Impressive!

Half-way Over!!!

Can you believe it? 2008 is over halfway over. What a crazy year this has been- on many fronts. DDB has had an exciting year; from about March to this past week we have been on the road alot. It's nice to be home for a while.

I met with some friends yesterday morning to work on a song for the next record. I can't wait to share the result, it's a hymn-like melody in the verses with a modern feel on the rest of the song. It is about redemption, I can't wait to hear the church sing it! Next record??? It will be a while for sure, not until 2009 is over halfway over :) ...nothing is certain though.

I hope your 2008 is going well, and that this back half is even better than the first one.

My youth guy...

My friends and I were in eighth grade, on the church van looking out the window waiting to go to camp. We were watching our new "youth guy" walking to the van, he was going to camp with us. It turned out to be Jeff Jones, a guy who would make a huge impact on my life. That was a couple years ago...okay, five years ago, okay ten...more like 15 years ago. whoa!

Well, we were on our way to camp Walk on Water in Oklahoma a couple weeks ago to do a camp with Park Cities Baptist Church of Dallas, when we were planning to stop for dinner in Memphis. I called up Jeff, who is now the BCM director at Memphis State, and wanted to see if they were available to hang out as we passed through. The last minute meeting worked out and we got to visit with Jeff, his wife Jan and their four children: Emily, Caleb, Ellie, and Ensley.

oh yeah...we met at Taco Bell- one of DDB's favorites :)

ICRS-Orlando

We got home last night from Orlando where the annual Internation Christian Retailers Association was held. We got to lead worship right before Anne Graham Lotz got up to speak- it was quite an honor to meet her. She is the daughter of Billy Graham. We got to meet Ron Kenoly, who was another worship leader that day. We had a great time making some new friends from all over the world.

Slow Fade by Casting Crowns

DDB was doing a Disciple Now at Eagle's landing a year and a half ago when Mark let me hear some rough mixes off their new record coming out. One of the songs he played for me was "Slow Fade." Of the ones he played me, that was my favorite. Well, I came across the video of this song tonight and I had to tell you about it.

Being on staff at a church I often hear of what the people are up to, good and bad. It breaks my heart to hear about what people get caught up in. Sometimes, I want to do more for them than just pray, but I realize I'm not the Holy Spirit and I'm not in their community group. : ) And, usually I just think, "who am I to judge."

This whole thought kind of freaks me out, too. I wonder sometimes if I'm the one fading, letting my heart grow cold. The one with the plank in my eye, pointing out specks. Hopefully I'm better about that than I used to be. If I am, it's because the older I get the more I see my flaws.

Anyway- check this video out...
SLOW FADE VIDEO

Mom

Well, I have good news about my Mom. She has been battling cancer for about 8 months now and the cancer is becoming less and less. She is having a hard time with the side effects of the chemo treatments, but fortunately the treatments have been very effective! They are skipping treatment this round to let her body recover some and because the tumors have shrunk considerably.

Thank you so much for your prayers, you can see pictures of she and my Dad in posts about the tour this past spring.

Joe and Kari Stevens - Wedding Day

Following camp Cherokee we all converged in Knoxville for an exciting day! I'll let the pictures tell the story-- there aren't any from the ceremony- I was busy "ushing"... : ) Click below to check it out...

Click here to see photos >

Mayer Live

This isn't really a music journal, but I've got to tell you what I'm listening to. "Where the Light Is" by John Mayer is a fun listen! This dude is a freak musician. In a day when people ask where all the good music is, you'll find it on this live recording. It features an acoustic set, a Trio set, and then the full band set. It just came out a couple days ago- as soon as I heard about it I went to get the record. I am told you should get it exclusively from Target and get the DVD with it for cheaper than itunes. Anyway, if you like catchy tunes and some sweet jams- check it out. Especially the breakdown at the end of "Who do you think I was"- The bass line is ridiculous! If you liked "Try", you'll love this.

Rehearsing and stuff

Tonight we had a great rehearsal. I like to say we're creating a community of worshiping musicians at GCC. To this point we are. I remember when Michael H. came on staff a year ago he was constantly amazed at the heart and talent we had on the team. I am amazed as well; from musicians to tech people our worship area is flooded with some awesome people.

What's funny is that we are a garage band-- we have rehearsed in 3 different garages since Grace started. We rehearsed in the upstairs of our church office for a while till we needed that area for office space as the staff grew. We've been in a basement as well. I guess whenever we build a rehearsal area at Grace it will need to have a concrete floor with a garage door on the end of it, otherwise we won't know what to do... : )