Life in the Fast Lane

So I must say that I set out to blog more often than I have but then life happens. School has been extremely busy this year but good. I must say though that keeping kids in school until June 19 is not necessarily productive. My program is growing and so is the school in general. I should have over 200 kids in the choral program next year and I won't have to teach any general music...Hooray! I don't know what's in the water at my school but so many of the teachers are having babies. In the two years my school has been open, I think we're up to 19 babies in the faculty!


I was unable to direct my choir at district festival this past March because my grandma Emily passed away and her memorial service was the same weekend. She was an amazing lady and will truly be missed. She left a legacy of love, family, and food that will live on for quite some time. There were so many people at her memorial service, it was great! This is my first grandparent to pass away and sometimes I don't even realize that she's gone. I guess it just takes a while to sink in when they live farther away and you don't see them that often to begin with. The good memories will continue to keep her in my heart as the days go by.


In May, I took my Sweet Adeline chorus to the regional competition in Greensboro, NC. They improved their score by 60 points (out of 800) and did a great job! I'm looking forward to next year when we get over 400 and get the most improved chorus award along with the novice director award...we'll see. It's been a lot of fun working with the ladies and recently we've been growing. We've added 3 new members in the past 2 months and we've had several other prospective members come to rehearsals.

This past week I was lucky enough to get to visit my brother and his family in New Jersey. My new nephew Colin was just born 1 month ago. He is adorable but likes to cry a lot and needs to be fed all the time. I definitely don't think I could deal with the sleep deprivation for an extended period of time. I have a new found appreciation for parents now after seeing first-hand what they go through night after night with newborns. My niece and nephew (Bridget and Devin) were lots of fun too. I took them to see "UP," we went to a carnival and a park, we went swimming and all of that was just in three days. I can't imagine trying to entertain kids by myself for an entire summer! Devin is so smart, he just finished 1st grade and was reading "The Adventures of Tom Sawyer" to me. Bridget opened up to me a bit more this visit. She's never been that affectionate but I really saw a maternal instinct in her with Colin. She helped out a lot with diapers and all. Here's the whole family.


On Tuesday, this year's tour for Voices of Youth will start. I'm really excited for another year with this group but being in charge has definitely changed my perspective. There's a lot more that goes into the planning of it all than I could have ever imagined! I have been working on it all the time for the past several weeks to try and tie up any loose ends and God has been helping me every step of the way. We're going to be traveling to Mississippi to help with the recovery from hurricane Katrina. There are 27 youth and 6 adults traveling. We spend a few days in orientation, then travel to Mississippi for a week to complete the hands-on portion of the trip. Afterward, we tour all over the state of Virginia sharing our music and testimonies from our experiences in Mississippi. So, please keep us in your prayers. The trip lasts until July 24, then it's vacation time!

Recruiting Time

So my life's been a bit crazy lately with work and all but today something really uplifting happened. In the next couple weeks students will be registering for which classes they want to take next year. In an effort to make my life a little easier, I decided to have my students create some recruiting posters instead of doing it all myself. Let me just say, I love my 6th graders now. These are some of the things they came up with:

"Chuck Norris Loves Chorus"

"If you've got ring when you sing, you belong with the masters of song"

"If you don't like homework, take chorus"

"Don't bore us, take chorus"

"Mr. Markwood we won't fire from working with choir. Join Today!"

"Be inspired, take choir"

"We don't just sing, we sting" (Our mascot is the stingray)

"No Homework! Take chorus."

"I love chorus and I like my teacher Mr. Markwood, you will too. Join chorus."

"Take chorus, it's better than Math"

But the best poster was made by four girls that said "Alli, Alexis, Brittany and Kirsten take chorus and it's really cool so sign up or for it or you'll be a fool" Below the slogan was a cutout of people holding hands...5 people. They came up to me and said "Look Mr. Markwood, we put you in our poster" I LOVE THEM!

I'll try to remember to take pictures of some of these so you can see them.

I must say that Valentine's Day was pretty lame seeing as how I had All-District Chorus all day and then just came home to eat pizza with my brother but over the past week I've realized how truly blessed I am with many different people in my life. I guess it's just a bit frustrating to see most of my friends married and some even having kids and I'm not even close to being there yet. At the same time I don't know when I'd even have time to have a relationship with my 3 jobs and other commitments so I guess I shouldn't complain. I'm learning to be content with where I am and wait for whatever God has in store for my future.


Tomorrow I head up to Scranton, PA to an inside water park for my nephew's birthday. That should be interesting. I don't see my family from PA and NJ that often and there are always good stories when we get together so I'll be sure to keep you posted. I hope you all are doing well and keep in touch when you get the chance. Jer called the other day and it was great to catch up if just for a bit. I hear from Matt whenever he's on a really long drive. I commute most days between 4:30-6:00 p.m. so feel free to give me a call!

Catching Up

I've decided that since so many of my friends from Houghton that I rarely talk to have blogs, I would do this as well in an effort to better keep in touch.  So, here it goes...

The past two days have been rather bizarre, only because I haven't had to work because of snow days and everything else has been canceled too.  I've actually had time to really just stop and do some of the things I love to do but never really take the time to.  I played with my nephew (a beautiful chocolate lab named Tim Tam), had a wonderful lunch, played games with my family, and even baked some cookies (which if you've tried them, you're sorry you missed them today).

Usually, I am always on the go with about 2 1/2 hours 

of commuting a day, about 8 hours of work and then 2-3 hours of meetings or rehearsals at night.  Sometimes I think I was bound to move home because if I had to cook and take care of all the small details, I wouldn't have time to sleep.  I guess that's what happens when you have a full time job and 2 part-time jobs, plus sing in a choir, take voice lessons, teach Sunday School, and volunteer with your church's youth group.  Don't get me wrong, I love doing all of these things but sometimes I wonder if I'm missing out on some of the simpler joys in life.  If anyone would like to give me classes in how to say no, let me know.

I've been pondering how I could be more involved in the ministry.  This summer I will be the Team Leader for a 3 1/2 week mission trip to Mississippi for hurricane Katrina recovery work.  Not only is it a mission trip but the group is a choir.  It's called Voices of Youth and it will be me 7th trip with them.

I've gone to England, Brazil, Mexico, Estonia, and places in the US to do mission work and build relationships with other christians throughout the world.  The problem is this is completely voluntary and couldn't be a career but I'd love to find something that would allow me to deal with music, ministry and mission on a full-time basis. I'm going to have to either wait to pay off my student loans or maybe work on raising the funds in order to be able to focus on full-time ministry without worrying about how much I get paid.  What I do know is that I'm learning a lot now and if God is calling me to something more, he will help me get there.

I will say that the more I get to know my kids, the more I like them and the more they can drive me crazy when they misbehave.  Learning their individual stories is amazing, you'd be surprised how much some of these kids have been through and they are only in middle school.  Just because they're in an affluent area, doesn't mean they are completely immune to the problems found everywhere else.  My program is growing and I'm getting more and more guys to join chorus, which is awesome but let's just say they're still learning how to sing.  And for now, I am grateful that I still have a job and hopefully will next year, we'll just have to wait and see what happens with the budget.

One of the most exciting things for me spiritually has been teaching a young adult sunday school class at my church.  We meet at a local coffee shop between the two services and although it's a small group, it's been extremely uplifting and challenging at the same time.  We are real with each other and it's one of the rare instances I get to spend time with people my own age.  It also forces me to really study the scripture for each Sunday in depth before the service so I can appreciate the sermon more too.  God continues to bless me in many ways with new relationships and bringing back old ones.  I look forward to seeing what he has in store for my future!