Day 18: Cleveland

Yesterday we joined up with the tour in the morning for Jam Church, where one of the bands will lead us in worship and then either Nick or the tour pastor will lead us in a message.  This morning, a few of the guys from Newsong lead worship and Nick spoke on Mark 2, challenging us to really be intentional on praying for the lost, sharing His story with them and doing whatever it takes because that's what Jesus did for us.  He did whatever it took to show us His love for us.

Nick told us all about this girl who had just come up to him the night before, who had been really moved by the message.  She told him how she'd been abused most of her life, hurting herself, all these horrible things, and that tonight she finally felt like God loved her and knew her.  She had her hand holding tight onto something and handed it to Nick....without him looking at it yet, she told him that it had been around her neck for most of her life, as a constant reminder to her of how worthless she was.  She told Nick that she didn't want to wear it anymore because from that day forward she wanted to see herself as God saw her....beautiful.  As she walked away, he opened his hand to see a chain with a razor blade on the end.  This is the object she wore around her neck daily....a razor blade.  And that girl now walks with the freedom of Christ, having a banner of love to hang around her neck from now on.  That is the power of Jesus.  Incredible.

After church a group of us went to the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame.  I gotta say it was pretty great to go there with some of our new friends, who happen to be signed to labels that are on the walls of the Hall of Fame.  We were there with band members from Newsong, Peter Furler band & We As Human....and someday we'll go back there to see all their names on a wall too! ;)  (You should check out their sites: www.weashuman.com, www.peterfurler.com, www.newsongonline.com)  It was really great to see Michael Jackson's glove, the Beatles' guitars/suits, the Temptations' stage outfits, Janis Joplin's car.....all this stuff that a non-musician loves about musicians....the dumb things, but I enjoy it.

When we got back to the venue, Tawny & I had record setup time and then met our awesome volunteers Megan & Chad.  They were super.  We prayed with them for a few people that we met throughout the night and just had a great time talking about ministry together.  So thankful that they were there with us.  I also had a chance to talk with these two girls, Emily & Hope.  Hope was super depressed looking....like not even responding hardly or looking up.  It felt like something was just not right, so when Nick came by, I pointed her out to him and said we needed to pray for her....so he went over and started talking with her and then called me over.  We got to pray with her and tell her how much God loves her.  She started crying and was really thankful we came to talk with her....later on in the night I saw her laughing and smiling.  It was great.

All in all, it was a great end to the weekend.  Though we're off of the tour for the next few weeks, you can be sure I'll still be praying right along with them and trying to be patient while waiting to go out there again.  This is such a great movement....so thankful to be part of this.  God is doing great things.

 

Day 16: Blahs

I don't have many words for today. I woke up with a terrible stomach ache, and a few hours later was in the emergency room getting fluids pumped into me after having passed out 3 times and other things too. I'll spare you the details ;)

We didn't get to the city until after the show had begun. Thankfully Jay was able, with the help of another guy on tour, to get into our road case and set up our booth. Tawny dropped me off at a hotel to rest and handled the rest of the night on her own. So glad she could do that....I was able to get some good rest knowing that her and Jay had everything under control.

Day 15: Reading, PA

Tawny and I are back on the road again, starting in the town of Reading! The last week, I was at home working and tawny was enjoying time with her grandparents on the beach. We met back up for a little getaway in New York on Monday. SO much fun. I really miss living there, and am always conspiring for reasons to move back ;)

But even amidst our galavanting around the city, we were itching to get back to the tour. I really missed everyone and just wanted to meet some new people in Pennsylvania! So I got behind the wheel and braved the crazy streets of Manhattan on our way out. Obviously we made it, though not without a few close calls. ;)

It was great to be back, setting up our booth again, seeing the other merch reps and musicians, seeing a new city and all the fun that comes along with all that.

Dara Maclean came over and met us tonight. She told us about her live of worship and performing and how she's been able to connect with some amazing ministries through that. It was such a pleasure!

Going to sign off, as I'm not feeling great. Please pray for our health and continued growth through the time spent in the Word. Thanks for traveling with us!

I will be Undaunted

If you've traveled through some years with me, you know that there have been some pretty amazing things that have happened both wonderful and painfully difficult.  Each having their own place at their specific time, teaching me and shaping me as they do, as I continue to seek the face of the Lord and His purpose throughout each of these happenings.


Throughout the recent months, there has been a wavering amount of fear that has crept into my world.  Fear of the unknown, uncertainty about the future, fear of rejection, all sorts of feelings that I'm sure other people struggle with as well.  And in the past, I would just take each of those as it came, deal with it and hopefully move on.  But something recently has really been challenging that in me.  Encouraging me to take a more pro-active approach, by stepping out boldly in confidence that my Father God has each and every situation planned out just so, and that I merely need to trust in His goodness over me. 


My blog has been titled "Walking, Stumbling to a home not yet seen" because quite frankly, many of the trials that I was going through were so unreal & earth shattering that many days I felt like I was stumbling along, just trying to make it one step at a time.  There have been some terrible years, but now I feel like moving beyond that and looking square on to what Jesus holds for me as I learn to stand up straight and walk into His grace & promises.


This is where "Undaunted" comes from.  If you looked it up, you would see that it is a word that means "Not intimidated or discouraged by difficulty, danger, or disappointment," and is synonymous with the words fearless, intrepid, brave, & courageous.  In the Bible, there are many times where God changes someone's name in order to make it known something in them has changed...like when Saul's name changed to Paul to show his change of devotion & purpose, or Jacob's name (supplanter) changing to Israel (having power with God), or Simon (God has heard) being re-named Peter (rock).  These were all significant name changes that had a lot to do not only with where a person was at that point, but more so where they were going.  


In the Bible there are over 300 passages on fear, and more specifically where God tells us not to fear!  Something that is repeated that many times should make us think, right?  I mean if it's that important to tell us so many times, then A) we must not be alone in this fear and B) God must really want us to trust Him instead of bowing to fear.  So this is a challenge I'm going at with God.  To not be defeated or weighed down by fear, but to move forward with Christ, remembering the past and using it as a catalyst for the next adventure.  Hopefully we can walk down this road together!

"For I am the Lord, your God, who takes hold of your right hand and says to you, Do not fear; I will help you." Isaiah 41:13

Snowy Roadtrip pt 2

Well, we made it! A little later than we had planned on, but the whiteouts & cars in the ditch didn't stop us from getting to WinterJam!  :)  We all had such a great night, experiencing the music in a new way.....as people in the audience, not just working behind the scenes. It was a great time.  There were so many people who stood to say "Yes" to Jesus too, that it was quite overwhelming!  All the bands were (as usual) really good...probably better because I was actually given some time to sit & watch rather than strain to hear anything from the outside concourse! :)  Here are some photos/videos from the night. 

More here...

And.....keep watch, there's a change a comin' to this blog life of mine, and I think you'll enjoy it!

Snowy road trip pt 1

Not exactly sure why winter felt like January 20th was the day to come at us, but it sure wasn't the greatest day to decide to drive to Des Moines! Even when I'm not touring with WinterJam, it seems to find me somehow.

This morning we, a few of our PULSE staff, are driving down to enjoy the WJ show and to give my co-worker a run down of everything we have been doing. It's going to be great....if we get there! ;) Tonight instead of Skillet we are having Toby Mac! Can't wait!

Day 12: Funnies

Yesterday was a pretty sweet day. We started out realizing it was Friday the 13th, and read our devotional that talked about waiting on God's adventures.....so we weren't sure how it would turn out. Here were some of the highlights:

As I was getting in the service elevator, two employees told me how to work it and said "oh yeah, and MAKE SURE you press this button or the door won't open and you'll be stuck in there!" so I used the elevator and made it out ok. But since I was in a hurry, when I got out, Tawny hopped in to go back down and as the door was about 5 inches from closing, I remembered about the button so I frantically yelled "don't forget to press the button or you'll get stuck!" she yelled back "which button?" but then the door closed. I started laughing SO hard!!!!! When Tawny made it out.....five hours later ;) she was laughing too. We both nearly collapsed we laughed so hard. Good times.