Pictures from Easter

Tullips!


Food!!!










Emily made a bunny cake


Easter egg hunt




Lucas won again!


Steph shared about Soles4Souls




78 pairs!


We took some pictures of Stephanie with the shoes


Our village took pictures with the shoes


Then, some hung out


Some slept...I guess that he was all tuckered out after the Easter egg hunt.


These are the shirts the girls gave us in our Easter basket.

78

78...that's how many shoes we collected for Soles4Souls. Isn't that amazing??? I was hoping for 50 pair, but 78??? That more than exceeded my expectations.

I love our group! We had a wonderful time talking about the ministries that we are being a part of when we have parties. So far, over $700 has been raised for the family in Ecuador. Then, Stephanie shared about the Soles4Souls. One of the guys who was new to the group and obviously didn't know what was going on, took off the shoes that he had on his feet and added them to the pile for Soles4Souls.

Later on, the girls that were here that are in my village went into my bed room and prayed over one of our girls. Her mom died in May 2006 and Sunday was her birthday. We knew that it was probably hard on her. It was a very sweet time.

Also, three of our friends that we are closed to gave us an Easter basket. They bought us some chocolate, some food that we like, and they made some t-shirts for us (you will see those in the pictures). They put it all together with a cute story that they made up. What a wonderful community that we have here!

Easter Party

The party was so wonderful yesterday. We had 27 people total. First, we had some great food. Brock and I got to cheat, so it was fun to eat all the dessert and stuff that we wanted! Brock cooked some yummy chicken and pork loin. I made two blueberry cream pies with my mother-in-law's recipe. Everyone loved them!

Then, we had the easter egg hunt. Lindsey got the "golden" egg which wasn't really golden at all. It was a real egg (not even boiled) that Brock spray painted orange. She won a chocolate bar from Manabi, Ecuador that was everyone's favorite at the chocolate tasting. The winner of the easter egg hunt got a big basket of really exclusive chocolate from all over the world! The winner was Lucas, again, and he won because he had the most amount of points. If you got a regular egg, you received 1 point. If it was hot pink, it was worth 2 points. If it was camoflauge, it was 3 points. If it had a penny in it, it was an extra point. A seashell was worth two extra points, and a button was worth three. Some of them had questions in them. If you got them right, you received an additional 2 points. The questions were about the people in the room. For example, one question was, "Who was a guest on the Jay Leno show?" That would be our friend, Jas, from Atlanta. He was on it when he was in the group Marvelous 3. Nobody in the room knew him except us, but you could make an educated guess because none of us had been on that show. It was really fun!

One girl got the question, "Who starred on one of our video blogs?" The girl who was answering the question, Mandy, was the one who starred on it and didn't know it (remember her talking about those little wiener dogs?). Another person got the question, "Who thought that she was receiving a myspace message from Corey but it was really from Brock?" The answer was Mallori, but she found that out for the first time here yesterday and this happened over a year ago! Brock was playing on Corey's computer, and when he went on myspace, Corey was still logged in. So, he went to the first girl's comment and commented her back saying something about going out on a date with him. A few weeks later, that girl moved from Colorado to here. She never knew that it was Brock and not Corey until yesterday. I'll will tell you more about the party tomorrow...

Happy Easter!!!

Well, we did get to fly home last night, but our luggage didn't make it. Therefore, I have no makeup or hair stuff or anything for today. Oh well! I'm doing the all natural thing for Easter today.

We got in at about 11pm last night and I began making pies and Brock marinated the meat. Now, I'm going to finish the pies, Brock will put the pork loin in the Cajun Microwave, and we will be off to the early service at church! After church I'm going to stop by the grocery store and get bread and flowers (the only thing I couldn't purchase ahead of time). Everyone is coming over at about 12:30.

I'm going to get flowers because when I went into Walmart to get some things for our party, I got a little sad. Out of the 5 or so aisles of Easter stuff, there was nothing about Jesus. Then, I saw some lilies on the way out, so I thought that's what I'll get! I'm decorating with flowers to represent life! Jesus rose out of the grave!!! I also studied that the word "lily" in the Bible could have meant any kind of colorful flower like tulips. So, I might get some pretty tulips or something. What are you doing to celebrate today?

Shows in Camp Hill, PA

The shows are going well. This is a conference for students in PA and southern NJ. Many people were saved yesterday.

This was a miracle! We have 18 Compassion kids that need to be sponsored before they "expire." You see, the packets for the children expire every few months. If they don't receive a sponsor, another one is sent out. This way, if a packet is lost, that child doesn't fall through the cracks. Anyway, we had so many left and I thought that there was no way that all of them would get sponsored in time. I had prayed over them and everything. I wanted each one of them to be taken care of every month. Well, 15 of them were sponsored last night!

When you commit to sponsoring a child by giving $32 a month. You get a packet with information about your child and such. Also, you can write your child letters and he/she will write you back. It's so cool! When we went to visit the Compassion project, most of the students had a letter from their sponsor in their backpack. I'm so excited about partnering with Compassion. It's such a blessing!

The "Purpose" in Parties With a Purpose

I knew that the Lord wanted us to have these parties with a purpose every month, but how would I know what the "purpose" would be? Lots of people had ideas. Then, we determined that we wanted to center it on missions.

To make a long story short, the Lord keeps showing me what He wants us to do the next month. At our chocolate tasting, one of our friends asked us if we wanted shoes. Brock is several sizes bigger than this guy, but he told him to leave it with us and we would know what to do with it. The next day, another person gave me a pair of shoes. Then, we knew that we were supposed to be collecting shoes for soles4souls. It's an organization that collects shoes for people who are without in other countries www.soles4souls.org. Our friend, Stephanie, is a spokes person for them. She is going to share more about it at our party on Easter. So, everyone is coming over to the house on Sunday and bringing some shoes and a side dish. It's going to be great! I'll tell you all about it next week!

Therefore, I am looking forward to Sunday in order to celebrate the Ressurection of my Lord and Savior, hang out with friends, and collect shoes...oh yeah, and to eat chocolate!!!! Pray for us today and tomorrow as we perform and speak three times at this conference in Camp Hill, PA and fly back Saturday night.

A Day of Preparation

We leave tomorrow morning to go to Pennsylvania. We will get back late Saturday night. Then, we'll go to the early service at church and come home to have another Party with a Purpose at our house on Easter. This time, we are collecting shoes for Soles4Souls...more about that later.

Anyway, today was busy because I had to pack everything up for this show. It was rather tricky because we're doing 3 different shows this weekend.

Plus, I had to go to the grocery store and buy as much as possible for the party on Sunday. I had to get as much ready as possible. Brock grilled the chicken and we put them in the freezer. He will grill a pork loin and I'll make a few sides and desserts on Sunday. I'll have to wait until Sunday to buy flowers and bread.

I got everything ready for the Easter Egg Hunt. All that we will have to do is hide them on Sunday. I did as much as possible, but it's still going to be busy Sunday. When everyone gets there, it will be so fun, though.

Timber!

Do you ever wonder what we do when we are at home? Well, besides going to meetings, running errands, and catching up on e-mails, we take care of house stuff. For example, we needed a tree cut down in our yard. The woodpeckers got to it and killed it. It could fall at any time. We wanted to take it down ourselves to ensure that the large tree didn't fall down on our house. Therefore, we got our neighbor, Billy, and his friends to help us do it. Billy is the best neighbor ever. He doesn't complain when the grass it too high. He's never loud or anything. Plus, he keeps us laughing. Watch these videos and you'll see what I mean. He's so funny!

Winter Jam

We went to Winter Jam the other night to see Group1Crew. They did great! Also, Barlow Girl, Skillet, NewSong, and MercyMe were there. We performed on Winter Jam a few years ago. Therefore, we knew so many people...Brock especially. He would walk 2 feet and see somebody that he knew. Our friend, Emily, was with us, and we would just laugh every time he would be stopped by someone else.

What was really fun is that we were at a show and didn't have any responsibilities. That felt wonderful. We even left early to go eat Indian food. It was so fun...what a great tour! You should see it next year when it comes to your area.

"The Gift of Fear"

My mom gave me this book by Gavin De Becker to read. At first, I didn't want to read it because of the title. I don't think that fear is from the Lord. The only good fear from what I knew before was the fear we have of the Lord. However, Becker redefined my definition of fear.

Fear is a natural instinct that we get when we know something isn't right...our intuition. Every animal on earth has the instinct of fear. We are the only creatures on earth, however, that reason away fear. If we have an uneasy feeling about a stranger approaching us on the steps of our apartment, we say to ourselves, "That's silly. This man seems nice. I would be rude to just brush him off." It's better to be rude and act on your instinct than to be assaulted.

What is not good is anxiety or worry. That's what we usually call fear. Becker says that anxiety and worry can actually interfere with your natural ability to sense actual danger. The book teaches you to be less "fearful" in the way that we see fear, and more in tune with your intuition.

Plus, it was very interesting. All of the case studies he talked about were intriguing. Of course, I was a psych major and my favorite show is "Law and Order."

Isaiah 45:8

"You heavens above, rain down righteousness;
let the clouds shower it down.
Let the earth open wide,
let salvation spring up,
let righteousness grow with it;
I, the LORD, have created it."

Bonfire at the Gills

We had a bonfire last night. It was fun!

Spring, To-Do-Lists, and Recouping

Spring is here! It has been gorgeous the last couple of days. In between washing sheets and towels and writing up expense sheets, I'll go lay on the hammock and read. What peace I find there on my hammock!

I've actually done everything on my to-do-list. That never happens! I usually bump a couple of things to the next week. However, I did stop putting unrealistic things on the list like "organize the office." That helps. Now, I have three whole days with no responsibilities! That sounds amazing, but it could get boring...we'll see.

For the last few days, Brock and I have almost felt like we're trying to recoup from being sick. For example, yesterday, after doing a bunch of errands, both of us felt weak like we did too much in one day. That's the effect of the last couple of trips out on the road have done to us. We're getting back up to par, though!

Expelled the Movie

There is a film coming out called Expelled. Every Christian needs to see it and support it. Here is what Brock says about it:

the other night i went to see another pre-screening of ben steins new mvie "expelled". i took a few friends to preview it because i wanted to not only spread the word about this movie but also hear feedback from them. everyone had the same response. everyone that watches this film loves it. ben stein is a genius. he interviews people from all over the place in a way that only ben stein can do. he is funny and smart and gets to the real issue. the issue is this. if a scientist or professor doesnt believe in darwinism as fact, they are expelled. sounds like a conspiracy theory? just watch this film. you will see the nasty cover up and abuse of the freedom of speech and academia in this country. it is a surprising and eye opening film that everyone has to see.

here is what you need to do. call your theater and make sure they are going to bring this film. also, go to www.getexpelled.com to get resources to promote the film to your school, church, friends, organization, office, etc.

this is the most important film you will see this year. it may be the most important film you will see in a decade. trust me on this. get behind this film and make it big. there is nothing but opposition thru mainstream media because of the incredible and controversial content of this film.

call your pastor right now and inform him. buy a screen and watch it as a group. discuss it. make something happen. act now. this is an opportunity that will slowly pass by us unless we get involved.

Rest, Rest, and More Rest

I slept 10 hours last night! Granted, I did have a weird dream involving flying roaches, an amusement park, and chocolate. Monday, I stayed at the house and did absolutely nothing. Brock went out that night with some of the guys, but I stayed home.

Yesterday, we had a couple of meetings and errands to run. We left the house at about 8:30am and returned at 5pm. At about 1 or so in the afternoon, both of us began fading again.

Sometimes after we've had a hard trip on the road, it takes a few days to recover. In the morning, we'll feel great, but by the afternoon, we're done. At other times, it takes a couple of days before we actually feel like resting...a delayed reaction. For example, Sunday night, you would have thought that I'd sleep for ten hours, but that didn't happen until last night. Right now, we are fortunate enough to have some time off where we can rest whenever we need to.

Peace in the Storm

Even though Saturday was exhausting and stressful, it actually helped with my burnout. Remember how I said that I was on the verge of burnout? You would think that something like the day we had Saturday would push me over the edge. It didn't. In fact, it gave me a burst of energy. It was sorta the same feeling you would get when the fire alarm goes off at school and you don't know if you are going to have to go back to class or not. It was stressful and scary, but with that came excitement!

I also feel like Satan wanted to give us more travel problems to wear us down, but due to your prayers, he was unable to do that. Again, the Lord enabled Satan's plans to backfire. I now have no more symptoms of burnout. Although I'm physically tired, that can be cured quickly with rest that we are able to take right now.

At one point while we were driving in the thick of the blizzard and I saw yet another car lose control and run off into the ditch, I felt an overwhelming calm come over me. I felt as if the Lord Himself were driving our car at that time. I had the same feeling you had when you were a little kid and you felt absolutely carefree when your dad was driving the car. In your mind's eye, your dad was invincible---like a superhero! That's how I felt. Thanks for the prayers.

Blizzard

Yesterday was a crazy day! My day began when I woke up at 5:30am (after getting to sleep after 1am the night before) in order to catch a flight from Indianapolis, IN to Charlotte, NC. I looked up our flight and it was delayed 4 hours. I saw that we were going to miss our connecting flight in Detroit, so I called the airline. Basically, she said that the east was a mess and they were not going to be able to get us to NC in time for our show. I couldn't believe it!

We were not going to miss a show, so we rented a car and decided to drive the ten hours. We began driving at 7am. It was going to cut it close, but we could make it in time. Well, we did not count on a blizzard! Cars were spinning out of control. Eighteen wheelers were going off into the ditch. Some areas looked more like a ski slope than an interstate. We were picking our lanes. When it took us an hour and a half to go 50 miles, we knew that we were not going to make it. We pulled over outside of Louisville, KY at a Cracker Barrel. Brock hit a curb because you couldn't see it. The snow in the parking lot was already about 6 inches and snow was still coming down!



We were on the phone with different airlines trying to figure out what to do. A guy from our office found a flight from Louisville to Charlotte for $1,500 a piece! However, we couldn't make it to the airport in time for that flight. We tried a few others, but the connecting flights were delayed. It was a mess. Finally, we found a direct flight out of Nashville (of all places) leaving at 2:35pm. It was 9:30am at the time. It was normally a 2 and 1/2 hour drive from Louisville to Nashivlle, but in these conditions, we didn't know. We had to try though. So, we headed that way.

Four hours and $1,000 (that's how much extra it cost us to get to Charlotte) later, we made it to the airport. Of course, that flight was delayed for about 45 minutes. We finally made it to Charlotte at 5:20pm. We got our luggage and drove the 40 miles to the show. We made it there at 6:30, set up, and began the show at 7pm. It was all worth it! The show went great and 20 people gave their lives to Christ!

Snow Storm

Pray for us today. There is no way for us to fly from Indianapolis to Charlotte in time to do our show, so we're renting a car and driving the 9 1/2 hours.

Show in Crawfordsville, IN

The show went great! The place was packed out and lots of people gave their lives to Christ. Plus, there were 9 children sponsored through the Compassion International program. What a great night!

For the straight jacket, the biggest guys I've ever seen were onstage. One guy was 6'10! When you look at these pictures, keep in mind that Brock is 6'4...

Burnout

I see the signs of burnout for me. I'm feeling tired, resentful, and apethetic. I'm tired of all of the pressure to keep up this ministry. It's not life or death...I feel that it's more than that. It's ETERNAL life or death that we are dealing with. The shows themselves are going very well. Once I get to a show and actually begin doing it, I love it!

What I'm not fond of right now is the other 22 hours of the day out on the road. The time in the middle of the night where I cannot remember where the bathroom is in this hotel room or rearranging our luggage on the sidewalk at the airport in order to get all of our liquids checked and make sure that none of our bags are over the 50 pound limit.

Tonight has not helped matters. Our plane was late which cost us an hour. The rental car place was a joke which took an extra hour. Our hotel is an hour drive away which had some construction causing us to stop for 20 minutes. It's midnight now and we are still not to our hotel. Did I mention that we have to perform tomorrow at 7:45am? Please pray for us. Also, pray that the show goes well tomorrow night.

The Bucket List

Have any of you seen this movie? It's rather good. It's about two older men who seek to accomplish things on their list before they die which is in about 6 months. My only deal is that why wait until you only have 6 months to live before you begin doing the things you want to do in life? It seems like you wouldn't be able to enjoy it very much at that time because you wouldn't feel very well. When I get old, I want to be at home and spending time with loved ones.

I've almost completed my list and I'm only 32. I keep adding to the list and changing it. The only thing that has been on my list since I was in the 5th grade is to go to all 50 states. I only have one that I haven't been to...Hawaii. Someday, I will go there. What's on your list?

Cool Under Pressure

Brock is the coolest person under pressure that I've ever seen! I know that he must think quickly when things are going wrong during the show, but his actions never show it. I'm about to have a hernia backstage or at the sound board, and he looks as if he were having a nice relaxing day at the beach.

For example, when he wrecked the bike during the show last week, he calmly went to pick up the bike...not brisk, sharp movements like I use when I'm in distress. That's why people often think that he does things on purpose.

Who in their right mind would think that he wrecked that bike on purpose, or having all the electricity go out on the entire boat on the Brio Cruise was all planned by him? Lots of people because he is so cool under pressure that they think he planned it. I wish that I could be that cool under pressure!

Show in Orlando

The show was great tonight! The place was packed. In fact, they had 75 people sitting in overflow. There was such energy! Everyone was laughing and having a good time. Over 20 people gave their lives to Christ tonight.

I got to see some old friends from Daytona. That was fun!

Show in Springdale, AR

The show yesterday was good. Usually, Sunday mornings are difficult because it's morning and people don't laugh or get into shows as easily in the morning. Plus, it's extra stiff on a Sunday because some people dress up and you are usually supposed to be quiet in church. Despite all of that, this group was rather good. More than 600 students attended which was a big day for them according to the youth pastor. Many people were introduced to their student ministry and 19 gave their lives to Christ.

Last night was a long one flying from Arkansas to Orlando. When we finally got to our hotel, the room smelled like smoke and Brock immediately began sneezing. Then, they moved us to another room where they had double beds instead of a king (remember that Brock is 6'4). Finally, they got us into another room at 12:30 last night. Oh well, it's a sunny day today so I'm going to enjoy it while I can. Our show is not until tonight!

Feeling Down

I need you to pray for me. It's nothing serious. I'm just a little down. Last week was a tough one. We had been out on the road for 10 days. I wanted to come home and simply rest for the three brief days that we had at home. That didn't happen. Brock had meetings and interviews. He had to go to the doctor for his foot, and we just so happened to have a dentist appointment for him. I had to do some follow up work from the days out on the road. We had our house appraised. We had to do our taxes. Plus, we're trying to get this chocolate tasting off the ground.

Many of our friends were sick and there was no Cocoa Tree to go to. I know that this isn't tragic or anything, but all work and no play doesn't sit well with me. I just wanted to get rested up before we went on this trip out, and that didn't happen. Please pray that I'll have strength to do the next few shows and that I'll get some rest soon. Thanks for your prayers.

The Blessings Continue

Remember a while back when I told you that we have been praying for standing room only and the Lord is blessing our shows? It's still happening. We are seeing standing room only every show and soooo many people are coming to Christ for the first time. I know that this is straight from the Lord. He gives and He takes away, so pray that He will continue to bless our shows in this way.

It's so amazing to see it! I wish that you could all go with us! At Fellowship of the Woodlands last weekend, there were several whom were saved that some of the leaders had been praying for and talking with for months. What an honor to be there when their prayers and ministry work came to fruition. On Monday night, one lady brought 9 people from her neighborhood. All 9 of them were saved that night!

Those of you who pray for us are just as much a part of this as us. I truly believe that, because I've witnessed the power of prayer. We are simply an instrument that the Lord is using to get His gospel out. What a privilege! Pray for us this weekend. We will be in Arkansas performing tomorrow morning and Monday in Florida.

No Cocoa Tree

Some of you may have heard the devastating news by now, but it is this...the Cocoa Tree is no more. The owners had some sort of dispute that they couldn't fix, so it's gone. I'm so sad. Last night, we had no place to go. I texted people like I always do to invite them to Cocoa Tree night and only 6 people showed up! That's the smallest group that we've ever had because it wasn't the Cocoa Tree.

We ate at a restaurant that had changed its menu and wasn't as good. Then, we went to Starbucks because our friend was working there. It was actually okay. A couple of other friends dropped by. That was fun, but it's not the same. I don't know what we are going to do now. I'm on the lookout for a new hang out, but I don't know where that could be. So sad.

I want to hang out at a place where "everybody knows your name," or like Central Perk, or the coffee shop from Seinfeld.

Brock's Hurt Foot

Here is an explanation of Brock's bum foot by Brock:

i am pretty rough on my body. i do some crazy things day after day on stage and off. monday was a very rough day. here is what happened.

i woke up and ran 3 miles. then i went to a show and rehearsed. during the show i was doing the "blind ride" stunt where i get blindfolded and ride a dirt bike thru the place and jump the bike off of the stage. as i was doing the stunt during the show i hit a slick spot on the floor and crashed the bike. i hit the concrete hard and banged up my knees pretty good. this happened in the middle of the show. later in the show i did the ladder trick. this is where i jump off of a big ladder onto the ground. anyway, it hurt very badly because my knees were so busted up. after the show we headed for the hotel. as we were dragging luggage up the steps i felt my foot give out. i couldnt walk for the next 36 hours. apparently my foot was dislocated. my bones are not broken but took a beating so bad that they just gave up. i am going to be slow for a while but hope to make a fast recovery. thanks for the prayers. there is the story. sorry i couldnt get to this sooner.

Travel Problems

It's good to be home. The shows were fabulous in Texas, but the travel part was not so good. It started out when mom went to drop us off at the rental car place on Saturday. The place closed at 1pm. We did not know that. It was 3pm at the time. They didn't reopen until Monday. Therefore, we were without a car all weekend. Fortunately, one of our friends lent us his car. Then, we had Enterprise come and pick us up on Monday morning.

Then, I found that all of our stuff was wet because it was raining in Mississippi and Atlanta while our luggage just sat on the runway at times. Two pieces of luggage broke. One of the suitcases only lasted 1 month! The guys at the airport are not too gentle.

Our hotels were interesting because we checked in late at night after the show. The night shift rarely knows what is going on. In the Woodlands, we made sure that the room was a king nonsmoking. She assured us that it was. Not only was it double beds and smoking, but there was someone in there! So, we had to drag all of our luggage back down and get a new room. Then, Monday night after the show in Dayton, we drove about 45 minutes to a hotel near the airport. I had called earlier in the day to make sure that the reservations were set and okay. They assured me that they were. When we got there, someone had canceled our reservations for some reason and there were no available rooms. They told us that another hotel down the street had some rooms. We went down there and none were available. This went on for another 45 minutes. Finally, we found one ourselves on our GPS.

Yesterday in the airport was a nightmare with Brock in a wheelchair and me carrying all of our stuff. I really feel sorry for people that must use wheelchairs AND their loved ones who must take care of them. You would think that everything would go quicker because you get to scoot up to the front of the line. Everything took three times as long. Oh, I'm so glad to be home!


This was the skid mark Brock put on the floor when he slid all the way down the aisle of the church.


This was the autographed hole that the bike put in the floor.


This is Brock in the wheelchair at the airport.

Dayton, TX

Our show was great last night! The Lord is continuing to bless us with "standing room only." They had about 10 days only to promote the show last night. Then, they were going to try to get us into the schools, but that didn't work. With all of that going against us, the place was still packed out! We had around 800 there and 109 made a decision for Christ.

The only problem is that Brock got hurt. First of all, he was using someone else's bike to do the blind ride. After he was had already taken his blindfold off, he rode it to the back of the room one last time. All of a sudden, he and the bike were sliding down the isle! They informed me that the bike had been leaking coolant all over as he drove and he must have slipped on it. Everything was okay except some bruised knees and a hole in the floor. They were totally cool about the hole. In fact, they had Brock sign it.

The worst part is that when he jumped (he jumps from an 8 foot ladder during the show), he somehow hurt his foot. This morning, he can't walk. I don't know how we are going to get us and our 9 pieces of luggage around the airport today!

The Woodlands, TX

The shows at the Woodlands went great! So many people were saved. This church is an outreach kind of church. They advertise a lot, so many of the people that come to the services are trying out church for the first time. Therefore, we had lots get saved.

They have three services...one Saturday night, and two on Sunday morning. We did all three for the students, plus, a full show late Saturday night. By the time we came to the last service on Sunday morning, we were wiped out. Also, one of the smallest crowds was there...about 150. The other crowds were around 600. I was praying, but I wasn't into this particular service as much because of the reasons I listed above. When it came time for the invitation, I think about 80 of them stood up. I was amazed!

Some of the leaders were telling us that people they had been working with and praying about for months came to Christ this weekend. Praise the Lord! We have another show tonight in Dayton, TX. Pray for strength for us, and that the Lord will change lives.

Nurse Auny

Brock and I have a show in the Woodlands, TX tonight which is very close to my parents' house. Therefore, we flew straight from Mississippi to Houston to visit with them a couple of days. As you know, my dad just had surgery Wednesday. Mom went back to work yesterday, so I was there to help dad with anything he needed.

My dad is not a complainer, so I had to ask him how he was doing often. He always seemed to be doing well though. He didn't even have to take any pain medication yesterday. We watched a couple of movies and he took a nap. It was great! Brock and I were able to relax with him.

Pray for our show tonight. Brock is speaking at around 7pm and then we do a show at 9pm. Tomorrow morning, Brock is speaking twice. Then, we drive about an hour away to perform another show Monday night. It's going to be busy the next few days!

Long Day in the Airport

Yesterday, we spent the day flying from Mississippi to Texas. We had a 2 and 1/2 hour layover in Atlanta. Then, our plane was delayed. When we finally got on the runway, since the flight crew was the slowest I've ever seen, the plane pulled over to the side and turns the engines off. We finally heard that the weather was too bad in Texas. It was rainy in Mississippi and Atlanta. Now, apparently, it was bad weather in Houston as well. We sat in the small plane for another hour.

As we were in the air, the two people behind me talked the entire way. At one point, they brought up politics. Have you ever noticed that when you talk about politics all the problems of the world are brought up? To make matters worse, they didn't agree on anything. It was an argument the whole way. All I wanted to do was get off that plane! When we got there, we stood up to file out, and we stood, and we stood. Without telling us what was going on, they didn't open the door for about 20 minutes. Apparently, they couldn't get the door opened or something, because we had to walk down some stairs onto the ground and then back up another set of stairs to get back on the jet way. It was a mess and we were two hours late!

However, we had very good food. For lunch, we ate crabcakes at Phillips Seafood restaurant in the Atlanta airport. They were great! Then, we had my favorite mexican food at Pappasitos in Houston last night.

Mississippi State University

We've teamed up with Campus Crusades to perform a few times in the last couple of months. Last night, we performed at Mississippi State University. We loved it! The people were great to work with. The audience was wonderful...almost 1,000 in attendance.

What we did was come a little early so that we could do what's called street busking. That's when Brock performs some eye catching, attention grabbing illusion or escape to draw a crowd on the street (or in this case, on the side walk at the school). Then, the workers for campus crusade would pass out fliers and tell them about the free show. It worked out perfectly!

Here are some pictures and a video of the street busking:

One time Brock did the glass walk


I don't know what these guys were about, but it was random!


Brock performed in the cafeteria.


That was a key that he was bending in his hand, and then it completely broke in two!

Snoop Dogg stayed in our hotel while we were here, but I didn't see him. It is a small hotel, so everyone was buzzing about it.

Sinchai, Vincent, and Francisca

The best part about the cruise was the crew. They are from all over the world. We had a guy who took care of cleaning our room. His laugh was contagious! His name was Sinchai. I fell in love with our waitress. She was precious. Her name was Francisca. We gave them all dvd's.

The cool thing about our show on the boat was that it was broadcast live on the televisions throughout the boat. Several of the crew members said that they watched it in their rooms. This means that they heard the gospel! One guy named Vincent said that he liked the show and thought that the message was good. He said that Brock's explaining of the gospel didn't put him to sleep. I guess that this is a good thing! Anyway, say a prayer for Sinchai, Francisca, and Vincent that they would come to know the saving grace of Jesus Christ.


Isn't Sanchai a riot?


Francisca and Brock

We are performing at Mississippi State University tonight. Pray that it goes well. Also, please pray for my dad. He's having surgery today. It's not heart surgery, but any kind of surgery is serious.

Brio Cruise

The cruise was great! Brock really stood out, of course, but we met many wonderful ladies and girls. We shared our idea about the chocolate tasting with some of them and they loved it! Brock performed two times...once for half of the group and once for the other half. He also did a 15 minute teaser the first night for both groups. The shows went great, but the best part was in the second service, right when Brock was finishing his teaser, the electricity went out. We found out that the power went out all over the boat. This could be a time of panic, but not when Brock was onstage. He immediately fell to the ground dramatically. Then, he began saying such funny things. He's so good at spontaneous humor that most people were convinced that he had planned the power to go out!

We went to a private island called Half Moon Cay. It was so beautiful! The weather was great on the island. When we went to Freeport, Bahamas on the first day, it was a little cold for us. We are wimps when it comes to the cold.

Our room happened to have a balcony overlooking the ocean. One morning, I went out and noticed that the sun was about to come up. I wondered where it would rise. To my delight, it rose directly in front of me! I didn't have to leave my balcony. In fact, I was still in my pajamas. It felt almost as if the Lord had the sunrise just for me that day, or at least gave me a front row seat for it. Oh, how beautiful it was!


The sunrise


That's a lot of girls!


Not a bad place to go to work


We rented a scooter in Freeport. They drove on the other side of the road there, so it was tricky. It was fun scooting around the island on that thing. Brock felt so goofy on it, but they didn't have real motorcycles for rent there.


The beach in Freeport




Half Moon Cay




Of course, Brock is just past the sign that says not to go beyond this point because it's dangerous.


We kept hiking up to this point. It was beautiful! We were going to keep going, but Brock spotted a couple of large snakes and we were a long way away from a hospital!


Then, we took a nap in the hammocks. What a day!

Vacation

I think that everyone should try and take a vacation every year even if it’s to go to a family members’ cabin in the mountains or beach house. I truly believe that people need that time away. After coming back from our vacation, I feel so refreshed. I’ve already started budgeting for next year’s trip!

For anybody in the ministry, I really recommend two weeks at a time. A minister is never off of work. Therefore, you need that first week to wind down in order to really be able to relax the next week. I honestly thought that I would get a little bored being gone two weeks, but it didn’t happen. It was just the right amount of time. Charles Stanley recommends pastors take all of their vacation time that they are allotted at once. Maybe you could take the kids for one week and then let them stay with the grandparents for the second week.

I also have another recommendation. One year when your children are old enough to get it (maybe 10 or older), take a trip to a third world country. It will change not only your life but your child’s life too. Maybe you could take a mission trip as a family or if you sponsor a child through Compassion, you could go and visit your child as a family. Only 15% of students who attend church regularly in high school continue to attend after they graduate. Most of those 15% have something in common…they all went on a mission trip. These are just my thoughts after our life changing vacation.

Quirks

One of my friends said that when she was visiting family, her husband brought up some of her quirky obsessive-compulsive tendencies. Her uncle told her that she needed to go to a psychologist about it even though they are very minor things and only occur on rare occasions. She began to tell him that she knew a person who cannot stand the sight or feel of wet paper and another friend who has a phobia of peanut butter. Her uncle then proceeded to tell her that she was drawn to these friends because of her “problems.” I told her that I don’t see these things as problems as much as they are quirks. I say to celebrate your quirks! They are what make us each unique.

I have several quirks like how I like to sleep with 6 pillows but condensed it down to 3 when I got married. Also, I like my food VERY hot. Therefore, I finish soup before anyone else begins eating it, and buffets are not my choice because the food isn’t as hot. Another quirk is that when I set a timer or a numbered volume level, it must be 2 higher than an increment of 5. For example, I wouldn’t set the microwave to 10 seconds but to 12. When I told my friend this, she stated that I was weird!

Do you have quirks or is it just me and my friends?

Pictures from the Party

The chocolate tasting table




We had a chocolate fountain


and some hors d'voures


We also had a picture taking area...






Then, Brock shared with everyone.

Desert Time

I have a friend that's going through what I call a "desert time." Many of us have gone through it. The Lord likes to send us through it so that we will be dependent on Him only. I went through my desert time when I was 16 years old. I was born and raised in Daytona Beach, FL. I loved it there! I always told people that my parents could not move until I was in college. Then, I'd marry a guy and bring him back to Daytona. Well, in my sophomore year of high school, that began to change for me. For some reason, I began to want a change and was dissatisfied with Daytona. Shortly after that, my parents said that we were moving to Ft Worth, TX. I was actually excited! The Lord made me uncomfortable where I was in order to get me ready for a change.

We moved to Ft Worth and it wasn't what I thought it would be. I didn't fit in. I didn't have any friends. On Friday and Saturday nights, I would sit at home. I was very lonely. However, I still look back on that time and think that was when I learned to let the Lord be my rock. I spent over two hours a day just hanging out with Him...praying and reading scripture.

During that time, Carmen (of all people) said this in one of his concerts that I attended. He read Luke chapter 4 verses 1 and 14. "Jesus, FULL OF THE HOLY SPIRIT, left Jordan, and was led by the Spirit into the Wilderness." In verse 14 it says, "Jesus returned to Galilee in the POWER OF THE HOLY SPIRIT..." He said that sometimes we need that "desert time" or "wilderness time" in order to live in the power of the Holy Spirit.

I'm convinced that the Lord has most everyone of His followers go through a desert time simply because He wants to get close to us with no distractions. If you would have asked me at that time if I wanted my circumstances changed, I would have said, "Yes!" Now, looking back, I'd say, "No," because my relationship with the Lord was really formed and molded that year. The Lord cares more about His relationship with you than your circumstances. He's a jealous God. He wants ALL of you to Himself. He's going to do whatever it takes to get your attention.

Happy Valentine's Day!!!

We were in Jacksonville, FL last night and tried to get to our favorite restaurant Barbara Jean's. However, we spent two and a half hours working on a way to get there and simply could not do it. However, to my surprise, Brock had arranged our friend who lives there to have some special things in our room waiting for me. He had a note, case of waters (because he knew that I would be concerned about getting us some water), and flowers (Calla Lilies to be exact which are the flowers that we had at our wedding). How sweet!

The reason we are in Jacksonville is because we go on another cruise tomorrow. However, we are working the cruise. The other catch is that it’s a mother-daughter cruise, so Brock will be surrounded by a bunch of ladies (1400 girls and 6 guys to be exact). The cruise is going to the Bahamas. As Brock says, “It’s not a vacation, but it’s not a bad place to go to work.” The fact that it was snowing the day we left Nashville increases my anticipation of this cruise.

Since I will not have access to internet on the boat, I’ve prepared a couple of posts for the next few days. Feel free to comment and I’ll catch up with you next week!

Hay Ride

The other day, Brock took his truck and trailer to conduct a hay ride at a conference in the area. His friend was putting on the conference, so he asked Brock to help out. It happened to be a beautiful day for it.

That evening, he met me and some friends for dinner. He still had the hay in the trailer, so we took a hay ride around downtown Franklin. It was so funny! Brock drove us around the circle in downtown several times. When, we went past the Starbucks, we got several strange looks. However, I found out why most don't participate in hay rides in February...it was cold!

Room in the Inn

Our church has a ministry on Monday nights where they bus in homeless people from Nashville and provide them with a good meal and a place to sleep that night. While they are sleeping, they wash their clothes for them.

Last night, it was the staff's turn to host this event. They went all out! They had a Valentine's dinner for them with chocolate, gifts, and even entertainment. Guess who was the entertainment? Brock. Also, Lindsey the Fireproof Women made her debut, and she did an excellent job!

When I came into the church last night, I was so glad to be in the warmth of the inside. Then, I thought, "What do these people do? It's so cold out there. Where do they stay?" It really broke my heart.

There was such a sweet spirit among all of the people there from the church. There was a warmth there that went beyond the physical. What an awesome ministry!

Emily Singing

This is the youngest child, Emily, from the family in Ecuador singing for us.

Isn't she so cute?

Party, Party!!!

The party was a HUGE success! Thirty-one people were in attendance. We raised $391 last night alone. Plus, with all of the pledges we got, we are going to be able to pay off the family's house!

In the kitchen and hallway, we had hors d'oeurves and a chocolate fountain donning Valentine decor. We even had a picture taking area in the hallway. We took polaroids of everyone at the party.

Then, in the dining room, hiding behind a Valentine's curtain was the chocolate tasting area. We had people go in there in groups of about 4. They would take time to taste each piece of chocolate and record their thoughts as well as rate the chocolate. It was truly an experience!

Chocolate Tasting

To raise money for this family in Ecuador, we are going to have a chocolate tasting at our house tonight! I've ordered chocolate from all over the world. We even got some apples and bread to cleanse our pallets between tastings if we want! We were going to have people over at our house this weekend anyway (you know us), so this time, we are charging a cover charge of $10. That's how we are going to raise the money!

Today is February 8th, and I remember it because it's my sister's birthday. However, it's also a significant date for me. The Lord has often had me start new things on Feb 8th. I first began having a consistent time with the Lord daily on Feb. 8, 1993. I remember praying really hard for a friend on this particular day one year. I even know that on Feb. 8, 2005, the Lord told me to begin writing this blog. That's why it's no surprise to me that we are beginning this chocolate tasting tonight!

I have so much to say about it that I don't know how to begin. This party has two folds. With our particular community, we are going to have a party at our house about once a month. At these parties, we will continue to make great food for everyone and have a great time. The only difference is that we are going to charge at least $10 per person which will go toward some kind of mission or ministry. We are all so excited about this! Michawn said a while back that we have the most parties! Well, we will continue to celebrate...we're just now having parties with a purpose!

The second part of this is that we are going to offer chocolate tasting "kits" to people so that they can have their own chocolate tastings in their houses or churches to raise money for Compassion. I'll go into detail about that more later. I am just so passionate about this right now!!!!

If you want to help out with this particular family in Ecuador or Compassion International, email me at aunygill@yahoo.com.

A House in Ecuador

The show last night started out rough, but in the end, it was excellent. So many people gave their lives to Christ...over a hundred! That's what it's all about.

I want to tell you something that I've been holding in for a while. We are trying to raise money for a precious family that we met in Ecuador. Their house was nothing more than a room with a couple of beds and a table. The walls were made of straw, yet it was so clean that you could eat off of the floor. The mother invited us into her home. There were two little, precious girls who sang and danced for us.

Jenesis, the older girl, wants to be a veterinarian when she grows up. She asked her mom if they could get a parrot. Her mom said that a parrot costs $5, and they could eat on several days for that. She told her to pray that God would send them a parrot. A few days later, the younger girl, Emily, came into the house saying that a parrot was on the roof. It was true! A parrot was up on their roof and couldn't fly. They showed us the parrot right then. What faith they have!

Then, she told us that they were praying to pay off their house so that they can fix up the building in front of their house to turn it into a mechanic shop for her husband to work in. Their mortgage is $430 total. I know that you aren't supposed to buy a lot of stuff for people in other countries, but I really wanted to buy this house for this family. I talked it over with our friend from Compassion, and he said that he thought it was a good idea. Can you believe that we can buy a family a house for $430? Tomorrow, I'll tell you how we are going to raise the money...


This is the front building where the mechanic shop would be.


Then, you walk through that building to get to their house.


The mom and the younger girl.


The girls dancing for us.


Jenesis with their parrot.


You can see the room better. Their is some cardboard or something around part of the house, but the rest is like a bamboo straw.

Little Things

Pray for us today. We are driving to Smyrna, TN to perform. It's about 45 minutes away which is nice because we can drive home tonight. Pray that the show goes well.

I wanted to add to what I was talking about yesterday. I'm very good at accepting and having faith in the big things. However, the little things are what get to me. It's so confusing for people around me, because I take everything in stride, and then, with no warning, something that's not a big deal at all will make me so upset.

I think that one of the reasons is because I GET that I shouldn't worry about things that are beyond my control. I cannot do anything about it, so it's easy for me to leave it up to the Lord. However, the little things are usually at least somewhat in my control. Therefore, I think about how I could have or should do something differently.

I'm still working on giving myself and others a break. With the Lord's help, I'm getting a little better at it, but I still need to work on it. Does anyone have any suggestions?

Distractions

The other day, as we were driving to the venue to set up and perform, we both received phone calls from our moms. They both gave us not so good news. Satan seems to do that a lot. He tries to distract us right before we begin a show so that we aren't ready to share the gospel of Jesus Christ effectively. Realize, I'm not saying that our moms did anything wrong. They needed to tell us the information in which they did. I'm simply saying that Satan used it to his advantage to allow us to hear this right before a show and not be able to process it.

Well, I'll tell you this...it didn't work! In fact, this usually makes me know that the Lord is beginning to do something big that night or in our lives.

Neither one of us told each other about our conversations with our moms until we were back at our hotel room after the show was over and done. Then, we had to try and go to sleep. We simply prayed right then and there that the Lord would take care of everything and we laid it all at His feet. Both of us slept like babies.

It seems that on days in which we don't do shows or ministry, we are left alone. Lately, if I ever start to get tense, I run one of my favorite scriptures through my head..."Humble yourselves, therefore, under God's mighty Hand, that He may lift you up in due time. Cast all of your anxiety on Him because He cares for you." I Peter 5:6-7.

Super Bowl Party in Pennsylvania

The show today went great! We began at 4:30 and ended around 6. It would have given everyone about 30 minutes between the show and kickoff except the fact that the fire alarm went off just before kickoff. Everyone had to evacuate the building. It was a false alarm though.

The church that hosted us had a really sweet spirit about them. They were extremely supportive by allowing temporary stadium seating filled with couches to be set up in their sanctuary, and changing their services to Saturday evening instead of Sunday morning. Even though it was a youth event, so many adults showed up to help out. Also, many were praying for this event.

It worked, because the place was packed out and about 50 people gave their lives to Christ. One guy who made a decision for Christ said that he was sick of wrestling with this every night and wanted to get it settled once and for all. Praise the Lord!

Philly Cheesesteaks, Chicago Style Pizza, and Buffalo Wings

This morning, we flew from Dallas to Philadelphia with no problems. Then, we drove a couple of ours to a little town called Lititz, PA. We are performing at a church here right before the Super Bowl. It's an outreach, so pray for many changed lives.

Last time we were in Philadelphia we tried and tried to find Philly cheesesteak sandwiches but nobody knew what we were talking about. Someone actually pointed us to a mall food court.

This happens often...people don't realize what they are famous for. When I asked a waiter for a Chicago style pizza while in Chicago, he sighed and said, "Deep dish or thin crust.". I wanted to say, "Don't you know that Chicago style is deep dish?"

Do you know what they call Buffalo wings in Buffalo, NY? Chicken wings. Since Buffalo wings began there, they don't feel the need to say "Buffalo."

Surprise Family Visit

We flew out of Lubbock this morning and were flying to Philadelphia with a short layover in Dallas. When I looked at the monitor in Dallas to find out which gate we flew out of, it said "CANCELED" next to our flight. We had some time because our first show in Pennsylvania is not until tomorrow evening, but spending a day in the airport did not sound very fun. We couldn't get a flight out until tomorrow morning, so we decided to stay in Dallas for the night.

Our next phone call was to Brock's sister, Haley. She and her family live in Fort Worth. Come to find out, they were free that night, and Brock's mom was in town visiting. This was a really nice surprise because we haven't seen our niece, Eva, since May. She's changed a lot since then! We have been wanting to see Haley and her husband, Ryan, and little Eva for a while now because we didn't get to see them at Christmas time. We just got the opportunity to visit with them on American Airline's dime. We also got to eat at Pappasitos tonight. What a great day!

Eva...

Lubbock, TX

We've been in Lubbock since Tuesday night. Wednesday, we went onto the campus of Texas Tech and did what is called street busking. Brock stood outside along a walkway and performed some crazy, eye catching illusions and escapes. This would draw a crowd. Then, students from Campus Crusades would pass out fliers about the show which we performed on campus last night.

Wednesday was a beautiful day. The temperature was high and it was sunny. Except for an occasional gust of wind, it was the perfect day. Brock and I even went running in a neighborhood near our hotel. Thursday morning, I looked out the window to see it white everywhere. This is the first big snow I've seen this year! It was in Texas! This was a shocker to everyone.

Last night, we filled the theater with over 1,000 people. It was great! People laughed and had a great time. Brock was very sensitive to share the gospel in a way that the students would receive it. Then, we had cards for them to fill out if they were interested in learning more about Christ. It was perfect for this particular group.