stands for Interdenominational Youth Choir, but trust me it means so much more. In short it is a Gospel choir on my college's campus that has 50+ members who sing to the Lord with all their heart. All through highschool I was a part of my church's youth choir and it was an amazing experience. My best friends to this day are those who I met due to being a part of that choir. When I got to college, I got involved in a church right away and I am so thankful for that. I instantly connected with the other college kids that I met at church. There still was a part of me that was missing, and that wasn't content. I missed the choir aspect of my life, and making joyful music with my friends. One day, out of the blue, I was talking to a friend in my math class and she told me about this Christian choir group and invited me to join her at a rehearsal. I looked the choir online just to see what it was all about. I decided to go and check out a practice. I was welcomed with open arms held out wide! After the first song we sang, I knew that this was the place for me. I have formed many friendships in the past few weeks with the other choir members, and I can't wait for what's in store ahead.
So back to the amazing things that happened this weekend. Every year, IYC hosts a big workshop for gospel choirs across Illinois. The weekend started out with a college concert night on Friday. This showcased all of the choirs that came for the weekend and allowed them to show off their talents in a few songs. When it was our turn to go up we blew the audience away with our joyful music and energetic attitudes. IYC sang 4 songs total, and boy was it fun! I let the music inside of me and just rocked out by singing and dancing my heart out.
Saturday started off bright and early. We were fortunate enough to have 2 classes that taught us all how to strengthen our faith. Later on in the day we had Tye Tribbett, a famous Gospel artist come in and to a class for us. The words that he shared with us were just amazing. He has such an insight on life and a strong relationship with God. One thing that stuck out that he said over the weekend was "When it's raining hard, you know it won't last long..." That night we had a mass choir rehearsal where Mr. Tye Tribbett conducted us all and taught us his songs. The sound that was produced by all of us was just outstanding!
Then on Sunday we had the mass choir concert. It started off with the praise team singing some songs. Followed by a beautiful dance by the praise team dancers. One of my favorites of the day was the mime ministers who did a dance to a song and let me tell you, it was amazing! It was one of those moments when your sitting in where you are and everything around you is still and it seems like everything is content. The mass choir then filled the stage and worshiped and sang with Tye. It was an experience I will never forget. I was so excited that my dad got to come down to see me sing. We went out for a yummy dinner and got to chat for a bit. :)
I really feel that I am still glowing from this weekend and probably will be for a while. I'm spreading my light with everyone here on my campus, and everyone I can. So when someone asks, 'Do you glow in the dark?' I can say 'iGlow!'
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| Tye Tribbett & I |
