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The Foundry is a local venue that I play at.  In fact, the Foundry is the ONLY venue that I have EVER played at.  I have, of course, played in churches and homes and such...but the Foundry is the only place I have ever had a show.  And keep in mind, I have not had very many shows...in fact, I've only had three.  

I have had three shows at the Foundry.

Last night the Foundry had their first ever "Worship Night".  I received a message from a guy named "Mike Harvat", saying that they were looking for all able bodied musicians to participate.  I wasn't planning on doing anything on Friday night, so I immediately told Mike to count me in.  

After eating dinner with my grandma in Benson last night, I drove a few blocks over to 60th and Maple where the Foundry is.  I got there around 7:30 to set up.  Things weren't supposed to get rolling until about 8:00.

It was kind of an interesting situation I was getting myself into.  I didn't know anybody there, I had no idea what the format for the evening would be, and I wasn't entirely sure what songs I was going to do.  Strangely, I was feeling kind of adventurous and I really felt like I should be at the Foundry last night.

It really was a lot of fun meeting so many new people.  So many new names and faces.   So often it's very easy for me to stay within the same crowd and to never step outside of my comfort zone, but that's not always the best thing to do.  Yes, God has blessed me with some very close friends within my Christian community (friends I hope to have for the rest of my life) but every once in awhile it's good to step out and see what God is doing in the rest of the world...or the rest of the city in this case.

And that reminds me of something...

I really have developed a heart for Omaha.  

At first I moved here because of family, because it was cheaper, and because it was a great stepping stone to move somewhere else.  I never imagined that I would stay here longer than a couple years.  But the longer I stay here, the more I fall in love with this place...or is it the people?  Omaha is definitely nothing special, but maybe that's what's so special about it.  It seems to have just so much untapped potential.  Omaha is struggling for an identity, struggling for a reputation, and there's something I like about that.  It seems like the places that have it all  (New York, Nashville, San Francisco etc...) don't have the same potential that Omaha does.  

Another thing that I like about Omaha is that I can wrap my mind around it.  Bigger cities like New York or LA, are just too big.  Omaha is a city that has managed to retain it's small-town feel, even as it's population has expanded beyond that of a small-town.  I like that.  It doesn't seem so large and corrupt that there's nothing you can do to stop it, and it doesn't seem so small that it can't make a difference in the world.  Omaha just has so much untapped potential.   

This all being said, I had a wonderful time last night...

Jeff Spiehs, which is the only person that I really knew at the Foundry, organized the evening to be a fundraiser for an organization in Kensington PA called  "The Simple Way".  This organization was founded by Foundry regular "Shane Claiborne" as an outreach to the poor.  Recently their facility burned to the ground, and so we helped raise money for their building fund.  Jeff gave a humble and heart-felt speech about caring for the poor and the difference between the deserving poor and the undeserving poor.  (Deserving=widows and orphans and undeserving=drug addicts)  He then pointed out how we are ALL undeserving poor...without Christ.  We then broke into groups and prayed for "The Simple Way" as well as local ministries.  

I was really impressed last night with how explicitly Christ-centered everything was.  The worship, the prayer, the giving, the conversations, the Bible-reading (musician Zach Perkins read a big passage from Isaiah before he played his set!) it did me much good to see so many other believers living out their love for our Lord in their own way.  They may not dress the same way I do, or listen to the same music, but as far as I could tell, God is working in their hearts and minds just as he is working in my heart and mind.  That was good for my judgmental heart to learn.

The foundry was pretty packed last night and there was quite a few musicians as well.  Every few songs a different musician would get on stage and lead.  However, things were very casual.  If you knew a song, you felt no inhibitions to get up on stage and play along.  I found myself playing my piano through most of the night.  To be honest, I'm not sure how much true worship I really did last night-  I was so busy watching and learning!  Most of the songs I didn't know, so I really had to listen to be able to follow.  But I think that my experience last night will help me worship in the future.

Now I plan to go to more Foundry events and functions, simply to solidify any of the relationships that started to develop last night and to help stay in touch with the Omaha community.  Just like Omaha, I believe that the Foundry may have a lot of potential.  We'll see what God does with it...

About The Author...

Ben Lueders is from Hawaii but he lives in Nebraska now. He's married to a cute girl named Megan. He does music, graphic design, Twitter and stuff.

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