Halloween at Home

This is the first Halloween that we've had off in 8 years. We do have some meetings this morning, but tonight, we're going to hang out with our friends. We plan on going trick or treating, eating chocolate, and watching a scary movie.

We are bringing our chocolate fountain. I also made that poppy seed bread. I wonder how that would taste dipped in chocolate?

Guess what our costumes are going to be? We're all going to be Christmas carolers. So, amongst all of the trick or treaters, we'll be singing "We Wish You a Merry Christmas..." It's going to be fun!

A "Me" Day

We left our big rig in South Carolina, flew to Montana, flew home late last night, and will fly to South Carolina Wednesday morning. It's nice to have two days at home even though I wish it were a little longer.

When we travel really hard, we are usually around people 24-7. Therefore, today, I'm spending the day alone. I'm going to have a "me" day. Brock is riding his motorcycle with some friends for most of the day.

These are my plans: (brace yourselves, guys, it's very girly) I'm going to bake some poppy seed muffins that my mother-in-law just gave me the recipe for. I'm reading the sequel to "Gone With the Wind," but I read the first book almost 14 years ago, so I'm watching the movie today. I'll probably read a lot, too. I'll get lost in the times of the late 1800's and let Scarlett do all of the exciting stuff today!

Here in Montana

Well, we're in Montana. We flew here from Eastern time zone. Therefore, we gained two hours. Today is daylight's savings time, so we gained another hour. Long story short, I woke up at 5am this morning!

Yesterday, we drove to Red Lodge, MT and some surrounding areas. It was really beautiful. We ate at this great steak place out in the middle of nowhere. We expected it to be cold here, but it was 70 degrees and sunny. However, it's supposed to snow tomorrow, so it's a good thing we're leaving today!

The people here remind me of Alaskans...up here in the middle of nowhere and very outdoorsy. Hunting is a big thing around here. We're in Billings which is the only city I know of in Montana. People were walking around downtown in camoflauge! I've got to tell you that it didn't work there. They were easy to spot!

Last night, we performed our show and it was great! The people are laid back but still get things done. The audience was fun. They even gave away a car at the show! It was a fun day.

The Prestige

Thursday, we only had a five hour drive to accomplish in a day. Since that is nothing to us, we stopped along the way to see the movie The Prestige. It is so good! They have a lot of historical facts about the art of magic. They mention Chung Ling Su who was a famous magician at the time. We perform a lot of the illusions that they talked about...the water escape, the bullet catch.

Brock and I kept looking at each other when they would mention something that we knew about. The movie had tons of twists and turns. It had a pledge, turn, and a prestige. You should see it!

Road Stories

One morning, Brock was still asleep in the back of our big rig, so he was not visible. I was getting diesel fuel and Shannon was filling up our water tanks. Kim was sitting in the front of the truck putting on her make-up. As I was coming back out of the truck stop, a guy stopped me and was asking me questions about our truck. Then he said, "What do they call you, Charlie's Angels?" It was so funny! From then on, Brock would say, "Good morning, Angels" or "Come on, Angels."

We went to Walmart to pick up some extra water hoses to use in order to fill up the water coffin. Shannon and Kim were carrying the hoses behind us as we exited. The not-so-nice lady at the door asked them for their receipt. She looked as if she would not let them get by with those hoses if they did not have one. Brock had the receipt, so Kim yelled his name. He turned around and said, "I don't know them." The look on their faces was priceless. They just knew that they were about to go to Walmart jail!

Decisions for Jesus Christ

There were so many decisions made for Christ at this FX. It was a great success. I thought I'd tell you some stories:

One lady had to leave early. However, her watch broke, so she ended up staying until the end and becoming a follower of Christ in the process!

God moved one of the guys in our band, Pablo, during the invitation one night. Pablo said that he could hear a high school guy screaming in his spirit. However, the guy did not move when it was time to talk to someone about becoming a Christian. Pablo walked up to the guy and asked him if he wanted to become a follower of Christ. The guy said yes, but he was a little nervous about it. His dad was in the gang called Blood and his mom is a crack phene. Pablo shared with him and led him to Christ.

Another girl became a Christian on the drive home from FX one night. She was a straight up atheist before. The Lord grabbed hold of her heart and would not let go until she became His.

FX in North Carolina

Last night was the smoothest night we've had of FX from security to production to artists and athletes. It was amazing! The people here in North Carolina are great to work with. They have their stuff together and they love to serve the Lord.

The artists and athletes that we are working with are simply unbeatable. They have so much talent and love the Lord. They are all servants and work together with everyone. It's incredible to be able to be a part of this team.

Prayer Service

We have a prayer service on Sunday nights of FX. This Sunday night, we met in a meeting room across the parking lot of the venue in which we were going to perform. During the prayer, I had a cool vision. There were angels surrounding us in the meeting room. Over in the venue, I saw demons congregating almost like they were having their own meeting. Whenever Brock prayed for the Lord to begin right now, the angels marched right over to the arena and began fighting the demons and beating them down! It was like something from a Frank Peretti book, but I saw it!

I looked around and observed all of the wonderful people in the room praying. People from all different denominations and ages with one heart. It made me realize that when we pray, there is POWER.

A Text Message from the Lord

The other night, Brock was feeling a little down (and he never feels down). It was around midnight and I was headed to the kitchen to warm up my bed buddy (that's the corn in a sock thing that helps warm up your feet). As it was heating, I prayed that the Lord would encourage Brock and speak to him in some way.

At that moment, I heard Brock's phone, which happened to be in the kitchen, make the noise indicating that he'd received a text message. Who would be sending him a message after midnight? I took the phone to Brock out of curiosity.

Within seconds of my prayer, Brock received a message from a friend whom Brock rarely hears from that simply said "Isaiah 54." The Lord spoke to Brock through His Word at the time Brock needed it. Wow! The Lord really cares for His own.

Just a Normal Day at the Post Office

The other day, I was in the post office waiting in line like everyone else. The last song I heard on the radio was going through my head. Then, I realized that I was humming out loud...very loud. The post office was rather quiet, so my humming was exceptionally audible. I didn't even know how long I'd been humming. I glanced around embarrassed.

Then, I thought that maybe the people in line thought that I was extra happy like on the Disney cartoons where everyone walks around singing and stuff. However, the song I was humming was a Metallica song. It's not exactly "Zippa-Dee-Do-Da!"

And It Continues

Guess what happened last night? We locked our keys in the car. It couldn't just end. Something had to happen every day of the precious few days we have at home.

Last night, it got to us. It seems to be the smaller things that get me...well, the smaller things after a bunch of other larger things. Of course, it had to be the night where I was anxious to get home because I have stuff to do in order to get ready to leave today. Also, it was raining. In fact, it rained all day yesterday. What a gloomy day!

Pray that it gets better. We leave today to go to North Carolina where we do a big show Saturday night. Then, we travel a couple of hours to do a Freedom Experience. After that, we drive to our next show in South Carolina and fly to Montana to do a show. It's going to be a big couple of weeks!

More Car Trouble

On the way home from the Cocoa Tree last night, we got a flat tire. When I heard the flat sound of the tire, I tried to pretend that it was the way the road sounded for the first few seconds. Then, Brock said we had a flat and I knew we did.

We pulled over on the side of the interstate and Brock changed it out for the spare. At least the weather was nice.

I used to get all stressed out and put out when things like this happen. They seem to happen to us a lot and they come in themes. The same type of thing goes wrong in a week. (I notice that lots goes wrong especially when we are busy doing shows. Wonder why that happens???) However, I've learned that there is no point in stressing out or worrying about it. It's just life! Maybe we get more of it than the average person and maybe not. Either way, the Lord always takes care of us, so I'm not worried about it.

Not a Bad Day

Yesterday would seem like a bad day if you just heard the facts. Our pick-up truck wouldn't start and Alisha wasn't home to help us jump it off. We live in the country, so we don't have a lot of neighbors or anything. Shannon was with us, but we were too tired the night before to pick up her car from town. Therefore, the three of us were stranded. Then, after we got the truck fixed, we were involved in a hit and run car accident!

The reason yesterday actually went fine was that just as we were beginning to try to figure out who could jump us off, the water guy came up our driveway. He samples the water in our area and uses our spicket to do it. Brock has befriended him, so he gladly jumped him off. Then, we took the big rig into the shop to get it worked on. While we were there, Brock asked where we could get a battery for a little truck. The guy happened to have one and Brock replaced the battery right then and there. It took him about ten minutes to fix the pick-up!

We were driving around town when all of a sudden, we were hit from behind. At first, we looked at each other nervously. Then, we both smiled and Brock shrugged his shoulders. We already have extensive damage to the back of our truck. We pulled over to the side along with the guy behind us who hit us. Come to find out, he'd been hit by a lady behind him who didn't pull over!

Tired, Sore, Satisfied

I am so tired right now. Since our show last night was in Jackson, TN which is only a couple of hours from home, we drove home after the load out. We didn't get in until 2 something. It's raining outside, perfect weather for sleeping, but somehow I couldn't sleep after 9:30, so here I am.

You know when you wake up and feel like you've been hit by a train? That was me 30 minutes ago. I'm starting to feel a little more alert though. The soreness is setting in. After we do a big show, we are always sore all over. When my head hit the pillow last night, every muscle ached. The job we do is very physical...loading in, setting up, the show itself, tearing down, and loading out.

However, there is a sense of satisfaction. When your muscles are sore, there is some sense of accomplishment. Also, the show went really well. Therefore, I'm tired, sore, and satisfied!

American Food?

This weekend, we've eaten mexican, vietnamese, japanese, and bahamian food. If I had to choose, I would never eat American food again. What is American food? Burgers and steaks? The only way I'll eat burgers or steaks is if Brock cooks them on the grill.

Shannon is fitting in just fine. She's adventurous when it comes to food. We like to try new stuff. If it's horrible, then we have a fun story to tell.

Live a little and try something new! I happen to love Turkish food if you have any turkish reastaurants around. Tell me some of the great food you have tried.

Show in Kansas

The show yesterday went really well. It was in an old theater. It had ornate curtains that lowered and raised instead of parted in the middle. It also had a balcony with seats all along the sides. It was really cool. The only problem was that it was on the second floor with no freight elevator. We didn't think that we were going to be able to get one of our big props up to the stage. However, the nice, tough boys in Kansas said, "We can do it."

It was sorta nice to be loaded out and finished by 6pm. We drove just an hour to get to Joplin, MO to our friends from Chaos on Wheels. Jen cooked dinner for us and it was great! She's a good cook.

A New Girl

We have a new girl traveling with us. Her name is Shannon. Since she is brand new and Kim from our office already had plans to come with us on this trip, we have both of them! That's great, because we need all of the help we can get. It's been fun, too.

Yesterday, we traveled all day. We ate at a haunted restaurant for lunch (read more about that at brockgill.com/blog). For dinner, we had vietnamese. We're already breaking Shannon in. Life on the road can be very adventurous.

We are in Kansas now, and of course, it's cold. It's always cold when we come to Kansas. We have a show here this afternoon. Then, we're going to visit with Jeremiah and Jen who lead Chaos on Wheels. Pray that the show goes well and that Shannon has an easy time finding her place with us.

A Hang-Out

I love having a hang-out. I've always watched "Friends" coveting Central Perk or Seinfeld's coffee shop. I wanted to have a place "where everybody knows you're name." I've been searching since I moved here for that place. A restaurant wouldn't work because you cannot move around and hang out for as long as you want. A coffee shop was a good idea. For a while, I tried the Starbucks in our area. However, it's one of the busiest ones in the nation. Therefore, it's crowded and loud.

Finally, I've found a hang-out...the Cocoa Tree. Since we've been going there every week and claiming the back room for ourselves, it's become our hang-out. The light blue and chocolate walls have a calming and warm effect. The chocolate is a dream! Most of the workers know us by name. People stop by and hang out. We meet new friends. What more could you ask for in a hang-out?

"Please Don't Freak Out on Me"

That's the name of our new show. We have been developing a new show over the last few months. We will not do it in its entirety until the beginning of next year, but I'm excited about it! We took a couple of old favorites and combined them with lots of new stuff.

This show is very practical. That makes it easier for everyone. We can do it almost anywhere. It involves the audience more than any of our shows ever have before. About 80% of the time, people from the audience will be onstage participating. Also, you can touch the escape and try on the handcuffs before the show begins if you want.

Basically, we've taken our best asset, which is Brock's personality, and used it to its full potential in a show. This show is where you will laugh and have FUN with Brock.

Daniel

I've been studying the book of Daniel. I read a book about it written by Paul Cho. I wanted to do the new study by Beth Moore. However, I cannot participate in the group study that they are doing at our church. I'm not here enough. So, I purchased a workbook on it and decided to do that study by myself. The first page said that if you don't watch the sessions on dvd, you will not understand the workbook.

I planned on taking the book back. However, that night, I saw one of my friends at the Cocoa Tree. She is in charge of the women's ministry at her church. They had the dvd's, but were doing a different study at the time. So, she let me borrow it. I've really enjoyed it and am learning a lot!