The results are His!

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One of the benefits of our time in Sebring has been the privilege of sitting in on classes at this year’s Great Commission Bible Institute. Some of it is review, some of it is covering material we didn’t cover during our year, but it is all so good. There is even more to be absorbed after having almost 2 years to study on my own and figure out where my gaps are in my understanding of the story. We sat in on a class a few weeks ago and dove into the book of Jonah. There have been a few thoughts about it that have been lingering in my mind and have inspired me to share because they pertain to the work of preparation that God is doing in my heart as we set out soon for the road once again.

After God brought Jonah through all the consequences of rebellion (think 3 days in belly of whale) and pulled his life back up from the pit, He confirmed his call. Jonah’s call hadn’t changed because he had proved himself unworthy… God already knew that. But He still wanted Jonah to go to the people of Nineveh with a message. And Jonah was finally ready to be obedient. He steped out to share God’s word, and what followed is what seems like an immediate response from the king and the people; a response of obedience and readiness to get right with God. This was a huge deal! Nineveh was the capital of Assyria… the nation that had taken Israel into captivity. They were know for their brutality and for their pagan practices. And yet they instantly recognized the truth of a God that had a claim on their life, and they recognized Jonah as a messenger of God.

As we covered this I was thinking, “why was it that easy? it’s never that easy!”

But the discussion began talking shape about how this chapter is a picture of what ministry looks like when God has gone before you and prepared hearts. That is when true ministry happens.

My responsibility is to show up and to be walking in obedience with Jesus. I need to have made sure that I am personally ready to share the words that God has given me to share, and then share them with a pure heart. And then the response is completely dependent on God. I am not a changer of hearts! But He is. So it has been my desperate prayer that God would go before me and do the work of preparation that only He can do.

Not only are the results dependent on God, they are are decided by God. The next part of Jonah’s story that struck me was Jonah’s selfish response to what God did. When he saw the way God decided to show compassion and turn His wrath away because of the genuine repentance of the people, he was mad! In one sense, he had a reason to be angry as he had seen his people abused by this nation. The last thing Jonah wanted was for God to have mercy on them. He wanted judgment to fall on them! But he is stuck in his own assessment of the situation and he can’t lift his eyes to the bigger picture. So the lesser known final chapter of Jonah is him throwing a pity party for himself because God didn’t move in the way he wanted Him to.

I found myself relating to this attitude a little too deeply! In fact, I felt the conviction of the Holy Spirit and had to ask for forgiveness right there in class that day. Too often I have been nearsighted and let the physical outcome of my work in ministry decide whether or not I am going to feel successful. Sometimes God is doing something totally different than I think He is, and I need to be willing to trust Him in that. My sense of success can never be dependent on whether or not people respond in the way that affirms me. God’s view of success is SO much bigger than mine… as much bigger as His view of the universe is than mine, and right now I can only see the computer in front of me. Over and over His call to me has been to lay down what I think constitutes success and let Him be in charge of that. Don’t count people in chairs, don’t count CD’s being sold, don’t even count how many people said they were blessed. Even if none of those things happen, I can know that God holds the results and there may be deeper ones than I could even quantify with my petty lists. My only sense of success should come if I can lay my head on my pillow tonight and know that God is pleased with how I used what He’s given me. Obedience is my responsibility and the rest is God’s. It’s relieving, actually.

looking back and looking forward

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A month’s worth of time spent with family and celebrating holidays has left us full to brimming with excitement about what God is doing in the lives of those we love. And we also feel hungry to restart the work He has given us to do. Today we sit at our computers and sip lattes at a local wifi spot so that we can connect with people in Florida and on the East Coast to hit the road again. Our plan is to spend January and February sharing with churches in Florida. Then we will begin our journey North in March. We have friends and contacts all the way up the coast, but we are always looking for more opportunities, so give us a shout if we can connect with your church or small group along the way.

I have found myself multiple times over this past month replaying moments in my mind from our July-November tour through the West/Midwest. It almost feels like a dream now, as cliche as that sounds. But it’s true; a glorious, God-inspired, beautifully vivid dream. We are so grateful for the adventure God has given us to walk with Him in the midst of. And yet we have needed and enjoyed every minute of this respite, to be with family and to be in a place longer than a week and to seek God about our next steps forward with Him. We serve a God who knows what we need and who delights to take care of His children. We feel so cared for and refreshed.

So keep on the lookout for updates on phase 2 of The Coming Glory tour! oh yeah… and HAPPY 2011!!!

There’s No Place Like Home

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The recent weeks have been about returning.

We returned to Montana, and as we made the drive through the ever-so-slightly snow-capped mountains, David turned to me and said, “Do you have the same joy deep down in your soul that I do right now?” It was definitely a joyful moment. We had made it;  our west coast loop was complete. We had spent 3 incredible months exploring places that we were discovering together, some for the first time. The adventure and novelty of it all has been exhilirating, but this was the first time in a long time that something had felt familiar. As amazing as it has been, it did our souls some good to feel a sense of home again.

We spent a few days reconnecting with family and close friends in Bozeman, where David and I lived before we got married. David got to fish the Gallatin River again, which is possibly the thing he misses most about Montana. It was such a beautiful time to share stories of our adventures and my songs with those in the church we had been a part of before we left. It was the first church on this tour that felt like a return visit. People we singing along during some songs as some had purchased the CD before we left. It was encouraging to see that people there feel very invested in us. The night I shared was such a special occasion. People really got it. The got the heart of it. More than just thinking the songs were pretty or enjoying the diversion; people were drawn into the stories, and the principles and challenges from God’s Word hung heavy in the air as they soaked into people’s hearts. It was a night where we really sensed God was ministering….. so AMAZING to be a part of!

Our time in Billings was so good as David got to snuggle his new nephew, Benjamin to his heart’s content. And although everyone called him a “baby hog”, you couldn’t help but smile at the sight of this tender-hearted uncle. Time with David’s family was great. They were eager to hear about our adventures, and impressed to see our newly earned skills at backing up the trailer, as we parked it back in it’s winter-long spot, and traded it in for David’s regular car that we will be using from here on out. It was a sad goodbye to the trailer after so many happy memories, but as soon as we filled the gas tank of the chevy mailbu again, we were able to console ourselves about it. :)

Also, our time in Billings allowed us a new kind of music venue we haven’t explored before. David’s grandma was eager to have me play in her assisted living home, so I shared my music there on a Sunday afternoon for an appreciative crowd of seniors as well as all the Nickisch’s that live in the area. It was sweet to see them all in the same place, showing their support of us. I think it did Grandma’s Nickisch’s heart some good to have everyone around her and we were happy to help make that happen.

We also spent a few days in Great Falls visiting another of David’s brothers and his family. I sang for a group of people they invited over for some fall festivities and live music. It was a good night and we were touched by Jason’s generosity to turn off the World Series while I shared. ;)

It was a monumentous trip to Montana also because I finally experienced David’s home town, Forsyth, in all it’s glory. It is a sweet small town, kept alive by the railroad tracks that run through it. It was fun to get a glimpse of David’s childhood and to finally get to see some pictures of him as a baby and little kid, and I can report that he has had dimples and blue eyes from day 1.

Then it was off to Minneapolis, which felt like returning for me. It is one of the small handful of places I feel like are “home”. We stayed with our sweet friends Nikolas and Sharne, who have the most peaceful and beautiful sanctuary of a home in the midst of what may be considered inner city Minneapolis. It is a community house connected with the Salvage Yard, the church I was a part of when I lived in Minneapolis. We had lots of happy times with them and their amazing daughter, and all of the sweet people that live there together. I got to lead the community in worship on Tuesday night, and then had a house concert the next night. On Sunday morning I shared some music in the service at Bethany church, another place I had attended for a while in Minnesota, a vibrant church in the midst of what may be considered suburban America . We were moved by how different these 2 churches were, so varied in their expression of the body of Christ, yet so dynamically reaching the community that God has placed each of them in. I was reminded that God wants me to be who I am, nothing more and nothing less, and to let Him fill me and use me in the unique expression of Him that I am. Walking with Christ doesn’t produce robots or cookie-cutter Christians, it produces real people with real passions and gifts and cirlces of influence that God calls us to use to tell His story.

With our time in both Montana and Minnesota, it felt like God was giving us each a respit in a place that felt like returning home. He’s so good like that, to give us what we need and knows exactly when we need it.

All of this returning has made us contemplate a piece of life that we do feel like we have been missing. We long to belong some place, to allow ourselves to invest in lives and be invested in by a consistent community of people. It has been such a cool experience to meet so many new people and see different places, but we feel a desire to be a bit more rooted than we have so far. What we think this looks like for now is that we will make our way down to Florida around Thanksgiving and spend the holidays with my family there. Then we hope to continue our time in Sebring, making plans for short term tours up the east coast and throughout Florida, still looking to make connections with churches in these places for me to share my music. But this will allow a place to come and go from, a home church and a room to come back to in the house my brother’s family is renting. We are excited to see what this next season holds, and to finish out this current season really well, knowing that God still has things He wants to accomplish with us in our life on the road for a couple more weeks.

Time To Pray

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I can’t believe it has been a whole 2 weeks since I last wrote, and yet there have been so many new things in that span of time. It has been a glorious time in the Pacific NorthWest. We ended up having a few extra days more than we thought to spend driving through Oregon, so we took our time and explored the coastline, camping at different spots every night and soaking in brisk air and sunshine that locals told us was not very common. It was such a relaxing few days, not having to be anywhere, just being able to enjoy each other and bask in some beauty.

 

Another part of that week that made it so sweet was what God was doing in our hearts. He has been really stirring us to pray and challenging us to realize the part we have to play in His story through interceeding for others. We realized that He has been moving us around the country, intersecting our lives with other’s, trying to get our attention about who we need to be remembering in prayer. One of the things that began this realization was the conversations over the past couple weeks with my brother, Nick, who moved himself and his family down to Sebring, Florida in order to attend a Bible school that will equip them for the life of ministry they feel called to. It has been a very  rough transition for them, for a lot of reasons. But I know that God is doing a work in their hearts, getting them to the end of themselves in order to show Himself strong in their weakness. This is never an easy or comfortable process. But Nick has called me many times pouring out his heart, really struggling to see God’s hand in the midst of being emptied. My heart has been broken for them. God has done a new thing in me to bring me to the place of true intercession. We both have been burdened in a way we’ve never experienced before, to pour out our hearts before the Lord on behalf of others.

 

So we took the week on the coast to put legs on this new move of God in our hearts. We spent mornings in prayer for the people God has shown us that we are to be partners with Him in what He wants to do in their lives, and afternoons walking wide beaches and catching glimpses of whales swimming through the bays of the northern coast. It was a really special week. We felt refreshed by it and ready for the next stretch ahead of us, and grateful that God would take the time to teach us this precious lesson.

 

Our next stop was Kenmore, Washington, just a bit north of Seattle, where we spent 4 lovely days with old friends of mine from Minneapolis. It was so good to be with friends where you just feel completely at ease. They were our travel guides through the sights of Seattle, and they were our connection into a little church in Bothell, where I got to share some of my songs on Sunday. It was a sweet community of believers, and they were very responsive to the heart of my music.

 

After Seattle we set out across the rest of Washington. We spent a couple nights in Manson, a quaint town on Lake Chelan in Washington’s beautiful apple country, with the family of one of my best friends, who were so sweet to host us and eager to have me bust out my guitar for a personal concert. Then we arrived in Spokane, at the home of friends who were insistent to have us park our trailer and head into the house for a real bed and hot showers, which were much apppreciated as the weather begins to dip a little lower than I appreciate (at least for trailer life!). Sunday I led worship at a church plant called Emmaus, in Spokane. This new fellowship was started by a guy that David used to live with, so David has really enjoyed seeing an old friend and having a fellow football fan to catch up on this season with. I’m not always the best sports companion… although, I did officially pick a team to like, which is an entirely new world to me, so it took a while to find a reason to offer my devotion. :)

 

So that brings us to today, catching up on some communication and making plans for our return into Montana tomorrow. We’re very excited to return to Bozeman and share what God has been doing with the people at C3, the church we attended before we got married and headed out on the road.

 

And for those who know Nick, I spoke with him today and they are doing so much better. He said they are feeling settled and at peace as they learn what it means to surrender their hearts completely. Praise God for His provision in their lives!!! And I am reminded again that the most precious provision that He gives, is His presence in the midst of it all.

A River Runs Through It (our campground, that is)

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I am spending this afternoon next to the Rogue River, just west of the entrance to Crater Lake National Park. And I am really happy about it. There are a few reasons why. First of all, we have crossed the border into Oregon, which is an exciting thing for both David and I. For David, it is feeling more and more like home as we enter the North West. We spent last night being lulled to sleep by the rushing of a river, which he tells me is for him, what falling asleep listening to the ocean is for me. It is a peaceful sound, a constant sound, a comfort.

Also David is happy to be in Oregon because it means that we are not in California anymore, and apparently Montanans have a natural propensity to dislike California.

For me this river is a comfort as well. My dad’s parents lived outside Portland for many years during my childhood, so I spent many summers exploring woods just like these that I sit in today. One summer my Nana organized a week long family rafting trip down this very river. Traveling down the Rogue with all the people I loved was one of my happiest childhood memories, so sitting beside it again makes me smile every few minutes as I recall fond memories.

Now that I am an adult it is good to know that this river is still here; to know that those things actually happened. Though the water that carried us down the Rogue has long since joined the salty waters of the Pacific, there is new water here. New water, same river. Same path cutting through ancient ground; ever changing with it’s incessant march forward, yet comforting in the constancy of it’s flow.

John Muir said (we’ve been to 12 National Parks so far, so I have a lot f John Muir quotes in my head), “Nature is never and always the same.” As I am watching this river, I think this could be how life with God is as well; dynamic, always shifting, affected by changes in our surroundings, and yet governed and directed by God’s principles that are true and stand every test of time.

Life with Christ is never and always the same. Constantly we move with the current of God’s direction, unsure if the next bend holds bumpy rides and heart-sinking drops, or gentle stretches of calm water. And yet, on this ancient path, God’s character and His Word are what is always the same, and He is guiding us deep into His heart, and eventually to a vast ocean of True Life with Him.

Update time:

We had a great last couple weeks in California! There was some time for us to play (exploring the Northern California coast, experiencing San Fransisco with old friends and some family, and a childhood dream of David’s… an A’s game in Oakland!). And there were some divine appointments as I got to share at 2 churches in the Bay Area. God showed up and touched hearts! It was amazing to be a part of. We have the next string of Sundays booked as we move quickly through the Pacific North West in order to make it through Montana before the snow does. This weekend we spent with a friend from Maui days, and I sang in her church this morning in Eagle Point, OR. Next Sunday we’ll be in Seattle at a church of some old friends from Minneapolis days. The next weekend I’ll be sharing in Spokane, WA at a church of a friend of David’s. And that puts us back in Montana where we are still discussing our route and such, but we know we are excited to meet our newest nephew, Benjamin and reconnect with David’s family.

Recent Adventures: from LA to world’s largest tree

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Since my last post, we extended our stay in San Diego for a few days to make the most of  a couple more opportunities for me to share at another church and a home group. Then we made our way to LA. We were quite anxious about driving through infamous LA traffic with our view-obstructing trailer. But we made it there on Sunday night and were greeted by some new friends, the Vascillero’s, who hosted a concert in their home complete with backyard BBQ. They moved their dining room furniture to set up a stage with a personal sound system! They’ve always wanted to do a house show, but never made it happen, so when my friend Kelby put the word out to her church community about me looking for an opportunity to play, they volunteered their home. It has been amazing to see people we don’t even know putting themselves out there for us. Kelby was an old family friend from Maui who I haven’t seen since I was 11, but it was such a pleasure to share our hearts with each other and realize that God has cut us from the same cloth. It was a small intimate group, and they all seemed to have loved the songs and caught the vision.

After our night in LA we decided that we were ready for a week in the woods. We were tired. It was time to plug into the Source and recharge. As GENEROUS as everyone has been, there is just something about having a little time to yourself and not feeling like you’re in anyone’s space. Plus, we’re trying to milk this honeymoon concept for all it’s worth; a perfect excuse to escape and spend some time with just each other. Honestly, I felt like God gave us some time to just rest and reflect on what He has been doing. I needed some time for Him to re-convince me of everything I had been testifying to. So we made our way up to Sequoia Nat’l Park (think World’s Largest Tree) for a couple days and then Yosemite Nat’l Park (think granite cliffs and towering waterfalls) for a few more. We took in the beauty and the fresh air like sponges. We hiked and dunked our feet in snow-melt-cold water. We enjoyed the glory of being at a National Park post-Labor day… it was the retirees, the Europeans, and us! And also the perfect time to go as the air in the mountains begins to cool and causes you to take out your homemade socks from Lindsey Silva for their first use. ;)

We said yes to a few open doors in the San Fransisco area in late September, so we had a week and a half to figure out what to do with. We have spent a few days reconnecting with and playing copious amounts of Yahtzee with some family just south of Yosemite in Oakhurst (thought it would be worth the space to announce that I rolled an unprecedented 5 yahtzee’s in one game last night [I have witnesses to verify]). We plan to head in to the Bay area on Sunday to explore and prepare for the 3 upcoming shows this week.

Then we are booking it North! Apparently snow has already been spotted in Montana! So we are trying to fit in as many places to play before we have to beat the snow and make it over the 3 mountain passes between eastern Washington and Billings, MT.

Thank you for tracking with us! We covet your prayers as we are very aware that there is a battle for our obedience, and we so desire to bow our knees daily to the One who has called us heavenward.

Adventures of the Musicianarries

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It’s been awhile since our last update, but not for lack of eventful news. I left off when we were in the middle of our mountainous adventure in Colorado and we were on our way to Santa Fe for Ranier and Will’s (friends from Maui/Minneapolis) wedding. There we spent 5 glorious days staying in a beautiful adobe style mansion with friends of the couple, along with 4 of my dearest friends from highschool. We had such a blast and were able to return the favor of helping setting up a beautiful wedding, as so many did to make our wedding a success. This is also where we spent David’s birthday, and celebrated with old and new friends… more on that in David’s Top 10 Post.

Then began our trek across Arizona. As we planned this leg of the journey we both decided that it seemed most logical to drive straight through and spend as little time there as we could. Not much good can come from Arizona in August, so we thought. But we had 2 weeks before the next show which was in San Diego and not much of an idea of what to do with it. So we decided to take a few days to see what there was to see. We started by making a stop to enjoy Petrified Forest National Park, which was fascinating, and then made our way up to the Grand Canyon. While we enjoyed our free time hiking and scootering around the Grand Canyon, we got an email from Adam DeCuir, a friend of a friend who had heard about my music and our adventure, and was interested in having us down to his church in Southern Arizona. So before long we were hitching up and driving South to Sierra Vista, or as David likes to call it, Northern Mexico. We arrived and met our gracious hosts, Adam and Jess. Jess is from Sebring, Florida (where David and I attended Bible school) and we had so many mutual friends from within that small community… it was kind of surreal! They are both musicians and have hopes to one day pack up all they own in a trailer and have a similar adventure of doing ministry through their music. One morning during our stay with them I awoke to find Jess scouring Craig’s List for RV listings. They were inspired by our obedience and we, by theirs as they serve in a church that is doing well to disciple a community of believers to know the Word and live it out. It is an incredible thing to be moving with God and ministering to people…. we go into a situation looking for how we can bless and encourage others, and we end up feeling over-the-top blessed and encouraged by the very ones we have attempted to minister to! I was able to share in the weekend services at Thunder Mountain Community Church and then they allowed me to hold a concert on Monday evening where I could share the entirety of my songs from my new album and the stories behind them. It was a great night that ended with them praying over us and encouraging us in our ministry. See The Middle of the Circle. We are really seeing that when we allow ourselves to poured out by God, He fills us up again to overflowing. What an incredible mystery of His Kingdom. By the time we left Arizona we were leaving with some new dear friends and a church we hope to return to one day… and most of all a renewed realization that God’s thoughts are far higher than ours. We thought, “let’s spend as little time in Arizona as possible”, and God thought, “I’m going to do some things in Arizona that are going to blow your mind.”

Our drive across the desert to San Diego was long and hot and took a couple of days, but as we got closer and closer to the coast, we began to feel that familiar ocean breeze. We were refreshed as we pulled in to the neighborhood of Tom and Debbie Anderberg. They are a couple that we met in Israel last spring while we were studying with Pastor Randy. They were a part of a church group from California that came on the tour as well. We had gotten to know each other a little on the trip, and they came to our minds recently as we thought of who we could connect with in San Diego. They were so excited to have us in their home, and they had set up an evening where all the people who came with us to Israel could come and listen as I shared the music and messages God had given me since we had all seen each other last. It was such an encouraging night as we saw how God takes the little encounters that we don’t think will ever go anywhere, and He uses them to accomplish His plan. We are reminded to make the most of every interaction, never knowing what God could have in store.

We had the weekend with an old friend from Maui, Jen Janzen. She was a great tour guide and she introduced us to her thriving church community at Barabbas Road on Sunday morning. I shared a couple songs in their service and once again saw as God orchestrated the plan, as the sermon was, in principle, the same story as my song Take Courage, which I shared right after. We loved getting to see a church body that so mirrored the things we are passionate about. They are teaching the Word, allowing it to change lives and draw people deeper, and being very intentional about discipleship among their young congregation. We loved being a part of that community for the weekend. As we shared our adventure with someone that afternoon they said, “So you’re Musicianarries”. We liked that are now claiming the title.

It seems to be the trend that once God gives us an open door and we walk through it, it is only then that the illumination for the next step comes. So Sunday afternoon I heard back from a few contacts, and now our week is full once again with things we didn’t foresee, but we will make changes accordingly so that we are walking where God would have us walk.

the middle of the circle

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Tonight we sat in the middle of a circle of people we do not know well, and yet we are family. The precious people of Thunder Mountain Community Church surrounded us with prayers and gratitude, thanking God for bringing us to their church to encourage them and challenge them with a call to preparation. I had only just finished singing and sharing the stories from the Word that have inspired these songs, and the group had already began to surround David and me to pray for us and thank God for sending us. As I sat there holding tightly my husband’s hand, my eyes were closed, but I could see so clearly. I caught a glimpse… one of those rare and beautiful moments where it all makes sense and you can see what God has been doing in you. God has been putting this vision on my heart for over a year to share these songs in churches to bring encouragement to the discouraged and the distracted. The vision has grown and been refined as time has gone on and as steps have been taken to move forward. So many nights I laid awake on my bed and I imagined what this ministry God was entrusting to me would look like. I dreamed and hoped and then laid all those thoughts at His feet, knowing from the beginning that he had told me to let Him define success. And tonight as we were being prayed for I thought, “this is happening. God, you are doing this…. for realsies!” Tonight we sat in the middle of the circle of His will for us.

more to come about this last leg of the journey soon… but now, bedtime so we can wake up and drive to San Diego tomorrow. :)

hOuray for the scenic route!

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Sitting in a chocolate and coffee shop in Ouray, CO, a little historic town nestled in the mountains, the clouds have just started to descend into the valley and shroud the jagged skyline of rocky peaks that look so close you could reach out and touch them. A light rain has just started to graze the window in front of our table and it couldn’t be a more perfect moment to settle in, let the storm pass, and write an update.

We decided to take the scenic route to Santa Fe, so the last couple day’s drive has been so beautiful we can barely find enough space in our brains for more… but we still have the alleged “best drive in the nation” yet to come, from Ouray to Durango. But first, let’s start where I left off in Fort Collins.

I had my first official house show on 7/31 at my grandparent’s home. Family and friends crammed into their living room and I shared my new songs as well as some old favorites that they requested at the end. It was an incredibly intimate occasion. It is a strange thing to share your heart and your music for a room full of people who’s stories you know well. I knew which songs were ministering to which people at certain moments, and couldn’t help but be impacted anew by the messages of these songs as I shared them. They were especially personal that night. It also confirmed that the living room full of a small group of people is still my favorite venue.

In the next few days we left for Denver where we reconnected with some different family members and friends. Sunday, the 8th, I was invited to share at City Presbyterian, a church full of really cool people who are obviously committed to serving the city they live in. They just lost their senior pastor, however, so it was a timely visit to bring some encouragement through my songs. It was awesome to see how God orchestrated the service without us planning it; the preacher talked about Lamentations, how God has to bring us to the end of ourselves in order for us to learn that the only true hope is in Him. And then I got up and sang Naomi’s Song, the same principle in a different story. Then we took communion. The officiant said, “Christ died, Christ rose, Christ is coming again.” and I began to sing, “don’t lose heart, I’m coming back for you…” It was a powerful service and it was encouraging to be reminded that God is so involved in this process. (Also, a side-note to say that we sold enough CD’s in Colorado to make it to the next state, which was our hope from the beginning…. this may actually work!)

Then began our journey West on I-70 into the mountains. Then we headed south, intrigued by a National Park we had never heard of. Motivated by our need to make the most of the year-long parks pass we purchased at the beginning of this adventure, we made our way towards Black Canyon of the Gunnison Nat’l Park. When we arrived at the North Rim we walked to the edge and looked over to see one of the most beautiful views I have ever seen. It took us both a few minutes to get our breath back after leaving the edge. The canyon was immense, majestic. As we stood gazing into the gorge, I was thinking about how God is so much more immense and majestic; He looks down and sees that canyon at the same time he sees Mt. Everest and Russia and every other thing that seems huge to me. And it is a speck of dust compared to Him. If I am left feeling literally like I can’t breathe just looking into a 2700 foot ravine, how is it going to feel when I look at His majesty. I have no idea. But I am excited and terrified and I honestly can’t wait.

And that brings us to where we are now, in this cozy old brick building looking out and up into the mountains. Soon we will pack up my computer and hop back in the truck and make our way to the next place, but we have plans to return to this town for more than 15 hours some day! And we definitely won’t soon forget the amazing roads that got us here.

Recent Adventures: WY and CO

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We left Billings on July 15th and began our life on the road. As we journeyed south we spent some time in Yellowstone and Grand Teton Nat’l Park; both were packed with people and we actually heard these words as we scrambled for a campsite, “you have the absolute last spot in the entire park.” Not bad…Unless you were in the car behind us. Then we drove across the very exciting middle of Wyoming. We met up with David’s cousin and his family at Alcova Reservoir, which was a blast. We found the most perfect campsite overlooking the lake and spent a few nights there.

Even though we haven’t had the most calculated plans (not hard to imagine if you know David and I), we have ended up in the most beautiful places! We feel like God is guiding us to His favorite spots and giving us precious moments to enjoy in them.

Our next stop was about building relationships as we pulled into Douglas, WY for a night to visit David’s mom’s side of the family. They were happy to host us and we knew that it was time well spent to invest in those relationships. David’s grandmother was so excited to take us to her church and show off her grandson to all her church friends and tell them about what we are doing. A very special conversation I had with Grandma Doris was enough to make this whole trip worth our while.

Then it was on to Fort Collins, CO, a very cool town full of my mom’s family and some of my closest friends. We have been here for a week and plan to be here for one more. We have spent quality time with lots of people we love and we’ve taken this time to work on following up with people in the next few stops on our route. We’re seeing more doors start to open so we are encouraged. Also it’s been a good amount of time to recover since David had his yearly back-throwing-out. He’s on the mend and feeling much better today.

Yesterday was my first official opportunity to share my music in a church since we left MT two weeks ago. I shared at First Presbyterian in Fort Collins. The people there were so kind and excited to hear my songs. We spoke to many afterwards who were touched and went home with my CD to hopefully get SUPER blessed by it. Also, just as we suspected, opportunities for more are presenting themselves as we move forward with the small steps of obedience we have in front of us.

We feel so blessed that this is how we get to spend the first year of our marriage! And it’s not just adventure for adventure’s sake… we truly feel guided by God and entrusted with a ministry!

That is the quick update on the last week or two. Our plan after Fort Collins is to head down through CO, stopping in a few spots along the way and end up in Santa Fe in the second week of August to celebrate with some friends as they get married. Then we’ll head through Arizona on our way to San Diego and then eventually up the coast. I’ll post when I have concrete dates for shows in those areas!