Recap

Hello friends! Just a few updates and recaps from the past week or so. I made my first trip to Canada (Toronto area) to help lead worship on August 24 at the Hershey Centre in Mississagua for a Primerica business conference. Because many of the top Canadian executives for this company are Christians, they wanted to provide an opportunity for conference goers to attend a worship service and hear the Gospel. There were probably about 1400 people in attendance, and almost half of that number came forward that morning to receive Jesus for the first time! It was amazing. You never know where God is going to show up and start changing people's lives. I was humbled to be a part. 

After Canada, Jacob and I were able to meet up in North Carolina to spend some time with my family. We were able to relax, get some good ole' home cookin', have quality time with family and friends, and meet my parents' new white lab puppy, Ranger. He's the cutest ever, and I confess that I contemplated stealing him. (Our landlord wouldn't be too happy with that decision though.) My favorite part of being home was the conversations I was able to have with my brothers. I love all three of those boys so much, and know that the Lord has His hand on their lives although they may not be able to see it at the moment. As long as I can remember, I have prayed that my little brothers would come to know and love the God who has loved and pursued them relentlessly, and I'll be the first to admit that discouragement often sets in when I see no fruit of those prayers. Yet I will continue to remind myself that God is sovereign in all things, He loves them more than I ever could, and He makes all things beautiful in His time.

On Wednesday of last week Jacob and I were in the Baltimore/DC area for radio interviews and a Live XM taping. Jill from Word also joined us, and we had an eventful and fun-filled day. We started out the morning with Angela and Brennan from WGTS in Tacoma Park, MD and as early as it was, still managed to have a blast. A couple hours later we headed to the XM station in DC where our new friend Jim Epperline gave us a tour of the entire building. It was amazing! I highly recommend taking a tour! Our live concert was from 1-2, and some of our friends from McLean Bible Church and Liberty along with new friends from the DC area joined us for a sweet time of worship. (The live taping will be aired on XM's channel 32 The Message sometime in late October.) After we said goodbye to the wonderful people at XM, we headed to WRBS in Baltimore and met up with Chris and Erin. I happen to be quite fond of the crew at WRBS, mostly because of the extensive time I spent with them at GMA. After lots of laughs and fun times there, Jill, Jacob and I ventured over to the Inner Harbor and had dinner by the water. What a fantastic day! 

This past Saturday I was in the lineup for Celebrate Freedom outside of Atlanta, and was accompanied by Aaron Shust's band. Because of being on the last two tours with them, those guys have become good friends, and they did an awesome job on my songs! I decided I really like having a band. We may have to look into making that a more regular occurrence. :) Atlanta was hot as blazes, and I'm pretty sure I don't even sweat that much working out, but it was great to catch up with old friends and make new ones as well. 

I arrived at O'Hare International Airport later that evening, and since no one I knew was available to pick me up, I opted for the Airport Express. My driver's name was Hassan, and before we could even make it out of the airport we were talking about life. I found out that he comes from a Muslim family from Jordan, and has lived in the states for about 7 years. He was my age and very friendly, and we ended up discussing religion versus relationship with God the whole way home and then sitting in my driveway for a while talking about Jesus, why He came, why He died, and the difference between Christianity and Islam. I invited him to Harvest (my church), and he told me he would come when he could take off from work. He seemed very curious, and I know there was a reason no one could pick me up from the airport that night. His name is Hassan, and I would ask you to join with me in praying for his salvation.

It has been a wonderful week, and I am thankful for every opportunity that was given. Thank you for letting me share these events and stories with you. My only hope is that with every note sung, with every word spoken, with every person encountered, with every blog written, that the name of Jesus was lifted high and that above anything else, God was honored. Let us make it our goal to please Him.