Blessings in His Name!

1. A New Year
2. Worship Contest
3. From You
4. Relax
5. In Closing

*************************************************
A NEW YEAR
*************************************************
There is something nice about starting a ‘New Year.’
It’s a good time to ‘turn a new page’ in your life.
What would you like to change? How can we be more
like Christ? How can we be more thankful?
I posted a blog on ‘Goals for the New Year.’
http://jeanwelles.com

*************************************************
WORSHIP CONTEST
*************************************************
The contest ends at midnight, Jan 9th, PST. Thanks
for all of the people who shared their songs with
us and for all of you who have participated with
your votes and comments. The page is up at:
http://worshipguitarclass.com/contest2009.html

*************************************************
FROM YOU
*************************************************
I got this precious email from Wendy Young in
South Africa.

“Jean, my 8 year old has watched the DVD all day
and mastered the first lesson. He was particularly
touched with the “getting in tune with God” puppet
skit at the end and has asked me to write out the
prayer for him as he says he needs help to stop
doing “naughty” things.

Thank you for this tool to use in my home,
I pray God blesses you and your ministry
Wendy”

Don’t you just love the heart of this young boy?
The Worship Guitar Class for Kids program ends
with a gospel invitation through a puppet skit.
http://worshipguitarclass.com/kids-worship-guitar.html

Doreen is an accomplished organist/pianist. She
writes:

“Learning to play guitar has been such a blessing.
It got me singing and worshiping every day at home.
It’s really helped me draw nearer to the Lord.

You are a gifted teacher and your newsletters, tips
and videos have helped so much. I’m praising the
Lord for the gift He’s given us all through you.

With sincere appreciation,
Doreen”

I LOVED reading that she’s singing and worshipping
every day at home! Our God saved us to be in
relationship with HIM. How pleased He must be
when we make Him central in our lives!

*************************************************
RELAX
*************************************************
Yeas ago I went to a Master’s Class where the
teacher listened to each student, then had them play
their pieces again with a more relaxed face.

The results were amazing. Music in an expression
of your inner soul and when the excess tension is
gone, the music can come out more freely.

Relaxing your face helps you to relax your shoulders,
which helps your to relax your hands. You do need
energy for each pluck or strum, but the hands should be
relaxed between each pluck, strum or chord change.

*************************************************
IN CLOSING
*************************************************
We are God’s ‘instruments.’ He has a wonderful song
to sing through our lives. I love this quote from
Beth Moore, “When we trust our lives to the unseen
but ever-present God, He will write our lives into
His story and every last one of them will be a great
read. With a grand ending.”

Worship Him with all of you heart, because He
loves you with all of His!

God Bless,
Jean Welles
http://WorshipGuitarClass.com

In this issue

1. Saint Patrick
2. Be Thou My Vision
3. Flamenco Books
4. Breath Taking Moments
5. In Closing

*************************************************
1. SAINT PATRICK
*************************************************
In the US, Ireland, Canada and other countries there is a holiday called St. Patrick’s Day. It’s become a day to party, but originally it was a day to honor this incredible missionary to Ireland.

Patrick was born in Wales in 390 AD. At the age of 16, he was kidnapped by Vikings and for 6 years was a slave in Ireland. He escaped and became a priest.

Years later, he returned to Ireland as a missionary and apparently started 300 churches. Thousands turned from paganism to Christianity through Patrick’s preaching.

It’s amazing how one man, or woman, can change an entire country with the help of an All Powerful God.

For those who celebrate it – Happy St. Patrick’s Day!

*************************************************
2. BE THOU MY VISION
*************************************************

Speaking of Ireland, there are four arrangements of this Irish Hymn as streaming video lessons. The melody is from the time of Saint Patrick and he may have written the lyrics.
http://worshipguitarclass.com/be-thou-my-vision.html

All the streaming videos are here:
http://worshipguitarclass.com/streaming-videos/

*************************************************
3. FLAMENCO BOOKS
*************************************************
This is my favorite Flamenco Book. Inspired by the FingerPicking course, a student asked me if I could recommend a good Flamenco Method. I’ve taught from this book and like that it also include the CD.

I just found it with a much lower price and have added both books 1 and 2 to the website. It’s at the bottom of the Guitar Books page.
http://worshipguitarclass.com/products/guitar-books.html

*************************************************
4. BREATH TAKING MOMENTS
*************************************************
I was at a conference in Scottsdale Arizona last week and just loved seeing God’s beautiful skies and desert. Started me thinking about the beautiful places I’ve seen in His creation.

Have you ever had a breath taking moment? Years ago I was backpacking in the high Sierras with friends. I was the first up and decided to go for a little walk alone down one of the trails.

I walked by beautiful mountain flowers, turned a corner and was surprised at the sight of a stunningly beautiful grove of trees.

The sun was just coming up and these trees had very delicate round leaves that sparkled like shimmering shiny silver dollars in the sun’s light. I felt like I was in heaven. It just took my breath away!

Have you had moments like that too?

*************************************************
5. IN CLOSING
*************************************************
Keith Green, a famous Christian Songwriter, said in one of his albums that it took 6 days for God to create this current world, but that He’s been working on Heaven for thousands of years. Keith said this is a garbage dump compared to what’s happening up there. We can’t imagine the splendor that awaits us!

Worship Him with all your heart because He loves you with all of His.

God Bless,
Jean Welles
WorshipGuitarClass.com

Blessings in His Name!

1. Encourage Young Musicians
2. From You
3. Be Thou My Vision
4. Another From You
5. In Closing

*************************************************
ENCOURAGE YOUNG MUSICIANS
*************************************************

I recently spoke with Alice Adams. What I loved about our conversation was hearing that her kids start their homeschool day with worship and praise using their guitars.

She also shared that they play once a month at a Christian bluegrass event. That got me thinking about my own journey with music and all the opportunities I had to play for other, even as a brand new player.

I’ve written an article on the blog with ideas of how to encourage young musicians.

The article is here: JeanWelles.com

*************************************************
FROM YOU
*************************************************

Bishop Family: I’m proud of Colton and how he is using God’s gifts to bring others into God’s presence. This is from a recent call from Brenda Bishop:

“It was great to talk to you in person. Our family has been blessed by your Worship Guitar Classes. Colton (14), who is the tall blond in the red shirt was playing for our church worship and praise team after about 4 months of practicing with your Worship Guitar Classes. He also leads home fellowship worship too.

My daughter, Kyra (9), who is in the tree also plays the guitar and even my little ones enjoy watching your lessons. They especially love the your skit with the puppets where you sing _Amazing Grace_.
I pray that you continue to make more classes available.”

His Work in Progress,
Brenda
(They have both the adult and kid’s program. The puppet skit is in the kid’s program.)

*************************************************
BE THOU MY VISION
*************************************************

Linn, from Hawaii, asked for a teaching on how to play ‘Be Thou My Vision.’ I don’t usually have time for individual requests… but a year later she asked again and I thought it would be a good spring board for teaching different arrangements. Plus she is close friends with Helen Cooper who has been a dear friend of mine for YEARS.

Helen and her husband Earl led the Youth Group I attended in high school.

Anyway, the song is now available as a streaming video, or DVD. For more info visit – WorshipGuitarClass.com/be-thou-my-vision.html

*************************************************
ANOTHER FROM YOU
*************************************************

Matthews Family: This email came in and I was so impressed with Hope’s sweet spirit. It’s not easy to ask forgiveness for our attitudes. Hope sets a wonderful example for all of us and I am so proud of her! Here’s the email Cathy sent:

“Here’s a story for you! My 14 year old daughter Hope started taking lessons on her dad’s old guitar last year. I found a local teacher who allowed her to use Christian music to learn from. She made progress in the basics, but she never grew in confidence or was able to play a complete song either on her own or in front of us, her family.

After finding your guitar DVD’s advertised in “The Teaching Home” e-zine, I decided to order them and thought we could work on them together. I really wanted to learn a little guitar as well!

Well, we just started a couple weeks ago and what happened was amazing. At first my daughter was a bit negative saying things like, “She doesn’t teach like my old teacher. I don’t get it.” So I asked her to just let me watch the DVD and see what I could do.

After watching the DVD once, I slowly began to play “He’s the Got the Whole World In His Hands”. She sat with her mouth wide open. She came up to me when I was done and said, “That was fantastic Mom. You just did something I’ve never been able to! I’m really sorry about my attitude.”

I challenged her to try to learn the song before the week was over. She was playing it before the afternoon was done! Her confidence has just blossomed and she is now playing in front of all of us and teaching me little techniques to help me in my learning!

The other beautiful aspect is all of my children and I are walking around all day singing the songs we’re learning because Hope and I stop and practice throughout the day. It is so precious to hear my 3 year old singing “My All In All”!

It’s hard work and sometimes I feel like my hands will never do what I watch yours gracefully manage. But my fingertips aren’t hurting as much as when I began and I know with prayer and practice I can attempt it! Thanks for your gentle teaching and encouragement. Our whole family is blessed!

Cathy Matthews

*************************************************
IN CLOSING
*************************************************

In looking over this email I think of the many stories that others have shared with me that haven’t been posted or shared. Please know that each story is precious and priceless! There is nothing more rewarding than using your gifts to help others in their walk with Christ. I feel like a very rich woman with a Big Family I get to meet in Heaven, if not on this side.

Remember to worship Him with all of your heart because He loves you with all of HIS!

God Bless,
Jean Welles
WorshipGuitarClass.com

Blessings to you in the Lord

*******************************************************
Worship Guitar Class Family News
1. Write a Song...
2. Book 2 shipping…
3. New Articles and Suggestions?…
4. In Closing
*******************************************************

1) Write a Song…
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The most important holiday is coming up. Paul
wrote that if Jesus wasn’t raised from the dead,
our faith would be futile. Very few question His
crucifixion, but many don’t believe that Jesus
rose from the dead.

I thought it would be fitting to encourage
people of all ages to write a song from their
own heart with the cross and/or resurrection of
Christ as the theme.

The primary incentive should be that it pleases
God when we focus our hearts on Him and
appreciate all He has done for us. As another
incentive, I’m again providing a platform for
these songs to be shared and voted on. All the
information is at the website –
http://worshipguitarclass.com/contest.html

This time I’m trying 3 categories: kids, adults
and songs of other languages.

2) Book 2 shipping…
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Book 2 of the Worship Guitar Class DVD is
available now and at the website. There are
books of volumes one and two to facilitate
teaching worship guitar classes. For ideas on
how to teach a worship guitar class, here is an
article at the website –

You can also find a new article there on how to
buy a good used guitar. Is there another topic
that you would be interested in reading? Just
let us know.

The books are available here –
http://worshipguitarclass.com/products.html

3) New Articles and Suggestions?…
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Last year I received such great feedback and
suggestions from the solutions to sore fingers
emails. I recently posted all the suggestions in an
article at the blog – jeanwelles.com.

4) In Closing
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The world isn’t so sure of the resurrection, but
it’s probably the best documented event in
history. It is certainly the most important
event in history!

Worship Him with all your heart, because
He loves you with all of His!

In His Love,
Jean Welles