Happy Fun Times

Disney World with Dan


The Tower of Terror is my favorite ride!


Lounging at the beach with Shannon and Kyla


Sleeping on the beach


Hanging out on the beach with wonderful friends


Watching the space shuttle launch as we drive


Bumper boats!

Friends

Old Friends:


Brian and Stephanie Britt


Ronnie Jones


Tiger Coffman


Todd Prather and his family


The Godbeys


Present Friends


The girls at home


The group at a restaurant


Susan and Anna


Brock "chats" with Anna


New Friends




Barbara Makes a Goofy Face


Shannon and Barbara laugh


Us with Chris Orr's band and one of the Superwow staff, Therron


Us with Scott's band

Picture Memories

Since I finally know how to place pictures on my blog using a mac (thanks to Shannon and Frank), I decided to post pictures from this summer. Everyday this week you will see a recap of the summer so far using pictures. Hope you enjoy!







This is Big Stuff camp in Panama City Beach, FL. We did 9 shows with them this summer.


This is at LIFT camp in Lakeland, FL. We were there one week this summer.


We spent 3 full weeks at SuperWow in Fort Walton Beach, FL.


We thought that we would be smart this summer and pack everything into our pick-up truck instead of bringing our big semi truck everywhere. It was a bad idea! Not only did we look like the Beverly Hillbillies, but it kept raining and we'd have to get out and place tarps on everything! We will not make that mistake again!

Unplanned VS. Planned Time With Friends

The other day, after my family left, we went into Franklin to do some errands. We had some time to kill before we met all of our friends for dinner, so we went over to the girls' house in downtown Franklin. We then walked around downtown talking and catching up. A few minutes later, we saw one of our best friends. He is getting a new job in downtown Franklin. Then, another friend walked up. We simply strolled through Franklin talking and hanging out with whoever we saw. It was very organic how we got together during this time.

Then, we went to eat at PF Chang's and several people met us there...15 in all. It was very much planned. We had a great time together. Of course, we went to the Cocoa Tree afterward.

I liked seeing everyone for dinner especially since we were only in town for one day, but my favorite time was the unplanned time before dinner. I guess you need both times. If I didn't plan sometimes, I would never see the people that don't frequent downtown Franklin. I'm going to draw from the memory of that night while I'm away for this last stretch of 17 days.

Last Day of Camp

Yesterday, camp consisted of one final, brief service. Brock didn't even do anything except come onstage and tell everyone that he will be back here next year. I was praying that our truck would be all finished by the time we were done. The only phone call that we had received from them that morning was them telling us that they didn't know what was wrong and were taking it to another mechanic. However, I kept praying and some of you did as well. At the end of our time at the table, just as we were finishing up selling and hanging out, they called saying that the truck was done! Thanks to the Lord!

Shannon, Kyla, and I began tearing everything down while Brock and Gresham picked up the truck. They returned just when we were ready to load out. It worked out beautifully!

After we ate lunch with Gresham, Kyla, and Shannon, we told them goodbye. Then, we came back to our hotel and took a nap. We were so tired last night that we picked up some thai food and just stayed in all night. I took a nap yesterday and still slept 12 hours last night!

We are pretty much done now. We go to Daytona Beach tomorrow and then back to Panama City until we return home on the 23rd. During that time, we only have 2 shows...one on Tuesday and one on the following Monday. After being at camp and with people and simply being ON for the last 6 weeks, we are going to enjoy the time together...just the two of us.

Day 4 of Camp

So, we went to Starbucks again yesterday morning and got Kyla, Ross, AND Therron something. Then, we began our long morning. Brock performed a few illusions and then spoke about the students doing ministry. After the service, he was scheduled to lead an adult seminar. I was getting the stage cleared and gathering the supplies he needed for his seminar when I looked backstage and found Brock layed out on the ground. He was so exhausted that he couldn't move. I let him lie there as long as I could. I didn't know if he would be able to lead the seminar, but he did! He actually went longer than normal and did a really good job.

After that, we ate some food from the vegetable place. We hurried over to the beach for a couple of hours. I tried to relax, but I just couldn't. It's difficult for me to relax on days of shows. Plus, I'm the timekeeper. Everyone else kind of chills out because they know that I'm going to tell them when it's time to go.

We then went with Gresham to pick up our truck from the shop while Shannon and one of her friends took back the rental car. When we got to the mechanic, the truck wasn't finished. Brock waited there a little while in order to put pressure on them to finish the truck. They finally got it done by 5pm. However, when we drove it, it still had a bad noise coming from the rear of the truck. That's the whole reason we brought it in. So, we took it back to the shop and they are still working on it at the present time. Pray that they get it done. We absolutely have to have it by this afternoon. This is the 6th place that we have taken it! I'm so frustrated with it.

Last night, Brock performed two old tricks only he took them up a notch. In fact, he took them up several notches. It was great!

Day 3 of Camp

Yesterday, we began our morning with some Starbucks for Kyla, Shannon, and our new Scottish friend that is working our merch table, Ross. Therron, one of the SuperWow staff guys, was mad (not really) that we didn't get him anything.

Then, Brock performed a couple of illusions and spoke about the woman at the well from John 4. During our performance, we played Stephanie Smith's new song, Superstar, now available on itunes. She's good! He then did my favorite illusion currently. It's a new one that beautifully illustrates the living water.

After that, we went out to eat with our friends, Brian and Stephanie. Brock went to high school with Brian and we all went to college together. They brought their youth group to camp this week. It was fun except Brian had an accident on a skim board earlier and threw out his back. After lunch, he could barely walk. We took him to a chiropractor and forced him to get a massage. He felt a lot better after that!

After grabbing a quick nap, we went out to eat at our favorite thai place here. Therron went with us. Also, Gresham, our manager, came into town and met up with us for dinner. He's staying with us until tomorrow. Then, he'll drive Kyla and Shannon home with him.

We did a 15 minute set last night in which he did one of our best new illusions. It involves milk!

During his set, Shannon texted me and it simply said "Donut Hole!" Shannon, Kyla, and I ran out to the car and tried to go to the local bakery to get donuts without Brock finding out. (He's a health freak you know.) When we entered the backstage area, we saw no trace of Brock. Gresham told us that he was in the green room. We slipped past the green room and into our dressing room. All of a sudden, Kyla was screaming and she chunked the donuts under a desk. Brock grabbed them and tried to take them away from us. However, we finally got them back and enjoyed our treat!

As we were leaving to go get the donuts, we noticed one of the security guards dressed in normal clothing (not his uniform) leaving with his wife. He is a guy that Brock has been talking with about the Lord. We concluded that he came on his night off and took his wife to watch our part of the show! Brock told the clear gospel last night, so the security guard and his wife heard it. Pray for their salvation.

Day 2 of Camp

Yesterday was a crazy day! We left about 8am to go to the service. We did a few illusions and then Brock spoke. (He is the speaker in the morning services. They have a different speaker at night.) Then, we rushed Brock offstage and out to his merch table to hang out with people briefly. I whisked him away to lead a college seminar. At the same time that we were leading a seminar, Kyla and Shannon went to the store to buy us some beach supplies and pick us up some veggies from this home cooking place that has 15 different vegetables to choose from daily.

We quickly ate backstage and changed into our bathing suits. We drove to the closest beach and parked on the side of the road. There, we had a system. We had two chairs which we placed in the shallow water. We also had two floats which we would lay out on in the calm water. When we got tired of either, we would simply switch out. A loud voice over a bullhorn broke into our serenity. It was the sheriff. He wanted everyone who was parked on the side of the road to move. So, we moved to another place that had an actual parking area. We then proceeded to put our system back into place. Soon after we got settled, we watched a big semi truck get stuck in the sand. It only took a couple of hours and a weird kind of tow truck to get him out!

We then went home and got ready to go. At around 6pm, we grabbed some dinner at this little burrito place and went back to the venue. Brock performed a 15 minute set. After his set, we went to a place to ride bumper boats. Shannon, Kyla, and I road bumper boats and totally reverted back to about 3rd grade during the process. It was a blast! Brock went to Home Depot while we were playing. Then, we came back and Brock hung out with people at the table again. We went home (when I say "home" I mean our hotel) and went to bed.

First Day of Camp

I thought that I would walk you through our last full week of camp. Yesterday was the first day. We began our day in Panama City Beach, FL at Big Stuff. We performed one show at 11am. The show went great! The crowd was very enthusiastic and the Big Stuff staff knows exactly how to do our production after doing it 5 times this summer.

Then, we ate at the Israeli place and headed to Ft Walton Beach, FL to begin our week at SuperWow. We quickly loaded in. While Shannon and our friend, Kyla, set up the merch table, Brock and I went to drop off our truck. It needs some repairs. We have a rental car until it gets fixed. We've been trying to get it fixed for several weeks now. Hopefully, they will be able to do it here.

We then checked into our hotel and went back to the venue. We spent the rest of the afternoon preparing for the service. Brock did a 25 minute set on the first night. It went really well. This group is very attentive and fun. After that, we went across the street to get something to eat. We got back to the hotel at around 11pm. It was a very long but good day.

My Bible

In April of 2006, I felt like the Lord was telling me that I needed to give my Bible away. I was about to go on a trip that month, so I packed an extra one just in case. However, the time never came to give away my Bible.

So much time has passed between then and now. I've had so many people come in and out of my life. At times, I would ask the Lord if this was the time, or if this was the person to give my Bible to. It never was right. I began thinking that maybe I heard the Lord wrong. Maybe I was not supposed to give my Bible away.

Yesterday morning I woke up hearing the Lord. He told me that now was the time to give away my Bible. He wanted me to give my Bible to Barbara. I don't know why He informed me of it so long ago. Maybe He wanted to see if I'd be patient (a trait that I'm not good at). Sometimes, He does things differently than we think that He would. He can do whatever He wants! He's GOD.

A Girl Named Barbara

We are in Texas! Since we went to college in Texas and even lived near Houston for a while, we were able to see some old friends. We saw a guy from college that I haven't seen in years! Today, we are about to see the first person I met at college, Tiger.

However, my attention was mostly on a person that I just met yesterday evening. As Shannon and I were working on something out in the entryway, a cute girl shyly walked up. She looked familiar, but I didn't know who at first. Then, she began to talk with a thick, Spanish accent. It was Barbara! You may have seen her comment on our blogs every now and then.

Barbara lives in Mexico. She had taken a 24 hour bus ride to Dallas and was staying with her aunt. Then, she took a 6 hour bus ride from Dallas to Houston and then took a cab to our show. When she got to us, she told us that she was very nervous. She's never gone to an unfamiliar city by herself before. She came all that way to see our show. She sat on the front row with a big smile.

She saw us on the Discovery Channel and then began reading our blogs. Her English is rather good. At dinner, when Brock asked her how she learned English, she said that it was from reading his blog! She would look up the words that she didn't know and learn that way. She warms my heart so much.

Emotional

I'm having a very emotional day today. I'm packing up everything for 17 days. The hard part is that we are flying there, yet someone is driving our pick-up truck to meet us in Panama City Beach, FL. So, I must pack up everything for that week too. Then, I'm trying to make sure that everything we want to fly with is within the weight and size limits.

That's hard enough as it is. However, when you must say goodbye to your sister for who knows how long, it's tough! This is the last day that I'm going to see her before she goes to Peru. Honestly, I didn't think that it would be this difficult for me, but it is. I'm not used to seeing her everyday, but I've always known that I could at least call her. Plus, if I needed to get to her quickly, I could jump on a plane or drive there in a day. Peru is a long way away!

Please be praying for us as we fly to Houston tomorrow in order to do a show tomorrow night and three shows on Sunday morning. Then, we fly to Florida Sunday evening. We perform in Panama City Beach, FL Monday morning and then drive to Ft. Walton Beach, FL Monday afternoon to begin another full week of camp there. We need extra strength.

Judger or Perceiver

My sister and brother-in-law took a personality test while they were at their training camp to be missionaries. They paired up personality traits. One was either a "judger" or "perceiver." The judger plans everything and the perceiver just goes with the flow. We need both in this world. However, "judger" is such a negative sounding word.

Anyway, my parents are both very much judgers and Brock and Trent, my brother-in-law, are not at all. I think that my sister, Kay, is right down the middle. We discovered that I have split personalities because I'm either extremely planned or extremely spontaneous. I would rather not plan, but if nobody else does, I'm up for the challenge!

We kept teasing my parents because they kept "judging" on this trip while the rest of us were simply "perceiving." Which one are you?

My Village

I love my village. That's what we call our girls' group that gets together every Monday night for prayer and Bible study. Of course, I haven't been there the last few weeks, but I was able to talk with some of the girls Saturday. A couple of them were in desperate need of prayer. One of them updated me that she was doing very well in one aspect of her life. Another shared her concern for one of the other girls. That was just within the short time I had with them Saturday. I miss them so much. I pray for them whenever I can.

A few weeks ago, we were not getting through to the students at camp. Brock was onstage speaking and I was in a closet off to the side listening. I texted one of the girls to pray. I knew that our village was meeting at that time. Almost instantly, there was a turning point out in the audience. Brock felt it as well. What a special group of girls!

4th of July

Happy 4th of July!!! This is one of my favorite holidays. You get to have fun in the sun with friends and family. We are planning on hiking to a waterfall together and then joining some of our other friends for fireworks tonight. What are your plans?

Spending Time With Family

We left Sunday after church and went with my parents to a cabin in East Tennessee. My sister and brother-in-law met us there for a few days. They are leaving next week to be missionaries in Peru. It worked out that this is the week that they had to spend with us and it's the only week off that we have this summer. The Lord really had His hand in that!

Pray for my sister, Kay, and her husband, Trent, as they go do missions for a few years in South America. If you want to keep updated on how to pray for them and what they are doing, read their blogs on their website www.trentandkay.com.

Worlds Collide

Yesterday was our only day at home. Therefore, we went to the Cocoa Tree, of course. We've been craving it for sooo long. Some friends met us there. It was great to see people from my community.

Then, in walks my friends, Tiffany and Kevin, who I grew up with in Daytona. They live an hour away from here, so they don't get to the Cocoa Tree very often. The thing that was even more crazy was the fact that Kevin's sister, Rhonda, and her family from Maryland as well as Kevin's mom, Mrs. G, from Florida was with them! Rhonda and Mrs. Godbey had been reading about the Cocoa Tree on this blog, so they wanted to come.

A few minutes later, my parents, who are from Texas, came in. So, I had my friends from my present community, my family, and some friends that I grew up with several years ago.

About an hour after that, one of the guys from our office and his wife came in. He came in carrying a box of Brock's promo stuff. When Kevin saw it, he said, "This is Brock's office!"

Several worlds collided right there in the Cocoa Tree. It was great to be able to see everyone at one time in one place. To be our only day home, it was a good one!

Can't Break the Habit

Since I've been in the habit of getting up early every morning and going all day long, I couldn't just break that pattern today. I woke up early and began unpacking and washing clothes. I also started cleaning because my parents are coming into town this afternoon. Maybe in a couple of days I can truly begin relaxing.

I love being home though. After not being here for a month, it was an amazing feeling to open the door to HOME last night.

Brock's Parents' Week

We had a great time this week with Brock's parents. We went to Seaside. It's a great community where they filmed The Truman Show. We had some great cake there!

We went to some wonderful places to eat. We ate at a local Irish restaurant and two local seafood places. One place was right on the water and one was at a marina. We had good Thai food. There were 13 Thai places within a 3 mile radius. We counted them! We found the best one in town.

Brock's mom is parasailing right now as I type this! What a great week!

Difficult on the Psyche

We have been at camps each week for about a month now. There is one thing that I've noticed and remember from last year. It's hard to go from Friday of one week to Monday of the next week. On Friday, everyone treats you almost like a rock star at camp (in the pseudo world of camp, everyone onstage is equal to a movie star by the end of the week).

However, on Monday, you feel as if the students are saying, "Prove yourself to me!" On Tuesday, they are still checking you out.

We've noticed that on Wednesday morning, there is a turning point. By Wednesday night, the crowd is all about you. Last night, there were grown men jumping up and down asking Brock to use them onstage.

It's a funny thing how that works. At the beginning of every week, I think this group is not like the last one. They don't like us as much. By Wednesday night, I'm thinking that they love us and I love them too! It's a strange phenomenon that is difficult on the psyche.

Prayer in the Morning

I'm reading a book by David Cho, preacher of the largest church in the world. This is another book of his on prayer. He is an amazing person of prayer. I can tell that he is passionate about his readers (me) developing an awesome prayer life. In this book, he talks about getting up at 5am every morning to spend time in prayer with the Lord. He says that he doesn't set his alarm clock, the Lord just wakes him up almost as if to say, "It's time for you to talk with Me!"

After I read that, it seems as if the Lord has been waking me up early every morning in order to spend time with Him. Normally at camp, I just try to survive because the schedule is so hectic. I may get around to having some time with the Lord in the afternoon or whatever. Pastor Cho talks about the importance of praying first thing in the morning.

I've always prayed in the mornings like in the shower and stuff. Now, I'm making sure I have an extended time in prayer and Bible study as well. If I wait until the afternoon, I may not get around to it. Also, I've thought that I get soooo much time with the Lord at camp. We have two services a day and a seminar. However, there is a difference in corporate worship and that personal time with Him.

It's been really cool! I have more energy all day even though I'm getting up a little earlier.

Brock's Parents Visit

We just got finished performing a show here in Panama City Beach, FL at Big Stuff camp. I'm actually sitting backstage typing this right now. After we pack up, we will go eat lunch at our favorite Israeli place. Then, we will drive to Ft Walton Beach, FL to start a week of camp at SuperWow there.

I'm excited because Brock's parents are coming to Ft Walton this afternoon. They are going to be with us this week at camp. They'll get to see Brock perform some of his new illusions and they'll get to hear him speak. Plus, we'll take them to some great restaurants. They enjoy the art of eating and preparing food as much as Brock does!

Homesick

For the first time in my life, I'm a little homesick. Normally, I don't have many friends at home, but now, I do. I miss them. I'm not a good phone talker, so it is difficult for me to keep up with everyone while I'm on the road. During the week, I'm so busy with camp that I forget about everything else. Now, I have time to think and I realize that I miss my friends at home.

I had a dream last night. The reason that this dream was significant is that it took place in the house that I live in now. Until last night, my dreams ALWAYS took place in the house that I grew up in even though I haven't lived there in 15 years. I guess that my home in Nashville is truly home to me!

Fun Day

Today is going to be a fun day. We are going snorkeling with the SuperWow staff. Then, we'll eat somewhere tonight and go to an improv comedy act. It's going to be refreshing!

Drained

Camp is so draining. Brock speaks and does magic 3 or 4 times a day. Did you know that 25% of your physical exertion is your brain? Well, our brains are on overdrive. Also, 30 minutes onstage is equal to an eight hour work day physically. We've been onstage an average of 2 hours a day. This does not include the times that we are talking with people before and after each show.

When Brock speaks to the adults in their seminar, he tells them that you have three gauges in your life: PHYSICAL, EMOTIONAL, SPIRITUAL. You must make sure that they are full or else you are vulnerable to sin. Honestly, right now, I'm less than half full on all three of those gauges. I can feel it too. It's going to be difficult for me to go today and be "on." When everyone gets on your nerves, you know that it's YOU.

I need to make sure that I do whatever it takes to refill those areas in my life this weekend. That's the only way that I'll be able to make it through the next week!

Pseudo World

Camp is like a different world. When I am here, I cannot think about anything else. I want to call people from home and talk with them. However, I feel like I'm on "go" all the time.

Brock did call one of our friends the other day and put her on speaker phone. She was in the car with a couple of our other friends. It was fun to hear them all. I miss them! It's hard to believe that other people are continuing their days and lives.

Still, life goes on in this pseudo world of camp. We perform and speak at all of the morning services. Then, Brock speaks at a seminar for an hour. At night, we go on for about 20 minutes. Usually, in the afternoons, we crash! It's fun though. Tomorrow is the last day of this camp.

Little Dan's Adventures at Disney World

When we went to Disney World, we took a bobble head that we acquired at the previous camp around with us. We had different people take pictures with him and all kinds of stuff. Little Dan got his picture taken much more than us at Disney. Watch this slide show to see:

Superwow Camp

Yesterday went well. Shannon and Jessica worked really hard and got things done. We performed our show, ate lunch at our favorite Israeli place, and headed to Ft. Walton. Then, we had to pull over and place tarps all over the bed of our truck because it looked like rain ahead. It rained on us slightly on the way over. When we got to the venue, it was about to pour. We quickly unloaded everything under the covering at the loading dock just before it began to dump. We definitely got wet though!

I love SuperWow! Even though we are so different and have so many special requirements, they accommodate us. We are such a fit with them.


Please pray for us extra this morning through Thursday morning. Brock is speaking those three mornings. Pray for God to work in people's lives and revival to come in individuals and churches.

Hard Schedule

We just performed at Big Stuff in Panama City, FL. Now, we are going to eat really quickly and head over to SuperWow in Ft. Walton Beach, FL. We begin there tonight! I'm beginning to feel a little tired of people and tired of camp. That's not good, because we are just beginning. Pray for supernatural strength. Also, pray that the students at SuperWow are really receptive to Brock right from the start. Thanks for praying...we need it out on the road.

Fun at Disney World

We had such a blast at Disney World! Jessica said that she was scared of roller coasters, but she road everything that we did and loved it! Our favorite rides were Everest and the Tower of Terror. They are more than a ride. They're an experience!

We also went to the light parade and fireworks at the Magic Kingdom. It was amazing! They would change the lighting of the castle and fireworks would explode to the beat of the music. Disney does everything so well.

The best part of the day was Dan's adventures. At the last camp we were at, they had extra bobble heads that they had made of the director, Dan. Somehow we acquired one. So, we took Dan everywhere in Disney World. He had his picture with people who worked at the park, in front of the castle, on the monorail, all over! We took way more pictures of Dan than we did ourselves. It was so funny! One guy said, "In a way, I want to know, but in a way I don't," as he walked by us snapping a picture of Dan the bobble head. I'll try to put up some pictures of it tomorrow.

Holiness

Brock spoke about holiness the other day at camp and it convicted me. He told about how we treat the symptoms instead of going to the root of the problem. He used the story about his wasp sting as an illustration. Whenever he broke out in hives and was itching all over, he wanted to go the the pharmacy and get some salve to put on it. However, he needed to go to the emergency room because he was dying and didn't even know it. The hives were just a symptom of what he had...what he had was poison on the inside.

He went on to say that sin is like this. It kills us from the inside out. We need to go to the root of the problem. The only way to do that is to allow Jesus to cleanse us.

At one point, Brock mentioned that he knew many ministers in which their lives are ruined due to sin. When I began to think about friends of mine that have fallen this year, I broke. The Lord broke me. I was so broken over the sin that has come in and destroyed peoples' families and ministries.

Brock was so serious and almost harsh when he spoke about sin. That's because sin is not something to play with. We need to take it VERY seriously.

Celebration

Well, we finished our toughest week of camp for the summer. This one was tough because Brock had to speak and perform illusions both morning AND night. It was so draining but good.

Now it's time to celebrate! We are going to eat at a wonderful Cuban restaurant today. We're even going to get the bread pudding for dessert. It's called the Columbia and was built in 1905.

Then, we are going to see the Pirates III movie. Tomorrow, we are going to ride the Pirates of the Caribbean ride! We scored 4 tickets to Disney World! We found out that we got the tickets on Wednesday afternoon. Brock wanted me to keep it a surprise from Shannon and Jessica. I told him that he better tell them soon, because I cannot keep a surprise in very long. He decided to tell them from the stage that night. Shannon looked at me and said, "Really?" I confirmed it because you never know when Brock is just saying something random. We go to Disney World tomorrow!!!!

Lakeland, FL

This camp that Brock is speaking at is in Lakeland, FL. I was actually born here and we then moved to Daytona Beach when I was 3 years old. However, all of my family besides my immediate family still live here. My mom flew in from Texas this week, so she is here as well.

It's been great to have them around. I was able to go and eat my grandma's great biscuits. Also, my mom came to the service last night and she along with some other family are coming tonight. It's been fun!

Sharing With the Ministers' Wives

Last night, the camp had a special time with the ministers' wives. The camp director's wife had asked me to come and share a little. All afternoon, I thought about what to share. I really felt like the Lord wanted me to share this story: After only being married 3 months, we came home one day to find that our trailer with all of our gear in it for this ministry had been stolen. When I asked the Lord what to do, He told me, "Pray specifically and I will show you my power." So, I began to tell Him what we needed that week. We had zero money and we needed $545 for rent. We also needed $50 for groceries. Therefore, I prayed for $595. The only thing we had booked for that month was that Brock was going to fill in for his dad preaching at his church. They were going to pay us $150. That was so much less than what we needed. However, when we were done at the church that Sunday, Brock handed me a bunch of checks that people had given him. I hadn't even told Brock about what I was praying for. I counted up the checks and it added up to $595 exactly!

There is so much more to the story, but I felt that was all that I needed to share. After that, the leader of the night asked people to share any supernatural experiences that we've had with the Lord. I began to think about which story I wanted to share as others were speaking. I felt as if the Lord was gently saying, "You are done." He didn't want me to share anymore. I think that if I shared anything else, it would be out of the wrong motivations. So, I held my tongue. Those of you that know me know that this was very difficult for me because I'm a talker. Plus, I love to tell stories about my adventures with the Lord. I felt so happy that I was obedient to the Lord though! It feels so good to do what the Lord wants you to do even if you don't know exactly why He wants you to do it a certain way.

New Camp

Yesterday was a difficult day for me. I needed to run some errands in the morning. It is always difficult to do that on the road. It seemed like everything that could go wrong did. Then, Brock, Shannon, and Jessica were waiting on me to leave. I was an hour late because I ran into so many snags.

I finally made it and we went to a new camp. I think that I was really nervous about this new camp, too. All of the other camps that we are doing this summer, we have done before. This camp is new AND Brock is the speaker for the entire week. That means that he speaks in the morning and night. That's a lot of pressure!

Last night ended up going fine, though. We got there on time despite my delay. Everyone is so nice and I can tell that it's going to be a good week. Pray for us this week. Pray that lives will be changed and revival will occur.

Surprise at the Airport

We picked our intern for the summer up from the airport today. This is how I greeted Jessica.

Rip Tide

Yesterday, after our show, we were eating lunch at a place right on the beach. As we were waiting for our food, we heard a guy yelling, "Help!" Everyone looked over and began searching the beach with their eyes trying to find where the cry for help was coming from. Before I knew it, Shannon said that Brock was out there. While we were all looking around, Brock ran out on the beach, got in the water, and was swimming to the drowning victim.

Luckily, the guy was on a float, so that prolonged his rescue time. However, another guy had jumped in to try and save him and he was drowning. They were caught in what is called a rip tide. The panhandle of Florida is known for having bad ones. In fact, 3 people have drowned in the last two weeks in this area because of rip tide.

Brock has been through this before, so I was not worried about him. He once saved two people's lives caught in a rip current in the ocean at dusk. At that time, we were the only ones on the beach, so it was a lot scarier.

Brock was able to help the guy on the float get hooked up to a jet ski who then, towed him in. Brock along with 4 other guys formed a line to the shore. Planting their feet, they were able to pull the other guy out of the dangerous current. If you are planning to go to the beach for vacation, study up on rip tides. They can be fatal!

Relaxing on the Beach

We've had such a fun week this week. We had friends come down to hang out with us. Plus, we've hung out with some new friends that we've met here at camp. We have eaten Israeli food, Moroccan food, and lots of seafood. We went to one place called Old Bay Steamers and got a whole big plate of crab legs and gigantic shrimp. It was incredible.

The weather has been perfect. We've taken walks on the beach everyday. Yesterday, we laid on a float in the pool for a couple of hours. It's been so fun. This week, we only have two shows compared to our average of 9 shows per week for the rest of the summer. Therefore, we are taking advantage of the time to relax on the beach. We might as well...we are here anyway!

Pictures From Mexico

Here are some pictures from our trip to Mexico last week:

Mexico Trip

After Spirit West Coast last week, we went with some friends down into Baja, Mexico. We stayed at this incredible Spanish style house with tile floors and a courtyard area. The house was sitting on a hill overlooking the ocean. It was beautiful.

The guys road dirt bikes everyday. In fact, one day, they road some of the trail that was going to be run the following weekend in the Baja 500 race. We met them at a ranch out in the middle of nowhere for lunch and brought them some fuel.

The best part was laying on the hammocks at the house overlooking the beach. I was in heaven sitting there reading or listening to my ipod. The tacos were a close second for the best thing. We had a lot of tacos. Let me tell you, tacos like the ones in Mexico cannot be found here in the states! I'll try to put up some pictures from that trip tomorrow.

The Living Water

We are at Big Stuf right now. It's a camp in Panama City Beach, FL and Daytona Beach, FL. We will be here on and off all summer.

We have a new illusion that is incredible! It's a great ministry tool and the idea was given to Brock from the Lord. It's hard to explain, but Brock uses an illusion to show that if you drink from the Living Water, you will never thirst again. We've only practiced it one time before.

I woke up one morning last week and felt like the Lord was saying that we needed to perform this illusion at Big Stuf camp. It doesn't go in the particular show that we are doing here, but Brock decided to do it yesterday anyway. It was indescribable. At one point, some of the students were so moved that they jumped up out of their seats. By the end of the illusion, everyone was up out of their seats!

Then, the director of the camp came onstage and said that he couldn't believe how the Lord worked. He and Brock had not spoken at all about the show content yet what the director was about to say next was about water and the Living Water. It was an amazing connection! The Lord is amazing! Not only did the new illusion go so much better than we imagined, but it flowed with the message of the camp as well.

Delerium

We saw a Cirque De Soleil show here in Nashville last night called Delerium. It was great! It's so creative and beautiful to watch. The focus of this show was dreams. They talked (well sung) about that time when you are in between reality and dreamland. They tried to coerce us into the dreamland side. I really started thinking about that time when you sleep. I mean I spend 1/3rd of my life in dreamland! Too bad I cannot remember it.

We try to see as many live shows as we can so that we can learn. Some of them are excellent and some are not so good. This one was well done.

Pray for us today and tomorrow. We leave town today for the summer. We do our first show of the summer tomorrow morning, so remember us!

Seconds From Death

This afternoon, Brock told me that he was stung by a wasp. This is a regular occurrence since they build a nest by our shop door every year. However, today was different. Talk about KINKS in the plan. Today, was the biggest one ever.

So about 45 minutes later, Brock starts running around the house like a madman. He jumped in the tub and started pouring hot water and vinegar all over his body. He called for some baking soda and the phone to call his mom. He complained that he was itching all over even inside his ears and eyes. He could not get his mom on the phone, but his dad answered his cell phone. I was sitting in the bathroom on the laptop googling all kinds of possibilities. Just as I was reading how life threatening bee or wasp sting allergic reactions are, I heard Brock's dad say, "You are having an allergic reaction to that sting, bud."

For some reason, I was exceptionally calm. I got Brock out of the tub and ready. Then, I called outside to our friend Lucas who was getting the fire pit ready for tonight. I said, "We are about to go to the emergency room. Want to come?" He decided to go.

Then, Brock drove himself to the walk-in clinic. (We decided that the walk-in clinic would be quicker and cheaper than the emergency room.) As we were driving there (it's a 25 minute drive) Brock was getting worse and worse. He wanted to drive because it would "keep his mind off of it." At this point, he had hives that turned into huge whelps all over his body. His eyelid was swelling up and his tongue began to swell. He could still breathe though.

We received instant attention as soon as Brock walked into the waiting area of the clinic shirtless with whelps all over him. A nurse came over and checked his breathing right out in the lobby. He was breathing fine. Then, they rushed him back to the "procedure" room and gave him two shots. Sure enough, the itching began to subside. The doctor then said that the next thing to swell was going to be his throat and when you throat closes up, you only have 70 seconds before you die. Praise the Lord that Brock lived today!!!

Revival

I'm reading a book written by the pastor of the largest church in the world, David Cho. The book is about prayer. He claims that all revival begins with prayer. Revival in your church, within your community, and even personally all is instigated with MUCH prayer. However, you must sacrifice when it comes to praying. Mostly the
sacrifice is time. I've noticed that when I'm exceptionally busy, my prayer life suffers. Therefore, I'm trying to cut out things in order to get that time with the Lord. It's sorta like I was talking about yesterday only spiritually instead of physically. Do you really want revival? If you do, then you will be willing to pray passionately for it no matter what the cost. If you are not ready to make the sacrifice and put the time into it, then, you don't truly want revival.

I'd like you to pray with me about something. I'm praying for revival to break out this summer at the various camps that we are going to. Even if one person from every youth group had a fire lit inside of them, think of the impact. If a whole youth group experiences revival, they will take it back to their community and
church.

We are usually focused on evangelism, but at camps there is a lot of discipleship involved as well. I'm thinking of camps as a new way of evangelism. Of course, you will have many that are not saved come and get saved. However, I'm thinking of camps as a teaching ground that inspires believers to go home and be so into the Lord that it just spreads naturally and revival occurs! Please pray for revival with me!

Do You Want to Get Well?

When I was back in the press room at the Dove Awards, I heard a doctor speaking. He is a naturalistic doctor. He said that when people come into his office, he asks them if they want to get well. Jesus asked the man at the pool of Bethesda if he wanted to get well (John 5:6). The truth is, some people don't.

There are so many natural ways to cure health problems. For example, I have had allergy issues for years. After cutting out dairy products and eating wheat sparingly, I rarely have a problem at all. However, when someone says that they have had trouble with sinuses lately and I suggest that they cut out dairy for a while, their response is, "I cannot live without my ice cream everyday." When I tell people that I have more energy, am less moody, and lost a couple of pants' sizes after cutting out sodas, they say that they cannot live without it!

Therefore, you have to make the choice. Do you want to get well or not? This doctor says that he doesn't help anyone unless they are willing to make a couple of sacrifices in order to get there. It's been well worth it to me!

Going Postal

I was in the post office last Thursday. I had to get a gift in the mail for my brother-in-law since his birthday is this week and we were leaving town Friday. I had the gift and the card with me. I had written the address on the envelope of the birthday card. I explored tons of options for the packaging in which I was going to mail this gift. I looked at several envelops even stuffing the gift inside it to see if it would fit. I tried several different sizes and assortments of packages. After trying different things, I'd place the packages back on the shelf with all of the other ones like it.

I decided on one particular padded envelop. After placing the gift inside, I reached for the card only to find that it was missing. I looked over at all of the envelops and realized that I must have left it in one of the ones I had tried earlier. Let me tell you! With so many errands to do before I left town and so little time to do it, this was irritating me beyond end! This gave a new meaning to the saying "going postal!" Maybe it was actually the original meaning of postal. (Who knows where that saying came from? I can imagine after my experience!)

I quickly began looking through every single envelop. There had to be at least 100 of them. There was no card! I even looked in some of them twice thinking that I'd missed it because it was white. At one point, I sat on the floor in order to sit as I tediously went through every one. I'm sure the people waiting in line appreciated the comedic entertainment while doing such a mundane procedure like waiting your turn to mail something or get a passport.

After going through every single envelop on the shelf with no success, I remembered that I tried one box. I took the box off of the shelf and there it was. I turned around to the line (just in case anyone was watching) and victoriously through my fist with the card in it in the air! I spent 45 minutes in the post office, but I got the task done.

Another Great Night!

Last night was another great show! We perform the late show, so it's late at night after a long day for most. Plus, there are a few other shows going on at the same time. Therefore, I'm always worried that not many people will show up, but they do! We had a really big room last night, and it ended up to be standing room only.

The crowd was so great! They had a great sense of humor and got even the subtle comedic comments that Brock would say. Therefore, we all laughed a lot! After I got a nap yesterday and felt refreshed last night, I had a great time at Spirit West Coast.

We leave this morning for Baja, Mexico! I hope that it's sunny. It hasn't been here in San Diego.

Times in Spirit West Coast

It's been fun being here. There are so many Christian artists here. Also, the Team Faith guys are here (they are our freestyle motocross team for FX). In fact, last night, we were able to use one of the guys' motorcycle to do the blindfolded motorcycle ride through the audience. That's not usually something we can do when we fly because we cannot get a dirt bike on the plane. I don't know why???

The show went really well and the crowd was great! With so much going on, you never know how many people will show up. The only thing about it is that we perform at the late night show which begins at 10:30pm. Therefore, I woke up at 6am Central time and performed at 12:30am Central time last night. I cannot sleep in to save my life, so I was awake at 7am this morning after not going to bed until after 1am Pacific time. It's confusing! All I am saying is that I'm tired!!!

Off to California

We are headed to California! We are performing at Spirit West Coast. It is a wonderful festival where lots of Christian artists come together and perform. The festival will be held at Del Mar which is just outside of San Diego. We have two late shows tonight and tomorrow night. Pray that many become followers of Jesus. Also, pray for the whole festival to go smoothly. Pray for safety. With thousands of people attending, a lot could happen.

Kinks

Yesterday was a fairly good day. I washed and folded 11 loads of laundry. If any of you know me, you know that I actually enjoy doing the laundry. It's my closet that is a complete disaster zone that I cannot find a will to clean. Anyhow, I did laundry, read, and watched a couple of movies.

However, a kink was thrown in my day when the air conditioner decided not to work. I didn't discover it until it was really hot at about 5pm. I looked to see if any breakers were thrown. After that, I was at a loss. I couldn't call anyone because it was after 5.

Therefore, today, I'm going to have to get that worked on. It's tough because right now, I have only 3 days home until we leave for the summer. I have just enough time to get everything done. Everybody knows that there are always "kinks" in the plan. Pray that I'll be able to get everything done and that there will be no more kinks!

A Day to Myself

Do you ever just need a day to yourself? Well, tomorrow, I'm planning on taking one. Brock and a few people in the office are going to Kentucky to do a rally for the FX that we will do there in the fall. I'm going to stay back here and work on getting ready to go for the summer. That means that I'll be doing laundry mostly.

Usually when I get a day alone, I'm too lonely by the end of the day. By about 6pm, I miss people. By the time I'm ready to go to bed, I'm extremely lonely. Tomorrow, it will work out good because Brock will be in sometime tomorrow night. I will have the day to myself, but I don't have to sleep alone.

I rented a couple of movies and I picked up some food to cook. I plan on doing some yoga and spending some time on my front porch with a book. What do you do if you have a day alone?

Fun Weekend

I had a fun weekend! It began with me flying all day Thursday. I had a three hour layover in Atlanta that I was not looking forward to. After I found something to eat and sat down near my gate, I get a call from Gin who is part of the quatro crew as well as my best friend from college. She said that she just figured out that we were on the same flight to Gainsville, FL from Atlanta. I asked her if she had left yet. She said that she was already in Atlanta. "I am too!" was my reply. When she asked where I was, I looked up and saw D-28. She said that she was at D-29, and in that instant, she began walking by me. I put down the phone and yelled her name. It was fun to hang out with her and fly together. We were assigned to seats on the same row on the plane.

Thursday night, we stayed with Amber. Friday, we went to Busch Gardens. I was impressed by the food and some of the shows. Amber and I rode the new roller coaster, the Shiekra. It went straight down for what seemed like forever! I loved it, but it was too much for Amber.

Saturday and Sunday, we stayed on the beach and just hung out and talked. One night, we stayed up until 2am playing cards and went to a movie another night. It was great!

Quatro Trip

There were four of us hence the name quatro. We were inseparable while we were working at Ridgecrest Conference Center in North Carolina the summer of '98. After that summer, we got together almost every year because one of us was getting married. After we were all married, we decided that we needed to still find a way to get together every year. Therefore, we began the annual quatro trip.

We are all four from different states: Me from Tennessee, of course, Gin is from Texas, Biz is from Alabama (Enterprise, AL actually), and Amber is from Florida. A couple of years ago, we went to Alabama to visit Biz. Last year, everyone came to my house. This year, we are going to Florida to see Amber.

It's such a great time to get together. As women, we need time to not have to worry about taking care of someone else every now and then. I told one of my friends that I was ready to be selfish! One of the girls who has two little kids is probably more ready than me for this vacation, but I'm really ready!

I'm actually on the trip right now and Brock has been posting my prewritten blogs. I get in tonight and will let you know how it went tomorrow!

Psalm 23

The Lord is my Shepherd, I shall not want. He makes me lie down in green pastures, He leads me beside the still waters, He restores my soul. He guides me in paths of righteousness 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 mercy will follow me all the days of my life, and I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever.

Enterprise, Alabama

Here are some pictures from the school that was hit by the tornado in Enterprise, AL. Pictures don't do it justice, but maybe you can see why I couldn't believe that only 8 people died in that place. You will see that in some places, there are still papers on the board whereas the very next wall was ripped to pieces.

What Would I Do in a Crisis?

I've been thinking about what I'd do in a crisis situation. I guess after seeing the school that the tornado hit in Enterprise, AL and hearing about the shooting at Virginia Tech the very next week made me think. Would I be one of the ones locking up the door or getting people into the hallways? Or would I be frozen? Would I be scared or instantly in motion?

I know that Brock would immediately begin acting and leading. That's how he is. Whenever we are doing a show, I am a very quick thinker. I think 8 years of experience has helped me. However, when it comes to life and death, I'm not sure how I would react. I know from only a couple of instances, that I have either frozen up or started to get mad. Either one of these is not very good. I'm not a screamer for sure. I don't naturally scream. What do you think that you would do in a crisis?

Pictures from Stephanie's Party

Remember when I told you about how we dressed up like Halloween for our friend, Stephanie's birthday? Here are pictures of us all dressed up and eating at the Cheesecake Factory:

We Found It!

Amongst all of the busyness of GMA week, guess what we found? We found our camera that we thought was stolen at the airport. It was in one of those bags that we checked 50,000 times and didn't find it.

Brock was in the middle of a TV interview. He was making a light bulb brake and Mark Hall from Casting Crowns was with him. I reached down to get our new camera which was just like the old one only without a case. I got the camera out only it had a case just like the old one. I wondered if Brock had bought a case for it and I didn't know, or could this be the one that we "lost"? I quickly opened it and checked. It was all of our old pictures!

We were able to take back the new camera because we had only had it for a few days and now we have all of our old pictures! It was great! I'll try to put up some new pictures for you.

Stress

Today, as I was driving to the dentist, my vision began to blur. I thought that maybe I had looked at something too bright. Thinking that everything would be fine when I went into the dentist office, I didn't panic too badly. However, it got progressively worse. I could barely fill out the form they had given me. I've never had any vision problems, so I thought that it was something much more serious. I was convinced that I had a tumor in my brain laying on my nerve connected to my retina until my eye twitched. My eye always twitches when I'm stressed. I've never had blurred vision before, but I told myself that it was just stress. I breathed in and out very deeply several times (I'm sure the people in the dentist office thought that I was crazy). Then, it went away after lasting about 15 minutes proving my theory that it was stress related.

I don't know how to handle all of the pressure that we are under. I used to always be on edge feeling like I could explode at the next person within a close proximity. At times, I did just that. I finally gained control of my emotions where I don't do that anymore. Now, I must be internalizing it because it's affecting me physically.

Most of you know that I have an ulcer that flares up every now and then (not very much lately because I watch what I eat). I also grind my teeth at night. The dentist told me today that I'm just killing my teeth at night. So, how do you control what you are doing while you are sleeping? How do you handle stress? I need a few pointers.

A Little Piece Missing in My Brain

I think that everyone has one part of their brain that doesn't work correctly...it's almost as if it is missing. Mine is the part that tells me to gather everything I brought with me and take it home. I am always leaving stuff. We have to drive back to the restaurant and get my camera or whatever. I used to lose my purse at least once a year. Then, I got one of those wallets that attach to your keys. That way, whenever it was time to drive away, I couldn't get very far without keys. When I went to get my keys, there was my wallet! That helped because I was really tired of replacing my driver's license and credit cards every year or so.

After marrying Brock, I don't even carry anything anymore except my phone which I strap to my clothes with a "phone purse". He carries our keys, wallet, camera, etc. The funny thing is, when we get up to leave, I automatically ask Brock is he has everything. For some reason, I cannot do that for myself.

Saturday night, I brought a cookie cake and a little purse containing only matches and candles for the cake. After dinner, I carried the empty cookie sheet all over town with us. I wanted to throw it off of the bridge so badly just to watch it fall. Whenever the big boat drove under us, I was glad I didn't because that could have hurt someone! Everyone in my group thought it was so funny that I was carrying around a cookie sheet and we made reference to it all night. When we got in the car later, I realized that I had left the purse with the matches and candles in it at the restaurant. I remembered the cookie sheet that I was willing to chunk in the river, but forgot my purse! We drove back to the restaurant and got it. It was still there, but the matches and candles were cleaned out! Remember the cookie sheet that I carried all over downtown Nashville? It didn't make it home. I set it down when we played in the fountain only a block away from the car. I forgot to pick it back up! I remembered it up until about 30 yards from the car!

Do you have any missing piece in your brain or is it just me?

Birthday Tattoo

My friend's birthday is next week. However, she is going to be out of town, so we celebrated it last night. Do you know what we got her? We all bought her a tattoo. It was fun! She got a small tattoo on her foot. She'd been wanting to get one. She even had what she wanted all drawn up. We surprised her with it though. It was perfect because she had just received a pedicure that day because she's going to be in a wedding next weekend. So, her feet looked so pretty as she cringed while getting her new tattoo.

Then, we went out to eat and had a cookie cake. After that, we walked on the famous walking bridge (it's a huge bridge in downtown Nashville overlooking the water and the city that is only for pedestrians). A huge cruise boat came under us. We were waiving and yelling at the people on the boat. Some of the boat occupants actually took pictures of us! Our friend, Shane, said, "There aren't enough lifeboats. I did the math! I hope this is not like Titanic!" It was so funny. Then, we headed back to our cars and Brock and I played in the fountain. It was cold!

Uneventful Day

I finally washed clothes yesterday. We were at the bottom of the barrel. We stayed home all day and it felt good. We were going to build a fire outside last night, but it began to pour yesterday afternoon. It was cool. Brock and I sat on the front porch and watched the storm come in.

It was a very uneventful day for a change. I liked it! After the Dove Awards, Brock's brother's wedding, and doing the big crane escape within a couple of weeks' time, I was ready for some normalcy.

Pictures from the Wedding

Finished

I have blisters all over my feet and I'm tired, but it was worth it. Yesterday, we had a big event in Georgia. We did a big stunt outside and then performed a show inside. The worship center where we performed was at least half of a mile from the place where we did our stunt. Therefore, I walked to and from those locations half a dozen times. Most of the time, I was carrying stuff. It was tiresome.

The stunt went extremely well. Everyone loved it! It was so big. The show inside was good as well. So, it was worth all of the planning and stress of it all. Now, it's done, and we are going to take the weekend off! Today is the day I can breathe again.