Kristy Moody's Blog, page 18

Singer David Dunn Releases Fresh Single

Last week, BEC Recording artist David Dunn returned to the CCM industry with the emotional single “Hurt Is.” The digitally released track, which can be streamed whenever you enjoy music, was uploaded with an inspiring caption.

David Dunn: “Jesus loves us, ALWAYS – but there are times when we recognize His love more. When We can see Him with real clarity…pain, loss, and heartbreak make us aware of how heavily we rely on Jesus – and He always finds us where the hurt is.”

Listen to the track below:

AKMU’s Chanhyuk Releases 1st Solo Album

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[Interview] The Ensemble Español’s Kim Grigsby: “In ‘Flamenco,’ There Is A Constant Effort Of Seeking The Duende”

BTSCelebs: Who is Kim Grigsby professionally? 

Kim Grigsby: I am the Associate Executive Director of the Ensemble Espanol Spanish Dance Theater. I work directly under Jorge Perez in running the organization. I work in external affairs, development, educational programs, and new initiatives.

What piqued your interest in performing arts? 

I grew up in the arts. My grandfather was an artist who was chair of the art department at Arizona State University. I grew up over the summers being exposed to the arts. I was a selected by the governor’s office in SC to attend the Governors school for the arts in theater. I have acted, been in several commercials and started a fashion design degree some years ago. So being a creative is in my blood. Formally trained as an attorney, I was not satisfied with practicing alone, so I started working with nonprofits to help them organize, fund, and provide educational pipelines for people in the creative fields. 

Tell us about the highlights on your road to the associate executive director role with The Ensemble.

I have the wonderful honor of utilizing both my creative mind and my logical & legal sensibilities to push organizations to be more. I have several stand out moments working with the ensemble. 

Over the last 2 years we have doubled down on providing organizational support to EE. We have hired an accountant, HR, and additional support staff to provide greater support to the company. Educationally, we have transitioned all our programs to meet cps standards to fulfill the fine arts credit for our residency programs. Also, we have created a couple new programs. One is Flamenco Arts & Culture which provides a deep dive into the world Flamenco.  Another is Fusion, where we teach students Flamenco & West African dance. This program is a collaboration with Muntu Dance company.  The class features a flamenco dancer & Guitarist and a west African dancer and drummer. The other program that we offer that is first in the state and the only program that we know of in the US where we offer Spanish Dance as a dual credit class. Allowing high school students to earn high school and college credit to learn Spanish Dance.  The other accomplishments that we are super proud of is that we have increased all of our key metrics post Covid, 5% increase in audience growth, 10% increase in teaching in terms of both students and school. We also have had an increase in financial support moving from about a $600k budget to more than $2M including our endowments and investments. And the project that means a lot to me is we have started to explore ways to bring more people into the artform by touching on themes that’s are specific to Chicago. We are healing and joining community by talking about the Black and Brown Roots is Spanish Dance. We just completed a symposium where we have more than 2000 online participants from 16 countries. 

We have been blessed over the past few years. 

Which segment from Ensemble Español’s “Flamenco Passion” best speaks to audience members from all ethnic backgrounds?

In Flamenco, there is a constant effort of seeking the Duende. The Duende is the spirit and the deep emotion that emotion evokes by the songs or cante.  From the song, we will feel emotions like love, despair , longing, joy and every other emotion. These emotions are universal to every person from any background. As a people, we all love, feel pain, happiness and sadness. It is through our music that resonates from the ground and our ears and we feel it through out bodies and what you will see from the dancer will exude the Duende, the spirit of Spanish Dance so it does not matter the language we all experience the emotions the same and that is the magic of the passion which we call Spanish Dance.

What part of your recent trip to Spain (with the leadership team) do you highly recommend to avid world travelers?  

OMG!  All of it. Each of the cities that we visited evoked a different emotion for me. In Madrid, you got the sensibilities of a modern city anywhere in the world, but the difference is that you will experience all the examples of the many cultures who inhabited its streets. From Moorish temples that have been converted to Catholic Churches. And the royal palace and gardens, the city is bustling. Which was very different from Seville.  There is no denying that Seville is the home of Flamenco. Here you can not only find wonderful music & dance you have the mushroom which orients you through the city center where all of our wonderful shops and shopping happens too be.  In Granada, you have to see the Alhambra and visit a tablao in a famous cave. These are a must. Then in Malaga, the city by the sea, you must put your foot in the Mediterranean Sea and marvel at the mountain which meet the sea and all of the cultures structures in between. From medieval cathedrals to the Picasso museum, this city is an open city to the world.

What projects can we anticipate from you for the remainder of 2022 into the first half of 2023?

We are excited to be participating in the Auditorium Theatre’s Made in Chicago dance series on October 1. It’s one of the highlights of the year. We also will be participating in our annual holiday show at our home at Northern Illinois University and we will be culminating our season with our American Spanish Dance and Music Festival in June 2023.  All the while we will be teaching in the schools offering community classes and sharing the richness of Spanish Dance along the way.

Ensemble Español Spanish Dance Theater performs tonight at the Auditorium Theatre in Chicago at 7:30PM.

A Special Thanks to Kim Grigsby, Ensemble Espanol Spanish Dance Theater and The Silverman Group for the exclusive interview and image. 

BTSCelebs To Review Patricia Raybon’s “Double the Lies”

This fall, BTSCelebs plans to review the second book in Patricia Raybon‘s Annalee Spain Mystery series titled “Double the Lies“. In the new mystery novel, Annalee gives a crying woman her handkerchief and somehow gets framed for murder. She is tasked with finding the real culprit … while dealing with the disappearance of her boyfriend and a budding new love with a young pilot.

I plan to start reading this very soon. Stay tuned for BTSCelebs’ complete review in the coming months!

Patricia Raybon’s “Double the Lies” is scheduled to be released on February 7th, 2023.

A Special Thanks to Tyndale House Publishers for the advance reader copy of the book and cover image. 

“FIRST RESPONDERS” Movie Coming To Theaters For A Limited Engagement

You can watch the powerful film “FIRST RESPONDERS” exclusively in theaters on October 24th and 25th, 2022. According to an official press release from Biscuit Media Group, Fathom Events is releasing it to promote healing for our nation’s bravest.

What is the life-changing movie about?

“This inspirational film shares the story of Karen Williams, a trauma therapist who has witnessed firsthand the special courage that shapes those who work in emergency services. But when her husband Mark, a career firefighter, returns from a life-changing blaze, and she discovers that a degree and years of counseling first responders has done little to prepare her for the challenge of helping her husband battle PTSD. Unable to see a path to save her marriage, Karen turns to God and celebrates the truth that through Him all things are possible.”

Writer and Producer Rick Eldridge had this to say about his new project: “We wanted to create a film that not only celebrates the bravery of our first responders, but also gives a very honest look at their struggles. We hope the film can open up conversations that lead to healing, to strengthening marriages, and to enlightening the community at large supporting our local heroes.”

Stephan Schultze serves as the film’s director, and he joins Rick Eldridge and Jimmy Hager on the writing team. Actors Cameron Arnett, Karen Boles and Mari White round out the main cast.

Click Here to learn more about “FIRST RESPONDERS”.

A Special Thanks to Biscuit Media Group and Fathom Events for the info and image.

UPDATED: Jamie Grace Answers Fans’ Burning Questions

This month, musician and Jill Of All Trades Jamie Grace answered some of the best fan questions she received via social media. The over 20 min YouTube video is filled with her entertaining and informing us on the important things in life (like her dream state to live in and planning for the future).

Learn more about Jamie in the present-day thru the following video:

Image Credit: @jamiegraceh

Check Out “The Boundless Show” Podcast

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The famed Focus On The Family program branched out and made a podcast dedicated to young adults’ relationships. I started listening to “The Boundless Show” when my favorite AccessMore shows went on hiatus, and I’m so glad I did. New “The Boundless Show” episodes are updated every Thursday, and they discuss a variety of relationship topics from a Christian’s perspective.

I highly recommend people of all ages to try out this podcast.

[Guest Blogger] Finding A Way In The Desert

Jennifer L. Wright: I am a desert rat.

Although born and raised in Indiana, I have lived in the southwest for the past eleven years. From Nevada to Arizona to New Mexico, I’ve had a house in several different states but the scenery has remained the same: dry, brown, desolate.

And I love it.

I freeze when the temperature drops below sixty. I can’t breathe in humidity above 30 percent. And if the skies are cloudy for more than three days in a row, I start to feel depressed. The desert has seeped into my bones and captured my soul. Where others see only a wasteland, I see home.

I also see God at work.

The Bible discusses the desert in both literal and figurative ways throughout its pages. It was where the Israelites were forced to wander for forty years after their disobedience—a harsh, unwelcoming landscape instead of the lush, fertile Promised Land to which God was leading them. It was also where Jesus was tempted by the devil; at a place that taxed Jesus to His physical limits, Satan saw an opportune time for testing.

Spiritually, to be in the desert is to be in a place far from God, either as a result of judgment or willful disobedience. If you’ve ever stood on the parched, rocky, sunbaked ground, it’s not hard to understand where this metaphor comes from. Oftentimes, you can look around and see nothing but barren earth for miles around. It’s easy to imagine that not even God could be in a place like this.

My newest novel, Come Down Somewhere, focuses on such a strip of desert. In late 1944, the United States government chose the Jornada del Muerto region of southern New Mexico—literally translated as “the route of the dead man” in Spanish—as the perfect location to test their newest top secret weapon for precisely the reasons I mentioned above: it was desolate, isolated, uninhabited.

And on July 15, 1945, it became the testing site of the world’s first atomic bomb.

The only problem was that the area wasn’t as uninhabited as it first seemed. Not only were ranches and villages spread out across the countryside, there was also a plethora of plants, animals, and underground water sources. Although most nearby ranches had been overtaken by the government, still others remained occupied at the time of the test. Towns and villages as far away as Las Vegas, New Mexico—more than 100 miles to the north—registered radioactive contamination. And everything—plants, animals, insects, even the dirt itself—within a 2,000-foot radius from ground zero was completely vaporized.

The wasteland to end all wastelands.

During my time researching and writing Come Down Somewhere, I was fortunate to have the opportunity to visit ground zero. As I approached the area, my heart was filled with trepidation. I wasn’t so much worried about the lingering fallout as I was what I would see: my beloved desert reduced to a charred crater, the beautiful creosote and mesquite that normally covered the rocky terrain to be conspicuously absent. I was expecting an eerie, uncomfortable stillness with no signs of life or vitality to be seen.

Instead, what I saw was just a normal, everyday strip of desert.

Scrub brush and yucca dotted the ground. Strands of black grama grass waved in the ever-present wind. Prickly pear and cholla cacti leaned toward the sun. There were even sporadic patches of small yellow wildflowers. Aside from a black obelisk and various military buildings, there was nothing to set this patch of desert apart from any of the surrounding landscape.

Less than eighty years ago, man had obliterated this area. But God . . . God had found a way to restore it.

And to me, that is the beauty of both the desert and our God. In Come Down Somewhere, main characters Olive and Jo have their lives seemingly torn apart by the actions of others. Hopes and dreams are shattered. Friendships and families are destroyed. And just when it seems as if all has been lost and there is no possible chance at restoration . . . there is God.

Making a way both in the desert of southern New Mexico and in the desert of our lives.

Perhaps that’s why I love the desert so much. In this place where it seems as if nothing can grow—where nothing should grow—the very presence of life is, to me, evidence of God’s goodness. If He can sustain creation in a place such as this, He can sustain you and I, too, no matter where we are physically, emotionally, or spiritually. Not only that, He can take a place that has been completely obliterated and make it flourish again.

At its heart, this is what Come Down Somewhere is all about.

And at His heart, I believe that’s what God is all about, too. Making old things new. Making broken things whole. And making a way in the desert of our lives.

“Come Down Somewhere” novel releases on September 6th, 2022. 

Learn more about Jennifer L. Wright by visiting her official website: jennwrightwrites.com

A Special Thanks to Tyndale House and Jennifer L. Wright for the images and article.

11 SHINee Solo Music Videos To Celebrate Key’s “Gasoline” Album

Image Credit: @bumkeyk on Instagram

Today, SHINee‘s Key released his 2nd album “Gasoline.” The gifted star has been promoting the project all month, and the dark yet artistic music video for his title track dropped this morning. In celebration of his music comeback, BTSCelebs wants to highlight some original music his band SHINee released as solo artists over the years.

Enjoy the sweet tunes of Onew, Jonghyun, Key, Minho and Taemin.

Key – “One of Those Nights”

Key – “I Wanna Be”

Jonghyun – “Deja-Boo”

Onew – “DICE”

Jonghyun –  “She is”

Minho – “Heartbreak”

Onew – “Way” (duet with artist Punch)

Taemin – “Day and Night”

Minho – “I’m Home”

Taemin – “Advice”

Taemin – “2 Kids”

All the best to Key on his “Gasoline” album!

Image Credit: Key’s IG

[Guest Blogger] Addiction: Am I Supporting Or Enabling?

Cindy Woodsmall: Nurturers unite! 

We love our people. We love loving them. We live to support them in their endeavors. If they need our help, we’ll give until it hurts and then give even more. Nothing is more important than meeting the needs and asks of our loved ones.

But if they are an addict not in recovery, are we supporting or enabling? 

Let’s begin by giving some distinction between enabling and supporting. 

Enabling is giving an addict the means or permission or right to continue with their addiction.

Supporting is being actively interested in and concerned for their success. 

Support is encouraging healthy behavior. Enabling is making it easier for them to continue drinking or using. 

As clear as the boundary between enabling and supporting sounds in written form, the implementation of it can feel like trying to walk a balance beam while doing laundry.    

I have a loved one who is an addict, and staying clean takes a tremendous amount of self-control 24-7, with no time off for good behavior. If I’ve had a good week of eating nutritiously and exercising, I can indulge, and it feels so good. But there are no nights off to indulge for an addict. 

The road is hard for an addict, fraught with pain and a constant temptation to drink/use. Despite how it looks, no one chooses to be an addict. A person can choose to fight hard and not give in to the addiction, but being an addict is a genetic predisposition that is often triggered by some type of trauma. One of the things life is known for is dishing out trauma—an untimely death of a loved one, a contentious divorce of parents, going to war, being involved in a car accident, living with abusive adults, being severely bullied at school, and the list goes on.  

We don’t want to blame the addict, but we also don’t want to “help” them in a way that actually strengthens their addiction and weakens their resolve. 

Enabling prolongs the active addiction and the suffering of everyone involved. 

Enabling looks like 

giving too much time and attention to the addict, while other loved ones and self are neglected; putting your finances in danger;minimizing bad behavior; prioritizing their wants and asks over everything else; making excuses for them and covering up their actions or inactions;lying to help them avoid consequences;allowing them to control your thinking and decision making; blaming yourself and trying to fix your mistakes or perceived mistakes;resenting the disappointment you feel while helping them disappoint you again;  finding it impossible to say no.

Our best defense against enabling is setting real boundaries and offering real help. There are a lot of books out there that can go into detail about when, where, why, and how concerning boundaries.  

If you recognize that you have enabling behaviors, look for help—books, a therapist, watching teaching clips (like on YouTube) by psychologists on the subject of boundaries. 

In contrast to enabling, studies have shown that having supportive relationships can make a huge positive impact for the recovering addict. At the most, it can help the addict win the battle. At the least, it can make the journey slightly easier.   

The list below about ways to support is based on the addict actively getting help through a legitimate system, like AA or NA. 

Supporting looks like: 

listening without judgment;being quick to forgive, which is much easier if your boundaries are in place; giving words of affirmation;sending encouraging texts;cooking a meal; sending favorite cookies or cake or hard candies (sugar is used as a temporary help);paying for gas or an Uber ride so they can get to their AA or NA meetings (gift card, not your credit card); being willing to speak truth when necessary, but gently, with grace and mercy; holding your tongue from blame, anger, and resentment—don’t kick people when they’re down or when they’re trying to get up;   recalling good memories of who they were;creating a small scrapbook or sending endearing photos via text;finding humorous things to share (memes, jokes, etc.);recalling to yourself and to them their strengths;not drinking in front of them unless you have a conversation about it beforehand and both people feel comfortable;encouraging them to find and stay connected to sponsor. 

In Yesterday’s Gone, our main character Eliza is from a lineage of Amish women who crossed the ocean in the 1700s, praying fervently while sewing on a quilt. Their faith was woven into the heirloom quilt Eliza now holds. 

Eliza is brought to a devastating low, and in her grief, she asks to go back in time and change one decision. 

When she returns to her time to live out the differences brought about by undoing that one decision, she soon learns that the course of other people’s lives has changed too. One of those changes happened to her brother Moses. He was able to overcome his use of alcohol in the original timeline, but now he’s an alcoholic who can’t hold a job. Eliza is determined to figure out why and what needs to be done to help her brother set his resolve to change in this timeline.  

Yesterday’s Gone enters an Amish world where time-travel is possible, but faith in God and prayer are at the center of these characters’ lives, a little reminiscent of the classic movie It’s a Wonderful Life. 

Learn more about the guest blogger by visiting her official website: Cindywoodsmall.com

A Special Thanks to Tyndale House Publishers and Cindy Woodsmall for the exclusive article and images.