Pics from Las Vegas

Vegas at sunrise.



This was where I was sitting when I met Maya.

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



Inside the NY, NY

Inside the Venetian.

Some of the new area called City Center.

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

This is made of tons of jelly beans.







One of the best shows I've ever seen!



Now that's a big chair!

The Butterfly Circus

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

Giving What I Am Asked

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

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

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

Trip to Las Vegas

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

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

Conversation with Mr. and Mrs. Gary Chapman

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

Cruise Pics

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

Brock playing in the water in Cozumel.

Paradise





The midnight buffet



Coco Cay island in the Bahamas

Cruise

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

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

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

Fun in San Antonio

We ate some wonderful barbecue at Rudy's.





Brock went riding motorcycles with some guys through the mountains.



While Lindsey and I went to the River Walk.





Lindsey ate true Tex Mex for the first time.

Chick-Fil-A show

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

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

Invitation in San Antonio

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

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

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

A Desparate Woman, Salesclerk, and a Veteran

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

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

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

Pics from Missouri and Iowa Trip

A chocolate shop in Springfield, MO.

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

Indian restaurant we went to in Fairfield, IA.

The chocolate shop we went to in Fairfield, IA.

Some of the cars at the car show in IA.

Big Weekend in San Antonio

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

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

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

Pics from Graceland

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

Crazy Schedule

Pray for all of our shows coming up this week. Here is the schedule:
Fri-drive 11 hours to TX
Sat-2 hour show in Colleyville, TX
Sun-2 am shows in Colleyville, TX then fly home
Mon-drive 4 hours to Knoxville, TN and perform a show for Chic-fil-a
Tues-drive 3 hours to Chattanooga, TN and perform another show for Chic-fil-a
Wed-Fly back to Dallas and drive to San Antonio, TX
Thurs-perform 3 school assemblies in San Antonio
Fri-perform 2 school assemblies and one big show that night
Sat-perform our first Date Night
Sun-perform twice in the am service and a big show that night in San Antonio

It's going to be a big week...15 shows!

Whoops!

The other night at a show, Brock actually fell flat on his face onstage! In his defense, the stage was very dodgy. It was low to the ground and in several, uneven pieces. Previously, just by moving around on the stage, the pieces began to separate. Plus, the lighting was not too great downstage. He went out into the audience, and when he came back onstage, he just missed it all together and fell face down. In all of his 13 years of doing shows, he has never done that.

Me, on the other hand, that's a different story. I am so clumsy that we've actually began counting how many times I say, "Whoops!" in a day. It's about an average of 10 to 20 depending on how tired I am. I usually don't fall onstage, because I am very intentional with every step. However, I am slamming into things backstage all night. Brock said that every now and then he can hear a bang or an "Ugh!" going on back there. I have a bruises often.

Last night, we were filming a promo for our new show called "Date Night," (more about that later) and I was getting something from our trailer. Time was ticking away, people were on their way, the video guys were already setting up, and I had to just get one thing from the trailer. This is the time when I get sloppy. The gear I needed was under a few poles. I tried lifting the poles with one hand, while I lifted the prop with the other. The prop was stuck and a pole or two came crushing down right on my face! Big whoops! I dropped everything and let the guys go get it. I went to the bathroom and discovered that I had a cut in between my eyes and a goose egg forming on my head. Of course this would happen the night we were filming! Whoops!

The Light Bulb Comes On

I recently read an article on sleep. It told the importance of sleep and some of the things sleep accomplishes for the mind. It addressed the reason you wake up in the morning and that light bulb comes on! You pop up out of bed and think, "Oh! This is how to fix that problem!" Studies show that you dream about a problem you had in your day. Your subconscious does not have the limits you have in your conscious such as physics and logic. Therefore, your subconscious tends to find the answer better by not being so constricted in thought.

The other night, we had a friend over helping us install a chandelier we had purchased at the flee market. When we finally had it all hung and ready, I put the light bulbs in. Every one worked except one. I changed out the bulb hoping it was a blown bulb. It was not. The guys took off the covering over the wiring part to look and see if it was still wired up. However, they did not have a voltage meter to know, and the wiring looked good.

Brock and I both went to bed a little frustrated, because we did not know how much of a pain it would be to fix that one light. When I woke up the next morning, I had an idea! I walked into the dining room and placed the bulb in the slot without the covering on. It worked! You see, the covering was too big not allowing the bulb to screw in enough. Since I was the one to screw in all of the light bulbs, it came to me in my subconscious that the one particular bulb did not screw in as well as the others. Maybe the study is true!

Burly

Every time we go into an event, I find one guy that will really help me out. It's the type of person that has a "can do" personality. In Springfield, MO last week, that person was Burly. Burly is a wiry older man who uses a bicycle as transportation. He has been a dishwasher at Red Lobster for 24 years. When he is not working or sleeping, he is at the church. Therefore, when we came to set up, Burly was there! He was so eager to help, so I put him to work fetching things for us and such.

Brock gave him one of our shirts which he proudly wore the next day. After the show the second night, a few of us decided to go to Andre's frozen custard, a famous place in Springfield. As we were caravaning over there, the cars in front of us began to slow down. I wondered why there would be traffic a 10pm at night. Then, I saw what the hold up was all about. It was Burly. He was riding his bike over to Andre's on the side of the road. He was a fast rider, but there was no way he could make it there by the time we were finished. Our friend, Brad, pulled over and picked him up throwing his bike in the back. It was about a 10 minute drive! Good ole Burly was so eager to hang out that he was going to peddle all the way there!

Burly gave us a wooden spool that he had carved. It was amazing! It took him an hour and a half to carve it with a pocket knife! Now, we have something to remember Burly by. I love that guy!

A Randon Town in Iowa

On our 12 hour drive home from Des Moines, we stopped at this little town in Iowa for lunch at an Indian restaurant there. Since the restaurant did not open for a few minutes, we began walking around the quaint downtown. A car show was set up around the town square. I was excited to see a 1931 Ford because I just read in my Francine Rivers book about the lady driving her first car in 1929. Now, I could picture what she was driving better. I liked that. Brock always enjoys car shows, so it was a great way to pass the time. Also, it gave us a chance to walk around and stretch our legs a little.

While walking around, I noticed a place called the Chocolate Cafe. That interested me. I walked up hoping it was open on Sunday. The door indicated that it would open at noon. Therefore, after we ate, we came back by the chocolate place. We opened the door, but nobody was there. The lights were out, and nobody present, but the door was unlocked. This was so strange. I saw some chocolate that I wanted to try, but what should I do?

I went out of the store and back in a few times ringing the bell extra loudly hoping someone would come in the back. Nobody came. I did not want to go behind the counter, but there was some chocolate displayed on a table in the store. I chose a few pieces of chocolate and left cash on the counter. I rounded up when it came to taxes, so I was more than fair. Brock still teases that I stole the chocolate. I totally could have, but I didn't!

We had a great time in Fairfield, IA yesterday.

Ragweed and a Computer Guy

Our shows in Missouri have gone well. The only problem is that my sinuses are killing me. The ragweed in Missouri and Kansas this year is unbearable! I slept half of the day yesterday and felt much better. This morning, I woke up with a stuffy head again. We have one more show here tonight and then we are off to Des Moines, IA. I hope the ragweed isn't bad there. I'm not sure how much more I can take of it.

The Lord provided for us on the road again. We were having computer trouble such as our calendars were not updating and such, which is very important stuff. If we don't know what is on the calendar, I will not know to purchase a plane ticket and we may miss a show. It could be disastrous. We tried to get help with it when we were at home, but the few people that we knew could do it were too busy. (Computer stuff is an area where we are idiots and have little patience with.)

So, we had no choice but to go back on the road again, and live with not having an updated calendar. Then, Wednesday night, our credit card machine quit working again. I was about to pull my hair out when I met a computer guy who worked for the church. This guy spent several hours yesterday afternoon getting things back on track for us on our computers. Thank God for again bringing us the right person at the right time in a random part of the country.

Day Off

We had one day off this week (besides the driving 6 hours) on Tuesday. We decided to sleep in that morning. Then, we had an early lunch at Rendezvous. They are not open for lunch, but many still come. They don't offer their full menu like they do for dinner, but they are smoking ribs anyway, so that's what you can get at lunch. That's what they are known for anyway. (The ribs are great, but not as good as Roger Gill's!)

Then, we went to Graceland to see Elvis' place. Brock had never been, and I had not been since I was young. It was interesting. I took loads of pictures which I will post soon.

After that, we began our drive. It was nice with just the two of us. There is not an interstate to take us from Memphis to Springfield, Missouri, so we were on highways the whole way. We were going right through the heart of many towns. When we came to Jonesboro, AR, Brock said, "Home of Lindsey Little." I said, "What? I didn't know we were going here! I just got her tweet that she is home!" Lindsey is our missionary friend who has been overseas doing missions since the beginning of the year. I quickly called her. We realized she was at her house about five minutes away from where we were. We got to her house about 3 and left there at 8:30 after eating dinner with her and talking for hours. It was a fun day on the road!

Shows and Flights

The shows in Texas Sunday morning went well. Then, we hopped on an oversold flight from Houston to Atlanta where we would change planes to get to Memphis at 10:20pm. There were so many people on the flight that they could not fit all of the luggage in the storage bins above our seats. They had to check the last 50 passengers bags. That took so long that we were late leaving the gate. When we got to Atlanta, we had 19 minutes to get from our row 25 out of the plane and from the first terminal to the last terminal to catch our next flight. I already knew we were going to miss that flight. Panic began to rise in me because this was the last flight out and we had a show in Memphis at 9:40am!

We hurried off of the plane and began running. I looked at the monitor to see if our flight was still at E30. It was, but something on the monitor gave me some hope. That flight had been delayed 15 minutes. We still had to run to the tram. While we were helplessly riding the tram, I was checking the time constantly. We ran to the gate and were the absolute last people to get on the plane. We barely made it before the door closed, but we did not have time to do dinner. Oh well! We made it to Memphis!

After getting to our hotel at 11:30, we slept as much as we could before our big day. Monday morning, we left our hotel at 8:15 and got back at 10:30pm after setting up and performing 3 shows. Wow! We were tired, but the shows went well.

Pray for Shows

This is our schedule this week:
Sunday: Two shows in the morning in Humble, TX, then fly to Memphis that night
Monday: Two school assemblies and a show at night in Memphis, TN
Tuesday: Drive 6 and a half hours to Missouri
Wednesday: Show in Springfield, MO
Thursday: Show in Springfield, MO
Friday: Show in Republic, MO then drive a couple of hours toward IA
Saturday: Drive the remaining 5 hours to Des Moines, IA and perform that night there
Sunday: Drive 12 hours home

I would ask that you would pray for protection, provision, and power as we head out on this crazy week just the two of us. Please add to that a supernatural peace.

One in a Million Episode #3

How many one in a million episodes can a person have in a week??? As Brock was getting on the plane this morning in Denver, he stopped right inside the door to wait on other passengers to move the line ahead. As he did, he rested his arm on a ledge there. Then, when the line moved, he moved with it and took his seat.

Before the plane left the gate, a flight attendant came over the intercom and said, "Someone has taken one of the flight attendant's cell phones. If you have taken it, please return it." Then, all 4 of the flight attendants went down the aisle looking at everyone trying to find the "stolen" phone. After coming over the intercom a couple more times about it, Brock said he felt as if he were back in grade school. Then, the lead flight attendant came over to Brock and said loudly and with much accusation, "Did you take my cell phone?" Brock looked at her in shock and began to say that he did not do it, but she turned and stomped off. So, then, Brock had to fly 2 hours with everyone thinking he had stolen this ladies cell phone. She thought that Brock had taken it from the ledge where he had rested his arm earlier.

When he was exiting the plane, the flight attendant who had accused Brock of stealing her cell phone, was telling everyone goodbye until Brock came up. Then, she turned her back on him. Brock said, "Did you ever find your cell phone?" She said no and he asked if she thought he had stolen it. "I know you did," she snapped. She told Brock that she had his name and was going to file charges with the police. Brock then said that she could search him right then and there. She would not do that. Brock asked her if they could discuss this. To which she said no and turned her back on him again. Brock said, "I want to speak to a supervisor." She said that there was one on the floor out of the plane. Then, Brock stuck his head in the cockpit and told the pilot that he needed to see a supervisor. Again, the pilot said there is one out on the floor. Brock said, "I am not leaving this plane until I speak to a supervisor."

They called a couple into the plane. Then, Brock offered them to search him again. The supervisors did not do that. They were actually very apologetic. They took down his complaint and told him to email corporate about it. I think they were worried about a lawsuit. That woman behaved so unprofessionally. Brock never raised his voice or got angry. He just didn't want his reputation to be tarnished by being accused of theft when he was completely innocent. The thing is, she probably found her phone later in her purse or something. It was just crazy! I'm elite status with this airline, but I am beginning to wonder if I should use a different one.

One in a Million Episode #2

Yesterday, I was at my parents house in Houston and I get a call from Brock. He was in Denver meeting with a friend before his show that night. Brock's first words to me were, "We lead a crazy life." That's when I sat down, because I was about to get a one in a million story again (read yesterday's post to learn more about this).

As he and his friend, Ryan, were walking in downtown Denver, a motorcycle cop comes buzzing by and hit this guy that was running. The motorcycle crashed and the police officer went running after the guy. He grabbed his shirt, but the shirt tore, so the guy was able to continue running.

He ran straight to where Brock and Ryan were walking. Brock, who had seen what was going down, pushed the guy up against the glass of a storefront. Then, the motorcycle cop came and tried to wrestle the guy to the ground, but he kept almost getting away. Brock pushed the guy onto the ground and planted his knee in his back and put all of his weight on the guy (just like he'd seen in the cop shows). By then, more policemen came onto the scene and were able to apprehend the culprit.

Brock still had adrenaline coursing through his veins as he told me the story. Ryan said that it all happened so quickly that he did not quite know what was going on until it was over. Have you ever had a one in a million episode?

One in a Million Episode

Wednesday was a crazy day. I was trying to get everything ready to go for the next week and a half. I flew out yesterday to Houston to see my parents. Brock flew out this morning to Colorado to do a show tonight. Then, Brock will be flying here Saturday to meet up with me and perform at a church in Houston Sunday morning. Sunday night, we will fly to Memphis because we have shows there beginning Monday morning. Someone will be driving our truck to Memphis. Then, we will drive to Missouri Tuesday in order to perform 3 shows there Wednesday thru Friday. Saturday, we will drive from Springfield, MO to Des Moines, IA in order to perform there that night. Sunday, we will make the 12 hour drive home.

I know...it makes my head spin to think about it. So, I was having to get the truck ready and packed for the trip next week plus get all of our fly stuff in order. The truck was in the shop and we still had some of our stuff that had gone to Rock the Light in another location. All of this was throwing a kink in my plans and making it seem impossible to get it all done Wednesday. However, we knew we would get the truck back by 6 o'clock Wednesday evening. My plan was to get the truck and the rest of our stuff and quickly pack it all up that night.

As I was packing our clothes (which is not an easy task at this time of year...shorts or pants?...both), Brock came into the bedroom laughing saying, "We lead a crazy life." When he said that, I sighed and waited to hear what had happened. When Brock says that, it means that the chances of something like this to happen are about one in a million, but they happened to us. Those one in a million episodes seem to happen often to us.

Come to find out, our truck was on the lift at the shop. This had never happened to them before, but the lift broke. It fell rather quickly at first but then slowed down a bit, because it was in a bind. The mechanic that was under it was able to get out (thank God) and some other mechanics were able to get some jacks up under it to keep it from falling all the way down. They told Brock that the truck had a dent in it, which they would fix, but the door still closed. The only problem was that they could not get it off of the lift. It was stuck on there. They were scratching their heads trying to figure it out.

My plans were all halted at that point. Luckily, they were able to get 2 tow trucks in and maneuver it down by about 6 o'clock. The dent was not bad at all. I think the mechanics were more freaked out than we were. They saw it all go down. Plus, they probably have those one in a million happenings once in their lives. We were able to get our truck and get all packed up that night!

Labor Day 2000

You know those days you remember forever? Of course, you remember significant days like your wedding day or graduation day, but I'm talking about those seemingly average days that somehow lock in your memory never to be forgotten. That's how Labor Day 2000 is for me.

We were living in Conroe, TX (near Houston) and decided to drive to Katy Mills mall that day. Our friend owned a magic shop there. We would go see him and hang out at the mall. The only problem was that it was about an hour drive from our house. Our car at the time was a car that we had bought for under $1,000 and had been previously used in the art car parade. This is what it looked like when we bought it:We had taken the balls off, but now the silicone that was sticking the balls to the car remained making it look like a polka-dotted furry mess. We definitely got some looks as we drove that thing to the mall!

However, that was not our biggest problem. The biggest problem was that the car did not have air conditioning. Labor Day 2000 was a record breaking high there in Houston (record breaking high in Houston is really bad). It was 110 degrees! You add humidity to that and I cannot even describe what it felt like...maybe an oven. It felt like an oven inside our Celebrity, furry mess of a car. We had the windows rolled down, but it kept bringing hot air in. It was like we had the heat on in 110 degree weather. So, we rolled the windows up. It was not much better, but the air was too hot to let it blow through the car. You would think that some air was better than nothing, but this air was miserable!

I'm beginning to sweat just thinking about it. When we got to the mall, we were drenched in sweat. It was before lunch when we got there, but we vowed to not get back into that car until after sundown. We stayed at that mall all day until it closed. We were just soaking up the air conditioning!

Finally, we got back into our hideous car. It was dark out, so our car didn't attract as much attention. We rolled down the windows and began the drive home. I remember the air flowing through the car seemed so cool. It was not that cold, but compared to earlier, it was chilly! I was just enjoying the "cool" air and thinking about how funny it was when we entered the mall dripping with sweat. Then, one of our favorite songs, "Sweet Child of Mine" came on the radio. Brock and I looked at each other and smiled. I turned the radio up full blast and we sang out as loud as we could! At that moment, the air felt cool, we had a good song on the radio, and we were happy. Good times.

A Quick Answer to Prayer

Saturday, we had just finished performing at a side stage at Rock the Light. We had performed on the main stage the night before. During that set, our mic went out for good. Our other mic problems had been some freaky battery issue or it was the church's mic or system that had gone out. However, this time, it was our mic, and it was permanent. We have to get a new mic before we do our next show this Friday. I didn't know how we were going to get one in time, especially with today being a holiday.

I was thinking about the mic when Brock interrupted my thoughts by saying, "I need to lay down. I cannot breathe." He had not been this bad since right after his accident. Plus, it's been over 3 months. The doctor said that it would take 8 weeks to heal. It's been way longer, and Brock is still not 100%. At that moment, I could feel my anxiety rising up. How could I get Brock in to see a chiropractor before we left again for shows? Everything felt like it was resting on my shoulders right then. I guess seeing Brock so weak he was about to pass out made me feel like I needed to do something. What could I do? We needed to talk to a doctor. We needed help. I whispered one of those whiny prayers that went something like this..."I don't know what to do, please step in here!"

In the meantime, I was walking Brock to the closest building so that he could sit down or lay down or do whatever to catch his breath. Someone grabbed the door to go into the same building. He turned and said, "Hi!" It was Dr. J, the chiropractor that sometimes is backstage at Christian events. He had adjusted us before. Brock told him that he needed his help right then. Dr. J had his table all set up in the room we were walking into. Relief flooded through my head and began to settle in my heart. The Lord knew when enough was enough. He stepped in just about the time I was about to lose it.

Then, our mic issue; Our mic is very rare. It's the only one that stays on Brock's head while he is doing crazy stunts and such. However, nobody knows where to get a new one of these specialized mics. No sound guy has ever even seen one, except the sound guy at Rock the Light this weekend. He actually helped make the mic. He took it apart and looked at it for me. He told me that he probably soldered the wires inside of that exact mic. He could not fix it, but he has one at his house which we are going to buy. On Labor Day weekend, while every doctor's office and sound equipment store is closed, the Lord brought the two guys that we needed service from to us in nowhere, Kansas!

Shows in High Springs, FL

We did 5 shows in two days this week. It was tiresome but worth it! We performed 3 school assemblies and 2 big shows each night. The second night, there was a line outside of the venue to get in. We squeezed in 603 people in the church that seats 450. Then, we had at least 30 people in the overflow room. It was an exciting night! The church we worked with in High Springs was wonderful. They worked hard and really cared about their community.

Now, we are at Brock's sister's house in Kansas City. I was just watching my niece and sister-in-law play Candy Land. Brock kept trying to "eat" the game pieces. My niece would giggle and say, "Noooo, you can't eat it." It's been a great morning and night last night. We had burnt ends at a local barbecue place here in town for dinner last night. It was yummy!

The only problem is that I strained a muscle in my back yesterday while I was throwing a bag up on the security belt. It's been bothering me ever since. Pray that it gets better. We have a show to do tonight at the Rock the Light Festival!

Wilson County Fair

We went to the Wilson County Fair the other night. It was awesome! Dan Myer (one of the only sword swallowers in the world) went with us to see another sword swallower at the side show there. It was amazing! Here's some of the things we saw:




Of course I had to ride the tilt-a-whirl.