Encore

I've posted this picture before but in the spirit of halloween I'm re-posting this picture of Oso's dog cousin, Bumper. It just makes me smile too much. :) Happy Candy Hunting!

Inspiration Lately

The other night we went to see the Art Music Justice tour with Sara Groves, Charlie Peacock, Derek Webb, Sandra McCracken, and Brandon Heath. My husband works with some of these folks and I love their music so I expected it to be a fun night of seeing friends and enjoying some music. But it was so much more than that.

There were multiple video’s playing on the screen throughout the night and during the first song, Add to the Beauty, they included quotes from people like Martin Luther King Jr., Harriet Tubman, and Dietrich Bonhoeffer. I was crying before they even got to the chorus. For some reason it really hit me as I watched a simulation of a flower blooming during Sara singing “Redemption comes in strange places, small spaces, calling out our best, and I wanna add to the beauty...”

My emotions stayed quite fragile during Sandra McCracken’s set, as I kept thinking of her new record and how so many of the songs are inspired by motherhood. Thankfully, I simmered down in the middle but absolutely lost it at the end of the evening. Sara spoke about International Justice Mission which is an amazing organization of lawyers and investigators who are working to free slaves all over the world. Many of them are girls who have been taken into sex trafficking and Sara showed a video of some of the girls who have been freed. Over their pictures were quotes from each of them about what they are afraid of. Or were afraid of during their captivity. You can imagine how heart wrenching this was and it made me so thankful for the men and woman who serve these girls in a way that many of us are no able to do. I was a wreck. Moved deeply. I had to leave right at the end because I was so emotional!

I was moved to be more proactive in my day to day life because even if I cannot be the hands to remove a girl out of a brothel, I can pray for her, and live in a loving way that effects change in the world. I can be faithful with what is in front of me and trust that God will lead me into situations and opportunities to make a difference. I believe our diligence in every day life DOES have an impact on the girl in slavery. Somehow, we are all connected and I must trust that God is the one to weave redemption into the story, my job is to follow him as closely as I can.

Thanks AMJ tour, for taking the time to put together such an inspiring show and for putting your hearts into it every night of the tour!

Tension

We find comfort among those who agree with us, growth among those who
don't. -Frank A. Clark

It's probably good to remember this right now when there is so much tension in our country. I'm thankful we live in a country that allows tension. Humility cannot grow next to pride and pride is rampant where there is no tension. Conflict, within it's bounds, means we have the possibility of moving forward. This is what I'm telling myself for the next two weeks anyway. :)

Last day of tour...

I am in Jacksonville, Florida today. Although there are pumpkins on some of these southern porches, it is definitely still summer here. There are lizards running away from my feet on the sidewalk, like ants in Tennessee. There is a river near where the bus is parked and I walked through some neighborhoods to see it this morning. The sun was so hot I didn't stay long, but it was nice to see the wind blowing on the surface of that dark blue water. The other day we were in Wilmington, North Carolina and we could smell the ocean from 4 miles away where we were playing. My hair puffed up like cotton candy and I considered walking the distance just to see the waves, but never actually did.

Tonight is my last show with the Robbie Seay Band. They're great guys and I've had a good time getting to know them on the road. They've been very welcoming of the little lemon growing in my belly (aka: child) and patient with all of the side effects that come with pregnancy. I'm enjoying my last moments on the road, but I can't help being excited to sleep in my own bed for a couple weeks.

I'm tired. I've been getting plenty of sleep, but my soul is tired. I think that God is preparing me for what is ahead... slowly...and I am understanding why he gave us 9 months.

"I am no more lonely than a single mullein or dandelion in a pasture, or a bean leaf, or sorrel, or a horse-fly, or a bumblebee. I am no more lonely than the Mill Brook, or a weathercock, or the north star, or the south wind, or an April shower, or a January thaw, or the first spider in a new house."
-Henry David Thoreau

Thoughts from a plane

There are too many smells on an airplane for a pregnant women. My hands are cold and I’ve got my eye on the closest doggie bag, just incase. Traveling has become the hardest part of my job. I’m rubbing my eyes, grateful that I did not wear mascara today.

The flight attendant is short with me when I ask for a ginger ale and I lean to Kirk and ask if I look funny, is something wrong with me? No, but you look ticked, he says. Oh. The fingers of your thoughts are molding your face ceaselessly, I think. It’s a quote I read somewhere and am aware that it is quite true of me.

I sigh and wish it was winter already. That would mean I would be good and pregnant and well over this first trimester. That would mean the holidays would be up and running, bringing pumpkin pie and peppermint with them. Winter would mean I would have socks on and a thicker jacket which would keep me warm on this cold plane full of overwhelming smells.

I clearly smell fresh hairspray and do not know who would spray hairspray in a plane. A babies dirty diaper, a mans cologne, brewing coffee, and a package of chips ahoy cookies someone is eating.

And hairspray.

They are turning the overhead lights off, revealing the time change we are crossing and turning my eyes to the pink and blue sky outside. This slows my breathing some. Kirk looks over at me and smiles. I smile back for maybe the first time in an hour and instantly feel better.

The mother daughter duo across the isle has finally ended their movie that they had watched on their portable DVD player without headphones and the volume on full blast so we all heard the music of what I gathered to be some dancing movie. finally I can hear my own music without the thump of a bass drum in the background.

The coffee is now the only thing I’m smelling and I realize that my shoulders have been tensed up for awhile so I try to loosen them up a bit. We are almost to our descent, the captain says.

Planes, trains, and automobiles, I think. Is that what my life has come down to? No, it has not, says a voice in my head. You are being dramatic, it says. And this was really a fine flight, just fine. We even got a row to ourselves with a seat to spare so I actually took a nap at the beginning of the flight.

Oh, life is good. Beautiful in fact. These people with their dancing movies and their hairspray are beautiful. A few rows up a camera flashes a picture of a baby and I hear it laughing with it’s mother. By now it is dark outside and the lights of the city are lining up on the ground below us as we descend. Breath deep, I tell myself, you are almost home. And oh, it was a good flight, I think. Very good.

Debate 08

Tonight's presidential debate is being held at Belmont University, less than 2 miles from my house. It's a rainy day in Nashville, putting a damper on some of the outdoor events that were to take place around the campus. But it seems the city is proud to be hosting such an event. I know Belmont has been gearing up for some time and I've seen the Debate 08 signs lined up and down Wedgewood Blvd for months and months, since before I even knew what they meant. I remember the first time I saw them I figured it was some political campaign Belmont was putting on for it's students. It's a little more than that, I found out... :)

I drove by around noon today and saw less action than I had hoped for, although it was strange to see the inside of the campus fenced in and surrounded by armed police officers and guards. I could see signs everywhere, some camera crews, people walking around in groups, and some sort of fair put on by the students. From my car, I snapped this picture of the entrance to the event center that the debate will take place. Nothing too exciting, but you can see the fence blocking anyone from entering and the flags marking the entrance. What you can't see are all the guards that I didn't happen to capture standing just to the right of the frame.



I am, in fact, rather opinionated about this election, but I'm so tired of the constant buzz of argument happening around me that I've lost most of my energy for debate. Everyone is so revved up this time around and I can't even turn on a news channel without hearing two people disagreeing about something. For now, I'd like to just be friends on this blog and avoid talking politics. You never know, I may get worked up in the following weeks and write about some things, after all, my dad is running for office this year, and I am pregnant. So emotions are very near the surface these days!

Overall, I'm excited to be in Nashville today and am anxious to watch the debate tonight. On TV, by the way, they selected independent voters to be in the audience. Hope you tune in as well!