Yesterday brought this type of blessing for me. If you are involved in a ministry or organization that aims to serve people, you know well the risk you take by putting everything you have out there, leaving it subject to compliment and criticism. When you have the occasion to receive criticism, it can cause a certain level of discouragement. I often fall victim to those feelings of discouragement, as I am not historically known for having “thick skin”. But I think that God allows us to experience critique so we will better and more genuinely appreciate the encouraging words.

At the end of each Mass, I am somewhat “trapped” at the piano packing up my stuff and will usually be approached by a few people who want to chat, thank me for the music or complain about something they weren’t satisfied with. The latter is what always makes me a little apprehensive and eager to make a quick exit, if possible. (I used to make a quick exit for the doughnuts until they stopped buying Krispy Kreme. Sad day.) Yesterday, however, I could not have been more thankful to be “trapped” at the piano.

The first thing I noticed about this sweet woman I had seen before at church, was the huge smile on her face. She greeted me and asked me when my baby is due (the 30-week pregnant tummy is always an effective conversation starter). She proceeded to thank me for the music in a way I’ve truly never been thanked before. She told me she came to our church two years ago, heard me sing and has come back every week since. She even made the decision to formally join the church…wow…truly amazing! It was what she said next, though, that impacted me the most. She said she is battling brain cancer and comes to church, listens to the singing and just cries. Whoa…

Now, I don’t want anyone to read this and think that she’s saying the only reason she’s coming to church is to hear me sing and that I’m taking pride in that. No way…this is the most humbling thing I’ve ever heard from someone…because I know that God has been working in her heart to draw her into the church and closer to him in several ways, and what I had to offer was just a part of that process. The humbling and amazing part for me, is that God has been able to use me in whatever state I’m in (which, let’s be honest, on Sunday morning is a frazzled mom trying to watch her kids and direct choirs at the same time) to help bring emotional healing to someone who is going through a trial of such magnitude that I can’t even imagine what it must be like. She may claim that I have blessed her in some way, but it is truly her, her words and that beautiful smile in the face of such tribulation that have blessed me!

So as I continue to reflect upon and take in the reality of that brief encounter yesterday, I come before the Lord, humbled and thankful for the reminder of WHY I do what I do. I choose to work in ministry because of life-changing events like this…the stories I have the honor to hear about and the stories I never know about. May my mission and prayer continue to be: That I may, in my humanly flawed and imperfect way, always use the gifts and the inspiration God has blessed me with to help lead others closer and deeper into a relationship with Him. Philippians 2:1-4

_Lori

Join us for our live radio interview, Tuesday morning at 7:30am (CST) on American Family Radio! We’ll be in studio in Tupelo, MS with the ever-hilarious JJ and Ron, talking about our music and our ministry (that is, if we can keep from laughing long enough).

Not near an American Family Radio Affiliate Station? No worries…go here to LISTEN LIVE!

Not only did we get a chance to spend time in prayer with these amazing youth, but we also had the opportunity to meet some new speakers and fun people. Gene Monterastelli of APeX Ministries and Armando Cervantes, Youth Director for the Diocese of Orange, were on hand to make sure this event went down with class and a good deal of hilarity!

Aside from our normal musical duties, we also had the opportunity to present a workshop on Prayer Thru Music. It was a nice addition to an otherwise already fun-filled weekend. Super thanks again to Don Boucher, Director of Youth for the Diocese of Savannah, for bringing us in for this awesome event.

As always, thank you for your prayers and continued support of Out of Darkness as we continue our music ministry in Jesus’ name. One thing especially I know we took away from this weekend is what a privilege it is to toil in the vineyard of the Lord.

God’s Peace and Blessing to all!
Adam and Lori Ubowski

PS – Check out the NEW WEBSITE LAYOUT and let us know what you think! Also, if you haven’t friended us on Facebook yet, please do so so that we can keep up with you. Peace!

It’s been busy…we had an amazing weekend with the youth from our home diocese and these cool guys called “Popple” at the Pensacola-Tallahassee Diocesan Youth Conference in January. This non-stop weekend was closely followed by two Catholic Schools Week Concerts at St. Mary’s in Fort Walton Beach and St. John the Evangelist in Panama City. We had SO much fun with all of the students, and were especially touched by the students and staff at St. Mary’s…not only had they picked their Catholic Schools Week theme based upon our original song, “Let Your Light Shine”, but they surprised us by cleverly concealing flashlights until we started singing “Let Your Light Shine”. Coolest thing we’ve ever seen! All of sudden the entire school is waving their flashlights back and forth…we’ll never forget that moment and the laugher and joy it brought to us. February’s events were brought to a close by a marathon day traveling across the Florida panhandle to make it to two events…UR 1:13 (diocesan young adult ministry) unveiled their new name, design and promo video (we were honored to have “Let Your Light Shine” used in their promo video) and the middle school youth of our diocese gathered together for a rally facilitated by Laura Adams.

Now we’re into March and getting together tomorrow to rehearse and prepare for a weekend with the youth at the Diocesan Youth Conference for the Diocese of Savannah. We’re excited to spend the weekend ministering and worshipping with some great keynote presenters and a wonderful host diocese. Please pray that the Lord will use us to help inspire joy, prayer, faith and hope in the youth that hear the music we’ll be sharing.

As always, the support of those who pray for us and encourage us mean so much…we would not be equipped to respond to this calling without your help and your prayers lifting us up!

The concert is this Friday, December 2nd, 7:00pm at the Holy Name of Jesus Parish Life Center in Niceville, FL. The concert is also an effort to “food-raise” for local St. Vincent De Paul chapter…a canned good is part of the admission.

For more details or to purchase tickets, go here: http://sarahhartniceville.eventbrite.com/

If you aren’t familiar with Sarah or her music, you can listen to a live radio interview with Sarah, Adam & Lori and host, Carolyn Ketchel:

Wednesday, November 30
11:00am to Noon (CST)
WPSM 91.1 FM (LISTEN ONLINE)

AND…if you see this in time to join Adam and Lori tomorrow morning talking with Morning Show Host, Daniel DiSilva on WNGL 1410 AM in Fairhope, AL we will be discussing the concert (and probably pound cake), too:

Tuesday, November 29
7:20am to 8:00am (CST)
WNGL 1410 AM (LISTEN ONLINE)

Hope you can catch those interviews and join us on Friday night! Thank you again for all of your support and prayers for our ministry!

Out of Darkness

P.S. Good news…our drummer, Jim Blanchet made it back safely from his mission trip to Nicaragua, so he’ll be there on Friday, too, haha! Thanks to all who supported his trip!

Jim is seriously one of the best drummers out there and is a good friend with a good heart…we want to support Jim on this trip any way we can and we’re asking our friends to consider doing the same!

To find out more about Jim’s heart for this mission or to make a donation, go to his website by clicking here: Send our Drummer to Nicaragua!

No amount is too small, and if you are not called to help Jim financially right now, please know that keeping Jim and the rest of the missions team in your prayers is a huge help, too!

Adam & Lori
Out of Darkness

Remember the Unity Fest 2011 Battle of the Bands we told you about a while ago?  We found out we’ve been selected to battle it out with the Top 5 in a live concert sometime in July.  We’ll keep you updated so you can come along!

Last weekend was a great weekend filled with a little faith and a little fun!   The faith…we were blessed to spend the day with a great group of volunteers taking some time for reflection and rest as they prepared for the Steubenville Atlanta Youth Conference (taking place July 15-17).  Their spirit, passion and servant hearts inspired us, refreshed us and helped renew our fervor for our ministry.  The fun…Ron Shank from American Family Radio was giving away our CD’s to winning Twitter followers!   It was a fun contest and a great opportunity to introduce our music to a new “audience”.

Yesterday, they announced the winners of the Rocking Romans 2011 Best of New Catholic Music Contest, and we made it onto the project!!!  :-)  Thank you for all of your prayers, support and votes!  This is an exciting opportunity, and we appreciate how Rocking Romans is so supportive of musicians and their ministries!  Check out their site for more info on when the compilation album will be available: www.rockingromans.com

Well, hope you enjoyed (or were at least slightly entertained by) our “play-by-play” of all the Out of Darkness happenings lately.  We know everyone has many things going on in life, so we’re trying to keep it brief, keep it real and keep it relevant.  :-)

If you’re free tonight (Friday, June 24th), join us for XLT, a time of worship and Adoration, at St. Dominic Parish in Panama City at 7pm!

God bless you!

Adam & Lori

Tune in to KGNZ Radio – 88.1 on Thursday, June 9th at 7:40 am (CST) to hear our live interview on the morning show!

In the evening, we hope you can join us at Holy Name of Jesus Parish in Niceville, Florida as we make a guest appearance with the legendary Jim & Mary Cowan!  Also making a guest appearance, is accomplished musician and WGNL Archangel Radio station manager, Daniel DiSilva!  Jim & Mary Cowan are coming to Niceville to share their music, their ministry and their heart for Eucharistic Adoration during a Concert and Holy Hour at 7pm.  Come unite your hearts in prayer, adoration and the Holy Spirit.  This will be a blessed evening!  Call the church for more info or check out the official Facebook Event!

Seven of our songs are in rotation to play during the M-F “Praise Hour” from 12:05-1:00pm (CST) and during the Sunday Morning “Living Praise” show from 6:00-10:00am (CST)!

Check it out and let us know what songs you hear!

For details and to register CLICK HERE!

Or check out the official Facebook Event.