Where In the World is Belize?

This is the question I asked when Jeff suggested we take our anniversary trip to Belize.  I am definitely geographically-challenged.  But, with a little help from the old World Wide Web and Google, I managed to find a wonderful place for us to celebrate 20 years of wedded bliss.  Truly...bliss, every minute of it.  On the map above, we will be at Ambergris Caye (pronounced "key") and San Pedro.  Hope to return later in the week refreshed, a little more tanned and with a memory card full of beautiful pictures.

The bottom map is for any hurricane trackers that may be wondering if we will survive a direct hit.  I'll help you out...the closest possible hurricane is near Africa.  Here's hoping it stays there.

They'll Never Leave...They Have It Too Good

I've officially had it with squirrels. They've gone too far this time. They've dug out (continually, may I say, daily) the dirt from my potted flowers. They've dug out the soil from my two potted tomatoes. EVERY. SINGLE. DAY. They've torn strips of bark from our tree, which then fall into the pool and stain the plaster. They've dug flowers from the ground, while searching for their stinkin' acorns. They continually eat King's dog food. And now this...sunbathing! I repeat...they've gone too far this time. I think it's time for Rambo Jeff to resurrect his camo-faced night ops. When they least expect it...he will rise, BB gun in hand, silently, silently from the rippling waters...

Note to grackles: Be very careful. You're next!

Stephen Curtis Chapman Concert

Last weekend, Melissa and I went to see Stephen Curtis Chapman at First Baptist Euless. I can honestly say the concert was, by far, the best I've ever attended. This has been a dream of ours for awhile, to go to one of his concerts together. We have both enjoyed/loved his music for many years. We were practically giddy just standing outside the doors waiting to get in. As soon as the doors opened, we rushed for a good seat and, without knocking too many little old ladies down, were able to get seats on the fifth row.

We knew the concert would be hard, in that he had returned to touring only the previous week. He spoke freely about the death of his daughter only a couple months before. I personally don't know how he got through any of the songs. He shared that many of his songs had taken on new meaning since Maria's death and he had been forced to choose whether or not he believed what he had written all those years ago. Of course I had to get out the tissues when he sang "Cinderella." And, when he sang "Be Still and Know." (my all time SCC favorite) Okay...so I teared up through most of the concert.

He played the piano and guitar for the concert -- just him, no band.

The concert benefitted the Mid-Cities Crisis Pregnancy Center.
Much of what he shared/sang about was supporting adoption.

Stephen Curtis Chapman groupies

Thank you, Melissa, for getting the tickets. And, for letting me steal/borrow these pics from Facebook without permission. I loved every minute of that evening and will remember it for a long, long time.

Remembering Maria Chapman...

"All the days ordained for me were written in your book before one of them came to be." Psalm 139:16

May I Recommend?

If you're looking for a few, quick summer reads, then I have the books for you -- a series of three, not so serious mysteries by Sharon Dunn.  From the titles alone you can tell they're not your average mystery stories:  Romance Rustlers and Thunderbird Thieves; Sassy Cinderella and The Valiant Vigilante;  Cow Crimes and The Mustang Menace.

An excerpt from Cow Crimes gives you an idea why I like these quirky, fun books:

 

 "Mocha espressos taste better in the dark. The smoothness of the chocolate is more tantalizing on the tongue--the bite of the caffeine stronger. Had I not agreed to run a stakeout at Benson's Pet and Feed, I never would have made that discovery.  But before we turned off the lights and slipped behind the counter, my boss, Georgia, mixed up two steaming 20-ouncers, complete with whipped cream and chocolate sprinkles.

  I allowed the warm liquid to linger on my tongue before swallowing. Forget all those apologetics books; chocolate and coffee are the clearest evidence that God exists and that he loves us."

If your summer reading has gotten too serious, check out these great stories about a fiery, tall redhead with a penchant for vintage cars and trouble.  Enjoy!

HOPE'08 - Trip Report

The newspapers said, "South Texas invaded by large orange wave from Fort Worth..." Well, that's how it felt everywhere we traveled in and around the cities of South Texas. Lytle, Texas is a town of around 2300 residents. We upped that number by around 120 during our choir mission trip last week. We arrived at First Baptist Lytle on Sunday afternoon, July 6. Within an hour we had unloaded, began cooking a meal, set up our air mattress and overflowed the 2 upstairs toilets. Yea... I don't think that old building was quite ready for us. I won't dwell on the bathroom situation, but just want to say it did make for a memorable week and I'm sure the stories are still flying around with Shirley saying..."Three people must go BEFORE you flush!"

After inhaling a delicious meal prepared by Miss Cindy and Miss Debbie we raced to our first concert location -- a park in Pleasanton, about 45 minutes away. We had many technical difficulties (always) and ended up starting the concert about an hour late. With only a few people in attendance, we counted that as an extra dress rehearsal and moved on.



Pics above: my sweet roomies, Katherine and Abi working outside, our lovely shower trailer

Monday morning arrived with jobs to do around the church: painting the fellowship hall, organizing supply closets, installing concrete parking lot stops and general maintenance. After cleanup from those duties, we drove 2 hours to the Alto Frio Baptist Encampment. The crowd that night was considerably larger, around 600 teenagers. The kids were very well received and the show was much smoother. It rained the entire time we were setting up and I protected the keyboard fiercely from drops of water coming through the roof of the metal building with open sides. Long drive home...late night.

Tuesday: Our Fun Day...Uh, yea....that was fun...floating down the Frio River in a giant yellow tube, totally at the mercy of the elements -- needles of freezing rain, flowing waters trying to drag you every way you did not want to go....sorry I don't have any pictures of this day. NOT!
I was just thankful that Jeff was not there because he would have been laughing his head off at me. That little adventure was sooooo not me.

Wednesday saw us loading up the buses and vans to drive to the town of Lemming, home of the Hosanna Baptist Tabernacle, a primarily Hispanic church. We had two work crews, one who helped build walls at the site of their new building and a second who turned their old sanctuary into an updated, colorful youth room. I was on the paint crew for the second. Katherine painted the beautiful cross on the wall. We changed our plans to return to Lytle and clean up and instead worked the rest of the day. There was just so much that needed to be done. Our concert that night was the best of the week, I think. We were hot, sweaty, covered in paint, but the kids were awesome, willing to work so hard all day to get the job done.

Stomp team practicing before the concert at Hosanna Tabernacle

Katherine was part of the jazz band this year.
It was fun to share the bench with her during concerts.

Funny story: After the concert, the pastor of Hosanna wanted to recognize the girl who had painted the cross on the wall. When he said "thank you" everyone tried to point out Katherine. She had gone to the bathroom and walked back in just as everyone was looking for her. "There she is," everyone screamed and started clapping. If you know Katherine, you will understand this did not make her comfortable. I loved that she was able to use her gifts to bless this church in this way.

Thursday was another work day at FBC Lytle, basically finishing the jobs we had left on Monday. I don't have many pictures of us working because, well, we were too busy working. The kids were great and, other than a few bits of craziness here and there, were focused and hard-working. We added tree trimming and cutting on this day and that was good for everyone except Kevin, who had a branch fall on his foot and break it. Seems like one trip to the emergency room is a requirement on any trip like this. Thursday night we sang/acted/stomped/played at the high school in Lytle. The pastor spoke to us after the concert and you could see how much our presence there had encouraged him.

Where we lived all week ~
the newly painted fellowship hall

Four of my favorite girls pictured after the concert at Lytle High School

Friday morning was early rise and shine in preparation to head for home. We arrived home without incident (a big deal for a trip of this nature) at 3:00 p.m. Vans were cleaned, luggage unloaded, and we agreed to return on Sunday evening to do it all again for our Home Concert.
I've always loved the Youth Choir Home Concert. There's just some special feeling about singing for people who love and support you. Being involved this year made it even more fun for me.

Patricia, Rebecca, Courtney J., Courtney G.
after the home concert

my new music buddy, Sharon, the choir director

the boys (and girl) who made the music
"I'm with the band!"

Some of the greatest guys I've ever had the privilege
to work with: Robert on bass guitar, Mike on electric guitar,
John on acoustic guitar, and Mr. Anthony on the drums.

This was an incredible week of hard work, crazy teenagers, lots of driving, wonderful fellowship, playing till your fingers hurt, and the amazing message of HOPE that we have in Christ. I pray that many people were touched and blessed by our presence.

Jesus Christ is our only hope!

HOPE '08

It's been a very long week.  My hands are testifying this morning to 12 hours of playing the piano for choir rehearsals.  I had no idea you could play the piano until your joints ached.  When we finished last night, my fingers literally felt like they were buzzing.  With that said, I'm having the time of my life.  

Two months ago I was asked to accompany the youth choir on keyboard for their summer choir tour.  I figured they were raking the bottom of the barrel at that point; however, I had no good reason to decline and God said, "Go!"  After conquering my fear of playing with a band, I've settled into a great rhythm (pun intended) and other than sore hands and arms, am enjoying the experience immensely.  

The theme of our concert is HOPE '08.  Our message?  Jesus Christ is our only hope.  Words from one of our songs say:

You are my hope. Hope like no other.

Hope like no other, reaches to me.

In the fullness of Your grace, in the power of Your name,

You lift me up.  You lift me up.

As I was scrapbooking earlier in the week, I came across a note that Jeff had written and put in my suitcase when I went to Vancouver last summer.  He ended the note with Psalm 33:22, which I've added to the top of my blog.  I loved so much what that said that I decided to read the entire Psalm today.  Wow...can the words be any more appropriate for someone who's been playing/singing/preparing all week to share God's hope through music?

"Sing for joy in the Lord, O you righteous ones;

Praise is becoming to the upright.

Give thanks to the Lord with the lyre; (guitar?)

Sing praises to Him with a harp of ten strings. (keyboard?)

Sing to Him a new song;

Play skillfully (I'm trying) with a shout of joy.

Our soul waits for the Lord;

He is our help and our shield.

For our heart rejoices in Him,

Because we trust in His holy name.

Let thy lovingkindness, O Lord, be upon us,

According as we have hoped in Thee."

Psalm 33:1-3, 20-22

We leave Sunday morning, July 6.  We will sing 4 concerts during the evenings and work during the day for First Baptist Church, Lytle and the Frio River Baptist Association.  We would appreciate your prayers for us next week.  Pray that our lives would be a picture of the HOPE we have in Jesus Christ.