CUEnotes
YouthCUE's blog on topics of youth choir ministry, leadership and professional well-being
Common Language … Dan Jean
Common Language What connects Elvis with Eddie Van Halen? What do Taylor Swift and Paul McCartney have in common? Each of these famous musicians is musically illiterate. Not one of them could communicate in the language of a musical score. Not even one of the...
Never underestimate the potential of a passionate, hard-working teenager! — The story behind Peacebunny Island
Huck and Bandit Caleb and Casper 14-year-old animal-lover, entrepreneur and visionary, Caleb Smith,...
A view from the International Space Station
On July 8, the New York Times’ Michael Barbaro was allowed by NASA to make a six-minute call to SpaceX astronauts Doug, Chris, and Bob who are now on the International Space Station. Michael: Where are you right now, as we are talking? Bob: Right at this moment, we’re...
WIDE ANGLE … by Dan Jean
My mother used to take my brother and me for walks. We lived on a small orchard in central Indiana where we could walk through the trees or along the gravel roads nearby. She would encourage me to look up and enjoy the many things to see along the way. “Look down for...
The Gift of Imperfections
The current pandemic has me feeling quite imperfect these days. New routines to learn. New information to absorb. New skills to master. New emotions to wrangle. In Navajo culture, the custom is for rug weavers to leave little imperfections along the borders. In Japan,...
The Danger of Worshiping Normal … by Anna Marie Pavy
I have a lot on my mind. We all do. So here is some of it in a very long (Facebook) post. First off, I believe that the recommendation to push forward in-person classes for schools until the end of September is absolutely the right thing to do. I have five kids. Two...
Just a little rain …
Throughout July and August in South Texas, it only takes a few days for the soil to dry out and vegetation to transition from green to brown. Adequate irrigation is essential for farmers as well as those hoping to keep their lawns green and their flowers blooming. The...
YouthCUE National Honor Choir Meets the Dallas Street Choir
It's been four years, but the memory and its effects are with me as if it happened yesterday. In mid-July of 2016, fifty high school juniors and seniors and eight adult counselors converged in Dallas for the YouthCUE National Honor Choir Texas Tour (NHC). The six-day...
How are you doing? Part 2
I dropped by the church office this morning to pick up some things and to check my mail. In my mailbox, there was a printed Church Membership Directory dated August 2020. Our church provides monthly updated directories for all its members so we can stay in touch with...
How are you doing? Part One
Here we are in July 2020, at a place none of us could have fully imagined this time last year. It’s not just the pandemic itself that is difficult; it’s also the seemingly countless areas of fallout caused by the virus: Isolation. Unemployment for some. Uncertainty....
