Saturday, December 31, 2005

Sand in My Shoes

I loved Ridgecrest and the cabin in the mountains, but I'm definately a beach girl. I grew up in Daytona Beach, FL and mom always says that I still have sand in my shoes. We're at Caswell Beach, NC right now. Even though it's a little chilly, I enjoy being here. I feel happy when I can look out at the ocean and smell the salty air. This facility is on an old fort. Today, Brock and I are going to explore the fort. Also, for some reason, the branches of the trees around the sea grow low to the ground which allows for good climbing. So, I'll be climbing trees and walking on the beach during our break this afternoon.

Don't get too excited for me. We are trapped on this fort with only a cafeteria for food. Actually, we bought some snacks and we've resorted to that for our meals. The cafeteria experience at Ridgecrest was enough to last me for the year!

Thursday, December 29, 2005

A Testimony on Another Blog

Someone said to go look at this blog fantasticdisaster.blogspot.com. This is worth reading and explains why we do what we do better than I ever could:

I just got back from camp..and I got saved! Yay! I actually had my first conversation with God.. It wasn't like what you think it was though.. Let me just tell you. Ok, so the speaker (Brock Gill) came, and on Tues. he was talking about dedicating your life to Christ. I always had said I was a Christian because I had said the prayer..But I never really WAS a Christian. I mean, I thought I was, said I was, and acted like I was. But I really didn't have a relationship with God. I never held my hands up for worship or any of that.Truth is, I was seriously afraid to even clap my hands. Brock made us bow our heads, and I knew God was saying something to me..I didnt know what, but I knew he was. Brock started talking and everything else blacked out in my mind. He said that God is working on some of us (in the room). He said that God is saying something to some of us.He told us to have a conversation with him.. So.. I bowed my head, and I got that feeling of someone trying to say something to me, but I was too scared to answer it.Brock told us that some of us needed and had the desire in there hearts to commit and give their life to Christ. He said a little prayer wouldnt do it, and if we thought we were one of them, to ask God about it. So.. over the last couple of days I really had wanted to have that feeling of change in my life. So, I bowed my head, and I asked (in my head), "Do you want me to do this?" and He said in these exact words, "OF COURSE."..I honestly didn't know if God would even answer what I was saying, so I was a little scared.Seriosly. But I remembered that God wanted man to be confertable with Him, so I made a little joke..I said, "I'll do it, just don't let me cry". I sware I thought I heard someone laughing (a friendly laugh). It was amazing. After about two minutes, Brock goes, " Now..If you are serious about committing your life to Christ, raise your hand." I did.. and I was so nervous. I think he could tell,because he kind of chuckled and said, "Its OK, you can put your hand down now." Then he told us to stand up if we were to commit our life to Christ.Ok, now, I could totally do the hand thing, but STANDING UP?! What was he thinking? I was soo concious of what people thought right then but I did it. I wasn't even myself from that point on. I mean, sure, I was _____. But what I did was amazing for me. I cared what people thought of me sooo much, that I used to be afraid to listen to my CD player becuase I was afraid I might breath too hard. So here I am, someone taken over my body, my knees are shaking, my heart is beating, and all the sudden (Im pretty sure God was also speaking to me at that point) he tells us that he almost GARANTEES that someone will make fun of us.He told us that if we were afraid that when we stood up, that someone would be watching, laughing, pointing, and staring, we were ABSOLUTELY RIGHT. I was pretty spooked by that point. When you know that God is at work in your life, it spooks you. A good spook, though. So.. God was doing all this work and all the sudden I felt this weird desiring to commit my life and be changed. So Brock told us that on three we should stand up if we wanted to commit our life to Christ. He started counting."One..Two.." My heart was pounding, my knees were shaking, my head was spinning, almost like a battle inside my head on committing my life. "Three." I closed my eyes and stood, along with about fifteen people. I felt so great. I knew what people were talking about when they say it felt like a powerful wind rushed over them. And guess what.. I did cry. No, scratch that..I bawled. I seriously cried so much I was the first to be taken outside and be talked to about what I had done. But the weird thing was, I didn't care. I knew people were probably looking at me like I was some kind of freak but didn't care a bit. A couple of days after I completely changed.. Before -for sin- it was.."Ok, just dont get caught". Now I dont even want to sin.Its just a waste of time with a huge usage of consequences. Later that night, I actually worshiped for the first time in my life. I mean, WORSHIPED! I raised my hands and everything, the whole deal. I finally knew what it was like to know what "I cant live withouth you God" ment. I finally knew the feelings people felt when they heard God move through them. I finally knew God.

Wednesday, December 28, 2005

The Cabin

We have a day in between our NC dates, so we are staying with our friends from the group Alathea (www.alathea.com). Alathea consists of three girls who are wonderful musicians and people. They live in a cabin in the mountains along the Appalachian Trail. It's very relaxing and beautiful.

Right now we are sitting by the fire drinking homemade hot apple cider and playing the game 20 questions. This little gadget is amazing. You think of an abject and it asks you 20 questions about it. Then, it guesses your object. It's crazy! We tried to stump it, but it correctly answered almost every time. It guessed specifically "a grain of sand." I would listen to the questions and answers and try to figure it out for myself. Most of the time I couldn't get it. Funny how a $9.99 game from Target is smarter than me.

Tuesday, December 27, 2005

Still at Ridgecrest

The Lord seems to speak to me alot when I'm at Ridgecrest. He spoke to me here as a teenager and He's speaking to me now.

When I worked here in the summer of '98, he taught me about being content. I had just graduated from college and had no idea what was next for me. I had no prospects for a boyfriend much less a husband. I was registered for grad school in order to reach my career goal of being a child psychologist. However, the idea of getting a regular job, and a family, and a house with a white picket fence did not seem very appealing to me at the time.

So, I learned to be content with the idea. I got myself ready for a mundane life. I was okay with just me and God and no guy. My roommate, Gin, said, "You know you're going to meet THE ONE soon. That's how it goes. As soon as you're okay with not having your guy, you meet him." She was right. Brock and I were already close friends, but there was no romantic interest at the time. Two months after I got home, Brock and I got together. Within a year, we were married, and I began the biggest adventure of my life.

Monday, December 26, 2005

Ridgecrest

We're at a conference at one of my favorite places...Ridgecrest, NC. I came here when I was a child and in the youth group for camp. Then, after I graduated from college, my best friend and I worked here for the summer. We even thought about moving here. I also met two of my favorite people at Ridgecrest, Biz and Amber.

Enjoy your Christmas vacation. Tell me what you thought about the Discovery program when you get a chance!

Sunday, December 25, 2005

Treasuring Up All These Things

After the shepherds came to visit Jesus, it says in Luke 2:19 that Mary "treasured up all these things and pondered them in her heart." She had seen an angel who told her the impossible was going to happen to her. Then, she carried this child for nine months. She probably had to keep pinching herself and reminding herself that this was really happening. Then, these strangers had heard that she just bore the Son of God and came to visit. This was just another comfirmation that this really was coming to action. I think when she was treasuring and pondering this in her heart, she was thinking about the magnificence of God and His Way. Everything was playing out just as His angel had promised.

On a much, much, (X 100) smaller scale, I definately was treasuring up everything in my heart yesterday. Several months ago, I told Brock that we just needed to pray that the next TV offer we got would be the one that the Lord wanted us to do, because whatever the offer was we were going to take it! Two days later, they called about this show and Brock was in Malta filming about a month later. When I watched the show with friends yesterday and other friends were calling and talking about how great it was, I was storing up all kinds of feelings. The Lord is so faithful and good. My friends whom I thought would forget to watch the show due to the holiday festivities took time to watch and support not only us but Jesus.

I really feel as if the Lord allowed Brock to share the stage with Him for just a little yesterday. It was as if Jesus was the star and Brock was the emcee. I just hope that Brock was able to introduce Jesus to people...not only to those for the first time, but also introduce Jesus in a new light for those who already know Him. I know that thru the program, I learned more about the God I serve.

Saturday, December 24, 2005

Behind the Scenes

Today is the day! Someone read about the show in USA Today. Also, somebody heard it on National Public Radio. I thought I'd give you some behind the scenes details.

They filmed the calming of the storm on a water stage in Malta. At the time, a Steven Spielberg film was being shot at the same location. We now know that it was the movie Munich. Brock was very cold while filming this scene. Also, the waves were so powerful that the boat broke halfway through the shoot.

Brock had trouble getting to and from Israel. The El Al is the safest airline in the world and we could see why. Brock looked suspicious because he was a young, rebellious looking guy who was travelling alone and not with a church group. Secondly, he had a fresh passport. Some of you may remember the passport issue. He lost it and got a new one the day he left. So, he had an escort in America up until he left the country. Then, when it was time to come home, security met him out on the sidewalk and asked for his passport and ticket. They must have known he was coming because he had not even entered the airport yet. They questioned him about everything. Brock spray painted the corners of his luggage red in order to be able to spot it easily at baggage claim. They wanted to know why he did that and why he didn't just buy red luggage. They wanted to know where his BBC badge was. He finally began doing magic tricks for security in order to show he was indeed a magician. That drew a crowd and one of the producers of the show happened to be passing thru and noticed Brock doing magic. She came over a vouched for him. That was the only way he got on that plane to come home.

In the states, they filmed us doing a bunch of magic. The alluminum box that I get in was a brand new prop. We performed it for the cameras out near the beach in Panama City, FL. It was so hot inside that alluminum box that I got a fever blister instantly and had minor heat exhaustion. Also, when Brock does the box lifted by a crane, this was the first and only time we've done this escape.

I hope you enjoy the show!

Friday, December 23, 2005

Publicity

Yesterday, Brock had a phone interview with the press in Austria. Then, we went to the mall to shoot Brock for the local news. They wanted him doing close-up magic on the street. Yesterday was a cold day, so we figured what better place than the mall? That's where everyone is right now. It was fun! As he was messing with passersby, one of the shoppers recognized Brock from the newpaper and asked when the show aired. Then, at the grocery store, a stranger came up to Brock and said they were excited about watching the TV show.

We've had thousands of written publications thanks to the Associated Press news. We've also had thousands of radio stations give us air time thanks to the AP radio. If you google "Brock Gill, miracles", there are 44,000 entries. I hope there is a big enough buzz to cause a stir. I want the Discovery channel to see that we, Christians, are out there and we have an appetite for this kind of content. Pray that the success of the show will be more than expected.

Tomorrow is the big day!!! Remember to watch it with your families and tell me what you think. Discovery Channel from 1pm-4pm EST and 12pm-3pm CST.

Thursday, December 22, 2005

Theft Again!

I shouldn't be surprised when we get robbed. We have had so many things stolen: 2 trailers and all of the equipment in them, money from Brock's wallet, 2 mini disc players, a laptop, 2 toolboxes, Brock's fishing tackle box, a bunch of magic. You might be thinking that we should lock up our stuff better. It has nothing to do with locks and everything to do with the evil one. It's his favorite tactic with us.

When Brock's second toolbox was stolen out of the back of our truck yesterday, the old feelings came back. I actually have this particular spot in my chest that begins to hurt only when something is stolen. I got so furious and felt as if Satan was jeering at me..."We got you again!"

Then, this scripture came to mind "The thief comes only to kill and steal and destroy; I have come that they may have life and have it to the full." The words danced across my heart like a soothing melody. I began to calm down and the ache in my chest went away instantly. Then, I thought that I got the scripture wrong. I've always heard those two statements separately. Only when I looked it up did I indeed realize that it was the same verse.

After thinking about it, we always do experience abundance after Satan tries something with us. Whenever anything is stolen, we get better stuff. After our truck burned down (yes, it caught on fire in the middle of the night), we got a bigger, better truck. The Lord always gets the victory in the end.

Wednesday, December 21, 2005

The Tennessean

Yesterday, we were at the gas station and I ran in to see if the local newspaper had run a story about Brock yet. They did! In fact, his picture was on the front page and the entire first page of the "Living" section was devoted to Brock and the TV show. I made Brock go to the counter to buy one in order to see if the cashier would notice since Brock's picture was on the front page. She didn't...in fact, her comment was: "Do you realize you're buying 5 of these papers?" Oh, well. I realized that I was probably the only one around that was excited about Brock being in our newspaper.

If you want to read the article, go to tennessean.com and enter "Brock Gill" in the search bar. My favorite part of the article is the last quote from Brock referring to the TV show. "I think that those who are atheists are going to think again, I think those who are seekers are going to be more open to the idea of Jesus, and I think those who are believers are going to be more convinced and educated about the God they follow."

Thousands of writings about Brock and the show have been published including something on MSNBC.com. You can google "Brock Gill, miracles" and see all the different articles written.

By the way, go to www.music.yahoo.com/promotions/whosnext/default.asp and vote for my friends BarlowGirl!

Tuesday, December 20, 2005

Hair and Doctor's Appointments

Yesterday I felt like I got a glimpse into some of you moms' worlds. I woke up early and cleaned a little. After I woke up Brock, I headed to town to do a bunch of errands. Then, I met my friend at her work and went with her to get her hair colored. It was only the second time she's ever even had highlights, so she needed a little moral support. After a couple of hours at the salon, I had to rush home and pick Brock up for a doctor's appointment.

Brock has been having trouble getting all the water out of his ears after he performs the water coffin. Usually, it goes away, but it's been a couple of months. A doctor's visit was inevitable. Since we've been married, Brock has not been to a doctor short of a chiropractor. He's been rather healthy. The nurse asked him all kinds of questions. He had never had any kind of diseases, but the list of bones he had broken was extraordinary! He's broken his foot, a couple of toes, 2 bones in his arm, a finger, his leg, nose, and collar bone. They flushed his ears out and there was a lot of junk in there. No wonder he's been turning up the TV so loud! Dispite all of the loud concerts we've attended, his hearing is perfect..."disgustingly good" as the doctor said and better than most 30 year olds. We were at the doctor's office for 3 hours!

Last night, I cooked, cleaned up the kitchen, and got our office people's Christmas gifts ready. Now I know why all of the ladies were stressed Sunday at church!

Monday, December 19, 2005

Feliz Navidad

The other day, we were at a party in which one of our friends, Mark Lee (www.marklee.typepad.com), began playing the guitar and leading us in a few Christmas carols. One of the songs he selected was "Feliz Navidad." It reminded me of something that happened back when I was 16...

My sister and I were singing "Silent Night" at a home for mentally challenged people. My sister, Kay, was 13 years old at the time. We were harmonizing the chorus when one of the patients from the audience jumped out of her seat. She began belting out "Feliz Navidad...Feliz Navidad..." Kay and I looked at each other not knowing what to do. We continued singing for a while although the lady was getting louder and louder. By the time she was singing "I wanna wish you a merry Christmas!," our cousin had quit playing his guitar and we had stopped singing. The rest of the audience seemed to enjoy this lady's song much more than our timid "Silent Night." They had all joined in the singing. Kay and I decided that if you can't beat them, join them. We began singing along and got in on the congo line that was forming. The lady might not have had the best voice, but we could take some lessons from her on the art of entertaining!

Don't forget to set your TiVo or VCR for the TV show called "The Miracles of Jesus" set to be aired at 1pm E.T. on Christmas Eve. Also, watch it live if you can and tell everyone you know to watch it. When you're Christmas shopping, stand in the center of your mall and yell out this info (or just tell your family and friends).

Saturday, December 17, 2005

Matthew 6:31-34

"Therefore, I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more important than food, and the body more important than clothes? Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they? Who of you by worrying can add a single hour to his life?

And why do you worry about clothes? See how the lilies of the field grow. They do not labor or spin. Yet I tell you that not even Solomon in all his splendor was dressed like one of these. If that is how God clothes the grass of the field, which is here today and tomorrow is thrown into the fire, will he not much more clothe you, O you of little faith? So do not worry, saying, 'What shall we eat?' or 'What shall we drink?' or 'What shall we wear?' For the pagans run after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them. But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own."

Friday, December 16, 2005

More Stress

Our lives are becoming more and more stressful. As we sat down at a restaurant in the airport the other day, Brock said there was a lady who was pitching a fit about her food. She ended up sitting beside us. We overheard her gripe to her husband about the food for the next 15 minutes. Then, she proceeded to whine about the people on the plane and how they treated her. I thought that she might have a mental breakdown before she even got out of the airport.

I find myself getting tense so easily in the last few years. I don’t know if it’s because of the traveling or getting older or if everyone is getting more stressed these days. I feel myself getting upset over silly things. I nipped the whole road rage a couple of years ago. I decided that if I cannot afford a few extra seconds if I’m forced to wait that long in the car, then my life is too tight. Somebody said that stress is caused by unmet expectations. I think that I expect too much out of myself as well as others. I’m going to try and lighten up when it comes to everyday life.

We are getting more and more busy. It's crazy because we have more modern conveniences but we are just adding more things to our plate to take up the extra time we save. I just now realized that I sound like an old person right now. I definately enjoy modern technology, but how do I balance a modern life and living in peace? What's the answer? I'm trying the old method of counting to 10 in my head to cool off. Sometimes, I try to think about why I'm so easily upset that day (there's usually something making me on edge just under the surface). The crazy thing about it is that my friends say that I'm laid back. I think Americans are too stressed in general. Does anyone have any suggestions?

Thursday, December 15, 2005

Prayer Warriors

A couple of weeks ago, I called a few people to pray whenever Brock had his interview with the Associated Press. I wanted to call one lady who is known for being a great prayer warrior. However, I didn't know how to get in touch with her. Brock knows her son very well, but we didn't have his new number. That night, I received an e-mail from her son, Jeff. He had somehow found out and got my e-mail asking people to pray. Guess who he forwarded the e-mail to? His mom, the one that I wanted to get in touch with that day but had not had contact with for years...the one whose name came to me out of the blue that day.

Last week, I had a hard time praying. I was overwhelmed by everything to pray about. We had two press releases coming out, the TV show, and a new website that we were trying to get completely working. One day in particular, I just could not pray. Everytime I tried, I'd get anxious. The next day, I was talking to one of my friends. She said that she was really praying hard for me the day before and as she was praying she felt "overwhelmed."

I know that alot of you guys are praying for us right now and I really appreciate it. I think the Lord is going to do something big. It's all because of your prayers!

Don't forget to tell everyone...e-mail your friends, announce it at church, call your family from out of town, shout it from the rooftops (literally...go on top of your roof and start shouting it to everyone) that the show on Discovery channel airs Christmas Eve!

Wednesday, December 14, 2005

Life at Home

I'm sitting on our bed writing this as Brock talks very enthusiastically on the phone. He's doing a live radio interview at the time. Our mornings are like this lately. Brock has a couple of phone interviews promoting the TV show. Brock stays in our bedroom because we have company sleeping across the hall. So, I try to stay really quiet as he speaks on the phone. I don't know if you saw that Newlywed's episode (I only watched it on occasion...it's kinda like a car wreck. You don't want to watch, but you cannot help but look) where one of them had a phone interview while they were driving in the car. After the interview was over, everyone in the car began to laugh. That's what it's like. I hold in all of my giggles and such. Yesterday, Brock was speaking with a writer for a magazine, so I thought it was okay to blow dry my hair in the bathroom since it wasn't live. I saw Brock quickly take a turn out of the room...maybe I should wait until the interview is over before I use loud machinery!

Our nights consist mostly of entertaining and hanging out with our friends. Monday, we used our chocolate fountain that we got for Christmas. Everyone at the party enjoyed it. Last night, our friends from the band Alathea came over for dinner. It's been fun!

Don't forget to tell everyone...e-mail your friends, announce it at church, call your family from out of town, shout it from the rooftops (literally...go on top of your roof and start shouting it to everyone) that the show on Discovery channel airs Christmas Eve!

Tuesday, December 13, 2005

Press Release

This is a copy of a press release that went out last week (not the Associated Press release...keep praying about that. It hasn't gone out yet.):

December 8, 2005- (Nashville, TN) Brock Gill is hosting Discovery Channel’s the “Miracles of Jesus” TV special currently scheduled to air on Christmas Eve (check local listings for times). As the lead investigator in the project, Brock presents an objective look at the miracles Jesus performed and investigates whether they were illusions or reality.

For centuries critics have claimed that Jesus’ miracles never happened or that they were purely illusions. As an illusionist and a Christian, Brock has often had to deal with the claim that Jesus was only a magician.

Traveling throughout the Middle East and Holy Lands, theories of Jesus miracles resonate through his mind as he ventures to find out: Can ancient miracles be re-created using 21st century technology?

“Was He a magician? Was He an illusionist? Was He a hypnotist?” asks Brock, “Was He a paranormalist? Or was he just a master of psychology? What was the deal? Was He a real miracle worker?”

Brock’s questions bring him to three different locations where Jesus performed His miracles. In Nain, Galilee, Brock investigates the widow’s son being raised from the dead. In Golan Heights, the multiplication of loaves and fishes for the feeding of 5,000 people, and to the Sea of Galilee to investigate the miracle that has stumped illusionists from day one: walking on water.

“I’ve always been fascinated by miracles, ever since I was a kid reading the Bible stories. They were so outside of the ordinary,” says Brock. “I always liked the idea of being able to walk across the water.”

Brock is also taking his unique stage show with wit and mind-blowing escapes into households with the new DVD, Hidden Agenda, available now through Vertical Distribution. From the stage to the street to behind the scenes, Hidden Agenda lets you see more of Brock Gill than ever before. The DVD includes nearly two hours of footage with spectacular illusions and escapes, such as The Water Coffin, Blind Ride, Ping Pong Balls, Assistant's Revenge, Puppet Master and much more.

Performing over 150 dates a year, Gill has shared the stage with many well-known speakers, leaders and artists, including: Franklin Graham, Andy Stanley, John Piper, Kirk Cameron, Luis Palau, Christian Hosoi (legendary skateboard champion), Corey Martinez (BMX rider from X Games 1004-5), David Nasser, Casting Crowns, Relient K, Sonic Flood, tobyMac, Audio Adrenaline, Third Day, Pillar, Mercy Me and others. He has performed for such organizations as BigStuf Camps, Student Life, In Quest, and on tours such as Winter Jam, Livin’ It with Stephen Baldwin and Christ in Youth’s Believe tour.

Monday, December 12, 2005

Our Charlie Brown Christmas Tree

Normally, I don't decorate our house because we're not here for Christmas. However, since we are home this month, I decided to put up a tree. I actually had a Christmas box from college that had a few decorations. I hung some lights with Christmas style paper cups over a few of them and a couple of ribbons around my patio door. I also placed green and red candles around the fireplace and hung stockings from the mantle. My mom let me borrow my favorite nativity scene. The pieces are ceramic and can be moved around. My sister and I used to take turns rearranging the scene.

I had everything I needed to decorate a tree except the tree. Brock said that we could cut one down in the woods by our house. I wasn't so sure. Growing up in the city, I didn't know you could actually cut down your own! So, we set out out front door with a machete and giant clippers in hand (we only wanted a small 3 foot tree). We actually found one very quickly in our front yard. We could have spent some more time and found a prettier one, but it was really cold. It's slightly Charlie Brownish, but we like it. It's got character!

Check out our new website www.brockgill.com and tell me what you think. Don't forget to tell everyone...e-mail your friends, announce it at church, call your family from out of town, shout it from the rooftops (literally...go on top of your roof and start shouting it to everyone) that the show on Discovery channel airs Christmas Eve!

Sunday, December 11, 2005

Dinner Party

We had the best time last night! Three couples came over for dinner. Brock cooked a couple of chickens (he's a fabulous cook!) and I prepared potatoes, broccoli, bread, and a fruit salad. It was very healthy. Then, we had a cookie cake! One of the girls had a birthday earlier this month, so another guest made her a cookie cake. It was supposed to be a surprise, but the birthday girl peeked at the cake before we even started dinner. She was still excited! She was singing "Happy Birthday to me..." all night. I don't think she likes surprises anyway.

After dinner, we played Trivial Pursuit. None of us play games very often, but someone made a comment about that game and I realized that we had it back in a closet somewhere. We played two teams...girls against guys. The guys won, but it was a close game! We laughed all night.

It worked out great because I had an incentive to clean my house yesterday. Since it was Saturday, Brock only had a couple of work related phone calls. So, he even cleaned up his office and shop! A couple of the guys from Chaos on Wheels are coming to stay with us this week, so now my house is clean and ready for them!

Saturday, December 10, 2005

Hands and Feet Project

Last night, Brock had an appearance at a benefit for the Hands and Feet Project. He promoted the TV show and did one fun trick with one of the girls in the audience. It wasn't much, but it was fun to go. We saw alot of friends...Mark and Will from Audio Adrenaline, Jeff Lava (Audio A's lighting director) and his Australian girlfriend, Simone, the band Fireflight, and others. It was fun to hang out with everyone.

The Hands and Feet Project's goal is to provide a caring and loving environment for orphaned children in Haiti. Mark Stewart's (of Audio Adrenaline) parents are ministering in Haiti. There are alot of orphaned children in there, so the Hands and Feet are trying to build an orphanage. It's a big project. They need your prayers, financial support, and some of you may want to take a group there to help with the building project and ministering face to face with these children. Go to handsandfeetproject.org for more information.

Friday, December 09, 2005

The Air Date for the Discovery Channel

The TV show on the Discovery Channel is scheduled to air Christmas Eve at 1pm E.T./12pm C.T. That is the last we heard and it is on Discovery's website. We are pleased with this date because most people will be off of work (especially since it falls on a Saturday this year), and it's a good time to remember the meaning of Christmas. We don't know if it is going to be called "The Miracles of Jesus." On the website, they call it the Christmas special. So, as you are visiting family, take time for all of you to sit down and watch this program about Jesus. It's 3 hour long shows. If you cannot watch all three hours on that day, TiVo it or record it somehow. Also, make sure you check this blog after it airs to see what we think and to give your opinions of it. Remember that this is totally secular, so it's going to have a different take on Jesus Himself and His miracles. I think it will be interesting to see a film like this on Jesus...to see how the secular world (or at least part of the secular world) views Him. I think you will be pleased with how positively they portray Jesus.

Thursday, December 08, 2005

The Associated Press

The Associated Press's article about Brock and the TV show is scheduled to go out either today or tomorrow. As I said in an earlier post, everyone from your local newspaper to USA Today to Letterman and the Today Show get their information from the AP. Now, we must pray that big press comes from this. Pray that the right people ask Brock to be on their show or place the article in their publication. Pray that this show gets big press!

Wednesday, December 07, 2005

Fasting

Brock and I are fasting this week for the Discovery Channel show and the publicity for it. I've never done more than a one day fast, so this has been a challenge to me. It hasn't been too bad. Lots of doctors actually say it's healthy to fast on occasion (if you're an adult and not pregnant). Your body does a natural cleansing. You must drink lots of water though. This helps the cleansing to take place. In the health books that Brock has read this year, they say to take a 7 to 30 day fast. The scripture has alot of examples of fasting in increments of 7. I think that they call a 40 day fast a supernatural fast. Jesus fasted 40 days at the beginning of his ministry.

I don't know much about fasting except what I've learned through experience. That is that it definately gets God's attention. Prayer is a mystery in some ways. However, fasting as well as having alot of strong believers praying for the same thing seem to get the Lord's attention.

Brock went on a 21 day fast right before he started this ministry in 1997. He prayed alot and heard God alot about the ministry and how it was to work. The Lord also told Brock how to date. He told him not to date that he would marry his best friend. We met just a few days after he fasted (he was skinny!) and became best friends. It was not until at least a year later that we started dating. We didn't even talk about a relationship other than friendship until this point. We realized overnight that we were in love! We talked about marriage on our first date. (I don't normally recommend that to everyone. Our situation was unique.) The Lord let me know in a special way that I would marry Brock too (that's for another post).

Please pray with us about the Discovery Channel show. Pray that it will be big. Pray that lots of people will view it. Pray also that Christians will be encouraged by it, and seekers will actually get saved because of it.

Tuesday, December 06, 2005

Coming Home Last Night

Last night, we got home at around 8:30. It was freezing, so I ran up to the house before we unloaded everything in order to turn on the heat. When I got to the door, a package was waiting for me. It was a present that I ordered for Brock. I thought, "What luck! I saw this before Brock could get a peek." I placed the box in the closet of the spare bedroom thinking Brock has probably never gone into that closet before and has no reason to go into it now.

When we came inside, we heard a beeping. One of the smoke alarm batteries was going out. We took down the one in the hallway, but it wasn't the one that was beeping. Brock told me to stay in the hall while he looked in the bedrooms for another alarm. I held my breath as he opened the closet door of the spare bedroom. We finally found the smoke alarm in the office.

Brock went into that closet again to find the electric blanket (it was still very cold in the house). Then, we had to go back to that closet to get the cord for the blanket. However, he never noticed the box. Who would have thought that the very closet that I stashed his present in just moments before thinking he would never go into it, is the place he went into 3 times within minutes of our arrival?

Brock, if you read this, I have found a new hiding place for your present. You will never find it! Well, never say never, but I don't think that you will find it.

Monday, December 05, 2005

Flying J

We're at a Flying J in Jackson, MS. Flying J is our favorite truckstop. We have a frequent fueler card with them making it simpler to fuel up. They are usually clean, big, and have everything you would need on the road. The entire parking lot has wireless internet. They have an rv dump, and you can even check out books on cd and return them to any other Flying J. We've been to this particular one in Mississippi more than any other because the place where we get our oil changed in the big truck is right across the street.

One time after leaving the Flying J in Shreveport, people coming beside us in their cars were laughing and pointing. Some people tried to point out something on our truck. After driving about 30 miles and seeing several strange looks from passersby, we finally pulled over to see what was wrong. We had taken a little part of Flying J with us. The fuel pump was still in our tank! It had completely disconnected from its hose and just the handle was sticking out of our truck. I guess we were in a hurry that day!

Sunday, December 04, 2005

Family Time

I had a great time with my family yesterday. We had Christmas early. We woke up early and cooked all morning. At around 10am, the chocolate pies came out of the oven. Since Brock likes his chocolate pie hot, we all decided to have a piece while it was hot. It was so fun to eat dessert first! We took some pictures together. We ate lunch, opened presents, and then ate dessert again. It was a great day!

We expect to get back on the road this afternoon and head home. Tonight, we'll stop in Marshall, TX and visit with some friends. We're also planning to see some friends for breakfast in the morning in Shreveport, LA. It will be nice to see them.

Saturday, December 03, 2005

Amber's Thanksgiving

Here is my friend Amber's hilarious Thanksgiving story in her own words...

I had a pretty good Thanksgiving except for a few things that went wrong! Link [her husband] is in the middle of an outage at Florida Power so he had to work on Thanksgiving, which also happened to be his birthday this year. That was depressing not being able to spend the day with him. Instead of going to his family's HUGE get together, the kid's and I went to my parents house, along with my older brother, (he's here visiting) my little brother, his wife and son.
I decided to cook the ham this year and what a fiasco that turned out to be!!!

First of all ham's are not that cheap if you haven't checked the prices lately. I spent hours basting and cooking this wonderful ham that I was so excited about! I had to do everything myself since Link was working. I got everyone bathed and dressed and started loading things into the car. I took the ham out, placed it gently on the floorboard and headed back inside for the broccoli casserole. When I got inside Glory [her young daughter] was upstairs screaming something about Eli [her 2 year old son] having white stuff all over him. I ran upstairs completely forgetting about anything but Eli. He had gotten into my expensive face lotion and smeared it all over himself and his nice clean clothes! I cleaned him up as quickly as possible, because we were now running late. I grabbed the broccoli casserole and headed back out to resume where I had left off. When I got to the car I saw two brown furry legs poking out from behind the door. To my ultimate horror while I was inside dealing with Eli, our dog Coda had smelled the delicious ham and decided to make a feast of it!!!!

Needless to say I don't know if I have ever been madder in my life! If there had been a gun handy Coda would be pushing up roses right now!

I refused to throw that expensive ham away, so I cut off the big hunk where Coda had been feasting, flipped it over to the untouched side and baked it for another 30 minutes, just for good measure, (actually to kill any doggy germs)!

Even after all that, my mom still refused to eat it! Everyone who did partake of it cracked jokes about how good the dog slobber basted ham tasted and could I please bring another one next year! I probably won't live that one down for many years to come!

Friday, December 02, 2005

Connection in Prayer

I told you yesterday that I would write about Gin and my connection in prayer. This happened in April of 2003...

It sounded like a shotgun blast and glass scattered everywhere! Time stood still as I debated whether I was dead or alive. We were in Houston, so I immediately assumed this was a drive by shooting. Was I shot? I did not feel any pain. Maybe this was what it is like to be in shock. Then, I hear Brock instruct me to put on the brake and pull to the side of the road.

I inspected my person as well as Brock's and found no evidence of blood, just a lot of tiny glass fragments. The windshield of our big rig had a crater in it the size of a football on the driver's side.

We found out that a few pick-up trucks came by in the oncoming lane and threw cinderblocks at us. One hit the trailer as well and did some damage. Basically since I was driving, if it hit a few inches lower, I would be dead. The police officer confirmed that idea. He kept coming over to me and telling me how lucky I was to be alive.

This really shook me up. I realized how fragile life is and how close I came to death that night. Brock said that just a few minutes before the incident, he felt compelled to pray for our safety.

The next week, I e-mailed the happenings to my friend, Gin. She asked if it occurred on Friday night. I informed her that she was correct in that it was Friday night, but why did she ask? Gin replied that Friday night, she woke up in the middle of the night with me on her mind. She thought this was a little strange because she had not talked with me for a while. She felt the urgency to pray for me right then.

I was so comforted to know that the Lord not only protected me but also woke someone in the night so that she could intercede in prayer on my behalf. Interceding for someone before the Lord is one of the biggest responsibilities as well as privileges we have as believers. Gin is definately gifted and practiced in this area of her Christian walk.

Thursday, December 01, 2005

The Interview

Yesterday was a crazy day. Brock performed in Alabama last night, so I took him to the airport at around noon. On our way to the airport, we received the call that Brock had the phone interview with AP that afternoon. From that point on, he was on the phone with our office and publicist until he got on the plane. Then, he landed at around 3 something, had to drive 45 minutes to get to the show and pull over to have his interview all before 6pm.

He did it though. The interview went really well. Brock said that he was nervous (Brock rarely gets nervous.) The interview was supposed to last 15 minutes and ended up being about 45. I think that's a good sign. He asked Brock about 50 questions. Brock said that the guy was really excited about it and seemed to be interested in the show. Therefore, Brock thinks the guy will write a positive story. The way it works is that the Associated Press is at the top. They send out the information that goes to all of the media. For example, the people at the Today Show will see the story. Now, whether they choose to follow up on it or even read it is another story. This is what we need to pray about.

Before I dropped Brock off at the airport, I called one of my best friends that lives in Tyler, TX (about 3 or 4 hours away from my parents' house). She is a prayer warrior, so I definately wanted her to pray. Since I didn't know if she had access to internet lately, I called her. She was in Houston at the time. To my surprise, we were able to eat lunch together. She was having a big day career wise as well. The timing was incredible. We have a neat connection in prayer. I'll post the story tomorrow that will show you how wonderful of a prayer partner she is...