*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;)