Sunday, April 30, 2006

Prayer Requests

We're at a rest area where we slept for the night and it happens to have wireless internet. That's cool.

I just wanted to ask everyone to pray. I'm sick with a terribly soar throat and fever. I woke up yesterday feeling rough. On the day that I was supposed to be able to take off and relax with my family, I got sick. It seems lately that when I get sick, it's when we have time off. Therefore, I never really get a good time off. I think that my body is burning out physically. For some reason, it cannot take life on the road like it used to. I know that it's hard on your body, but I want to be able to do this for several more years. We're having a meeting with the guys in our office Monday morning about our scheduling. Pray that it goes well.

Also, pray for this investment we made a few years ago. It seems to be going sour if something doesn't happen soon. Pray for wisdom and a miracle in this area.

Saturday, April 29, 2006

Day With Family

The show last night went well. The beginning was wierd. You can read Brock's blog about that. My parents and sister came to the show. That was fun. This morning, the four of us went to breakfast. This afternoon, all of us will go to our favorite Mexican food place for lunch. Tonight, we're going out to dinner with Brock's sister and brother. That will be fun too. I'm excited to spend the day with family.

Thursday, April 27, 2006

Long Day

For some reason, today was a hard day. Nothing seemed to be going right. It wasn't anything big but a lot of little things compiled together. I've been noticing that Satan has been doing that often. Right before a show, he distracts us with stress---problems that arise just before the show. I finally recognized it today and decided that I wasn't going to stand for it anymore. Even if I need to pray for a smooth day everyday, I'll do it.

Then, tonight as Brock was giving the beautiful gospel and I watched the sea of people from my spot in the balcony focused on what was being said, I realized that it was worth it. It is worth the stress of live show. It's worth the hard life on the road. It's worth the foreign and unventured lifestyle. It's worth it just to be able to share the hope we have in Jesus Christ.

When over 70 people gave their lives to Christ tonight, I thought that it was more than worth it. I'm so undeserving to be able to see this as much as I do.

Wednesday, April 26, 2006

United 93

Some "leaders of the community" were asked to screen the movie United 93. Brock and I were able to go to the screening last night. It is a movie based on the events of 9/11. It focused on United Airlines Flight 93 that went down in Pennsylvania missing its target of the Capitol. The movie was very well done. It was done in real time. Many of the air traffic control people played themselves. I heard that the pilots and flight attendants were not actors but actual airplane personnel. Also, I saw one of the main actors in an interview the other day and he said that the script was very loose. They stated everything that was accurately known that happened and the order of events. Other than that, the actors just reacted to what was happening instead of having a script showing exactly what was to be said.

However, the movie is very disturbing. I cried and my stomach hurt throughout the film. It definately wasn't an uplifting movie. I almost wish it were not so realistic. I wanted to see the people on Flight 93 portrayed even more as heroes.

I learned some things about 9/11 that I didn't know especially what chaos was happening on the ground in air traffic control and such. People were saying that it's too soon to bring out this movie and I thought that it's been 5 years. If you wait any longer, it might be forgotten. After watching it, I realized that we will never forget and maybe it is too soon. I don't know if I'd recommend it. You relive the most tragic day in America's history and it's not fun.

Tuesday, April 25, 2006

Motocross Ministry

Saturday after Brock had done this amazing stunt with his dirtbike, he gave a message we call "It's Worth It." Basically, he tells about how he does all of these crazy stunts and escapes in order to earn the right to share the gospel. Some may say that it is stupid to do this, but Brock says that it's worth the risk. He then shares that the students sometimes have to risk things such as their reputation and friends in order to share their faith with others. However, it's worth it. Once you have the privilege to lead someone to Christ, you understand why it's worth it!

After we had packed everything up and were on our way out, a lady came up and said that the Lord used Brock that day. She and her husband have a motocross team in Kentucky. They minister to all sorts of people through this race team. One rider was paralyzed recently due to a motorcycle accident. She had begun to think about quitting this ministry because she was concerned that others would get hurt including her sons who ride. Brock's message encouraged her that it was worth it.

Monday, April 24, 2006

Busy Day at Home

Yesterday was a busy day at home. Actually, we didn't make it home until last night. Saturday night, we drove from Indiana to Nashville. It was going to be a late night, but not too late. We stopped at a restaurant and got our food to go to speed up the process. Everything was going well until we got to Louisville, KY. They shut down the interstate for the Derby or something. Who completely shuts down an interstate in a large city? Apparently Kentucky does. After going only one mile in 30 minutes on the "detour," we decided to take our own detour. We took back roads. It was an hour and a half out of the way, but we would probably still be sitting on that interstate right now if we would have stayed there!

Then, we dropped Stephy off and went to the Franklin Walmart parking lot. We stayed there in the truck for the night because it was after 1am and we had to be at our church right down the road at 8am. Brock did another opening for the service yesterday morning. You can watch it on pclive.org.

We rushed out of church in order to make it to our friends' baby shower. It was more like a picnic. Guys and girls attended and it was fun. However, since I was bringing the drinks and such, we were in a hurry. We left there at around 3:30 or so and went back to the truck in order to get ready for that night. Brock spoke last night at a singles gathering for our church. Finally, we were able to go home and both crash!

Saturday, April 22, 2006

No More Goodbyes

Today is our last day of the conference tour that we are on. Therefore, everyone is saying goodbye. However, because of our lifestyle, goodbyes don't exist for us. Chances are, we'll see you again at another show in another state or whatever. We see people that we went to college with or high school with very often. We see people we've worked with more and more. Whenever we go to Texas, Louisiana, or Florida, we make a point to see friends and family. Brock always says, "See you next time." That's the phrase that I've adopted. It's not as sad as goodbye.

Thursday, April 20, 2006

Out Again

We leave early tomorrow morning to go to Indiana for our last Believe conference tour date. We'll perform tomorrow night and Saturday morning and afternoon. Then, we'll drive home that night. Sunday is a busy day too. I'm hosting a baby shower after church and Brock is speaking to the singles Sunday night. I guess we'll crash again Monday. Pray that this weekend is a good one!

Relaxing Day

Yesterday was the most relaxing day I've had in a long time. It was great! I began the day eating breakfast on the front porch. We have two rocking chairs from Cracker Barrel with a lobster crate that we purchased while we were in Maine that serves as a place to rest our drink or book on. The crate is positioned in between the two chairs with candles adorning it for the nightime.

We both worked out in the yard for most of the afternoon. I mowed while Brock trimmed and such. It was supposed to rain, but it did nothing of the sort. It was a gorgeous day. I enjoyed being outside.

After we'd finished the yard work, we took a quick ride on our dirtbikes. Then, we went back to our usual spot on the front porch. I asked Brock if we would be doing what we were doing right then...sitting in our rocking chairs on the porch when we were old. He said, "I sure hope so."

Wednesday, April 19, 2006

Being Jesus to Me

Yesterday, the Lord did some wonderful things for me to show me how much He loves me. He sent me encouraging e-mails. He sent me a care package in the mail. He offered to pay for some medical surgery I need. He pleaded for prayer for me online. If you did any of this for me yesterday, you were being Jesus to me. All of these things happened in one day, and I felt as if the Lord was beaming from the attention He gave me yesterday. It all went according to His plan.

You know what? It worked! Yesterday was the first day since I got home from Alaska that I did not have an inkling of pain. Many days before I would think that I was completely okay and then, at some point in the day, that old familiar uncomfortableness would begin to form. Yesterday, it did not even show up in the slightest! Pray that it's completely gone.

Tuesday, April 18, 2006

GMA Music Awards

To find out when the GMA Music Awards are airing in your area, go to gmamusicawards.com. It's a great show. It also had a great spirit about it. God truly gets all of the glory in the end!

Monday, April 17, 2006

Easter Sunday

During our Easter service yesterday morning, I thought about all of the services going on around the nation. I looked up and smiled to the Lord saying, "It's all about You." I heard Him tell me, "No, it's all about Me and you." I think that He craves that relationship with us so much that He doesn't just want us to tell Him how wonderful He is on Sunday and then go back to our normal lives. He wants us to focus on our relationship with Him. Plus, the resurrection is all about our relationship with Him. He did it, so now I can have a connection and relationship with Him and the Father. Yesterday, during worship, it was all about us!

After church, we went to our friends' house, Ben and Kara, and had a wonderful lunch. Kara grew up in Pennsylvania, so she made some northeastern dishes that I'd never had before. It was yummy! Then, Brock and I brought the dessert. Guess what we brought? Our chocolate fountain. It was fun! We sat out on their back patio for most of the day. Then, we went for a walk around their neighborhood. They had tivod the Dove Awards, so we got to watch it together. Then, it was back out on the patio until we left at around 10pm. What a great Easter!

Sunday, April 16, 2006

Calling Your Name

This morning, I read the account of the first appearance of Jesus to anyone after the resurrection. It was when He went to Mary Magdalene and she had mistaken Him as a gardener at first (Luke 20:14-18). Then, when He said her name, she knew that it was Him.

Why would He first appear to a women who was an ex-demoniac? In our special on the Discovery Channel, they decided that the fact that the first eye witnesses were women made it more believable. If the disciples had made the entire thing up, they would have used more credible witnesses.

Also, in Mark E. Moore's book Encounters With Christ, he states that this particular encounter reflects our own personal encounter with Christ. Whenever all hope is gone, He calls our name and pierces through the darkness to our very soul. The fact that Mary was a lowly woman and had a flawed past only goes to show that all are welcome to come to Christ.

If you have never had that personal encounter with the Savior, maybe He is calling your name right now.

Saturday, April 15, 2006

Day Off

Yesterday started out rough. I wanted to take the entire day off, but there were things I had to do. For example, I had to wash clothes or else we would have nothing to wear this weekend. Then, I had to do the bills because they were due by the 15th. The same goes for our taxes which we thought might have been messed up. It wasn't a messup, but we're not getting as much money back as I expected. All of these things did not create a relaxing beginning to our happy fun day.

However, Brock and I went for a walk in the woods near our house. Then, I placed Sheryl Crow, the second disc of the FooFoo Fighters, and Dido in my cd player and put it on random. I played the mellow music and sat on the porch for the remainder of the day. At dinner time, we went to a little place in downtown Franklin and got salmon and a vegetarian plate. It was good. Then, since the weather was so nice, we walked around the quaint downtown area. Of course, we bumped into so many people that we knew. It was fun! We topped it off with a visit to the Cocoa Tree. There fondue is back in season and we ate it up! Our friends, Ben and Kara, met us there. We stayed until they closed and then went out to their car and listened to music until about midnight.

Today, we are going to ride our dirtbikes at a place close to our house that has a track and trails. Tonight, we are going to our friend's birthday party. It should be fun!

Friday, April 14, 2006

We're Home

It's so good to be home! My stomach was hurting me a little again yesterday afternoon, but as soon as I got home, it went away. This trip I've seen the most change in seasons. When we got home, spring was in the air. It's so green and some trees have purple and white blumes.

Brock had to do some work on his dirtbike with a friend's help. The helper would only be in town yesterday and today. I told Brock that he had to do it last night because today is reserved for a happy fun day for the two of us.

While Brock was gone, I sat on my rocking chair on the porch just soaking up the air until dark. Then, I went inside and fell asleep on the couch around 8pm! I slept 11 hours last night. We're trying to make some changes in our booking so that we don't have such hard schedules out on the road. I hope it works!

Thursday, April 13, 2006

Day 3 of FX

We had 3,200 people in attendance last night and 117 first time followers of Christ. Everything went smoothly last night except that the water for the water coffin was colder than it's ever been. It stung my hands just when I was chaining Brock up, so I know that it affected him. He did it successfully though! It was a great Freedom Experience. The leaders of the local churches here were exceptional to work with. Now, we drive home today for a whole week off. Yea!!!

Wednesday, April 12, 2006

Encouragement Just When I Needed It

Mark Moore is a professor at a college in Missouri. He is also a writer and speaker. He's on tour with us right now and he is such a blessing. He seems to listen to the Holy Spirit and know just what to say or do at just the right moment. What he did today was no exception.

Even though things are going so well at this Freedom Experience and the Lord is doing some wonderful things, it doesn't change the fact that this is our 14th day in a row of hard work. So, just as I was feeling tired and homesick, Mark calls Brock and asks if I'm around. We listened on the speaker phone as Mark and his entire class prayed for me and Brock. Then, the students got on the phone individually and told me who they were and encouraged me. It went on for a solid ten minutes. It is so sweet of the Lord to know just when to encourage me and uses people (some of them complete strangers) miles away to do it.

Tuesday, April 11, 2006

Day Two of FX

Tonight we had 2,500 people there and 98 first time salvations. Praise the Lord! The stage is sorta slanted and our props keep rolling toward the front of the stage. It's hilarious. I had to put my shoes in front of some wheels in order to keep it from rolling. We had a breaker go out tonight and one light tree and the light board went out for a short while, but nobody seemed to notice. Does anyone know how one light tree could stay on if the light board was out of power? It was a mystery to me how the other light tree could keep on burning without a board. Everything went smoothly except for that. It was a great night!

Day One of FX

Yesterday was the toughest day. After doing 11 straight days of shows or hard travel, I was done. Honestly, I'm still done. I'm tired of people and I got a cold shower this morning, so I'm tired of hotels as well.

At some points in the day yesterday, all three of us felt as if we would fall over. Stephy did an excellent job of keeping on even though she was tired. Brock was so exhausted Saturday night (almost at the point I was at on the way back from Alaska) that I drove most of the way to Kentucky on Sunday. So, that made me extra tired yesterday. After the second school assembly, I had to go into the truck and rest. Brock and Stephy took up the slack and organized load in. Then, I went in and helped while they took a break. We had to help each other out in order to physically make it through the day.

Last night during our prayer time before the show, I asked everyone to pray for strength for us. I was thinking of that verse that I posted a couple of days ago. If we're not mentally sharp when it comes time to do our show, things can go really wrong. However, me and Brock both felt a renewed sense of stamina whenever it came time to do our part. 1100 people showed up for the first night and 104 people gave their lives to Christ for the first time last night. So, it was all worth it!

Monday, April 10, 2006

Freedom Experience in Pleasureville, KY

Pray for us. We're still rather tired from California, our big week, and Atlanta. We start early today with two school shows and then to set up (which takes a few hours). We do our show tonight. Yesterday, we had a flat tire and our truck wouldn't start. It took almost two hours to get our truck jumped off. Then, we ran into traffic, so we missed the prayer service last night. The bmx team got in late last night, so we are all tired. Pray that this week is great and effective!

Saturday, April 08, 2006

Isaiah 40:28-31

"The Lord is the everlasting God, the Creator of the ends of the earth. He will not grow tired or weary, and his understanding no one can fathom. He gives strength to the weary and increases the power of the weak. Even youths grow tired and weary and young men stumble and fall; but those who hope in the Lord will renew their strength. They will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not be faint."

Friday, April 07, 2006

Feeling Well

I feel really good. I guess after two weeks of feeling awful, I'm not taking my painfree days for granted anymore. I really feel sorry for people who are sick for an extended period of time. Please pray for my friend, Mandee. She has had stomach problems for over a year and hurts everyday. She's lost a dangerous amount of weight. Nobody seems to know how to diagnose her. Thank you for your prayers for me. I feel like I'm completely healed now.

Thursday, April 06, 2006

Sharing Stories about our Adventures

Tonight, Brock's parents came in with the truck. While we flew home on Sunday from California, they were driving our truck back home this whole time. Brock grilled some chicken and his famous apples and pineapple. We sat around the table for hours hearing about all of their adventures on the way home. They stopped by the Grand Canyon which is so amazing that you cannot even describe it. We'd been telling them that they needed to see it and they finally did. Then, we told them all of the details about our week at GMA.

Tomorrow, we leave early in the morning for Atlanta. Then we go straight to Kentucky to do a Freedom Experience. It's going to be a crazy week for us. Pray that we will have the strength to get through it. We're still worn out from our California trip and GMA week.

The GMA Music Awards

Last night was like a dream. Brock was presenting one of the awards during the telecast portion of the night, but we didn't know which award. We tried to get to the venue in time for our rehearsal and was a little late, so I dropped Brock at the door. Then, I went to park along with our manager and Stephy came a little later. After carrying in a few props and placing them backstage (one of them being my coffee table from home), I found out that Brock was in "his dressing room." I had no idea that it was going to be like that! I thought there would be a big green room but only a few dressing rooms for the performers. No, we had our own dressing room right next to Michael Sweet!

Then, we discovered that Brock was giving away the biggest award of the night...artist of the year! Not many Christian musicians get to present at the Dove's, so it was an honor to be able to do that.

I felt really good last night. I had gone to the doctor and received medicine, so my stomach is not bothering me anymore. I didn't have any zits or anything at the time. Thanks to being sick and Brock's healthy eating tips, I had lost some weight. I was clad in a beautiful dress that Brock picked out in LA and accessories that my little fashion consultant, Kara, helped me find here in Nashville. I was complimented on my dress a lot and my jewelry and my shoes. BarlowGirl really liked my dress and they're so cool, so that was awesome. Kirk Franklin was passing by and stopped to tell me that I had a "very beautiful dress."

Brock presented the very last award, so we waited a long time. He got slightly nervous during the wait (he usually never gets nervous). He presented with Shirlie Ceasar a legend in Gospel music. Of course, Brock couldn't just give an award away. He had to add a little magic. I'll let you watch it on TV, but it involved a bowling ball. He also singed every hair off of his hand in the process, and at one point, Shirlie Ceasar took off running from him. It was hilarious. Everyone loved it! I was so proud of my husband last night.

One of the coolest parts is that he was able to give the Dove to Chris Tomlin. We've known him for years. Tomlin even commented that it was cool to receive an award from Brock because we worked together back when nobody knew either one of their names. Last night Tomlin was able to receive the highest honor and Brock was able to give it. What a night!

Tuesday, April 04, 2006

Word Showcase

Right now I'm at the Word Showcase. Brock's been hosting the night. I'm sitting at the sound board because I'm making sure the lights, sound, and video look good for Brock. He's going on in between the bands and doing some volunteer tricks as the stage crew sets up for the next band. So far, we've had 8 bands perform including Plum. Building 429 is onstage now. Brock will introduce BarlowGirl next. He's done a great job so far. Being an emcee at something like this is tough because it's so unpredictable. Brock is great at winging it! Gotta go! Brock is about to be on...

Monday, April 03, 2006

GMA Week

We began our GMA (Gospel Music Association) week today. This week is where everyone from the Christian music industry gathers in one area of Nashville and has meetings, interviews, showcases, etc. Most musicians don't enjoy it very much because they have interviews all day long without much of a break. However, we don't have too many and since we are not musicians, we are not in any competition with anyone here. I think it's fun. I get to see people we've worked with but haven't seen in a while.

Today, Brock performed for the Logan TV show. He was a guest as well as Kristal Myers. She is really cute and nice. He did a card trick using her and the host. Then he did a trick with someone from the audience's key. It was good.

Then, we went to the next interview with Breakaway magazine. It went well. We were done after that. We were able to hang out, go eat dinner, and stop by the Cocoa Tree for some chocolate on the way home.

The Craziness Continues

We didn't see any stars while we were in LA this time. However, when we got home, we saw Colin Farrell at the Nashville airport. Isn't that ironic? He had an arrogant walk. However, he was by himself. I would have thought that he would have an entourage.

Brock and I were starving, so we went to some of our favorite locations for lunch. Hardly any of our normal spots were open at 3pm on Sunday. It had begun to rain. We finally reached Wolf Gang Puck Express and I ran inside. Right after I got inside the storm began. It was crazy! The wind began to pick up speed. We watched from inside the restaurant as a big planter was picked up and swung across the parking lot into the Starbucks drive-thru. Did any of the people going through the drive-thru stop? No, they went around the planter that was rolling around in the lane in order to get that latte!

I'm looking out of the wall of windows and I hear Brock yelling at me to get away from the window. He had determined that a tornado was overhead. The wind was going in a circular motion. Luckily, it didn't touch down at that time. The craziness continues in Nashville.

Sunday, April 02, 2006

New Friends in California

We ate some interesting food this weekend. Friday night we had Indian food. The service and the food was great! Yesterday for lunch we had authentic mexican food. They didn't speak much English. I finally tried one of those shrimp cocktails that I always see the Mexicans eating at places like that. It was good.

Last night, we went to an Iranian place. A guy that owned the rental car place where Brock got his car the previous day came and picked us up and took us to eat. The food was so good...shish kebobs galore! They even had a belly dancer for entertainment.

The guy who took us out was very sweet. He was a governor in Iran and held other high political positions. During the Iranian revolution, he escaped from the country and has been here ever since. He had an incredible story.

When we returned to our hotel, a wedding reception was going on in one of the rooms. I told Brock that I've always wanted to crash a wedding, and before I knew it, we were on the dance floor with all of the other guests. Brock said that we were friends of Maurene which was the name of the bride posted up somewhere.

Saturday, April 01, 2006

Quick Decisions

This weekend, we had to make a lot of quick decisions. As Stephanie and stage hands were putting one of larger illusions onstage, it caught the big video screen. It would not fit under the screen. One of the staffers was freaking out saying that she didn't know what to do because she didn't know how to fix it. I looked at the problem and immediately decided that it was not fixable, and therefore decided to scratch it. Meanwhile, Brock is onstage ready to do this illusion. I walked near the stage and pointed to the straight jacket. Brock nodded slightly and didn't miss a beat. He went on to do straight jacket instead.

Later, we went to put paper on our grand finale illusion. We ran out of butcher paper at the last minute. So, I spent about 20 minutes taping together a bunch of pieces of typing paper. Something so simple as running out of paper could ruin a large trick. In about 95% of our shows something goes wrong. I've become accustomed to making quick decisions.