Boo

Once again it is time for the annual ritualistic fruit massacre we call pumpkin carving. I think this year's efforts turned out quite nice. Say hello to Fred (on the left) and Betsy (on the right).

Regardless of your view on the holiday, Halloween is here. As for me, I figure if non-Christians can hunt Easter eggs on our holiday, we can beg for candy on theirs! We use this as an opportunity to explain all the appropriate topics to the kids, and no evil costumes! This year my youngest is going as an artist complete with brush and beret. We cut her painter's pallet from a cardboard box and she had a blast splashing paint all over her smock. We are ready!

I'm hoping for Reese's and Sweet-tarts. And if anybody passes out those nasty, hard peanut butter candies in the orange and black wrappers... Remember, we know where you live.

Ancient

We were off last weekend for my mom's auction. It was a treat to stay home for a change! Actually, we didn't stay home much, we went out to see a couple of other ministries in the area.

On Saturday evening we headed south to the Cass County Fairgrounds to see "Sermon on the Mount," the mount this time being a horse instead of a hill. Lew Sterrett illustrates our rebellious nature and right relationship with God while breaking a horse. By the end of an hour he had a saddle on the horse (I don't know what type it was, I'm a city boy) and an assistant riding it. It was a very unique presentation of the gospel. If you get a chance, check it out! One suggestion, go to an indoor arena. I left part of my rear end frozen to that bleacher.

On Sunday evening we headed north to see the new group Austin's Bridge in concert. These young men (kids as the pastor called them) did an excellent job and we had a great time. They have kind of a Rascal Flatts sound with a mixture of soulful vocals and bluegrass/rock influence thrown in. Pretty cool.

The only downer of the evening was when they mentioned their ages. I started singing professionally the year the lead vocalist was born. Ouch! I'm old. Wait this can't be true. Yes, I did like the song they said was for the older folks in the crowd. And I thought the one they did for the teenagers was a bit noisy. Oh my gosh, it is true. I am old. When they sang "Ancient of Days," were they singing about God or was that directed at me?? This is too much, I need to go have my oatmeal and Geritol.

Past Sold

Thanks to all of you who prayed yesterday about the auction. Once again God proved, "Now to Him who is able to do exceedingly abundantly above all that we ask or think..." - Eph 3:20

The house is sold!! A young single lady who is living in an apartment bought it and is excited about moving in. Her lease is not up until the end of this year, so that answered my mom's concerns about having to move out before her new home is finished. After the sale, we were talking to the auctioneer's wife. She told us she felt the need to pray for the house to sell, so she left early and went home. She was praying for the sale and the buyer while the auction was going on. How cool is that!

Now to the "abundantly above what we ask" part. The piano that I learned to play on also sold. A man bought it for his grandson who is autistic. After everyone had gone and we were straightening up, two cars pulled into the driveway. Out popped a little boy followed by his mom, grandma and grandpa. I got to meet the young man who would learn to play on my old piano. When I saw the excitement in his eyes, I remembered the day when my dad brought that piano home and I touched the keys for the very first time. Now I felt like I was passing on the torch to a new generation. I played a song for the little guy and encouraged him to practice and have fun with music.

We prayed for the house to be a blessing to the next owner. God answered that and threw in the piano blessing as well. All I can say is AMEN!!!

Past For Sale

Today is an interesting day. In a few hours, big chunks of my past will be up for sale to the highest bidder. The house I grew up in, the piano where I picked out my first melody, the loft where I played and imagined and dreamed - all will soon belong to someone else. As I helped my mom prepare for this auction, it was like a trip through my childhood. There were my dad's tools and the workbench where as a little boy I watched him fix all sorts of items. There was the table where I ate countless meals, me in the middle, mom to the left and dad to the right, feet propped up on the edge of the dishwasher, blowing smoke from his cigarette out the open window. In the basement I paused at the speakers, amps and mixing board from my first band. I can still picture Mike on guitar, John on the bass, and old Snake sitting behind the drums, pounding out the rhythm for feet shuffling across the dance floor. So many memories from the first twenty years of my journey here on planet Earth.

Believe it or not, I'm not sad at seeing all of this go. In fact I'm excited. I believe that life is not what you've left behind, but what awaits ahead. This will free all of us for the journey that God has in store for our future. Memories are great to have, but even better to make, and you'll never make new ones if you are reliving yesterday's. I'm ready for new memories.

Let the bidding begin...

PS. If you are reading this today (Friday), please join us in praying that God will send the right people to buy the house. My mom has been an excellent steward of the property and it has been a blessing to us for so many years. Now we pray that it will be blessing to a whole new family.

A Rose is a ...

Last Saturday was the big day. Seventeen years of wedded bliss to my sweetie! I stopped on my way home from St. Louis and picked up a card, a box of chocolate chip cookies and a dozen roses. Pam loved it! I can understand the card, words of endearment to stimulate the mind. I can understand the cookies, they taste great no matter the occasion. What I don't get are the roses. Sure they are pretty and they smell nice, but what is it about roses that speak to a woman's heart? After much thought I figured out that I don't care, I'm just glad they do!

By the way, Pam took this picture. Ain't they purdy?

What God Does

This year's Write About Jesus conference (my third) was my best by far. Since I've been back in town I've been flying in a hundred different directions, so I'll share a bit at a time.

On Thursday evening I shared my song "Laughing All The Way To The Bank." The response was tremendous! For the rest of the weekend, folks came up to me and said, "Are you that Laughing guy?" Yup, that describes me pretty well.

On Saturday I had another opportunity to share a song with the group during the Alumni Cafe. This time I wanted to do something completely different to show the spectrum of my writing. I felt the right choice was "He Did" from our What Matters Most album. The Cafe is held right before lunch and many people are catching up with each other after morning sessions. It's usually a fairly noisy background with some folks listening to the singer. My buddies Chris and Bill Filer were on before me with a great song that captured the attention of many people. Then I started singing. Not bragging here, but by the middle of the song, the place was silent. It wasn't because of me, the spirit of God was very present in the room. What an awesome moment.

The best part came after I finished and left the stage. One of the attendees came up to thank me for ministering. She mentioned that a lady sitting at her table had just received a rather painful song critique and my song helped refocus her and remind her why she writes in the first place.

Awards and accolades are nice, but if all I accomplish is to let God do what He does through me, that's sufficient. In fact, like God's grace, it's more than sufficient for me.

Well, Ain't That Cool

It's dinner time on my second day at the Write About Jesus Christian Songwriter's Conference. What a great experience so far!!! I finally get to blog about songwriting.

This year I am in what is called the "Master Class" for writers who have had songs cut by other artists. I guess I've qualified to be in this group for many years, but never thought to tell anybody. Thanks to Chris Filer for twisting my arm!! Part of our time is for assigned co-writing with other members of the group. I was paired up with a gal named Helga from New Jersey. We've gotten together a couple of times so far and have come up with a really cool tune. It's not finished yet, but I can't wait for everybody to hear it. I woke up at 5:30 this morning with another song idea that I had to jot down on my laptop. I think it'll be a good one, too! I have another co-write with a different writer tomorrow, so I pray it will be another good session.

On the networking side, the "big cheeses" from the industry are really starting to know who I am. I'm not sure how much I'm supposed to share, but a publisher is picking up one of my songs to pitch to a couple of MAJOR artists. This will take a while, but if something clicks, it could be a real boost for our ministry. Keep praying!!

The next session is starting up, I've gotta run...