Sunday afternoon was quite a special day in my household. As I mentioned Quint turned 1 on Friday and so we had a blessing ceremony and party for him on Sunday. He had about 30 people come out to share this time with us. There were some really cool things that were said and lots of love poured out on him and us. One of the things that stuck out most to me was when our good friend and pastor of the Quest service at First Free Church Kevin Hughes gave the blessing. He asked people to share blessings and prayers over us and the baby. It was a lovely time and again, we felt really loved. But Kevin said something like this: “I pray that Quint’s prodigal days be short, and that Harry and Eva would have the wisdom and patience to guide him through it.” This was special to me because he didn’t shy away from the fact that we all have this time when we act like the prodigal son (Luke 15:11), but he prayed that he would be able to work through it and then come out stronger on the other side. Believe it or not, that’s one of the things that propelled me back today.

I have been waiting for a chance to jump back into writing. I kept feeling like I didn’t have anything to say or that no one was listening. So I sort of let it all fade away. But I’ve come back with the feeling of this is what God has given me. If no one else reads anything I have to say then I still will write.  Is there something or someone in your life that you have run away from? Have you been wallowing in the mud trying to find your own way and finding that it just isn’t working like you thought? You can go back home. There is a God who loves you and accepts you with open arms when you decide to turn back to him. And just like the father in the story, he has a party waiting.

Why is the worship conference so cool? Well, generally you’re getting an up close and personal view of some super talented artists that you don’t get to see all the time. You’re getting to meet some other musicians around the country that you never knew existed. A lot of the time you’re hearing songs before they become popular in the mainstream and so you have some new music to bring back home. The worship times are AWESOME because you’re in a room full of people who can sing. I think one of the biggest things is that, for at least four days or so, there is someone else sitting right next to you that knows what you mean when you say things like ‘Nashville Number System’ or ‘diminished fifth’ or ‘Breedlove Passport C250′ or ‘Marshall Half Stack’. You have a hall pass (to steal from a bad movie) to be a music geek and it is completely okay.

I’m writing to you, O Worship Conference because sadly, I won’t be attending any this year. I will miss the name tags on sponsor lanyards. I will miss all the free stuff and discounted subscription to Worship Leader magazine. I will miss that rare opportunity to shake the hand of the person who you listen to on CD or the radio. I will miss the overpriced hotel room and the late night jam sessions with all the guitar players from some remote town in Indiana who happen to be AMAZING! None of that for me this year. I miss you, Worship Conference. You are the church’s midsummer classic. Maybe next year, friend. Maybe next year.

I personally have had to do that which is part of the reason that I was writing what I did last week. I’m no revolutionary person or super thinker, but when I experience things I feel like there may be someone out there who hadn’t thought about things that way and I want to share with them. There are times when we have to remember why we are doing what we are doing and what the big picture is.

Today I get to do that in a special way. Today is my 9th wedding anniversary. I’m quite excited for this because it’s an opportunity to spend time with just my wife, which is something you don’t often get when you have 3 children and one of them is under the age of 1. But more than that, we get to spend time reflecting on why we fell in love in the first place. We get a night to pull away from the rest of our world, the work and kids and big decisions and all this other stuff, and just focus on us. It may not be a big thing, but it will be enough to help us get refocused before we jump back into life as we know. And maybe, just maybe, we can shift our focus knowing that the person right beside us loves us that much more.

1. I am not called to work at Wal-mart. I have applied there and haven’t been called back yet. In extension, I’m also not called to work at Sam’s, a place that I worked for previously.

2. McDonald’s doesn’t think enough of me to hire me either. I’m not sure what it is about me that they don’t like. I’m thinking I don’t have enough tattoos…

3. My mom is not the only person that likes the music that I write. I’m pretty sure that musicians fear that no one will like what they write, and we all know that moms are supposed to like everything that their children do. I took my music to a St. Louis area studio and the producer there liked what he heard. He actually offered to produce a CD for free. I’d say that he likes it.

4. People love my family. God has truly blessed us and some kinda way we had more money come in this past month than we have had in quite a while. God’s definitely working.

5. I love working with music groups. I’ve had so much fun this month working with the ministry groups at MoBap. I hope they have enjoyed working with me because I’m here for awhile.

As for this month, God is already starting to do some MAJOR things in our family. The first day of Chili Dinner ticket sales went rather well. I have people offering to help out with gathering money for the CD project. Actually, our new friends at Waypoint Church helped us greatly yesterday. I feel so loved.

I also want to say a special thanks to our friends at Redeemer Church. They have done so much to help out my family this month. We wouldn’t be where we are right now if it weren’t for them. Thanks SO much, Redeemer!!!

We are still trying to find ways to get funds and musicians together for the CD project. I have a place to go, I just have to put everything together to get there. Again, I’m totally amazed at what God has done during this month of August. No one in the world could have orchestrated what God has done this month. Keep praying for us. Even more than financially (although that is still an issue obviously), pray for direction. God has a plan for this family (Jeremiah 29:11), and my prayer is that we start to figure out some of what that is. Be blessed friends. OH YEAH! Come to the Chili Dinner and Concert on September 18th. If you want more information shoot me an email. Tickets are $9 for adults and $2 for kids 6-12. I have some. Come find me. The end.

Friday- I got to visit my buddy Alisha. She wasn’t doing too well that day. I got to pray for her. I love Alisha. Busch Stadium with the Quest people. What a BLAST!!! Had a great time with my friends Jeremiah and Stephanie. We stinkin’ love them. Or at least I do stinkin’ love them I hope they love us, too. If not that would be COMPLETELY awkward…

Saturday- Went to a workshop to help us keep our house and didn’t really learn anything. Next the family went to visit Alisha. She was doing TONS better than she was on Friday. I’m still praying for her and Jim. Then I was supposed to play for a church in the area, and let’s just say I don’t think that’s going to happen anymore. If you wanna know just ask me about it and I’ll tell you… After that we spent the evening with the Misseys. It was great to reconnect with them.

Sunday- I spent the morning at Waypoint Church in St. Peters, MO. Great time with Lance and the crew there. I can’t wait to go back next week. It’s great to see what God is doing with that church. Then I got to spend some time at Cross Keys Baptist Church and make some new friends. We had some great connections with the pastor and his wife, who are MoBap alums! We had a great service and then hung out at Sonic. It has been a great weekend and I’m glad that God has brought us through this weekend.

I’m sure that I’m missing something, but I can’t remember. I also got to spend good time with my family which is always good. God is really teaching me some really cool things lately. I’m learning that I have to step out and let God be God. More and more I am learning to trust God with my life and my family. I almost forgot that I got to hang out with to AMAZING people, Kim and Gina on Tuesday. I will try to be a lot better at blogging this week. Someone hold me to it!!!

We got to go see Alisha this afternoon. I was glad to see that she was looking better. I’m so praying for you, sweetie. I just finished before I started writing this. For more on The Wee Couple, AKA the Amazing Barnards, check out my blogroll and click on Jim Barnard.

After that, I had an interesting meeting with a church in South County. I still don’t know what to think about it yet, so I don’t know exactly how to write about it. Check in tomorrow for that one…

We spent the evening with Matt (Cheetah) and Shannon Missey (blogroll Shannon Missey). This is the PERFECT way to end a late summer evening. This couple is straight up amazing. They are that beautiful couple that we should all be jealous of. If Eva and I weren’t so amazing already, we’d be jealous of them, too. HAHAHA Anyway, they had us down to their house in Crystal City and it was a great time with friends.

We are so blessed by the friends that God has placed in our lives during this extremely tough time. God knows what we need even when we don’t know what we need. Never ever forget that friends. God knows you so much better than you know yourself. Even though this was quite a long day that started really early for us, I wouldn’t trade it for anything because we spent this day and this weekend up until now with people that we confidently know love us and we love them as well.

Now I’m going to sleep because I will be leading worship with my friends at Waypoint Church in St. Peters, MO. If you don’t get this before tomorrow morning, come check me out next week as I will be leading out there next Sunday as well. Actually, check out the Upcoming Dates section as I will be updating it with some new things, including a Chili Dinner and Concert September 18th. I’ll have more information about that in the near future. Be blessed and hopefully I can keep up with the plan of a full weekend update tomorrow evening.

Yesterday, I spent most of the morning at Shock City Studios in South City getting a chance to meet a producer and having them listen to my music. I was greatly surprised to hear that they really enjoyed what they were listening to and are ready to work with me. I need to find a band to play with me. As we were sitting in the control room (which is beautiful enough to make a grown man drool), the producer says to one of the other guys sitting there that we need to find a drummer who can really play one of my songs. The guy says that he knows a guy and it turns out to be the drummer from the Fundamental Elements. Now, if you read my blog about their concert, you know that I’m a huge fan and would love to have that whole band in my pocket so I can keep them with me at all times. So this was a dream that was coming true. We will see how that works out. In the mean time, I need to find some money so I can get this ball rolling. I think that we may be on the brink of some very cool things happening.

Later that day, I got to go to a rehearsal for one of the ministry groups that I will be working with during the year at Missouri Baptist University. It was great to be doing that and it was great to be working with this group. I think we are going to have a good time. I started working on a plan to help them succeed throughout the year. I am going to be sitting down with the kid who is leading this group one on one to help him develop as a leader. He’s got some raw skills that can really get refined and brought out if someone comes alongside him and draw them out. That’s going to be my goal.

I’m also announcing that there will be some dates coming up where you can come worship with me. I will be posting them in the Upcoming Dates section of the website soon. One of them I will mention right from here though. Because we are struggling so much financially right now, my wife got some people together to create a chili dinner with a concert. It’s going to be fun. You can come for all you can eat chili and hear some music from me and a couple of friends (if I can get them to play some stuff). I don’t know how much it will cost because my wife hasn’t told me yet. I do know that the date is Friday, September 18th at Redeemer Evangelical Church. There will be more details, and when I get them I’ll pass them on to you. Until then, keep praying for us that God will keep sustaining us and putting people around us that can help us keep going. I am now off to the living room to set up the Motif and get to sequencing…

I have been working on music this week trying to get some things in place for the singers who have agreed to sing with me. What fun I have had going through some of my favorite songs that I have written and thinking about sharing them with friends. That was a big plus for my heart this week.

I heard from Grace Community Church this week that they have decided to go with the current candidate which says that we are officially out of the running for that job. That was sort of tough to hear, but we knew that it was coming. So we had to deal with that as a family. We were okay I guess.

We had been waiting to get our disconnect notice for our electricity. We finally got that this week. So we went to Catholic Charities for help. They told us they would help with part of it. So then we started praying about how to take care of the other half. In steps Jim Barnard. These guys love us and we love them. Jim asked how we were doing and we told them that we were struggling and were working to keep our lights on. So the Barnards help us out immensely by taking care of that other half of our electric bill. Praise God we can see!!!

We had to let our cell phones go this week. We haven’t been able to pay the bill so they were turned off. We are hoping that we can get them back soon, but in the mean time we are without them.

Please keep praying for us that we can continue to stay strong. There are some other really cool things to share, and I’m hoping that I can share them a little later. This may be a 2 post day. Seeing that I haven’t posted in 6 days, I may owe that to my readers. Until then, it’s off to yardwork.

Minus, I REALLY love doing what I do. There’s a part of me that likes to sit back and listen. There’s an even larger part of me that loves to lead and be on stage. It is not because I need to be in front of people, but I know that’s what God has called me to do and I love being able to use that gift. Minus, I haven’t practiced or listened to any music in the past couple weeks. So there is a little bit of both on either side. But I am learning to enjoy where God has placed me right now. I’m still praying that God would lead us to a place to serve Him, but in the mean time we are serving God the best way we know how where we are. Where are we, you ask? Well currently  we are a part of the Quest Service at E-Free.

Something else that has happened this past week that was really cool. I have been given the opportunity to do something really special this year. I was asked to help out at my Alma Mater (which I just got a couple months ago), Missouri Baptist University. Since I started, the number of ministry groups have grown from 3 to 6. The number of ministry group leaders has grown from 2 to 2. Which means they need some help leading these other groups. That’s where I come in. I get to help a couple groups with their instrumental stuff as well as some vocals. I also get the chance to help develop some worship leaders. I am so pumped. For those of you that have been praying, this is not a paying thing right now, but it’s a great opportunity and I’m so excited about it. I will keep you posted on how things work our over the course of the year.

Lastly, I’m going to stop punking out and get back at working on my own music this week. This is my plan for myself. I’ll keep you posted on how that goes as well. Enjoy the rest of the weekend. and to my friends that start school tomorrow, good luck and let God bless you as you start this year off right!

I am going to be working with a couple of the ministry groups on campus at Missouri Baptist this year. I spent some time with someone who has always been in my corner this afternoon and he presented this opportunity to me. I must say, I’m totally elated that I get to use the abilities that God has given me to help train and teach others.

Before you ask, it’s not a paying thing, but I am gaining some real experience working in a school AND I’m getting some exposure on campus as someone other than a student. Who knows what will come of this? I don’t know… but I do know that I’m going to have some fun and really pour myself into this while I have the chance.

In other news, if I had money I’d go into the studio. If we can figure that out, I’ll start recording. That’s my plea for help. LOL!!!!

If I haven’t said it in awhile, thanks SOOO much for continuing to check in and read this blog. I appreciate you. You keep me going. Be blessed!