*~Put Your Armor On~*

We all know, (unless you've been hiding under a rock somewhere) that the devil is on the war path right now. He knows his time is quickly coming to an end. He's after our minds, our families, and our churches. I've heard of so many families lately that are going through things that I can't even begin to imagine. You may say, "I would never fall into sin like that!" Or maybe, "that will never happen to me or my family!" Well let me remind you that NO ONE is incapable of commiting ANY sin. Take David for instance. He was a man after Gods own heart and yet he was guilty of commiting adultery and murder! It could happen to anyone! Whether we want to admit it or not, we all have our up and down days. If truth be told, we have all been close to things we are ashamed that we've even thought about doing. It's human nature! We all have sinned and come short of the glory of God. You may get discouraged sometimes but there is a way to make it harder for Satan to get to you! The Bible says in Ephesians 6:11, "Put on the whole armour of God, that Ye may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil." You see, God knew that in the last days we were going to have to fight harder than we ever have before. Thankfully, He not only told us how withstand against the "fiery darts" of the wicked, but he has given us the equipment we need to do it! All we have to do is daily put our armor on! First of all, we are to have our loins gird about with truth. The bible says in Philipians 4:8, "“Finally, brethren, whatsoever things are true, whatsoever things are honest, whatsoever things are just, whatsoever things are pure, whatsoever things are lovely, whatsoever things are of good report; if there be any virtue, and if there be any praise, think on these things.” We need to fill our minds with things that are true! Maybe it's listening to godly music, or preaching, or the Bible itself! Next comes the breastplate of righteousness. I believe that's talking about living right. It's much easier not to sin when you don't put yourself in positions to where it would be easy to sin. You know what they say, if it doesn't look right, it probably isn't!                  The Bible also speaks of having your feet shod with the preparation of the gospel of peace. We need to always be ready to share the gospel with those around us. Chances are, when you have your mind on getting the gospel out, your mind won't have time to get into mischief. Most of all in our lives we need the shield of faith! When the devil throws darts of fear and hate, you're going to need to hold up your faith shield! Then there is the helmet of salvation. If you are going to stand against satan, you are going to have to know, that you know, that you're born again! No man can serve two masters. You can not live for God if you're not even saved! Last of all this passage talks about the sword of the Spirit, the Word of God! Any time you are being attacked in your spiritual life, the best way to fight back is through Scripture! And in order to know the Scriptures, you've got to read them! So from now on, determine in your heart that you're going to put your armor on every day and fight! It's not an easy battle. This battle against principalities, powers, rulers of the darkness of this world, and against spiritual wickedness in high places! Its time to stand up for what we believe more than ever, and do it for the honor and glory of Christ! 

*It Happened In A Church Van*

The Church vans are an adventure all on their own. We have been in MANY nice church van's, but we've also been in a few interesting ones. If we were to take all the interesting church vans and put it into one, it would be something like this...........                                           First, you get into the van and there is that smell. You know what smell I'm talking about! Where it's like 15 teenage boy's just played basketball for 2 hours and they all left their socks in the van. Secondly, you go go to turn on the air and feathers start flying out of the air vents and all over the van. You look up and you realize the problem. There is a dead bird about to fall out of the air vents! So you take care of that problem and you try to turn back on the air but it's blowing out extremely hot heat! So after 5 minutes of messing with the knobs, you finally realize that it's set backwards. The heat turns on the air, and the air turns on the heat! Finally you get on the road and you go to make the first turn and water starts pouring out of the ceiling like someone turned on a faucet above your head! By the time you get to where you are going, the water has stopped. Probably because it's already poured all the water out. LOL! Then you go in to wherever you are going and come back out and start the van but it won't crank. You can't get anyone on the phone so you have to go into the store and ask someone if they can jump the battery off. After all of that, all you have in your mind is to get back to wherever your bus is parked!                                  Now that is a funny picture but honestly we are so thankful for the vehicles that churches let us borrow! Without them, we would be stuck on the bus all day and trust me, that isn't fun! We've had WAY more nice vehicles than we've had interesting ones! Even though I must say, the interesting ones are pretty fun;) 

~While You Are Waiting~

 There are three ways the Lord answers our prayers. Sometimes the answer is yes, sometimes it's no, and sometimes He just wants us to wait and trust Him. Sometimes God wants to give us what we have asked for but its not the right time yet. Waiting isn't easy but it is worth it! I think the hardest part of waiting is not knowing what to do with yourself. Well, here are a few things you can do while you are waiting!                  First of all keep working! 2 Timothy 3:14 "But continue thou in the things which though hast learned and hast been assured of, knowing of whom thou hast learned them." A lot of times while we are waiting we get discouraged and something inside of us says, "God isn't answering your prayer so must not be working in your life. You might as well just quit!" Well my friends, that is the VERY last thing we need to to do! We need to continue doing everything that we know the Lord wants us to do. Not only does it please Christ, it also helps you keep your mind off your troubles and on HIM. You might even want to pray and ask the Lord if there is MORE you can do for Him!                                                  Secondly, don't worry! Psalm 56:3 says   " What time I am afraid, I will trust in Thee." I know how it is to wait. Sometimes you wonder why you have to wait and others seem to be getting everything they want in life. People will say that if you are right with the Lord and you have reached some kind of spiritual plateau, the Lord will answer your prayer the way you want Him to. While it is true that sometimes God is waiting for us to display some faith, sometimes it is just not the right time for Him to give us what we desire! It doesn't make anyone a lesser Christian! Now don't get discouraged when things take longer than we expect because His ways are perfect.He has never had and never will have bad timing!                                 And last but not least, don't wait to    worship! How many times have we said "If God ever does this, Im going to really worship Him!" Well that sounds good, but that is not the way things work. God was worthy of all the worship we could give him when He saved us! Everything else He does more than that is just extra benefits of being saved! My dad always says, "you can't worship and worry at the same time!" We just have to put our trust in His plan and worship Him knowing that whatever happens will be okay! The Lord has everything under control. So you might want to just go ahead and worship while you are waiting because he is worthy! Psalm 40:1-3 " I waited patiently got the Lord and he inclined unto me, he heard my cry. He brought me up also out of an horrible pit, out of the miry clay, and set my feet upon a rock, and established my goings. And he hath but a new song in my heart."

*A Life Worth Living*

My heart is so heavy thinking about the burdens that so many are carrying. I think about the elderly person in the nursing home that everyone seems to have forgotten about and the loneliness that they must face. I think about the moms and dads that sit up and cry all night over their children that have gone astray from the faith. Or what about the teenage girl that called "fat" at school and now she is so broken that she starves herself till she feels like she can fit in with the popular girls. I think about the boy who has started using drugs and it has gotten so out of control he's thinking about taking his own life just to end the pain. Or sometimes I'm reminded of all the little boys and girls who are growing up in emotionally and physically abusive homes where their parents are drunks or drug abusers. Perhaps one of the greatest battles that goes on in today's society is the battle of the mind. Satan doesn't play fair. He knows exactly how to get you to do what he wants you to. He may be telling you things like, "no one cares about you. No one cares if you live or die so you might as well just end it all right now." Well my friend, that is a VERY big lie! You may think, "nobody knows what I'm going through!" Your momma doesn't seem to care, your daddy doesn't seem to care, your friends can't understand the struggle that you are facing. The bible says in Hebrews 4:15, "For we have not a high priest which cannot be touch with the feelings of our infirmities but was in all points tempted like as we are, yet without sin." That means that we will never go through anything that Jesus didn't go through himself. Even on the cross when He was experiencing the greatest pain and the biggest burden any other human has had or felt, His Father literally turned His back on Him. So I guess you could say He knows how you feel. In Psalm 55:22a the Bible says, "Cast thy burden upon the Lord and He shall sustain thee." That word "sustain" means to carry. You see, not only does He understand what you're going through and cares about you, He's also going to carry you through! You never have to walk alone! So is your life worth living? Well, the Creator of the universe thought your life was so important that He came to this wicked world and died on a cross so that you might have life! So I guess if my life is important to God then its a life worth living!

It's Just A Little Longer

I find myself feeling uncomfortable and out of place in this world. I look around and see all of this evil and it seems that the only thing that is desirable is heaven. My heart longs for something that this world can not give me, so I know  that heaven is my home and is waiting for me.:) This world longs for joy to last forever but it passes away. They want peace and comfort forever, but without The Lord, it's only for a season.  But I am looking for a city where the soul never dies and where the Son always shines. It makes me think of the song Mary Beth and I wrote when I was 8 and she was 12 , "Its just a little longer till I see my Jesus. It's just a little while till I see my Lord. I'll walk upon heavens golden shores, it's just a little longer till I see my Lord." 

Since the post today was kind of short I would like to take a moment and say thank you to all that read our blog. Every week we have people tell us "hey we read your blog" and that is amazing!!! I cannot tell you how much it encourages us. Thank you all again and have a blessed day!

~7000 Miles To Go~

Today we left to go on a 7000 mile, 5 and 1/2 week long road trip out west. We usually do one big long west trip every year and one or two smaller ones. This trip we are going to be in South Texas, West Texas, New Mexico, Arizona, California, Colorado, and finally end up in Tennessee! We have never been to California before as a family so we are excited about that! We ask all of you to pray for us to have a safe, breakdown free, trip! Also, please help us pray that we will have people saved and that we will be an encouragement everywhere we go. We are so excited about what the Lord is going to do!                                   Sometimes people ask us what we do with ourselves while we are traveling. Well we sing a LOT! Most of our practicing gets done while we are riding down the road. Also, we watch movies, read, get school work done, work on blog posts, pretty much anything we do at home we can do on the bus. We also do a LOT of fellowshiping! Haha! You would think we wouldn't have anything to talk about since we are together all of the time but somehow we manage to find things. I love sitting around and talking as a family. I think it makes us closer when we share things that are on our minds or even if it is just something funny that's happened. I really think that a family that prays together, and that communicates together, stays together! I know it makes us stronger as a family. We love what we do but I'm pretty sure we wouldn't love it as much if we didn't get along. Sure, not everyone gets along ALL the time. I mean goodness, we are in a 45 foot bus! There are going to be some struggles! LOL! But with the Lords help we can overcome whatever struggles we have. We are excited to see what the Lord has in store not only on this trip, but in our ministry as a whole. We are praying that He will work greatly through us! 

~Brianna, The Hero~

So this past week something new happened to us that had never happened before! We pulled up into the church to get our equipment out of the bus and we couldn't get the door opened! We couldn't figure out what in the world was keeping it from opening! We got a flashlight and turns out there was a little screw stuck in the door! Momma and Daddy tried different ways to get it out but we soon realized we weren't going to be able to get it out without a screw driver. Not a big deal right? Well, it wouldn't be except all the tools were underneath the bus. Yep, we were in a pickle! I thought, "I bet we are the only singing group ever that had to cancel a meeting because they couldn't get out of their bus!" Obviously we made it out or you would've most likely heard about it on the news. Haha! We were able to get an emergency window open. Then we had to figure out who was going to be lowered out. It had to be a small person because the window opening isn't very big at all! So my little sister Brianna decided to brave it and volunteer. So we lowered her out the window and she was able to get a screwdriver out from under the bus and we finally got the door opened! Brianna was the hero for the day!! It was one of those stories where if I wasn't there, I wouldn't have believed it! We all said, "only we can get stuck inside our bus." Never a dull moment around here!

*You Can Rise*

Many of us have been through hard times. You wake up and wish to go to back to sleep because that's the only peace you can get. You see some  people have trials that everyone knows about, then others that are hidden and they have trapped inside of them. You never know what someone is going through. But one of the most wonderful things about being saved is that we don't have to bear our own burdens.1 Peter 5:7 says,

"Casting all your care upon Him; for he careth for you." 

It probably would sound crazy to an unsaved person to tell them not to worry but let someone whom they've never seen take care of their problems, but let me tell you the most real things in the world are not seen. 

I know it's so hard sometimes because we want to fix everything on our own, but God (I promise) will do a far better job fixing your problems. Sometimes it seems like there is no end, you think you will just have to live with worry, fear, or whatever it is, but you don't have to. God wants you to give them to Him because He can handle them a lot better. So have faith in Him and you will RISE out of your darkness. 

Micah 7:8 

"Rejoice not against me, O mine enemy when I fall, I shall rise; when I sit in darkness The Lord shall be my light." Through Him you can rise!

*The For Real Stage Fright*

When you are in front of people all the time you need to be prepared for anything. You can see things from the stage that's going on that no one else can see. You see people walking around talking, kids acting up, it can get interesting! We've even been in services where people have had seizures and had to be taken by ambulance to the hospital. I think the scariest things that happened while we were singing was about 6 or 7 years ago. We were on stage and right in the middle of the service these gangster looking guys came in with long black coats. Keep in mind that this was in the middle of July in the south so it was about 90 degrees outside! And if that wasn't strange enough, one of the men had one hand inside his coat like he was holding a gun! Now, I've seen this kind of thing in movies before so you can just imagine the scenarios that were going through my mind. I thought to myself, " I am going to die. It's going to be all over the news that two guys came into the church service and shot the singers." I was preparing for the worst as you can tell. I just knew we were going to be one of those martyr's that go down through history that have given their lives for the cause of Christ. Well, turns out they just came in and sat down and they stayed for the whole service and then left right afterwards! I guess I will never know about the coats or why the guy kept his hand in his jacket. Oh well, I'm kind of glad! Haha! I feel like they were up to something and the Lord protected us from it. So that is the story of how we survived a gangster attack on the church. ;) It just goes to show you that when you travel and sing, "there just ain't no tellins" as my Dad would say, what will happen! 

~Stay In The Fathers House~

Sometimes as young people you think that the world looks fun. It may be "fun", but it has it's consequences. In Luke 15:11-24 the prodigal son, I'm sure, did not think that going out into the world and seeing what it was like, was going to take every bit of his happiness, money, and comfort away and so much more! As the old saying goes, "sin will take you farther than you want to go and cost you more than you wanna pay." He took one step away from his fathers house and the next thing you know, he's in a pen eating with pigs. People sometimes make it sound like once you get away from The Lord you can always just run back to him. Will The Lord take you back? Yes of corse! Will you be the same person as when you left? No, you'll have scars and lose some things you will never get back. Will you ever go back? Not everyone does. If you have stayed with the stuff do not give up now! What is the best way to stay in the fathers house? Stay IN The Fathers house (church). Have a personal relationship with God, read your bible and pray. Don't even look out of the windows, don't go in the yard stay away from even seeing the world. You will never regret it! And if you are out in the world run back to Him. His arms are open wide. A part of verse 20 says, "When he was a great way off, his father saw him, and had compassion, and ran, and fell on his neck, and kissed him." And then there was that elder son; he would be a good topic for another  blog. 

*~Mirror, Mirror~*

When you look into the mirror, all you see is your physical self. It doesn't show anything about your character or your likes and dislikes. It doesn't show who you really are. I have heard and said many times, "you just need to be yourself." And in a way, that is true! God created us all different and we don't need to try and be like other people. But I've been thinking, is "myself" who I really want to be? The Bible says in Romans 7:18, "For I know that in me (that is, in my flesh,) dwelleth no good thing: for to will is present with me; but how to perform that which is good I find not." I know me. I have failed the Lord so many times I can't even count! My flesh thinks wicked thoughts, my flesh lies, my flesh wants to rebel against what I know is right! I don't want to be myself because I am a sinner. The only good that I have in me was put there by Christ when I got saved! So who do I want to be like? Well, the only one that hasn't ever thought anything wicked, that has never lied, that is always perfect is Jesus! He has NEVER failed! I could never be anything like that in my own strength but by His grace and His power I want to do my best to pattern my life after the life of Christ! So from now on instead of being me, I want to be like Jesus!          

                                          

 

Beauty Unexpected

About a year ago we were out in Colorado, kind of out in the middle of nowhere, at a church. It didn't really seem like there was anything around there to do. Well, my dad likes to hike so they told him of a place about 5 miles away. He went and came back and said that all of us needed to go because it was really pretty. We thought it would just be another tourist place that might have some cool rocks or something. So the next day we went and it was one of the most beautiful things we had ever seen!  

That night we went to church and told some of the people who lived there how beautiful it was, but some of them had never even been there before. Sometimes God has the most amazing things in the most unexpected places.

*Clear The Stage*

We have people ask us sometimes, "how do you not get burnt out on the road?" Honestly, we do sometimes! It's hard not to get into the routine of just getting up on stage and going through the motions, trying to do a good job. You ask yourself, "what are people thinking? Are they enjoying the music?" Not once do we stop and think about what the Lord thinks. We say we are singing to worship the Lord, but is that really worship? I heard a song a while back and the lyrics go, "you can sing all you want to and still get it wrong. Worship is MORE than a song!" Worship is OUR spirit communing with HIS spirit. We can't be worshiping and worrying about what others are thinking at the same time. It just doesn't happen. It is also hard to worship when we haven't had fellowship with Him in a while! But when we have prayed and have been reading our Bibles regularly, worship comes easy. The more you find out about the Lord, the more you WANT to give Him what He desires! I wonder if we realize that everything we put before God is an idol. Anything we can't stop thinking about, other than the Lord, is an idol. And when we are on stage thinking about US and how WE look and sound, who are we really worshiping? Sounds like we are making idols out of ourselves! I've had to do a lot of "stage clearing" of my own. Not just in singing but in every day living! When this life is over it's not really going to matter who had the most meetings, sang the best songs, or played the best music. All that's going to matter is how much we did for God! I want to make room on the stage of my life for the only ONE who deserves my worship and my praise, the Lord Jesus Christ!            

~On The Road At Last~

One of the most exciting things for me is hearing the bus crank up. Not only does it mean we are going somewhere, it also means that we are FINALLY done packing up! Haha! It's kind of like moving almost every week. Some trips, like this one, are more difficult to pack for because we are packing for two different climates! I'm not going to lie though, going to Florida in the middle of January is pretty much wonderful;) 

Packing Tips~

Packing for our Florida trip today! 

A lot of people ask how we pack for long periods of time and this is some stuff that I do.

1.I find it easier to pack clothes by putting the outfits together, even the jewelry, that way I'm only bringing what I need. 

It's hard for me to not bring my whole closet on long trips because I want to wear new things everyday but the drawers on our bus are only about two feet long. 

I have a little addiction of buying clothes at rue21...I feel like I'm related to the workers there, no lie.

I always buy new things so if my drawers were packed then I wouldn't have any room for new things. We can't have that happen! 

2. I try to only pack a week or a week an a half worth of clothes and we just find a laundromat because we obviously can't fit six or seven weeks of clothes on a bus. There are seven of us and we have clothes for the day time which is more casual, and then clothes for the church services. If we did bring something to wear new everyday that would be 294 shirts! So that's just a little random insights on packing.

Comment what your favorite stores are and share your packing tips!

Thanks for reading.:)

The Welcoming Committee Part 1

Every church should have a welcoming committee. Whether it's just someone to smile and shake hands at the door or maybe someone who just goes to each visitor and makes them feel welcome. We were ministering at a church one time and we came in and sat on about the third pew. There were no reserved signs, Bibles in the pew, or anything that would indicate someone normally sat there. After about a minute of sitting in the pew we heard two ladies come up behind us and say, "I can not believe these people just came in and took our seat! Do they think they own the place?!" As you can imagine, we were kind of shocked!! After we got through singing these same ladies came up and said, "It is so nice to have y'all here with us today! Y'all did such a wonderful job!" Needless to say, it didn't quite mean as much after their earlier comments. I'm glad we weren't lost people visiting for the first time! I would've got up and left!

Our First Blog Post!

Hey, Yall! This is MaryBeth and Ragan Rochester. We are sisters and our family travels and sings bluegrass gospel music! If you would like to know more about our family you can visit our website, bradyrochesterfamily.com! We have so many exciting, humorous, strange, and just plain fun stuff happen to us on our adventures and we have made this blog so yall can have some insight on our life on the road! We hope our post are uplifting and encouraging to everyone who reads it! Our main goal is to please the Lord and to serve HIM! He is the only reason we live!