Unbelievable!

I just spent the entire week in Austin, Texas at the National Worship Leader Conference. It was my first time going and I was so excited about the classes that were going to be offered and the worship concerts we would be attending. I had no idea what God had in store for me.

The classes were fantastic and God really got a hold of me about so many areas of my life and service to Him. I could spend several blogs on everything I learned (and I will elaborate later) but for now I am still trying to process it all.

The worship concerts were so refreshing. As soon as we got our registration packets I quickly dove into it to see what the schedule would be and when "Israel and the New Breed" would be leading worship. He is, after all, my FAVORITE! I think the conference staff knew this and therefore decided to place Israel on the last night. I had to be patient and wait. Hmmmmmm...that's a hard one for me! Little did I know that Tomlin, Redman, Baloche, Walker, Moen, Brewster, Cece, Gateway and so many more would be leading us in worship every night - it was UNBELIEVABLE. There is something about joining together with thousands of voices who, every Sunday, all over this country are being lead worshippers in their churches and sharing this vision of the ministry of music for our God. I will never forget it.

I have taken quite a few pictures, but lost my cable to download them. UNBELIEVABLE!!! So, until I get my cable, this post will have to do.

What was also great was to run into a couple of dear friends that I haven't seen in years. One in particular I will blog about later (when I can download my pics), but it was great to catch up and reconnect with those whom I got to know in seminary.

As for the details of the conference, one leader asked us not to share immediately what we learned, but to take everything home, pray on it and see what God would have us to do with it. That's where I am now.

However, just to give you a taste of one of my "favorite" parts:

The following videos were not from our conference, but I don't think I have ever jumped so much for the Lord!!!

This is one of my favorite worship songs right now!



The sound quality is not as good on this one, but it is another one of my favorites!

Heartbreaking, Yet Inspiring . . .

This is a video from Steven Curtis Chapman at Lifest on July 11, 2008. This was his first performance after the death of his daughter, Maria Sue Chapman. Very moving.

"Just Keep Swimming, Just Keep Swimming"

I used the quote from Dori in "Finding Nemo" to start my blog today because Brice has started swimming lessons this week. So, it began like this:

Monday - Day 1 - Mommy takes the camera to get some pics of Brice's first swimming lesson, but instead ends up taking quite a bit of TUMS to help with the knots in her stomach from seeing her child in the pool with a stranger and no swimmies on his arms. There were a lot of gasps and OMG!'s but overall it was okay and Brice had a great time. He put his whole head in the water, VOLUNTARILY, for the first time. We've dunked him before in the pool, but this was different. He had to keep his eyes open while going under, and that's new for him.

Tuesday - Day 2 - Mommy ACTED more relaxed today and actually sat a good distance away from the pool (about 8 feet, lol), so as not to interfere and cause panic amongst the children even though she was still really nervous about this whole situation. Brice once again had a great time and wanted to play more than anything.

Wednesday - Day 3 - Mommy actually was relaxed today and decided to take some pics, when out of the blue the instructor changed their method and their tone a little today. Brice was now disciplined (no, not spanked!)when he didn't do as the instructor said. This was a little uncomfortable for Mommy at first, but she realized that sometimes you have to be firm to get your point across - especially with Brice. He didn't like being disciplined and began to do as he was told - and did quite well. Mommy finally did get some pics and will post them below.

Tommorrow ought to be interesting. . .

"Twinkle, Twinkle" the remix

Here's a video I took the other night of the "before bedtime" concert that Brice was giving for Mommy:

Gotta Catch Up!

I have been slacking in keeping up with the blog the past week - so many things have happened and now I am playing catch up to get them all posted.
Our 4th of July was great and we spent the day together at home until the late afternoon. We then went to the park for the "festivities" and the fireworks that night. Brice had a great time and this was the FIRST fireworks show that he hasn't slept through. My boy can sleep through all kinds of noise! Here's a few pics from our day:

Temper, Temper!

This is what happened at daycare when Brice decided to throw a temper tantrum. He got on all fours and rubbed his head on the carpet until he had carpet burn. OUCH!

There are conflicting stories, though. Brice claims "the carpet hit me, Mommy."

Hmmmm...............