WHAT I DID ON MY SUMMER VACATION: Part 3

We left Searcy the third time and headed back to Tennessee. It was a grewat opportunity to spend some quality time with the in-laws ... except for the fact that we were in preparation for ACAFEST, so I didn't get much face time with the fam for a little while. However, the end result was memorable and meaningful for me as well as the rest of the Aca-fellas. We were blessed to perform with Acappella Classic!

It was, to say the least, a fantastic experience. I learn so much every time I get a chance to sing with Acappella alumni. I feel like I grow as a musician and as a Christian when I'm around those guys. So, if you are an Acappella alumni and you're reading this, thank you for giving yourselves to God and His work. You are an inspiration to me!

After ACAFEST, we traveled to Houston and Lufkin, TX for a couple of concerts at a couple of amazing churches. I hope to write more about them later, but I really need to move forward before winter gets here!

Next up, Brasil!!!

Peace, Love, and Dark Chocolate

WHAT I DID ON MY SUMMER VACATION: Part 2

Arkansas: The Natural State. I spent quite a bit of time in Arkansas this summer - more than usual, anyway. It was for a good reason, though. Acappella got to sing as part of Uplift at Harding University in Searcy, AR. Uplift is a three-week event in which three different groups of campers converge on the Harding campus for a week at a time to learn more about Jesus, grow in their faith, and fellowship with other high school and junior high kids from all over the place. Since we were allowed to perform all three weeks, we got to travel back and forth three times from Oklahoma.

We had just returned from Tennessee visiting my in-laws for Gabby's birthday (can you believe she's twelve now?!?!) and Gab decided to stay there with the fam while Steph and I spent the next three weeks in OK. Zac and Lacey George invited Steph and me to their parents' house in Arkansas for a couple days before the first Uplift concert. We got to spend some great bonding time with the George family, and I got to do something I hadn't done in about five years. I GOT TO PLAY DRUMS!!!
(here's a sample)

Anyway, we ended up doing the Uplift concerts and they were tons of fun! Maybe I'll get to talk about them in depth sometime. Until then, I guess you'll have to settle for boring stories about our boring travels. It's always boring!

Peace, Love, and Dark Chocolate

WHAT I DID ON MY SUMMER VACATION: Part 1

To say it's been a busy summer would likely contend for the "Most Understated Phrase of the Year" award.

It's been so busy, I haven't blogged for about three months.
It's been so busy, I haven't read any blogs for possibly more than three months.
It's been so busy, I forgot how to blog! (Okay, maybe that's a slight exaggeration.)

Either way, I've had a remarkable summer, to say the least. It all started with a trip to Kentucky that went horribly awry.

It was the first weekend of May. The Aca-fellas and I were scheduled to perform at a youth rally in Glasgow, KY that Saturday, then near Gulfport, MS the next day. As we drove toward Glasgow that Friday evening, the weather started getting pretty rough (cue the "Gilligan's Island" theme). Our plan was to drive to Jackson, TN, spend the night there, and go the final five-or-so hours to Glasgow the following morning. Well, we made it to Jackson, but not without some near misses.

As we got into Arkansas, we turned on the radio to hear whether we should be concerned about the weather or not. As it turned out, we should have been concerned. The weather man was talking about a tornado touching down and causing quite a bit of damage about an hour ahead of us. We decided to keep going. We figured if the tornado had already hit, it wouldn't come back there. A little while later, we found out there was a tornado touching down about an hour behind us. That's when we got a little nervous. We were surrounded by tornados!

By God's grace, we made it to a small motel in Jackson. It was raining pretty hard and steadily. The tornado sirens were going off ... all night long. People who know me know I don't sleep all that well on a regular basis. Heavy rain and sirens certainly didn't help matters much. The next morning we loaded up the van and started out of the parking lot. That's about as far as we got. We didn't realize how high the water in the parking lot was until we were wading through it from the van that had just been baptized (It was waist-deep.).  

After some phone calls and frustrations (and a ride on the back of a tow-truck ... inside the van), Wes got us up and running in a rental van. We made it to Glasgow about 30 minutes before we were to sing. Some of the guys had wet clothes. Some had really wet clothes. Either way, we got through the concert and loaded out when we found out that we wouldn't be going to Mississippi after all. A massive flood had struck Nashville - we had just driven through there a few hours before and were supposed to drive through there again - and we were stranded. Thanks to the kindness of Dale and Brenda Clark, we were put up for the night, worshiped with the Impact Church in Glasgow the next morning, and got on the road in the Clark's family vehicle on a northwestern route through Louisville, KY and St. Louis, MO on our way home. We made it home around 3:00 AM.

Looking back, it was only by the grace of God we made it anywhere that weekend. Interestingly enough, that was just the beginning of summer break!

How was your summer?

Next, more adventures in Arkansas.

Peace, Love, and Dark Chocolate

RECHARGED

Steph, Gab, and I spent a few days with my great friend, Blair Fowler, and his beautiful family. We had such an amazing time relaxing and catching up with each other. Steph and Courtney (Blair's wife) talked "shop" about nursing stuff, Gabby played with Brock and Ollie (the kiddos) quite a bit, and Blair and I got to watch a lot of football! Here are a couple of pics of where they live:




After having been with the Fowlers for a few good days, we headed up to Borger to visit my folks (I'm still looking for some good pics of them, so bear with me). Please, if you think about it, say a little (or humongous) prayer for my dad. He's every bit of 90 years old, and his body seems to be breaking down more and more every day. As he struggled to get up out of his chair and to the bedroom to put his shoes on, he looked at me and said, "Son, I bet you never thought you'd see me moving this fast, huh?" At least his sense of humor isn't breaking down.

I ended up preaching in his place this morning because he didn't have the strength or energy to get ready for worship service. That's very unlike him. I mean, we're talking about a man who preached his own mother's funeral. We're talking about a man whose doctors told him to stop preaching and he refused. It kills me to see him so feeble. Please pray for him and for my family.

Now that we've gotten a little Sabbath and are recharged, it's time to finish the year strong! I hope and pray that your year finishes strong as well. Dig into the Word and keep your mind open to its guidance. All the best!!

Peace, Love, and Dark Chocolate

SIMPLE PLEASURES

I love watching Gabby get so excited about staying in a hotel room. Ever since she found out we were staying at a hotel this weekend, she has been planning what she wants to do, and it's adorable. When we first got here, she claimed "dibs" on the drawers because she loves unpacking her bags. Since then, she has been on top of everything, including the schedule. She was the first one awake this morning (five minutes before the alarm), so she quickly jumped in the shower...before she realized there was no bath soap in the shower! So she went to the front desk to ask for soap, extra towels, etc. Now, at 8:35 AM, she's watching Saturday morning cartoons on the nice hotel flat-screen, waiting for us to be ready so we can go eat breakfast before we have to leave to go to the venue for today's concerts.

It's the simple pleasures that make life so much fun!

Peace, Love, and Dark Chocolate

A Little Left Coast Flavor

We had a great time in San Diego this weekend. Met some great people. Saw some great sites. Ate some great food! Had a couple of great concerts. All in all, it was a good weekend. It would've been promoted to great if our wives had been there, but it was still good. I took some pics. Some were better than others, but they are pics anyway. Enjoy!


David Bates is the man! He took us to the beach and hung out with all day Sunday. We sure do love him and his family. Pray for his daughter, Suzanne, who is marrying an awesome dude, Jason Godfrey, on August 1.



They put us up in a very nice hotel resort, complete with multiple swimming pools (that we didn't visit), restaurants, and a health spa! Thank you, Town & Country Resort.



You know we always love performing for any sized audience. It was especially nice to perform for nearly 2000 people at the Convention Center!



Even better than performing big concerts is witnessing souls, like Verna, being given completely to Christ!



And then we put Allen to work at the airport!









Keep praying for my family and me in our new endeavors. Anyone wanna buy our house? Seriously. It's really a nice house. Anyone?

Peace, Love, and Chocolate

A Big Ol' Double-Shot, part 1

Hey Kids! I know it's been a while, so here are a pair of blogs to kinda play catch-up for the last few weeks.

We got to visit northeastern Pennsylvania a couple weekends ago which landed us in Scranton, PA, home of Dunder and Mifflin Paper Company. Of course, “The Office” is filmed in California, but the city of Scranton is still capitalizing from the show’s success. So, for all you fans of “The Office,” we (Mark “Kix-in-the-Mix” Hixson and I) took a couple of pics that I thought would be fun to share. Most of them are kinda tough to see, so I’m posting some of the better ones. Hope you enjoy!

Kix wanted some pics with some of the characters from the show. 


Another shot with more “people” 


Kix at the “Crystal Club“


The famed “Farley’s Pub,” complete with Bouncer


We also had a great time in concert at the Spruce Lake Retreat in Canadensis, PA. We spent the day with a
great bunch of people celebrating Labor Day weekend. 


We had a total blast on this trip. We hope to see more of our Aca-friends soon at a concert near you!

Peace, Love, and Chocolate

A Big Ol' Double-Shot, part 2

I got to spend the majority of a week with Roo and her family in Myrtle Beach, SC. We were there until the day before Hurricane Hannah hit the coast. As a matter of fact, it had already started raining by the time we started driving back to Nashville. This is a shot of the beach the day before we left…

And this is the same beach the day we left…


What kind of mess is that, huh? God does some truly amazing things!

On the drive back, God started doing some amazing things in Steph’s and my relationship. God has this uncanny ability to teach people different things about ourselves that completely change the way we live. He did that with Stephanie and me over the last week and a half. He went to some crazy extremes to show us what we needed to learn. It’s an intriguing story, full of suspense, heartbreak, redemption, and reconciliation. She can tell this story much better than I, so I’ll post her story as soon as she posts it on her blog. What I will say is that He has totally changed the way she and I approach our relationship for the better…best! I’ll write more about this later. I’m excited to see where God is taking us!

Peace, Love, and Chocolate

Whirlwind Weekend

I'm recovering from a whirlwind of a weekend. Lots of stuff can go down in four days, and did it ever! I have to take this opportunity to thank Rhonda Coleson, our booking agent, for all of her help and support. She's been awesome and we couldn't have made it through this weekend without her. So, the ten peso version of the story is: we went to Little Rock, Dallas, and Searcy, AR, leaving on Friday and returning yesterday. It was a fun trip and we are glad to be back in Nashville.

Now here's the million dollar version!

Friday, June 13th
Zach Wilson and I drive the Acappella van and trailer to Little Rock. The original plan was for us to get there around 6:00 PM and get settled into our housing for the night. Arrangements had been made for our van and trailer to be cleaned and detailed in Little Rock on Saturday while we flew to Dallas. Most of that plan happened the way it was supposed to...except for the van. It broke down again. We were driving down I-40 toward Memphis, not quite an hour out of Nashville, and it just quit running. We had to pull onto the side of the road and start making phone calls. Somehow, the van started again and we got back on the road. There were lots of prayers going up on our behalf, and they worked! We eventually made it to Little Rock around 8:00 and got the van where it needed to be. Zach stayed with our booking agent's sister and her husband, and I stayed with my best friend's brother and his wife. It was great to see them and spend a little time with them. It was a long day, but we got through it and prepared ourselves for Saturday. (by the way, it was also my late brother, Ron's, birthday. He would have been 42.)


Saturday, June 14th
Zach and I flew from Little Rock while Zac George, Allen Brantley, and our newest member, Anthony Lancaster (if that name sounds familiar, it's because he's our boss' son) flew from Nashville to Dallas. We all met there to be inducted into the Christian Music Hall of Fame. That's an experience I won't forget. We were inducted along with the likes of the Jordanaires (featuring one of my heroes, Ray Walker) who sang for a time with Elvis Presley, the Cathedrals, Lulu Roman from Hee-Haw, songwriter David Meece, the Imperials, Jessy Dixon, the Florida Boys, and many other pioneers in the Christian music world. There were also tributes to Larry Norman (Bebo Norman's dad and the "father of Christian rock music")and Dottie Rambo, one of the greatest gospel music songwriter who ever lived. Both Larry and Dottie died earlier this year, so it was a great night. We were honored and humbled to have been a part of it.

Sunday, June 15th
We flew back to Little Rock and were met at the airport by our freshly cleaned van and trailer, courtesy of Kevin, another brother-in-law of our booking agent. We drove our nice clean van an hour away to Searcy for the first of three concerts at Harding University for Uplift. After we checked into the hotel, Jacob and Laura, who both work for Harding, took us to lunch at the Rib Crib. That's good eatin' right there! We headed back to the auditorium and got our lights and sound set up. It was the first time we had set up lights since October, so the process was a little slower than normal, but we got it done in time. We had some dinner (Brick Oven Pizza) and went to the hotel to get ready for the concert. I finally got to call my dad and wish him a happy father's day. I hope you did too! Anyway, we had our devo time and then a 10:00 PM concert that was electric! The crowd was hyped and we just had a blast. Anthony did great, too, for his first Acappella concert. We took our equipment down and moved it to the back of the stage (because we'll be back again) and went to bed.

Monday, June 16th
We left the hotel at 7:00 AM so we could get Zac back to Nashville for work before 2:00. We got fuel and breakfast and drove about 15 miles down the road to Bald Knob (yes, that is the name of the town) and the van broke down again. This time, it didn't start again. To make a long story short(er), we had the van towed back to Searcy to be repaired, the trailer was towed to an impound lot for safe keeping, we rented a van that was a little bit too small for us and our equipment and luggage, and drove back to Nashville. I managed to get only one speeding ticket, even though I was going the same speed as everybody else. Yeah, that happened. Anyway, we got back to Nashville around 5:30 (no, Zac didn't get to work) and had just enough time to get the van unloaded and take it to the rental place five minutes before it closed (now you understand that if I hadn't been speeding, I wouldn't have gotten the van to the rental place in time and would've been charged over $300 extra. I saved the company some major money!). It was nice, though, because Anthony took me to Stephanie's parents' house just in time for my birthday party! That's what you call a happy birthday!!

Peace, Love, and Chocolate

What A Week!

God is doing some amazing things in my life, as well as Steph’s. She and I have built our relationship on Proverbs 4:23 (Above all else, guard your heart, for it is the wellspring of life), and our hearts have been tested quite a bit over the past couple of weeks. See, I went to Tulsa for the International Soul-Winning Workshop last week, which meant that we wouldn’t see each other for a week. We needed that. God worked on us individually and as a couple.

For example, JJ and I left Tuesday morning on the ten-hour drive to Tulsa. That morning before we left, she sent me a text message saying that we should take time over the week to have a mountain top experience, some quality time with God. She told me to look up Luke 6:12 (check it out). When we arrived in Tulsa she was at Bible study and would you believe that the speaker brought up the exact same scripture? I know, coincidence, right? Well, tell me it’s also a coincidence that the week before, the same speaker brought up the exact situations that she and I had been discussing the previous couple of days and told us we needed to take action on those very situations. That seems like no big deal until you put it into perspective. We were in a room with over 800 people!

So we start on this journey up the mountain and God’s talking to us non-stop. He’s talking to us through speakers, songs, scriptures, even friends. It’s an amazing experience. Saturday rolls around and JJ and I are planning on driving back the next morning...until the van broke down. Enter Sean Algaier. He comes to where we are, takes us to a safe place to have the van towed, loans us his car so we could get to our housing site to get our stuff, puts me up in his home one night, and gives me his Rapid Rewards free flight ticket on Southwest so I can get back to work! He reminded me what it meant to be a servant and to simply care. He reminds me so much of my brother, Ron, who passed away five years ago this past Friday. Yet another reminder that God is good. As an act of gratitude, Steph prayed that He would bless Sean and Misty like crazy. The very same day Sean got a phone call from a friend who had a 32" flat-screen tv with surround sound. He gave it to Sean and Misty for $50. Talk about prayers being answered right away!

There is so much to this story that I don’t have time to share. However, I will say this: God is moving in me. He’s showing me things that I already knew and forgot, as well as things I didn’t know but needed to. He’s trying to make this new man. He’s trying to make Steph this new woman. It’s time for all of us to break down our barriers and let Him make us what He wants us to be. Let’s make it happen!

Peace, Love, and Chocolate

Oh Canada!

Well, we finally had our first concert of the year...with our new singer...in Canada. It was a lot of fun but a really quick trip. We left Saturday morning and got back Sunday evening. Good times, though.

Our direct flight to Toronto was quite bearable. Although it was a small plane, we toughed it out for the two-hour flight. Going through customs was a new experience for me. Of course, I'd been through customs several times before, but this was the first time I had this particular conversation in customs.

Customs Agent (CA): "What's your business here in Canada?"
Me: "Performing a concert tonight."
CA: "What do you do?"
Me: "I sing."
CA: "Should I know you?"
Me: "Probably not."
CA: "I had this same conversation with someone else recently. I asked the guy, 'Michael Bubble...should I know you?' and he said 'It's Buble (pronounced boo - blay) and I'm with the blah blah record label.' I still had no clue that I was supposed to know who he was."
Me: "Hahahahahahahahahahahaha..."
CA: "Hahahahahahahahahahahaha... Have a good show!"

Pure magic.

Mike, our promoter, met us after customs and drove us about 45 minutes to eat at a Mongolian grill in Waterloo, appropriately named "JB's Mongolian Grill." The food was really very good. After lunch, we drove a couple more blocks and arrived at the University of Waterloo campus. Our venue was a fairly small, intimate theatre that seated roughly 700 people. As we pulled up to the stage door, we saw the "sold out" signs and knew it was going to be a good night.

We did our set up and sound check, ran through some songs with JJ, the new guy, and chilled in the green room until devo time. Just before we started devo, one of our good friends from Camp Casowasco in upstate New York, Donnie Schussler, surprised us in the green room. He ended up spending devo time with us and praying for us before we got dressed and ready to rock.

And rock we did! It was a really fun concert. One of the most fun concerts I've been a part of in a long time. The only concert I've been a part of in a long time. It had been three months minus one day since our last concert. It felt great to be on stage again.

JJ did a great job. He knew his stuff and sang his face off. Nobody really knew it was his first concert until we said something about it...at the end of the concert! Good times.

After the concert was "meet 'n greet" which was an experience in itself. There were lots of people from foreign lands like Brazil and Africa. We even got to hear an African quartet sing a song for us. Beautiful!

We went to our housing site, the home of Dave and Patty Knutson (sp?) where we ate homemade chicken fetuccini alfredo and drank hot apple cider. Did I mention the temperature was below freezing the entire time we were there and snow and ice was all over the place? Yeah, that happened. So after we had eaten and warmed up a bit, it was time for bed. I don't know about the rest of the guys, but I slept great. We woke up Sunday morning to fresh biscuits and gravy, bacon, fruit, coffee, and juice. By the way, Patty is originally from Alabama. After breakfast, they took us to the Waterloo Church of Christ where we shared the Lord's Supper with that family and then headed back to Toronto to the airport...on icy roads most of the way.

Did you know there's a small patch of land in the Toronto airport that is "American soil?" We went through customs there, instead of Cincinatti where we changed flights, which was awesome because we only had an hour scheduled between flights and customs can take a while sometimes. It was very nice! We made it back to the great Nash Vegas safely. Now, we take the next step...whatever that is!

Peace, Love, and Chocolate

BRASIL: day 1 - Vamos! (Let’s go!)

[October 29, 2007] Let the madness begin! We left Nashville today on a two-week tour of the beautiful land called Brasil. I'm a little skittish about this trip for some reason. Maybe it's because my roommate (Zac's wife) Lacey didn't get to come with us (please pray for her a lot). Maybe it's because I'm leaving all my friends and family behind for a couple weeks with very little, if any, contact with them. By the way, I really miss you guys way more than you know. Maybe it's because we've been on the road in Louisiana for most of the past week and we're not used to being gone so long, or to being so continually busy. Whatever the reason, it's gonna be a long, trying, fun trip. I know God has some amazing things in store for us this time around.
We have had a great trip so far. We got back from Monroe, LA around 9:30 last night and did a little last-minute laundry before sleeping in our own beds for the first time in six days. We got up this morning, re-packed, ran errands, and then met at the studio so we could all go to Chili's for a great lunch together. After lunch, it was off to the airport for the smoothest check-in we've had in the more-than-two years I've been with the group. We sat in the gate area for a couple hours before boarding our plane to Atlanta. To pass the time, Byron led a short "airport devo" to help us focus our minds on our goals for this trip. The rest of the time was spent on the phones or the iPods or the computers or whatever other fun stuff we could find to occupy our minds.
After our 35-minute flight to Atlanta, we grabbed a quick bite and got on our plane to Sao Paulo as we said our goodbyes to those closest to us. As I write, we are nearing the tenth and final hour of this overnight flight. We have a very busy day ahead of us full of meetings, interviews, driving, and no sleep. Since I don't sleep much on planes, this will be a tough day for me. I've already started taking pictures, though, and I hope to write daily to keep you informed about us.
I'm watching my first Brasilian sunrise and it's breathtaking! This is gonna be a great trip. Thank you, Jesus!

Peace, Love, and Chocolate

BRASIL: day 2 - Oi! (Hey!)

[October 30, 2007] This day has been among the longest of my life. Once we landed at 6:45 AM (that's 3:45 AM CST), we breezed through customs and picked up our luggage from an uncomfortably busy conveyor belt. We met up with our contact people (Saulo, F.H., Simval, and a few others) and drove to our first of four radio and television interviews. It took nearly two hours to drive across this city of 14 million people, and we found out later that we only drove about 20 miles.
After sitting around for a long time and perfecting our game plan several times, we went in and hit a home run on Brasilian national tv. Keith even sang some with us. Post interview, we had the pleasure of meeting Anderson Ramos, our opening act and translator for each concert here. He's a great Brasilian Christian who now lives in Richmond, VA. He's a lot of fun so far.
We ate lunch and did a press conference at the restaurant where lunch was. We were scheduled for another interview on a tv show but there was some wait time. They took us to the top of the building where the restaurant was, maybe 20 stories high, and we took pictures of each other and the city. Sao Paulo is huge!
We finally got to our hotel for a little rest before going to dinner and our fourth tv show of the day. The show lasted somewhere around two hours and started around 10 PM. Since the majority of the show was a debate over taxes (something the people of Brasil don't have much of a say over) the audience was about as drained and tired as we were. We had been on a plane all night and only got a couple hours to rest after doing three interviews, lunch, pictures, and rode in a van...a lot! We were pretty much exhausted! God kept us awake and alert enough to finish the day, though.
It's very late now and I'm very tired. Tomorrow will be busy but not as taxing as today, or so we've been tole. Let's hope we were told right!

Peace, Love, and Chocolate

BRASIL: day 3 - Churrascaria (Brasilian bar-be-que joint)

[October 31, 2007] Today started off with a bang...or some type of explosion any way! I am pretty sure I ate exactly the wrong thing yesterday because my stomach was not at all happy with me when I woke up. What `s worse is that I didn`t realize there was a problem until it was way too late. In order for me not to get graphic, let`s just say my tummy is not happy. No bueno!

We met in the lobby around 11:30 this morning and left for lunch around noon. Saulo and the crew took us to a churrascaria, a brasilian bar-be-que restaurant, and we ate our weight in meats (about 20 different cuts) and a monstrous salad / food bar. I have to say I was sad to have woken up sick, but that didn`t stop me from eating very, very well. After lunch, which ended with a beautiful dark chocolate mousse cake, we went to our first of two interviews for the day, stopping on the way to get me some indigestion meds. The hour-and-a-half-long drive took us away from metropolitan Sao Paulo to a biblical institute where we did both interviews for radio and tv. They took us on a tour of the building after the interviews and we sang a couple songs on the fly for the employees there. They prayed over us and we headed back to town so we could get to the airport for a flight to Campo Grande (pronounced Gran-je). We ate a quick bite and parted ways with Saulo and the crew until we return to Sao Paulo in a few days. We, including Anderson, boarded the plane and had a smooth flight to Campo Grande. Upon our arrival we were welcomed by a happy mob who gave us gifts of t-shirts and cds of themselves, Grupo Familia, and we did a quick interview followed by pictures. Once we finished up and loaded our luggage into the van, we went to our hotel. It`s 12:45 AM now and we have a pretty early morning ahead of us. More interviews before the first concert. It`s bedtime. I need my beauty sleep. Hello melatonin! Let`s make that happen. Nite, nite!

Peace, Love, and Chocolate

BRASIL: day 4 - Concert no Campo Grande (Concert in Campo Grande)

[November 1, 2007] I`m feeling much better today. Thanks for asking. My tummy still cramps up a little but I`m okay. Good thing I feel better, too. Today was our first Brasilian concert.

We woke up pretty early after a late night and went to a tv studio near our hotel for the first of four interviews. This was a Seventh Day Adventist radio station and the people there were just as warm and friendly as ever. It seems that most of the people are working with are Seventh Day Adventists and are some of the sweetest people we have had the pleasure of working with. We took some pics after the interview and then went to a different studio where Grupo Familia records a lot of their music. We did a couple tv spots there, after which we got to hear an unfinished cut from their upcoming album. It rocked my face off! It had a little bit of a Blood, Sweat, and Tears sound to it. Great work!

From that studio, we went to a local tv station where we met up with Keith and Sharon. They got to sleep in a little bit. We knocked that interview out and went to another tv studio to put another one down. It was finally lunch time so we went to a restaurant that is owned by one of the people responsible for bringing us to Campo Grande. And it was good.

We had a few hours of down time at the hotel before heading to the venue for sound check. After working out a few tech kinks we retreated to the dressing room where we worked out a few song kinks with Keith and Cory Martin (who is doing an job, by the way). Zach Wilson led our minds in devotional and prayer and, after Anderson sang a few really nice songs, we took the stage. The crowd of about 1000 loved us...maybe a little too much!

After the concert, we were ambushed in the lobby for pics and autographs. Madness! Pure mayhem! We had to be herded out of the lobby like a flock of sheep. It was insane!

So we packed up and went back to Multiplus restaurant where we had lunch. Since the concert started at 9:00 PM, we didn't get to dinner until midnight or later. The best part about the whole day is that we get to meet in the hotel at 3:30 AM to leave for the airport to catch a 5:00 AM flight to Goiania. That gives us two whole hours to shower, pack, and nap (if we so choose), before we are to be downstairs ready to go. It's tough being a superstar...especially when your tummy hurts! Poor, poor, pitiful me!

Peace, Love, and Chocolate

BRASIL: day 5 - Bom Dia (Good day - pronounced bon jeeah)

[November 2, 2007] I guess today could be a continuation of yesterday. We left our hotel at about 4:00 this morning to head to the airport and it really wasn't a long flight. I think it only took an hour to get here, same as Sao Paulo to Campo Grande. Since we hadn't really slept yet, we were really not ready for the reception awaiting us as we arrived. At 7:00 AM local time (we changed times from Campo Grande) there was a gathering of about 20 - 30 "paparazzi" waiting to welcome us to their state and city. Those of you who know me and know how grumpy I am in the morning after a full night's sleep can imagine me dealing with a gang of strangers wanting pics with me after a 30-minute nap overnight. Really it wasn't so bad. I took the pictures, said hello, acted politely, and eventually got to the van. As we headed to our hotel we learned that we wouldn't have to do a morning full of interviews and such. Just rest, lunch, one short interview later, and dinner...with more rest.

We had a bit of a mob scene happening on the way to the hotel. As far as I could tell from the cramped van, there was at least one car full of people and a motorcycle with two people on it that followed us to the hotel taking pics and video the whole time. When we got there the rest of the mob had either met us there or followed us, but they managed to get a short interview out of us that went to 150 cities in the area. Then we slept. We slept until lunch (about four hours) which we ate in the hotel. Then we slept a couple hours more until our interview for the day (it was supposed to be two but one group never showed up). We had more down time and then it was dinner time. They took us to a brasilian pizza parlor where the pizza was delivered to each table by hand, a la churrascaria, and we took slices off the tray as they offered them to us.

They took us to a rehearsal of local gospel chorus Agape (emphasis on the first syllable, not the last like English). They sang a couple songs for us and we sang a little bit with them. They sounded incredible! I'm noticing how seriously people here take music. It's like it's a part of them. Sound familiar? After taking a few pics with them, we came back to the hotel for the night. Some of us went up to the roof for a few minutes to notice how big and beautiful this city is. I really love it here, but I'm definitely missing home...and you. Wish you were here!

This is craziness. We haven't even sang here yet and people are treating us like we hung the moon. I just want them to see Jesus in all we do, not us. Please pray for the people here more. Today was a good day. Hopefully tomorrow will be even better. Don't forget, it's "FREE HUGS FRIDAY!!!"

Peace, Love, and Chocolate

BRASIL: day 6 - Estrella de Rock (Rock Star)

[November 3, 2007] I'm not cut out for the "rock star" lifestyle. Don't get me wrong. I love people and ministry, but I just can't handle having people in my business all the time. I do understand that people in Brasil truly love us and just want to be near us. I also understand that the people here idolize us when they should be idolizing Jesus. How can we get that point across?

We had a radio interview at about 8:30 this morning and then a t.v. around 10:00 that lasted about 40 minutes. Then we had lunch and went to Wal-Mart...yes, Wal-Mart in Brasil. I got a couple shirts but I still haven't found what I'm looking for. Anyway, we came back to the hotel for a rest and then went to the local Seventh-Day Adventist church for an informal, unofficial interview and mini-concert (There were several people who couldn't afford tickets to tomorrow's concert so we sang a few songs to try to encourage them. The promoter asked for one or two. We sang six or seven.). After that, we went to a very large shopping mall (Yes, I went to the mall. No, I didn't like it.), and back to the hotel for the night.

Now, in every instance of us being in public today, we ended up either taking pictures with people, signing autographs, or both. Even at Wal-Mart were there people ambushing us for a pic. I never expected to sign autographs at Wal-Mart, and especially a brasilian one, but it certainly happened today. In a city of four million, it's bound to happen...I guess. There was potential for all kinds of trouble at the church. Before we got out of the van we were told to stick together and move quickly, not stopping to take pics or sign autographs, because we may not make it into the building. There were people standing in the street waiting for us to drive up and get out so they could try to touch us. Some of them almost got run over. After we finished performing, we took a few special pics and signed some autographs for church staff members and such. They told us the same thing going out because they knew we wouldn't make it out of the building for hours if we didn't hurry. That's no way to be. We can't be a blessing if we can't be around the people. At the same time, we can't be around the people when they mob us because someone is bound to get hurt and we definitely don't want that. It also doesn't help that our faces were on posters hanging in the mall. We couldn't eat our meals without stopping for pics and autographs.

I know it seems like I'm complaining a lot but I'm such a private person that I felt awkward all day with these strange situations. I just need a good night's sleep and a great concert tomorrow.

Peace, Love, and Chocolate

BRASIL: day 7 - Concert em Goiania (Concert in Goiania)

[November 4, 2007] Yep. It's official I'm not cut out to be a rock star. We had a good concert with a great turn out. The 1700 available tickets sold out and they managed to squeeze an extra 500-600 people in the room. Each of them wanted pics and autographs and some wanted us to marry them! It was so crowded that I got claustrophobic...a lot. I mean people were everywhere all the time. It was hot too. The air conditioning was off because of an electrical fire a few days ago that got into the air vents. When we arrived at the venue people ran us to us to take pictures. When we got to the dressing room there were people waiting with stuff to be signed. We had to ask people to leave so we could get dressed, or have our devo without distractions, or even have any personal time at al. It was a mess. Pure insanity! I didn't like it one bit. Maybe some of the other guys like it (Zach Wilson, Allen Brantley) but it's not for me. I guess I've grown too accustomed to being in the road in the U.S. where we show up, set up, perform, take a couple pics and sign a couple autographs, take down, and leave, and people don't go crazy over us. No hassles, no privacy invasions in the dressing room, no threat of security guards who are such big fans that they misplace their priorities and stop doing their jobs...or do too much and not give us privacy.

Okay, I've been complaining too much. We have seen some cool stuff. For instance, Agape and Anderson both opened for us. They all did a fantastic job and we were proud of them. The crowd was all juiced up during the concert which provided a big energy boost for us. Even though we keep having frequency and feedback issues with the sound equipment, we have lots of fun during the concerts. That won't ever change. And people are hearing the Word. That won't change either.

There was so much chaos after the concert that they had to herd us off to a little "cage" area with tables so we could sign autographs and take pictures. Through the mass of people, a man approached me and gave me a huge blessing. He thanked us for sharing the gospel and using our voices and talents to glorify God. He was happy to have us in Goiania but happier to see God through us. It was a real ministry moment, both for him and for me. He ministered to me by encouraging me to keep ministering to others. He was an answer to prayers that the people would see God and not us. Hopefully that trend will spread and God will be exalted instead of us.

Peace, Love, and Chocolate

BRASIL: day 8 - Hora de dormir (Time to sleep)

[November 5, 2007] My sleeping patterns are getting worse. Those of you who know me know that's a bad thing for me to deal with. I'm not feeling so well today. I went to bed around midnight after a very long day and fell asleep fairly quickly. I woke up, though, to go to the bathroom at 3:00 and didn't fall asleep again until nearly 4:30. We had a 6:15 lobby call this morning so I was up before 6:00. I may or may not have gotten 4.5 hours of sleep. That's really unacceptable for me, and especially after a crazy concert.

Everything irritated me this morning. People being loud, people being repetitive, people being repetitive, people repeating themselves, people singing the same annoying song over and over and over and over and people oversleeping and making us late to the airport. We did make it onto the plane after some frustration though. Zac G. had to leave his football behind and have it deflated and put on a plane to Belem because they said it might explode from the pressure. More annoyance. I was ready to punch people...but I didn't.

We took the shortest flight I've ever taken, though. Apparently it only takes twenty minutes to get from Goiania to Brasilia. We made up that time with a two-hour flight to Belem, so it kinda equaled out.

It's hot here! When we arrived at noon it was 93 degrees and humid. I guess that makes sense since we're in the Amazon River Basin. Our promoter for this concert (Martins, pronounced Marcheens) found out that we haven't been resting much so he canceled our interviews for today. Sweet!

So we rested at the missionary school where we're staying. Some guys played soccer, some swam, some slept, some caught up on blogs. We ate dinner with some of the faculty and staff, then some of our people went on a tour of downtown Belem. It has been a restful day. We all needed it. It also helps the attitudes. Those of you who have worked or lived with other people know how easy it is to get on each other's nerves. The same applies here. We are human just like you. We bicker and nag and ruffle each other's feathers and life goes on. Those of you who are praying for us, keep it up. We can't make it without God's help and your prayers only speed that help along.

Tomorrow is concert number three. Belem is home to around 1.3 million people who have no idea what to expect. All we know is that they love Acappella. All they know is that we are here. I think it's gonna be wild...again. We'll make it but it'll be tough.

Well, it's bedtime again, kids. Say your prayers and get good rest. Have a bom dia tomorrow. We'll do the same!

Peace, Love, and Chocolate

BRASIL: day 9 - Concert em Belem (Concert in Bethlehem)

[November 6, 2007] Today was a long and busy day but it was a really good day. We had breakfast around 9:00 and left the compound to go downtown and sing for the Secretary of Culture for Belem. Unfortunately, the secretary had more pressing issues, so we sang for students at the Carlos Gomez Music Conservatory, a school where most of the kids are poor. Belem is a poor region compared to most of the brasilian capital cities. It was kind of weird seeing the contrast between some of the wealthier cities like Campo Grande (which, by the way, means Big Camp) and Belem. It reminded me of Ecuador where, if you have nothing, you have nothing but you find a way to survive because it's necessary. Words can't adequately describe the mobs of people on the side of the road hoping to get picked up to go to work for a very low wage. I was told the average salary in Belem is about 380 reais (sounds like ray-eyes) per month, which translates into less than $200 US dollars. That's so little! Yet, the concert tickets were 30 reais and the 2000-person convention center was sold out completely. We got to share Jesus with a lot of people and heard some great responses. It was clearly the craziest crowd we've had so far, but the love some Jesus. It was also our best performance so far. We hope it will continue to improve like it has been.

I do have a bit of bad news, though. I have suffered the loss of a dear comrade. You may have seen us together, some of you many times. We have been friends for quite a while now. We went through some tough times together but we made it out alright...until now. He may not make it this time. He was severely injured during the concert and I'm really pretty shaken up by the incident...mainly because it was my fault. See, what had happened was, I stuck my hand out to shake a kid's hand and he grabbed my Ecuadorian bracelet and broke the string, losing half of the beads that I spent at least an hour last month repairing...for the second time. I'm really heartbroken about this because it's my "Compassion bracelet." When I look at it I think of the Compassion kids we help support and it's my reminder that real people, real children are suffering more than we know.

Okay, enough with the sad talk. We had a good day and a good concert. We went to the zoo today too. Good times. Pray for my knees, though. I'm feeling a bit arthritic. Moving really slowly tonight. We be aight tho! Another early morning, and it's already after midnight. Hora de dormir!

Peace, Love, and Chocolate