First, a little history about why we moved south: In the late summer of ’07, we were in Medford, praying for employment. Ricky had begun his journey into the world of small home business in web design, but his skills were still developing, and Southern Oregon wasn’t the premier spot to gain steady clientele (or a 9-5 job) at the time. So we just prayed for another means of provision… Continue reading
austin
Protected in the Storm…but not so secure
Texas has the strangest weather. I will never get used to it. Last night I dropped off Braylon & his buddy, Andre (9) off at another church for their first Royal Rangers meeting (Andre’s first church experience ever!) & then Angel & I drove down the road to worship practice. It was 7pm, in the nineties, & the sky was half filled with dark clouds. I thought to myself, looks like a storm’s brewin’.
After practice, I picked them up @ 8:15-25 & by this time, we could see lightning all around us, but no rain or wind. I got a text from my neighbor, Evie, “Sure is pounding, isn’t it!” We piled in the Scion & took off for home. It was a race against the clouds. Hutto had been hit, & it was headed south toward us. Continue reading
Last Night’s Jonny Lang Concert at the Paramount Theater
Wow.
Wow.
Wow.
Last night, Jonny Lang, in his late 20’s, 6-string, western snap-shirt and torn jeans, took the stage & delivered one amazing show. The band seemed entirely different than it was when we saw him at the Rogue Theatre in OR 3 yrs ago, but still unbelievably rocked. Especially his only BGV, Mr. Jason Eskridge who just blew us out our seats w/his pipes on the Stevie Wonder cover, “Livin for The City“. Loved the songs, If we Try & Thankful, but one part of the show that was jus’ jaw-droppin’ was when Jonny shared the stage for a guitar duet with Austin’s own Eric Johnson (to see proof of this guy’s other-worldly musicianship, you gotta watch this vid of him playing “Cliffs of Dover” @ Austin City Limits in ’05). Crazy, mad skills. One legend along side one in the making.
Ricky & I were dumb-founded as to why it seemed PC to stay in your seat during most of the concert. I was dancin’ as much as a white girl can dance and still be seated, every song. I think I’ll skip my ab workout today.
And alas, there was, during the encore, a bold declaration of Jonny’s faith in the Lord. My favorite part. Tears just welled up & my arm was raised to heaven like I had magnets in my fingertips, in gratitude that this young funky soul, in all his fame & glory, would play a song for the glory of JESUS & to share his Inspiration w/ultimately thousands of blues fans, during this tour. (BTW, here’s a cool clip of an interview w/JL about his “Turn Around” tour. And for a more extensive interview/article about his past written by Christian artist, Sara Groves, check out a previous post i wrote in October ’08, here.)
So, back to the encore. Before playing a raw, acoustic vsn of my favorite of all his sec’l songs, Breakin’ Me, he played my favorite & classic worship song. I heard a solitary, “Hallelujah!” & one “AMEN!” about half-way through & I know the song & the Spirit resounded in the hearts of many who recognized it. I bet they remembered it from growin’ up in the church & a desire to please & live for Him returned. Oh, my Jesus, may every word out of my mouth & every song I sing “be a sweet, sweet sound in your ear”.
I love you Lord, and I lift my voice
To worship you, O my soul, rejoice!
Take joy, my King, in what you hear, May it be a…
(These videos aren’t from last night, but they are from the same tour. I also found the song, “I Love You Lord” which is titled as “Breakin’ Me Intro”). Here’s the worship song in its entirety. Praise God.
bookin’ it!
illuminate has just been booked to play for 4 starbucks locations in the north austin area!
what’s even more exciting is that we have a great new website debut: illuminatelive.com! a special shout-out to talented and actually pretty hot webmaster, rresu.me for the extra time and sweet design. pray with me that God does His thing through every one of our 15 songs…not just at the coffee shops, but at the county jail and possibly a hospice home.
happy thanksgiving!
romance is…pizza, coffee, music, conversation & memories
can i just say in response to ms. mandy’s post a while back about romance in marriage…that yeah, it’s possible! not convenient a lot of times, but possible! we’re in our 14th yr. of bein’ together and we’re still comin’ up w/new things. course $ helps, but it’s sure not nec. ~ if you have a way to swap kids w/a friend and walk around downtown together holding a coffee in one hand and each other with the other, it’s all good…like ethan hawke says to winona ryder in “reality bites” :
Troy:: See Lainy, this is all we need. A couple of smokes, a cup of coffee, and a little bit of conversation. You and me and five bucks.
Lelaina:: You got it!
case-in-point: my hubs got tickets to a concert (one of our fave artists, marc broussard), but the guy who bought them couldn’t go, so ricky asked me! the night was ours to own. we were just ourselves together. we talked. we got starbucks & new jersey style pizza, we got front row (thanks baby, for being so anal about getting there so dang early!), we got our groove on, we made fools of ourselves, we met cool people, we sang, we shot videos of the concert, we got home late, stayed up even later and slept in til 10.
we got to know each other better that night…and we got some kick-*@%! memories (& a guitar pick) to show for it.
now, c’mon. ain’t that what it’s all about?!
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let’s hear some more examples (PG-13) of a romantic night in married life!
Chelan 