Thanksgiving Traditions

Since we moved from Florida in 1991, we haven't had much of a Thanksgiving tradition. All of my extended family such as grandma, cousins, aunts, and uncles live in Florida. Therefore, it became just my parents, sister, and me. So, we began going out of town for Thanksgiving. One year, we went to San Antonio and ate burgers for Thanksgiving.

That particular year, I had a professor in college who was very animated (Mr. Taylor for fellow ETBUers). He would talk to different people as he gave the roll call. He chose me to ask what I had for my Thanksgiving meal. When I responded with burgers, he nearly fell over. Throughout the entire class, he kept coming back to me and saying..."Really, burgers for Thanksgiving?"

This year, we will be in Galveston. My parents, sister, and brother-in-law come into town tonight. We are planning to have a traditional Thanksgiving meal on Thursday in the beach house in which we are staying. It will be nice. What are your plans for Thanksgiving?

Galveston

We are staying at one of my parents' friend's beach house in Galveston, TX. It's great to have this time to get away and relax. When we're on the road or at home, we work. I feel almost brain dead and emotionally dead after our hard fall schedule. It really takes a lot out of us.

The weather is great and Brock's parents came up last night to stay with us for a couple of days. We went shopping at some of the local surf shops. I found some stuff on sale. It's been great so far!

Houston

The show in Houston went really well. Lots of people gave their lives to Christ. I couldn't even count how many!

The hotel was connected to the convention center by a skywalk over the street. However, the hall in which we performed was at the other end. Plus, our room was at the opposite end of the skywalk. Therefore, I walked the entire length of the convention center as well as the huge hotel at least 4 times within 24 hours. I definately got my walking in. I even had blisters on my feet.

My parents came to the show to hang out with us. Yesterday, we went to the museum which was fun. We saw an exhibit on Benjamin Franklin. Did you know that he helped create the first hospital, fire department, university, and library? He invented tons of stuff.

I was whiped out last night though! I slept 10 hours! I feel great now.

Laundry

I did laundry all day long yesterday. I had to go out to the truck and get all of it. Then, I sorted it and washed the heaps of clothes. It was seven loads of clothes! That means that I invested at least 8 hours into it. Can you imagine literally a whole day of laundry? It had to be done though.

We fly to Houston today in order to perform at a conference there. Pray that it goes well. I just had a dream that we got stuck in traffic and took a long time at a restaurant and missed the whole thing!

Also, The Miracles of Jesus airs today at 1pm Central Time on Discovery Times. If you get this new network, watch it and spread the word to others to watch it.

Happy Fun Day

Yesterday, we had a happy fun day. We went to get our hair cut and highlighted. Our stylist is so great and she is trying out for a reality TV show about hair stylists. She's made it to the final round and all she must do now is send in a video. So, her boyfriend came in and was videoing us as she did our hair. Brock was giving her advice on how to make her video. It was fun!

Then, we met some people to eat at one of our favorite Mediterranean places. Of course, the Cocoa Tree followed. We had so much fun. The owners were there and after tasting one of Brock's creations (which is a hot brownie cookie topped with fondue chocolate and homemade whip cream), they named it Brock's Extreme Brownie Explosion!

After the Cocoa Tree closed, we went to a place to do kareoke. It was hilarious! Brock sang "She Bangs." I sang one of my favorite songs with a bunch of people "Love Shack." Then, the kareoke lady called up two of the guys in our group, the two new girls, Alisha and Shannon, and some guy named Bill that wasn't with our party at all. Once they got up there, the song that Brock had chosen for them was "The Wheels on the Bus!" What a happy fun day!

A Comment From FX

This is just one of the comments we've heard since FX. The Lord is doing big things in Prattville, AL!

I went to the Freedom Experience in Prattville, Alabama for 2 of the
days and I'd just like to say that it was the most fun/entertainment
we've seen around here in a while! Thanks for that! And not only was it
a blast but it came with a very important message too. You've inspired
so many around here, and I'm one of them. You opened my eyes to what is
greater in life, and turned me around, along with many others, I'm
sure. Even my family has noticed a difference in me. So, once
again...Thank you so much!!!

Go to http://sdenise519.blogspot.com/ to see another one.

The Tour is Over

This fall, we not only did Freedom Experience, but we performed in cities all over the country with the Hidden Agenda tour. It was difficult because this tour was just us. We would drive to a city, set up for 4 hours, perform for 2, and tear down for another 2. For half of that tour, we had no road manager, so it was extra tough. However, last night we performed our last show on that tour and it went great! We ended well for both FX and Hidden Agenda.

In celebration of being done with the big loading shows, I'm getting a massage today. Not only does my body take a beating loading in and out, it does during the show as well. I push the big props onstage and off. Then, getting in the illusions is hard on my body too. I'm so sore today that I might have to tell the massage therapist to go easy!

Kentucky Shows

We are in Kentucky doing a couple of shows. Last night, we performed with Chaos on Wheels. It went rather well except that the floor was sticky, so the bmx team had trouble. Many of them got hurt. I was up in the balcony watching and could see that after they got off of the ramps, their bikes just stopped but the guys kept going. Many times, they flipped over their bikes. It was rough for them.

For us it was difficult because the audience seemed fifty miles away because the bike ramps separated us from them. However, the camera guys did a great job, so many people watched the screens.

This morning, we woke up at 5:30am in order to go and perform on a local news show. It actually went really well. Usually, it's difficult to do live TV especially with an anchorman as your volunteer. You never know what they're going to say! The girl at the station today was really cute and fun.

Pray that the show goes well tonight. Pray that we will have supernatural strength. We are rather tired.

Both Rest and Play

Yesterday, I ended up doing both. I woke up rather early yesterday, but I went back to bed and had a leisure morning. Therefore, I got a lot of rest in the morning. I dug around the bottom of drawers and the closet in order to find enough clothes to wear this week, so I didn't have to do laudry.

Then, Brock and I had a late lunch at our favorite thai place. We ran some errands, killed time at a bookstore. Then, we went to a small record store where MuteMath played in the afternoon. They barely had room to move! There were about 50 people crammed around display tables. We were directly behind them, so all we heard were them and their monitors. It still sounded amazing! Even Michael W. Smith came to observe them perform. Then, we ate at one of our favorite mediterranian places and went to the Cocoa Tree.

It was a great day of rest and play. Now, I feel like I can make it through the next couple of days in Kentucky. Pray for the shows tonight and tomorrow night.

Rest or Play?

A lot of times, it takes a couple of days for the tiredness to catch up to me after a FX. I always get physically tired as well as spiritually and emotionally. We pour out so much at FX that it's completely draining.

This is my problem: it's Saturday and time to go play. Everyone wants to do stuff and have fun including me. However, I don't have the energy. Not only that, but we leave again tomorrow to do two shows in KY. I need to rest in order to even be able to make it through.

I'll let you know what I ended up doing...whether I did the mature thing and rested or listened to the little girl inside of me that wants to ignore all of the headaches and responsibilities and just play for one day.

Party!

Last night, we had an after tour party at our house. It was the only time everyone could get together, so it had to be on the day we drove home from Alabama. I thought that I wouldn't enjoy it very much because I was going to be too tired. We drove home, unloaded our stuff, and I jumped in the car and went to the grocery store to buy all of the food we were going to cook. Then, we both began cooking. Brock grilled steak and chicken. I cooked potatoes, baked beans, corn bread with Brock's special butter concoction on top, and tossed some salad. It was yummy!

I enjoyed myself immensely! The Group 1 Crew guys were dancing and being crazy. We ate, laughed, danced, watched Brock do magic, ate from our chocolate fountain, and just hung out. It was so fun!

A Changed Community

What an Freedom Experience! We finished with a bang! We had 547 first time decisions to follow Jesus. Think about the impact that is going to make in a small town like Prattville, AL. Last night, every time Brock said the name of "Jesus," the crowd clapped and screamed for joy. That wasn't the case on the first night. This community has definately changed.

My theme song for this year at FX is one of Group 1 Crew's songs called "Forgive Me." The chorus goes like this:
"Ye though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I won't be scared cause You're holding my breath. I only fear that I don't have enough time left to tell the world that there's no time left."

A Historical Moment at FX

Last night was such an awesome show and it was so packed that it felt like the last night. We stuffed people in chairs and in the aisles. After the bmx team performed, we sat people on the floor all around the ramps. People were everywhere! It was great because we saw another 243 people make first time decisions for Jesus. The Lord is doing amazing things in Alabama!

The punk band joined with the hip hop crew for a song again last night. It was incredible! The song that the hip hop group sings is already so moving that when you added the instruments toward the end of the song, it peaked your emotions!

Also, last night, Tim Byrne accomplished something on a skateboard that has never been done before. He did a triple kick flip BLINDFOLDED! It was amazing to watch. In fact, a lot of the other artists and athletes came out on the stage to watch him try it. He missed the first time. Then, he tried to gain his balance and it took him a while before he tried it the second time. On the second try, he nailed it! We saw history in the making last night!

A Good Problem to Have

We packed out the venue last night. We usually don't pack out the place until Wednesday night and never the first night. Now, we're trying to decide what to do about tonight and tomorrow night. It's a good problem to have, yet, still it's a problem.

Our prayers are working. We saw 205 people give their lives to Christ last night!

FX in Prattville, AL

We are beginning a Freedom Experience in Prattville, AL. We ask for people to pray for 4 things at FX:
Power of God; we cannot save people, only God can do that.
Protection of the artists and athletes as well as audience members.
Provision; there are always little needs that come up.
People that will attend.

Also, pray for the artists from Eleventyseven and Group 1 Crew, Brock, me, and Shannon, Chaos on Wheels, Tim Byrne, our office staff, and the volunteers. Thanks for your prayers. We need them!

Cold Show

The temperature in Johnson City, TN had dropped considerably over the night, and it was in the 30's yesterday. We performed in this small auditorium. There was no backstage room on the stage, so I had to unpack the illusions down in the loading area right beside the big garage door where we loaded in from. It was freezing. The whole auditorium was chilly, but down in the "garage" where I worked, it was literally freezing!

During the show, I bring out illusions and set up all of the props onstage. I also participate in many of the illusions in this show. While I'm not onstage, I'm tearing down the illusions that we've already performed. Therefore, I spent a lot of my time down in the freezing "garage" area.

Also, all of the illusions that I perform in are alluminum. Since these illusions had been in the freezing area, they were freezing too. I didn't realize how much cold could affect you. My hands wouldn't work correctly. I was slower on my movements and reaction times. Oh well! It was worth it! The show was good and people were saved!

If you would like to see Shannon's take on the road, go to her blog www.sdenise519.blogspot.com.

Crazy Times

We perform in East Tennessee this afternoon. Then, we'll drive home and arrive late tonight. Tomorrow, we drive to Prattville, AL to begin another FX. It's crazy busy! Pray for strength and endurance.

An Agenda

My favorite part of the show last night was when Brock spoke after the invitation to follow Christ. He said that if the audience was offended that he shared his beliefs with them, then don't watch TV, or a movie, or a concert, or get on the internet, or even go to the grocery store. Everywhere you go, people have an agenda. Brock says that he has an agenda, too...it's Jesus Christ. He's just not hiding it. He also says that he cannot help talk about the One who saved his life.

Then, he said that it's time for others who have a relationship with Jesus to have this agenda as well. It's time for people to stand up for what they believe. At this moment, Brock stood up from his stool and walked toward the front of the stage. The audience began to clap and then one by one, stand up. It was very moving. We were all making a stand for Jesus both physically and figuratively right there together!

Planes and Sleep

Yesterday, our plane left two hours late due to fog. This caused us to miss our connecting flight to Myrtle Beach. Therefore, we landed at 4:36 and our show began at 6pm. It was crazy, but we were able to get everything ready and began the show only 10 minutes late. The show was great! The church was an old movie theater. It was cool looking.

I must have been tired because I slept until 9:45 this morning. Those of you that know me know that this is rare for me. The hotel room was dark and the temperature just right. The bed was soft and everything was optimal for sleeping. It's a good thing because I need to rest up for this loaded week!

Busy, Busy, Busy

Last night was a blast. We ended up eating out together. There were ten of us. We had the back room of the restaurant to ourselves which was nice. Then, we went trick or treating/Christmas carolling around downtown Franklin. We got lots of candy and wierd looks. We ended up at one of our friend's house who was having a party. Brock did some magic tricks that were really fun! Of course, we ended the night at the Cocoa Tree where I enjoyed the best caramel apple in the whole world! It also had chocolate on it and was rolled in toffee. Yummy! So, we had tricks and treats! Sometime today, we should have our carolling experience video up on myspace.com/brockgill.

We fly this morning to Myrtle Beach. We do a show there tonight and tomorrow night. Then, we drive to Johnson City, TN Friday. We perform there on Saturday afternoon. After the show, we'll drive home, spend the night, then, leave the next day for Freedom Experience in Alabama. We'll be there Sunday thru Wednesday. It's going to be crazy! Pray that it all goes smoothly and that we'll have supernatural strength to get through it.