The weekend ahead

Although it seemed slow at first, the week ended strong and well. I had pretty good lessons with the high schoolers and better-behaved middle-schoolers yesterday. What more could I ask for? This weekend is going to be pretty chill, especially after several weeks of busyness. I need some time to recuperate, since schedules can spiral completely out of control. This morning, I had another orchestra rehearsal under rainy and windy weather. It's tough to get out of bed on Saturday morning and worse on days like today. Going to the Mediatheque and Music School always seems to cheer me up. We worked on the Hummel viola concerto, transcribed for tuba. Then, we studied the Bydlo movement from "Pictures at an Exhibition." This movement is beautiful and has some interesting harmonies from the first violins, which are divided into six parts. Today, I was first stand playing the main part, and it was neat to listen to all the parts together in the rehearsal room. We concluded with a brief reading of the Gates of Kiev, which is probably my favorite movement from Mussorgsky's opus. Afterwards, I went to the library to check out a couple books that might be useful to my personal reading: Stendhal, Chateaubriand, and Camus.

This afternoon, I just took a two hour nap, perhaps induced by sleepiness and an afternoon aperitif. Now, I'm going to work on my lesson plans a little bit, maybe return to my graduate school statement of purpose. Sometimes, I wish the weekends were longer. Tomorrow, I have church in Laval, which should be good. I'm still wondering if the church itself is a right fit. I know there are things I don't agree with theologically in the Assembly of God denomination, including their doctrine of tongues. No one has pressured me to think that I should speak in tongues, so I think, for now, it seems to be fine. I certainly don't want to walk out on people that have become my friends, including the pastor's son. Yet, sometimes, I wonder if this particular church is where I need to be. Here in France, there's not much of a choice for Protestants. I feel that the church is either high church minded (in the Anglican tradition) or Pentecostal. There's no in between, really, which is what I would be seeking. In any case, I'll pray about the church situation, that I would really feel at home either at the current church or at another place. I would appreciate your prayers as well.