Sunday, October 31, 2010

Pics from Las Vegas

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PhotobucketVegas at sunrise.

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PhotobucketThis was where I was sitting when I met Maya.

PhotobucketOne of our favorite places...the Creperie in Paris.

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PhotobucketInside the NY, NY

PhotobucketInside the Venetian.

PhotobucketSome of the new area called City Center.

PhotobucketThere were lots of these tornado things inside the City Center...very cool.

PhotobucketThis is made of tons of jelly beans.

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PhotobucketOne of the best shows I've ever seen!

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PhotobucketNow that's a big chair!

Friday, October 29, 2010

The Butterfly Circus

I watched a very inspiring short film last night. Go here to watch the Butterfly Circus. You won't be sorry.

Tuesday, October 26, 2010

Giving What I Am Asked

The way I handle giving to the poor is that I give them whatever they ask for if I am capable. Therefore, if someone walks up to me and asks me for $.50 for bus fee or a couple of bucks for a burger, I give it to them, no more and no less. I consider that if someone comes into my life and asks me specifically for something, that’s the Lord who placed them in my life. Do they use the money on alcohol after I leave the picture? I don’t know. However, I can only hope not. Ever since I decided to do this, every single person who has come up to me has not just asked me for money. They have been specific about the amount. Also, I have always seemed to have the money on me.

The first morning in Vegas, I awoke very early due to the time change. I decided to go out on the strip and find a place to do my Bible study. At 7am, the strip was very lonely. The only people on the strip were joggers and those few who are still up from the night before. I found a park bench along the sidewalk just outside of NY, NY that was quiet. I had barely sat down when I heard, “Excuse me.” I looked up to see a young, thin African American woman in her 20’s approaching me. I knew she was talking to me since I was the only other person in the vicinity. I began to wonder what she was going to ask me for. She was well dressed with a bubbly voice, so I did not suspect her to be homeless. A couple of bucks would not cut it for this girl. I happened to have about $70 in my pocket just in case I needed a cab or something…sort of a safety measure. Well, this was going to be a test of my faith, because I usually don’t carry this amount of cash. What did this girl need? Did she lose all of her money gambling, and need a bus ticket back home to who knows where? Was she robbed and need a cab back to her hotel? Cabs were expensive in this town. All that I had on me was my Bible, wallet, and a little water left in a water bottle I was sipping on.

The girl walked over and sat down next to me on the bench. She introduced herself as Maya. That’s my niece’s name, so it was easy for me to remember. Maya was smoking a cigarette and began telling me what happened last night. She had a fight with her boyfriend and snuck out of her hotel room. She does not normally drink, but was so mad that she drank all night and was still drunk. She doesn’t normally smoke either, but she was trying to get rid of the alcohol smell. Her boyfriend was coming to pick her up shortly and they were leaving town. She said, “I am so drunk right now, and I don’t want him to know. Could I have a sip of your water? I won’t put my mouth on the bottle.” This was what she wanted? I gave her the water and wished her well, praying for her on and off for the rest of the trip. Most of the time, I give a dollar or two. This day, I shared my water with a girl named Maya.

Monday, October 25, 2010

Trip to Las Vegas

We go to Las Vegas every now and then to be inspired for our show. It is the live show capitol of the world. We watch all kinds of shows and learn from them. Brock attends magic conferences there as well. This was the case last week. We went to Vegas in order for Brock to attend a conference. I went to see several shows. This was what my day looked like. I would wake up, go running for 30 minutes on the strip, go jump in the pool at the hotel, get ready back in the room, go walk 30 minutes to see a show, walk another 30 minutes to meet Brock at some attraction on the strip after his conference, walk another 30 minutes back to our hotel. I figure I spent at least 2 hours a day just walking. Most of it I did alone.

I know this sounds strange, but I tend to feel close to the Lord in Vegas. Maybe it’s because every worldly temptation is at your fingertips there. Instead of luring me into the temptations, it makes me run the other way toward the Lord. I pray the entire time I am walking. Talk about prayer walking, the Vegas strip is the ultimate place to do it. Everyone seems to have a story there. They are desperate for money and decided to put it all on black. They are young and trying to have “a little fun.” They are there on a business trip and are trying to move up in the company. They are getting married and decide to elope to Vegas instead of being married in a church in front of friends and family. There are so many stories, so many lives, so many prayer needs. Sometimes I find out their story, other times I don’t. Next post, I will tell you the story of a girl I met while I was there.

Thursday, October 21, 2010

Conversation with Mr. and Mrs. Gary Chapman

Gary Chapman, the author of "The Five Love Languages," and his wife were on the cruise. We really connected with them, because Brock reminded them so much of their son. We were all waiting for the bus to take us to the airport when the bus broke down. This is the conversation we had with Gary Chapman and his wife:
Brock: "We could hitchhike."
Mrs. Chapman: "Does anyone pick up hitchhikers anymore?"
Brock: "I do every now and then."
Mrs. Chapman: "That doesn't surprise me because it sounds just like my son. One time, I called him when he lived in Michigan by himself and a guy named George answered. When my son got on the phone, I asked him, 'Who is George?' He said, 'Mom, it's 9 degrees here and George is one of my street friends. I could not leave him out in this cold weather.'"
Me: "Brock had a homeless man stay with him in his dorm room when he was in college."
Brock: "Only for a semester."
All four of us laughed.

Tuesday, October 19, 2010

Cruise Pics

PhotobucketGrandeur of the Seas by Royal Caribbean is the boat we were on.

PhotobucketBrock playing in the water in Cozumel.

PhotobucketParadise

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PhotobucketThe midnight buffet

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PhotobucketCoco Cay island in the Bahamas

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Sunday, October 17, 2010

Cruise

The guys who put on Christian cruises asked if we could come and help out with one. We said, "Sure!" So, last Monday, we flew into Cozumel, Mexico and jumped on the ship. It was a fun cruise. We did not have to do a show, we simply had to make sure everyone was doing well and try to answer their questions.

About 350 people on the cruise were attending a conference for marriage counselors, and these were the people who we were helping out. The speakers there were Gary Chapman, Gary Smalley, Dan Seimore, and others. I sat in on some of the sessions and found it interesting.

The first night, they had a reception for the leaders of the conference. We all got there right after dinner. They had some food present, but we were all so full from dinner. There really was not anything to do, so we were sorta sitting in a circle looking at each other. Then, Gary Chapman's wife, who is funny, said, "Who are these two? We don't know them," pointing at us. Roy, the leader of the cruise introduced us and asked if Brock could show the group something. He brought that party to life with some card tricks and other bonding stuff. It was fun! I will show you pictures from the cruise later.

Wednesday, October 13, 2010

Fun in San Antonio

We ate some wonderful barbecue at Rudy's.Photobucket

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PhotobucketBrock went riding motorcycles with some guys through the mountains.

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PhotobucketWhile Lindsey and I went to the River Walk.

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PhotobucketLindsey ate true Tex Mex for the first time.

Tuesday, October 12, 2010

Chick-Fil-A show

We performed at a show put on by Chick-Fil-A. It made me realize how unique our life is. This was part of our act:The guy who popped out is Chick-Fil-A executive Bubba Cathy.

Some break dancers came to perform at the show as well. They did not know that they had to wear cow costumes while they danced until they got to the venue. That really through them for a loop! How could they break dance with a heavy cow costume on? It was interesting.

Monday, October 11, 2010

Invitation in San Antonio

I will remember last night forever! Brock had just given the crowd of 1,700 a beautiful invitation to follow Christ. He asked the ones who wanted to do that to exit the building to talk with some people from the church about it. The room in which the people were going to was backstage, so they had to walk right past me to get there. They began pouring out of the room! As they stood to receive Jesus into their lives, the people remaining in the audience began clapping, and cheering, and shouting for joy! It took a whole 5 minutes for everyone to file out, and the crowd continued to clap and cheer the entire time. I feel like I got a glimpse of what goes on in heaven when someone surrenders their life over to the Lord.

I could not stop the tears. It had been a big week...15 shows and travel back and forth to Texas. I was very tired, but all of that was forgotten as I watched the Lord changing people's lives right there in front of my eyes!

Castle Hills First Baptist Church has been so amazing this week! They were so helpful and I could feel the prayers. We all linked arms together and reached out to this community in the San Antonio area to show God's love to them. It was a sight to see. I will share testimonies with you later.

Saturday, October 09, 2010

A Desparate Woman, Salesclerk, and a Veteran

Thursday, I was feeling rather rough. With every move, pain shot up through my back. We did 3 school shows and were beat. We drove over to Guitar Center to pick up something for the show. I decided to walk to the store in the next parking lot while Brock went into Guitar Center. As I walked, a lady came running up to me. "Can you help me?" she asked. She told me her story about how her car had broken down and it was in the shop but she needed money to get a ride home. She was short around $10. I listened to her, and gave her $10. I didn't know if I believed her story, but something I heard from Andy Stanley has given me clear vision for this sort of thing. He said that if you are able, you should give whatever anyone asks of you. (He said a lot more than that, and explained it more thoroughly and eloquently but I don't have time to go into it. Go here if you want to listen to the message.) That freed me up. I am not as discerning as Brock, so when he is not with me, I cannot tell if someone is taking advantage of me or not. I guess I don't mind if they do. Of course, I invited her to the show. I don't think she came though.

Then, I went into the store I had my eye on...World Market. They have great chocolate from all over the World! As I was checking out, the cashier began talking with me. He asked me where I was from and what I was doing here. I told him about our show and invited him to come. He told me that he was from Germany and loved magic. However, he was not religious. I told him that it was okay. He could still come. I don't know if he did or not since I told him he might want to sit in the back and duck out when it came time for the message (of course I was hoping he would not leave but stay and hear it).

Later that evening, Brock and I went down to the hot tub at our hotel. I thought it would help loosen up my back (and Brock's for that matter). An 86 year old man came up to us and began chatting with us. We found out that he had survived 46 missions in the Air Force during World War II. He had some fascinating stories. He came home after his service and ended up marrying a German girl. I meet some interesting people on the road!

Friday, October 08, 2010

Pics from Missouri and Iowa Trip

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PhotobucketA chocolate shop in Springfield, MO.

PhotobucketThis is one of the best chocolate places we have ever been to. Their bars are amazing!

PhotobucketIndian restaurant we went to in Fairfield, IA.

PhotobucketThe chocolate shop we went to in Fairfield, IA.

PhotobucketSome of the cars at the car show in IA.

Thursday, October 07, 2010

Big Weekend in San Antonio

Well, it's already begun. We are doing a big outreach here in San Antonio. The minute we got here, I pulled a muscle in my back trying to get our big suitcase out of the truck. I have strained a muscle in my back a couple times in the last month. However, it's never been as bad as last night. I think I am trying to compensate for Brock's back not being completely healed up yet. I've been lifting objects too heavy for me. Anyway, it made the 3 shows we did today very difficult. We have another 3 shows tomorrow.

Then, I was putting together our new backdrop and one of the poles flew up into my face! It hit my front tooth chipping it slightly. It's not very noticeable, but I can tell.

We have 7 more shows here, and I am excited about it. They had a really good prayer night about it Wednesday. Often, we experience opposition at big outreaches like this. Therefore, I consider having a rough day physically as evidence of the wonderful things God wants to do spiritually in this community. Pray that the Lord will protect us from Satan's attack and that He will do a mighty work here. I will tell you how all of the shows went later.

Tuesday, October 05, 2010

Pics from Graceland

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PhotobucketElvis was a very interesting man. He has sold over a billion albums worldwide. That's amazing! We could only tour the first floor of his house. He never let any guests come upstairs. That was an area that was private. However, when he did come downstairs, he was decked out in the clothes he wore onstage and all of his chains. He entertained people at his home often. It sounds like he was always performing unless he was upstairs at Graceland.