Picture Memories

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







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


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


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


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

Unplanned VS. Planned Time With Friends

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

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

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

Last Day of Camp

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

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

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

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

Day 4 of Camp

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

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

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

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

Day 3 of Camp

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Day 2 of Camp

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

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

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

First Day of Camp

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

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

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

My Bible

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

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

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

A Girl Named Barbara

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

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

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

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

Emotional

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

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

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

Judger or Perceiver

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

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

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

My Village

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

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

4th of July

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

Spending Time With Family

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

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

Worlds Collide

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

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

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

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

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

Can't Break the Habit

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

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

Brock's Parents' Week

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

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

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

Difficult on the Psyche

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

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

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

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

Prayer in the Morning

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

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

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

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

Brock's Parents Visit

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

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