*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!