Wednesday, November 30, 2005

Prayer Alert!!!

Brock has just found out that he has an interview today at 4pm with the Associated Press. These are the big dogs. This story about Brock and the Discovery Channel special could go out to USA Today or any of the other big news publications as well as Entertainment Tonight or the Tonight Show and things like that. Please pray that he answers the questions wisely and that it would be in a way that nobody will twist his words or anything like that. Just pray that Brock will be anointed throughout the interview.

A Broken Down Truck

Yesterday, we were headed to a place where Brock could ride his dirtbike. I was going to run errands as he rode. On our way, we ate lunch with a friend. When we came out of the restaurant, my dad's truck wouldn't crank. The guy that we were with is really good with cars. He began peering under the hood assessing the situation.

As the guys were talking about the truck, I really felt like this was a spiritual encounter. You know when you feel like the Lord is totally in something? That's the way I felt. It was like He was right there in the truck with me.

Brock and our friend went to an auto supply store to get a belt. While they were gone, I was able to pray for the guy very specifically. It was as if the Lord was telling me just what he needed at this time in his life.

The guys came back and replaced a belt in my dad's truck. Dad got his truck fixed for little money and I was able to pray vigorously for someone. Brock ended up being able to spend a couple of hours riding before it got dark. It was a good day!

Tuesday, November 29, 2005

Air Date for the Discovery Channel Show Changed

We just received news last night that the air date for the show on the Discovery Channel was changed. We don't want to tell you the date yet for fear that they will change it again. However, if they keep this date, our prayers are answered. It's a much better time, and we are happy about it. We will let you know the specific time and date as soon as we are sure that it's official. So, keep checking this blog for an update!

Monday, November 28, 2005

A Conversation in the Dark

Last night, my parents, some friends of ours, Chip and Amanda, and Brock and I were watching something on TV when the electricity went out. At first, we were annoyed. When we finally realized that the electricity might be out for a while, mom got out the flashlights and the candles. We began to talk.

We talked about the Bible and how they chose which books were to be placed in the Bible and which ones were left out. Brock and Chip had read a book by Lee Strobel entitled The Case for Christ that talked about the Dead Sea Scrolls and such. I'm reading a wonderful book called Encounters With Christ by Mark E. Moore. It briefly describes every encounter Jesus has as recorded in the scriptures.

We discussed how they understood things differently back then. For example, I've always wondered why there is only one account of Jesus as a boy. I wanted to hear more. In the book I'm reading, the author explains that when the Greeks wrote about their heroes, they gave one story from the person's youth. It usually was during the boys' puberty age because that's when he was transforming from child to man. They did this to show that the man was unique even when he was a boy. Thus, the story of Jesus as a twelve year old sitting in the temple with the teachers after being separated from his parents for 3 days. This was typical in their writing back then and they understood the significance of the story.

It was a great conversation and one we may not have had if the electricity had not gone out!

Sunday, November 27, 2005

FOOD

There were 8 of us at the Gills' this week. In a few days' time, we managed to eat 2 pecan pies, 2 pumpkin pies, a buttermilk pie, a red velvet cake, cream puffs, and oatmeal cookies. That was just dessert! The meals themselves were gigantic. Brock's mom made 2 different kinds of muffins and beef stew. Brock's dad grilled some ribs and sausage. Plus, we had turkey and Brock's mom's famous dressing. I think I ate more this week than I have in a month! I averaged 2 desserts per meal.

Now, we are at my parents' house in Texas. Hopefully, we won't stuff ourselves this week as we did last week. I don't think that I can fit anything more in my belly.

Saturday, November 26, 2005

Gifts

Since we are not going to be around here for Christmas, we opened our gifts last night. Brock's mom's gift was the funnest. We made her wait until last to open her present. She opened the wrapping paper to find a movie poster with a huge picture of 50 Cent. Everyone was looking and laughing and confused. We told her that he signed it. The "autograph" read, "Whut up my white girl?? Here go a Happy H-Day from all da peeps. Now bounce to da front porch." By this time, she realized it was Brock's handwriting and she knew something was up. She didn't quite know what "bounce" meant, but she knew something had to do with the front porch. She went out to find a brand new Cracker Barrel rocking chair with a big red bow on it. We bought it back for her in the summer. Recently, her rocking chair broke, so this was perfect!

It seems like every year, we've given one parent something extra special. About four years ago, I gave mom a diamond tennis bracelet that someone gave me at a show. The lady said that she felt like she needed to give it to me because she was too materialistic. It wasn't my style, so I gave it to mom. Mom still prays for that lady to this day when she looks at the bracelet.

A couple of years ago, Brock made his dad a cajun microwave. It is the best cooker out there, but you cannot buy them at your local Walmart. Everyone I've seen is handmade. Brock happens to weld, so he had the resources to fabricate one. The bottom consists of a wooden box. The lid is a metal tray. You build your fire on top and place your meat down in the box. It cooks everything nice and slow and tasty.

Last year, my dad wanted a fish tank. We got a big fish tank for practically free, so we gave to dad for Christmas. I don't know if he intended to start out with a 100 gallon tank, but we gave him one. He now loves it. He knows all about the tank and the fish. It looks beautiful in their living room.

Friday, November 25, 2005

A Message Entitled "Get Off the Milk!"

I ate so much food yesterday that I thought I would explode. The Gills really know how to cook and they cook alot of food! I kept thinking about the message Brock gives on Hebrews 5. He talks about how you should be eating solid food and not milk. He gives the example of Thanksgiving at his family's house. He describes all of the food and how much it is and how great it tastes. Then, he tells the youth about all of the dessert. He says, "What if I were to look at all of this food that my dad had layed out for us and say, 'I think that I'll just have a glass of milk and that's all'?" He goes on to say that spiritually speaking, we do that all of the time. Our Father has a big table of healthy wonderful food for us, yet we settle for milk.

Thursday, November 24, 2005

Happy Thanksgiving

I've got so much to be thankful for. Both of our families are so supportive of us no matter what crazy endeavor we set out for. Our friends at home and across the nation are so fun! Brock and I have such a wonderful life together. My Jesus is so giving and loving and patient with me. What are you thankful for this year?

Wednesday, November 23, 2005

Prayer for the Discovery Show

Now, we just received word that they will air it at 1 in the afternoon on December 12th. They have changed the date on us so much. They have spent more money on this than any other religious documentary ever, yet they aren't going to give it much publicity and they are going to air it in the afternoon. We think that it's spiritual. All throughout the taping and planning of this show, we've seen so much spiritual warfare. This is another one of those hurdles and mountains we must climb. Yet, through faith, we can move mountains. Please pray for this show specifically. Pray that the Discovery Channel will make a big deal about it and that it will air at a good time. Pray that it will impact people's lives in a big way.

Time Off

I slept in until 9:40 yesterday morning. Those of you who know me know how unusual that is. We were so tired from our big extended weekend (Thursday thru Monday). Also, it's easy for us to really relax when we are at either one of our parents' houses. I cannot clean the house or clean out a closet or anything here. When we lived on the road for those two years, we often stayed a while at our parents' houses, so they feel like home to us. We will be here in Louisiana with Brock's family until Sunday. Then, we'll go to my parent's house in Texas for the following week.

We just found out last night that the DISCOVERY CHANNEL SHOW in which Brock is the lead investigator will air DECEMBER 11TH! Look for THE MIRACLES OF JESUS on the DISCOVERY CHANNEL. Tell everyone you know. Tell all of your family when you see them or talk with them on Thanksgiving. I'll tell you more about that next week.

Monday, November 21, 2005

YEC in Louisiana

Today, we performed at a Youth Evangelism Conference in Alexandria, LA. I felt badly for the promotors of the event because they had so many problems. Normally, they hold the event for three days in an arena. However, this year, they have hurricane evacuees in the arena. All of the hotels in the area are booked up with evacuees. Therefore, they had to move it to a much smaller venue for one day only. They crammed over 4,000 people in this smaller venue. Plus, the air conditioner went out as well as a water main broke leaving everyone hot with no place to go to the bathroom. Still, the crowd seemed to be in good spirits and had a good time.

A couple of Brock's cousins, our good friends Brian and Stephanie and their children, and Brock's parents attended to the show. Plus, a group from the tiny town that Brock grew up in were there. It was good to see everyone.

Now, it's about midnight and Brian and Steph just left. We are at Brock's parents' house and I'm about to go to sleep for as long as I can...I'm tired.

Sunday, November 20, 2005

The Wedding

We went to a wedding yesterday. Brock and I get really antsy at weddings, so we prefer to have jobs. My job was to take candid pictures. I like taking the pictures that the professional does not get. For example, when the doors of the church open to reveal the bride, all eyes are on her. However, I take a picture of the groom's face when he sees her for the first time at the wedding. Whenever the photographer is taking pictures of the bride and groom cutting the cake or whatever, I take a picture of all of the people watching them cut the cake. It's fun and they can get the pictures developed today if they wanted to. The professional pictures take months to get back. I'm not saying that they don't need a professional photographer. I just think that you should have both professional and candid snapshots.

Brock was the emcee for the reception. He was so funny! There was a chocolate fountain and everyone was gathered around it dipping strawberries and other assortment of fruit and desert. Brock got the mic and said, "Whatever you do, don't eat the chocolate. It's just for decoration." Everyone just stopped for a second. About 30 seconds later, Brock told them to eat the chocolate and he also told them to eat from the buffet which consisted of little finger foods. Brock said, "Go get you some chicken and grits and cornbread!" None of these items were on the buffet.

Later, we knew that the bride and groom were about to make their entrance. Therefore I was standing where they were going to enter waiting to take a picture. Brock welcomed everyone to the Johnson-Dupree wedding. (Their last name was Davis.) He corrected himself and then announced that the bride and groom were in traffic (which didn't exist where we were) and would not be there for another 2 hours. Then, Brock said, "While you're waiting, go get you some chicken!" I was standing near a table of older people. One of them said, "He keeps talking about chicken. There is no chicken up there!" Another lady responded with "He's been getting everything wrong. He called them the Johnsons." One of the older gentlemen said that he thought he was being silly. The first lady replied, "Maybe he is being silly."

Saturday, November 19, 2005

Power During the Show Last Night

The guy is introducing us onstage last night, and Stephanie radios us from front of house that she cannot find the power cord for the laptop from which we play all of our music for the show. There was only 4% battery remaining. Of course, this was the one time that we didn't bring our ipod which has all of the show songs backed up. It was really all of our faults. I was the one who took the laptop in the bedroom leaving the power cord plugged into the office wall. Brock picked up just the laptop in the bedroom. So, I should've taken the power supply with me, Brock should've made sure it was in the bag before claiming that he got the laptop, and Stephanie should've checked for it when she was soundchecking.

However, there was no time for placing blame. The guy is still introducing Brock and I'm now at front of house looking at the computer watching as it slips down to 3%. Stephanie ran off to try and find someone who had a Mac power supply. The guy says Brock's name and the crowd begins to applaud. I have to make a split second decision. I played the song for the first trick praying that it would make it thru that one song. Then, I ran up to the stage and yelled to Brock to skip the next trick and go on to the third one. The third trick was a volunteer trick that did not require music. It would buy us more time for Steph to find a cord. During that trick, Stephanie did find a power cord to borrow from some random guy out in the lobby. I ran backstage and told Brock that we were good and to go on to the second trick after he had finished the third trick and then go on to the fourth and so on. We continued the show and the audience was none the wiser.

I was praying that Stephanie would find someone with a power cord on them during the time it took to do the third trick, and I was also praying that the computer would make it thru the first trick. I realized later that Stephanie and I were so distracted that there was nobody in the back manning the laptop to turn it off after that first trick. If it had any battery left, it would have gone on to the next song and been very awkward. Therefore, the laptop shut down exactly after the first song and trick. It was as if the Lord Himself was manning the computer for a second. Brock was praying for power as well as stalling for time onstage being extra witty with the volunteer. Stephanie was awesome! We couldn't have done it without her. She ran around frantically asking anyone and everyone if they had a Mac. Eventually she found power and saved the day!

Friday, November 18, 2005

Generation Y

It's crazy the difference between Brock and me and the girl that travels with us, Stephanie. We are 29 and 30. She is 22. Her whole world is online. She has a blog and a MySpace. She text messages people all day. She text messages people over a hundred times a day sometimes. We had the bmx team guys and Stephanie and her friend over at our house one night. They are all in their early 20's. Brock called me into the living room to look at how this generation communicates. They were all 5 sharing a couch, yet they were not speaking. They had laptops out and were text messaging each other or talking to someone on their cell phones as well as the TV was playing in the background.

The internet went mainstream when I was a senior in college. I remember my best friend and I went to the computer lab to try a "chat room." We ended up chatting to each other. We were sitting right beside each other. I thought it was lame. I entered college with a typewriter. There is only a few years separating Stephy and me yet a world of difference. Chad has an interesting post on this subject www.chadjarnagin.blogspot.com.

Thursday, November 17, 2005

Busy, Busy, Busy

We are so busy this weekend. Today, Brock is learning a new illusion with the help of some guys from the conference tour we are apart of. Also, we are involved with a Youth Specialty Conference here in town this weekend. We have a show in Nashville tomorrow night. We're going to the wedding of our dear friends on Saturday and leaving for two weeks on Sunday. It's going to be hectic!

Wednesday, November 16, 2005

Comments

I'm so sorry that the comments have not been posted for the last week until now. I went into the settings to try and get rid of the advertisement comments and somehow hit a button that made it where I had to approve of every comment. There were lots of comments waiting for me to approve. I fixed it, so please comment!

San Francisco Votes

The city of San Francisco voted to kick out military recruiters from their schools. This proves they don't support our military. The people of San Francisco are fooling themselves if they think they are making the right choice. Even if you don't agree whole heartedly with our government on how they are using the military, you still must support our troops. I think that people along this line of thinking want a utopia. That's not going to happen. The reality is we are fighting a war on terror which will probably last for many years.

Bill O'Reilly suggests that the rest of America should not vacation there to send a sign to this city that we do not agree. This is one city that I haven't been to, so I don't know what I'm missing. What do you think?

Tuesday, November 15, 2005

Christmas Shopping

Brock and I are going Christmas shopping today. I know that it seems a little early, but we aren't going to be able to go home for Christmas. We have a show in North Carolina on the 26th of December, so we cannot be in Louisianna and Texas on Christmas Day. However, we have a show about an hour from Brock's parents' house Monday. So, we are staying at Brock's family's the week of Thanksgiving and going to my family's for the following week. It will be our first Christmas away from our families and I must admit that I'm disappointed, but that's how it goes sometimes.

We are going to make a day out of it! We are going to go shopping and get hot chocolate. We are meeting people for lunch and dinner. It will be fun! We've never bought all of our Christmas gifts in one day before.

Monday, November 14, 2005

Music

Brock and I tend to like the same music. This year, our favorite cd's were:

-FooFighters---The second cd in the collection is the best.
-Beck---I especially like "Que' Onda Guedo." It's fun!
-Casting Pearls---This guy has an amazing voice! He happens to play guitar for the Newsboys as well as being the lead singer of this band.
-Inhabited---"One More Night" was inspired by a person who came to Sara (the lead singer and composer of this song) for help.
-Pocket Full of Rocks---I always end up worshipping the Lord when I listen to this cd. I'll be in the middle of cleaning the house listening to this cd, and I get distracted by singing to the Lord.
-Collective Soul---I enjoy listening to the album "Youth" when I'm driving.
-Dido---She's great to listen to when you are just chillin.

Sunday, November 13, 2005

The 23rd Psalm

The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not be in want.
He makes me lie down in green pastures,
he leads me beside quiet waters,
he restores my soul.
He guides me in paths of rightesousness for his name's sake.
Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death,
I will fear no evil,
for you are with me;
your rod and your staff,
they comfort me.
You prepare a table before me
in the presence of my enemies.
You anoint my head with oil;
my cup overflows.
Surely goodness and love will follow me
all the days of my life,
and I will dwell in the house of the Lord
forever.
Psalm 23

Saturday, November 12, 2005

A Snake and a Goose

The rest of our trip was basically driving. We did stop by our friends' house that are on the bmx team on the way home. That was fun. There kids (ages 4 and 2) performed a Brock Gill show. They've seen too many of our shows. They remembered details!

It's been good to be home this week. I made the mistake of bringing Brock with me to the grocery store. I had him go get me some eggs or something and he came back with a goose! So, Brock cooked a goose this week. It was really good. It tasted like a mixture of turkey and duck.

The other day, I hear Brock urgently yelling for me. I came out and saw a bright, almost florescent green garden snake. It was very docile. Brock picked it up and played with it some.

The weather has been absolutely perfect. It's been sunny and in the 70's most of the week. The leaves are georgious shades of orange, yellow, and red. There are some trees in our front yard that look peach. One looks almost fuchsia. It's beautiful!

Friday, November 11, 2005

Crazy Horse

Crazy Horse gets little media. It is a sculpture that is still being worked on about 20 miles from Mt. Rushmore.


11/2/05

At first, Crazy Horse was not that impressive. We could only see the profile of a face. Then, we learned more about it. A couple of Native Americans asked a famous sculptor to carve a tribute for the indians in the Black Hills. They wanted to show the white men that they have heroes too.

Crazy Horse was a famous Indian who was born on Rapid Creek in the Black Hills of South Dakota in about 1842. While at Fort Robinson, NE, under a flag of truce, he was stabbed in the back by an American soldier and died in 1877. The Indian was defending his people and their way of life. He was fighting because the Treaty of 1868 was broken. This treaty, signed by the President of the United Stated, said, in effect:
As long as rivers run and grass grows and trees bear leaves, Paha Sapa-the Black Hills of Dakota-will forever be the sacred land of the Sioux Indians.

Crazy Horse, as far as the sculpture is concerned, is to be carved not so much as a lineal likeness but more as a memorial to the spirit of Crazy Horse-to his people. With his left hand thrown out pointing in answer to the derisive question asked by a white man, "Where are your lands now?" he replied, "My lands are where my dead lie buried."

The sculptor, Korczock Ziolkowski, is of Polish descent, yet he took on this project as his life work. He's never received any money from the government. Therefore, it's a slow process. The determination and vision Korczak had was inspirational. He died in the '80's, but 7 out of his 10 children as well as his wife are still working on it. We saw bulldozers up there working when we visited.

It's nowhere near complete, but I have no doubt that this family will see it to the finish. The head itself is 9 stories high. You can fit all the heads of Mt. rushmore in the one head of Crazy Horse. When done, it will be the largest statue in the world!

Thursday, November 10, 2005

The Mountain Goat

We saw the coolest thing of our whole trip while we were on the trail to get a better view of Mt. Rushmore. There, right off the path, was a large mountain goat. At first, I thought it was fake it was so still. Then, it began to move. It was the most awesome wildlife I've ever seen.

As we fumbled for the camera, he came closer and stopped almost as if to pose for the camera. At this point, I got a little nervous. This goat wasn't your average billy goat; it was massive! It looked strong. I pondered what to do if it charged us. I couldn't remember if mountain goats are aggressive animals. I racked my brain trying to conjure up my past science classes. I couldn't remember even stydying about them. I don't know if I've ever even heard of a mountain goat, yet here was one standing only 20 feet away from me.

Just then, he slowly walked up the hill. We stood watching it in awe until it was almost out of sight. It was simply amazing! We were so close to it!

Wednesday, November 09, 2005

Mt. Rushmore

11/2/05

We finally reached Mt. Rushmore around 2:45pm. It was very impressive! The details of the Presidents' faces were amazing. Borglum, the sculptor, chose to carve George Washington because he was the commander of the Revolutionary army and first U.S. President. Thomas Jefferson was the third President, author of the Declaration of Independence, and mastermind of the Louisiana Purchase. Abraham Lincoln was the 16th President whose leadership restored the Union and ended slavery on U.S. soil. Borglum chose Theodore Roosevelt because he was the artists' hero. Roosevelt promoted construction of the Panama Canal and ignited progressive causes such as conservation and economic reform.

The faces actually look different in varying light. They appear to be smiling in the morning light. Whereas, later in the day, they look more pensive and solemn. It trully is a work of art.

I found out that they received alot of opposition when starting the project in 1921. It took the artist eight years before he finally received the funding and the okay to do it. Conservatists claimed that man makes statues, but God made the needles in the mountain. I saw many more needles in the area, but none as impressive as Mt. Rushmore. God made the artist as well as the mountain. Together, they made a wonderful masterpiece.

Tuesday, November 08, 2005

North and South Dakota

11/2/05

I began driving excitedly ready to explore new terrain. I drove the long, desolate remainder of road in Montana. We went a little out of the way to go to North Dakota. We've never been and don't see an opportunity of getting out that way in the future.

We took a picture of me in front of the North Dakota sign. Everything that I had heard about the state proved to be true. There's not much there. We saw what appeared to be a ghost town. We stopped in a little town called Bowman. When I asked where to eat, they said that the fast food place was closed for the winter. I noticed alot of places were closed for the season in the Dakotas. The temperature gets down to 40 degrees below. That's probably the reason.

We ended up eating at a hole in the wall. I asked if they had any vegetables. The response was "no." I don't think green vegies are readily available up in the Dakotas. We had the special. It was a slice of turkey between two pieces of white bread with mashed potatoes. The entire plate (even the sandwich) was covererd with gravy. It was wierd.

Brock couldn't pass thru Sturgis, home of the huge bike week event, without stopping. I bought him a sock hat at the Harley shop.

As we were driving thru South Dakota, a dark colored eagle flew right in front of our truck. I was afraid we would hit the bird; it was so close. I wanted to take a picture of it, but I was just frozen watching it soar outside our window.

The Dakotas are crazy windy. At one point, I couldn't shut the passenger door of the truck because of the wind!

Monday, November 07, 2005

Driving Thru Oregon, Washington, Idaho, and Montana

Here is pieces of my travel journal entries on the first two days of our trip:


10/31/05
Driving thru Oregon on I-84E was breathtakingly beautiful. When we drove this strip before, I think that it was night. We saw rows and rows of Aspen trees. They had bright yellowish-orange leaves and thin, lighter trunks. I snapped a couple of pictures from the truck as we were driving. It rained the entire day. In Idaho, it snowed a little. That's when we decided to pull over for the night. We're in Idaho almost on the Montana line on I-90.


11/1/05
We pulled over for the night just in time because it was beautiful when I looked out the window this morning. The whole drive thru Montana was amazing. We pulled over in a "parking area" as the sign said. By the time I got my camera and jacket on, Brock was already out of sight. I crossed the parking lot and caught a glimpse of the view. It literally took my breath away. There was a valley down below with a body of water. A cliff towered over the water. I heard Brock whistling for me. I looked down, to the right, and to the left. I couldn't find him. Then, I realized the noise was coming from above. Brock was at the very top of the cliff!

We stopped in Deer Lodge, MT to eat lunch. The sign outside of the cafe read "ICE CREAM, EXPRESSO, AND BUFFALO." We shared a buffalo burger. After lunch, we went into some of the little shops. Brock asked the salesclerk in the drug store if they sold ipods. She didn't know what an ipod was.

We pulled over at Fairmont Hot Springs Resort. By this time, the weather had cleared up and it was a beautiful day. We actually went swimming in their pools. They piped in water from a natural hot spring. There were only 3 others in the pool...a couple from the area and a guy from Washington on his way to Kansas to work for a couple of months.

We ate Montana steaks at the Oasis in Manhattan, MT. There's another Manhattan in Kansas. They call themselves "the little apple." We actually saw trick or treaters in the small Montana town out on Nov. 1st!

Sunday, November 06, 2005

Church

This may sound slightly odd to you if you do not travel doing youth events all the time, but I was worried that I wouldn't want to go to church today. After going to "church services" every other night for the last two months, it gets tiresome. However, we are getting ready to go to our own church (which we haven't been able to go to in weeks), and I'm so excited! There's no place like your home church. I don't have to know the time constantly or check to make sure the props are set up or know when we need to get onstage. We are even taking the motorcycle today because the weather is georgious. I'm going to sing my heart out, catch up with my friends, and soak it all up!

Saturday, November 05, 2005

I'm Home!

We got home last night after a very, very, very, too long of a drive. We were in the truck for five days straight. My sister has been posting my pre-written blogs for the last five days. Internet is not exactly readily available in Montana. Next week, I'll post some of my journal entries of my exploration of the Northwest.

I awoke this morning to a beautiful day. A variety of colored leaves cover the ground and pepper the trees. It's unseasonably warm today. I walked out on our deck in shorts and a t-shirt feeling comfortable. The weather is going to be perfect for Brock's dirtbike excursion that he has planned for this afternoon. While he's gone, I'm going to catch up on some laundry and enjoy being home.

Friday, November 04, 2005

E-mail from Springfield, IL

The following is an e-mail from someone at the Freedom Experience in Springfield, IL. It's a great testimony for the FX...


Brock, Auny, Crew, Stunt Bikers, Band…

I feel compelled to write you.

I helped with crowd control all three nights of your FX in Springfield. The first night, I was almost in tears when all those kids stood up and went to the back room to talk to the counselors…

The next night I thought, there is no way it could happen again… the first night all the kids were church goers on the verge of making the commitment anyway…or so I thought. The second night, just as many people started a commitment to Christ.

The third night, the ratio grew to what seemed like more “general public” kids outnumbered the real church goers…

The third night, you blew me away even more. MORE and MORE kids learning about Christ. They were learning that they can step away from the pressures of everyday life and live their lives for Christ. The flood of kids that stood up and went to the back room just blew me away!

I’m divorced and my son has to live with his Mom a little more than he gets to be with his Step Mother and I. We have him about 35 or 40% of the time. He is on the verge of making that commitment and I know if his Mom would have let him come to the show, he would have been one of those kids in the back room talking with someone because of your words. But, his Mom is not a church-go’er, and possibly a complete atheist. I have no doubt that my son will become a great Christian someday.

He doesn’t know that I have this signed DVD yet, but as soon as his homework is done, we are going to watch it.

I just want you to know that when I told you in the “green room” before the show that you were doing something wonderful that I meant it from my heart. I have never seen anything like the shows I saw this week and I will never forget them! We WILL see you again…we’ll travel somewhere so my wife and son can see your show in person!

Thursday, November 03, 2005

Marriage Proposals

One of the guys in our office just got engaged. He was very clever in the way that he asked her to marry him. His girlfriend had planned to surprise him by flying to New York while he was there on business last weekend. Unbeknownst to her, he knew about the "surprise." He played surprised when she showed up in NY. As they were taking a carriage ride in Central Park, she began talking about how much it was like a movie. She was talking about how shocked he was to see her in NY. He told her that he had a surprise of his own. He brought out the ring and asked her right then and there on the carriage ride.

Brock proposed to me as we were practicing for an illusion. We knew that we were to be married, so I was learning the role of assistant. We were practicing in an empty church. As I "disappeared," all of our friends slipped into the back of the church. When I "reappeared," I saw everyone sitting in the audience and Brock was holding a diamond ring. He was already on one knee because this was his position at the end of the trick anyway. He would get on one knee in order to help me out of the illusion. It was very sweet.

The best proposal that I've ever heard of was my sister and brother-in-law. She was in England for 5 weeks taking some college classes. Her boyfriend had written her a song and recorded it in order for her to listen to it while she was away. After a little over two weeks into her trip, she was eating at a restaurant in England and received 3 roses from the waiter. She thought that was a little odd. Another waiter came up and gave her 3 more roses and so on until she had 11 roses. Then, she heard the song that her boyfriend wrote being played on the piano in the restaurant. She immediately got up and went to the piano. On the piano was another rose and her boyfriend playing the song.

Wednesday, November 02, 2005

Discovery Channel TV Show

The expectant date that the "Miracles of Jesus" TV show is to air is either at Christmas or Easter. Now, it's looking good for Christmas. Please begin praying that it will make a huge impact. Pray that Christians will learn more about their Savior and that nonchristians will come to know Christ personally or at least seeking Him because of this program. Pray that Brock will be seen in a great light. Also, pray that Brock's opportunities will increase immensely because of this TV show. Right now, we want to do more Freedom Experiences, but we're having trouble booking them. It's a lot of commitment financially and timewise for communities. Pray that Brock's popularity grows as a result of this show in order to encourage people to actually take the plunge and book FX in their own town.

Tuesday, November 01, 2005

Satan's Lies

The other day, I was talking to a friend of mine on the phone. She is a mother of two small children. She feels very incompetant at times as a parent. There is a young teenage girl in her community whose mother is dying of cancer. She feels supernaturally drawn to this girl. After our conversation, I began to think about something. Why would the Lord entrust such a wonderful young lady into her hands if she is not an excellent mother? It makes more sense that Satan is lying to her and trying to get her to believe that she is not the mother that she needs to be so that she would not follow through on this commitment of mothering this girl after her mom passes away.

I began to think about my dad and how much he hated public speaking. He said that he could do any kind of ministry except one that involved speaking. He’s now a pastor that speaks publicly every week. Moses in the scripture felt like he was not the right person for the job.

Lately, I’ve been listening to a lie. I think that I cannot develop relationships with women. I’m too different from them and my lifestyle is not relative to their lifestyle. I feel as if I cannot cultivate relationships with women very well because I travel too much. However, the Lord is using me to minister to young women lately. Even this girl that I wrote about above…the Lord placed her on my mind that day out of the blue. I had not talked to her in years, yet the day I called and told her that I was praying for her was the day that she needed it. She said that she felt so much love from the Lord because He asked me to pray for her at just the right time even though we were miles away from each other.

What lies has Satan been feeding you? Is there something that the Lord is asking of you in which you feel inadequate? The Lord speaks in a still, small voice, but Satan seems to hurl big, fiery, LOUD darts. “In our weakness, He is strong.” Take courage and don’t believe the lies!