Holland Michigan

So, this past week we were able to go lead worship for our first CIY Move conference of the summer in Holland, MI. What a way to start a summer. The students were so incredibly friendly and responsive, right out of the gate, they were willing to listen to God and let him "Move" through them. This submission allowed them to throw down their ego's and embarrassment and raise their hands and jump around as early as the very first song of the very first night. It's funny, actually, how much maturity they showed in doing things that most people would think to be the opposite of mature. This naturally compelled us to drop the ego's and pride of being the "band", and drove us to raise our hands and jump around even more (which eventually led to Matt's broken back), which in turn let the students jump around more, and this cycle continued, building momentum, until it grew into a crazy, out of control, God-honoring, mess of flailing limbs, screechy voices, and vacation bible school songs being shouted at the top of our lungs. 

I think it was the most fun I've ever had. 

If you didn't get the chance to take part in the chaos, look us up on youtube, and you'll get the idea. 

Many thanks from JHB to the students and youth leaders of MI1 Move. 

In addition to the awesome evening sessions, if you've never been, Holland, MI is one of the best towns to visit ever. period. 

The entire town seems to be built around Hope College, which conveniently is the campus we use for Move, so students and staff can pretty much get anywhere, and anything their heart desires within 5 minutes of walking. 

Here's my top 5 things you should do in Holland, MI

1. Visit Holland's RIT music store on 8th street. Even if you don't play an instrument, the guys who work in there will talk music with anybody with a mouth and ears. Plus, they have cheap soda's...so you can chat about the latest U2 album, and enjoy an ice cold Mountain Dew for way less than the restaurants surrounding the shop. If you do play an instrument, especially guitar, these guys have assembled a great collection of solid boutique gear. Not the huge selection of Guitar Center, but these guys don't carry a single thing that they wouldn't trust on stage themselves, that says something about a store.  

2. Go to 8th street grill and have the corn chowder. It's full of MSG and even Jeremy will eat it (4 bowls worth), need I say anything else? Just don't ask the waitress if she's dutch because she lives in Holland.

3. Go to CityVu bistro and get the lunch buffet. I'm gonna save you a lot of trouble and stomach space right now, and impart this wisdom upon you: salmon pizza, and bacon balsamic vinaigrette. That's all you need to worry about when you get there. I think by the second time we went I found myself pushing old ladies* out of the way to get to the salmon flatbreat pizza when it came out of the oven. It's that good. 

4. Go to the "beach" and join a random sand volleyball game. The nets are $5 to rent, so you save some money by being social anyways. I've found that even if you're as bad at them as I am, sports tend to break down a lot of barriers and ease up the friend-making process quite a bit.

5. Go to either Lemonjello's or JP's coffee house, decide which one you like, and become a die hard fan (which is not hard, both places have excellent coffee). Tourists tend to turn it into somewhat of a rivalry, in which groups become arch enemies first thing in the morning, when they need their coffee fix. It's all good fun, it's somewhat similar to having a congregation full of football fans on the eve of the Superbowl, a little trashtalk (so long as nobody is attacked personally) can be a lot of fun. In reality, both coffee houses are delicious, and you can't lose. 

To sum all of my blabbering up...I love Move, I love Holland, MI. 

Thank you to everyone who was there to experience it with us, I hope God worked in your life, and you truly experienced his greatness, and his presence, as much as we did. 

-Michael

*This is a joke. No old ladies were harmed in my consumption of salmon pizza.