Rearranging Things...

It was just time to rearrange the furniture around here! I've been wanting a "new look" for quite a while now, but these things just take a little time to put together. But, the renovations are now complete... welcome to a new look and a new name!

Conversations With Dylan: Christy Nockels

So here's the background: The latest Passion CD, God of this City, was released earlier this month, and that's pretty much all we've been listening to lately. Track 5 is a song called "Hosanna" recorded on this project by Christy Nockels, and to date, this is Dylan's favorite song on the CD.

Now, I know that we now have 6 blog readers (thank you Jen for your comment on the last post), and within those 6, and even smaller subset of you will find this post to be at all funny. But for those of you who are into the music thing or the 4-year old thing, this post is for you...

This morning as we were driving to CBS, we were listening to "Hosanna" and thus the conversation began.

Dylan: Mom, who is singing this song?
Mom: Christy Nockels
Dylan: Oh, is she in Resonate?
Mom: No, she's not.
Dylan: Well, where does she live?
Mom: Somewhere in Tenessee, I think.
Dylan: Oh... (followed by a thoughtful pause)... well, I think we should invite her to Resonate because she sings this song really good and I really like this song. Can she come sing "Hosanna" in Resonate?
Mom: (speechless, as usual. Then we listened to the song again while Dylan sang Hosanna as loud as he could.)

So... Christy Nockels, if you ever Google yourself and come across this post, you've got an open invitation to come and sing "Hosanna" for a little 4-year old boy who has a long way to go before he'll make it to a Passion Conference! Until then, he's happy to see you sing the song on YouTube.

Passion:DC

How do you adequately describe a "conference" that God uses to radically set your life in an entirely different direction? That's the question I asked myself 10 years ago after my first Passion Conference, and that is the question some of the young adults that came with us to DC are now asking themselves. For anyone who has ever been to a Passion event and who has really engaged in what God was doing through it, the ability to describe what goes on in your heart and mind the next morning, the next week is virtually impossible. It seems that the Lord moves grandly through the humble speakers and lead worshippers associated with Passion, and Passion:DC has been no exception.

The weekend got off to a difficult start! Precarious weather situations seem to follow Passion events wherever they go, so I have to admit that I was not at all surprised that talk of bad weather began to surface just before we left on Thursday. I guess some things just build faith, and after enduring the horrific thunderstorms at One Day '03 in Sherman, Texas, we've learned not to even worry about the weather. Bad weather tends to make the journey just a little bit sweeter... okay, a whole lot sweeter!

By Thursday afternoon, we were already in DC (Fairfax, technically), but most of our group was still waiting to leave Columbus. The snow began to roll into to Central Ohio by Thursday afternoon, and talk of several inches of snow followed by an ice storm closer to Northern Virginia was all that we heard about on the news. Part of our group planned on leaving Columbus on Thursday night, and the other group planned on leaving before dawn on Friday morning. So that night I slept pitifully! Our hotel rooms were all on the same hall, and I slept with one ear to the door just waiting to hear any sound that they had arrived safely. Brian spent much of Thursday evening on the phone with the Friday crew encouraging them to press on despite the weather. Shortly after 5 am on Friday morning, I heard the sweetest sound --- a text message! Kyle had sent word to let us know that they were safe and secure in their rooms! I could finally sleep... at least for another hour or so!

We woke up Friday morning to an inconsequential ice storm! Light ice, but nothing to stop the event! The Friday morning crew eventually made it in safely, and Passion:DC was off to a start.

I wish I could recount the entire weekend to you (all 5 of you who read this blog!). I wish that I could adequately describe the impact of the conversations we had while driving or sitting around... the impact of the music led by Chris Tomlin, Charlie Hall, and Matt Redman... the way it sounds when 3,000 young adults shout "Sing, Sing, Sing" as loud as they can with hands lifted high... the way a "real life" story about a girl named Ashley and her roommate called "Fruitcake" can rock the lives of countless young adults... the way an unpredicted BURP can relieve the emotional intensity of a powerful moment while maintaining the focus and point of the message... the way God can call out a young girl to go to China through orchestrating the testimony of a Chinese college student to coincide with His pulling at her heart strings. Ultimately, I can't do justice with words to the impact this weekend had on many. Many stories remain untold even today as God fans into flame transformation at the very deepest level of people's hearts.

Before I close, I have to thank my mother-in-law who made the trip to Ohio to watch our kids while we went to DC and my father-in-law who let her come. I couldn't have made the trip without your help, and I'm beyond grateful for the sacrifice you both made. As Louie said during prayer time before Saturday night's session, the families left behind last weekend are just as much a part of the Passion story as those on the stage or those in the arena. So, thanks...

The picture above was taken on Saturday night after everything was over. This is the group of "attendees" that went from Resonate, but we also had 4 others from Resonate who "volunteered" throughout the event. They served tirelessly, and I thank them for all they did to foster an environment where God could work on hearts. So, thanks to Jen F, Dave, Mike, and Jen M... we love you guys! I wish I had you in the picture too... maybe I can just Photoshop you in!

Want to hear the craziest thing? Many of our young adults are now talking about heading to Passion:Atlanta or one of the stops on the World Tour... I just love it!

A Quirky Tag...

Michelle at they outnumber us now tagged me for this fun little meme about our own quirks. The difficult part is limiting my quirks to only 6. So, here are the rules...

1. Link to the person that tagged you.


2. Post the rules on your blog.


3. Share six non-important things/habits/quirks about yourself


4. Tag at least 3 people at the end of your post and link to their blogs


5. Let each person know they have been tagged by leaving a comment on their blog.


6. Let the fun begin!

Well... here goes...

1. I love a great salad loaded with lots of romaine, green leaf lettuce, or mixed greens, but I don't care for lettuce on a sandwich. Additionally, on all but very rare occasions, I can't stand iceberg lettuce.


2. I love white dishware. I know it's plain, but the decorating possibilities are endless... and with my tiny little kitchen, I do not have the luxury of keeping around multiple coordinating sets of dinnerware.


3. I always plan my week and my day horizontally and vertically on little 4x6 cards that I print off every week. The idea is from some book I once read, but I never can remember which book. Horizontally means I list the major tasks that I want to do each day for the entire week, and vertically means I schedule my intended tasks for that particular day by the half hour. Weird and tedious, I know... but I don't think I would ever get much done without this system!


4. Whenever I go to a restaurant, I love to try their lemonade. The criteria: It must be fresh lemonade (no Minute Maid stuff). I prefer a sparkling, bubbling concoction, and I would rather it not be pink lemonade. The best I've ever had is from a little Italian restaurant on the west side of Houston called Carmelo's Ristorante, but Giant Eagle carries a rather wonderful Sparkling Sicilian Lemonade that I can enjoy right at home!


5. I record Leave It To Beaver episodes throughout the week and sometimes I sit down briefly during the kids' naptime to catch an episode. There's just nothing on TV during the day, and this show feeds my fascination with the late 50s/early 60s.


6. I absolutely have to read... At all times, I need to have at least one book that I'm in the process of reading, but I usually have 3-4 going at the same time... And I have to read before I fall asleep, regardless of what time I go to bed.

So... I tag Sarah at from afar park, Tallie at my little corner of the planet, and Lisa at ...and everything, although I can't imagine you'll post something, sis!

Uganda: How far is it from here?

More on our trip to Uganda...



Some time just before Christmas, Brian and I were presented with the idea of taking the college & young adults of Resonate to Gulu, Uganda to work alongside of WorldHelp in a number of capacities. We had a very short amount of time to publicize the trip, recruit team members, and submit applications, and we are astonished by the way that God moved among the young adults. As of right now, we have a team of 13 members, including a very special team member to me --- my sister! We will join up with additional young adults from around the country --- I think about 17 more --- before making our way to Uganda.



The trip will cost each team member about $3500, and as I've said to our church body, $3500 to a college student might as well be a million dollars! But we know that God's resources are limitless, and we trust that He will provide. He's already started!



So here's my thought... per some internet site I found, it is about 7,763 miles from Columbus to Gulu. It will cost all 13 team members a total of $45,500 to get there. That means that the cost for us to get our entire team to Uganda will be about $5.86 per mile. That's how we'll track our fundraising progress. If I were brilliant and not a completely busy young mother of 2 little ones, I might come up with a cool graphic to track our progress, but for now, I'll have to leave it to the "smart" ones. Maybe we'll get something created in the future.



As of today, we are 102 miles along on our journey with 7,661 miles to go. Later this week, we will host a Parent's Night Out. Pray that the response will be favorable and that God will move us further along on our journey to Uganda!