I'm Somewhere in the Middle of the Ocean

Happy Monday! Hope you are having a fantastic day and are standing on solid ground.... I happen to be on a boat, disney cruise to be exact, with my awesome family, ALL three nephews included. We set sail yesterday and hopefully by now I've adjusted to the idea that I will spend five days unplugged, on a boat, surrounded by mickeys and captain hooks....we'll see. No worries...although a cruise never made it on my personal bucket list, or the maybe someday list, OR the if I ever won the lottery (it is actually listed on the "things I will never do" list)....I have packed enough dramamine and tums to fell a horse...and armed with books and a new dslr camera, I should come back with a story or two.... who knows...maybe my first vlog will be from the cruise ship!! 

So my friends, in conclusion, if we never speak again, if by some small chance my fate has met its end by an alligator with a ticking clock in its belly or if too many dancing candlesticks do me in, it has been nice knowing you...God bless and carry on.

Catching Up and Settling In

Happy February! I hope that wherever you are, you are warm and safe and enjoying the beauty that winter brings.... be it snow, bitter cold, or mild spring-like temps (I much prefer the latter!). Things are moving right along here in the Northern Neck, in the midst of the busyness, I thought I would take a moment and give an update on the comings and goings so far, hard to believe I've been here a month and a half now!! The Move:

I'm not sure how much I shared about the whirlwind that leaving Indiana became. How I caught a stomach virus, finished vocals on the album, and cleaned/packed the rest of my apartment in a mere three days after Christmas to get home and settled before the new year. The "shed" has since been outfitted with new ikea furniture and pieces of my own to make a cozy, comfortable little place. We've (My dad mostly) installed a few shelves, hung some curtains, and fixed faucets....all the love this room can hold. Can't wait to give the nickel tour when we've finished up a couple of more projects!

Settling In:

Everything feels familiar, yet rusty. Driving down the roads that I grew up on, but now have changed and shifted with population growth and road expansions. Riding the metro into DC and while sitting in the right spot for the first skyline view of the Washington Monument, still missing my stop...oops! 

It has been good to be with family, although Nate's school did catch on fire

which meant his christmas break was extended a week. Between that and snow, the poor guy was only in school about five days for the month of January! Good thing he likes to hang out in the shed, taking advantage of the endless episodes of power rangers on my hulu account and the multiple dry erase boards I have stashed in a corner. :o) We also spent a day at the Children's Museum in Richmond, VA:

Catching Up: 

One of my favorite things so far has been catching up over coffee or dinner with friends that I haven't seen in ages (or just 2/3 years). I love that I have friends who are also doing crazy things for Jesus, like serving coffee, leading worship for a campus ministry.....even holding on to a dream of one day walking again. It has been delightful to meet new additions to families...kids, husbands, puppies. I am inspired, challenged, and encouraged by each conversation. 

New Guy and Mitch:

Just in case you were wondering about the car and the cat (common questions I get :o). New Guy was a champ in two hours of snow a couple of weeks ago, after leading worship at a campus ministry at George Mason University with my good friend Chris. It was the freak snowstorm that took everybody up the coast by surprise. We certainly didn't have the walking dead scenario of the south, but it's less than ideal to drive gauging where the road is by the tall grass off to the side. 

And Mitch. He's....adjusting. As he gets older, every move is a little harder, but he enjoys watching the yard full of birds, squirrels, and the occasional rabbit. Nate and Mitch are slowly getting used to each other...neither one is entirely sure of the other.

So What's Next?

Next week, I will be on a "family-required" Disney Cruise with Nana, the parents, siblings, and nephews. For someone who is not a fan of flying or boats, well, I'm sure I will have a story or two. It does mean that I will be off the grid for the week, a mickey mouse sabbatical of sorts....can.not.wait. ha!

And as for the album....we are narrowing in on the finished product! Songs are mastered, photos have been taken...mostly what is left is compiling the project with artwork/logos/design and sending it off to be printed!!!! Such a beautiful journey to this time and place, the songs sound amazing and it's very hard to wait to share them!!

A Weekend Adventure

This past weekend, I drove down to southwest Virginia for a photo shoot and some worship leading. I also threw in catching up with old friends, feeding babies, driving around old haunts, and cuddling with puppies. It was a full to the brim couple of days and since then I have been lazily drinking coffee and trying to shift through the journey of the last month.Oh how I have missed the kitchens and living rooms I spent time in this weekend....these faces and voices that are still familiar...some homes are a bit more crowded with new babies and pets and furniture and some a bit more spacious as the "kids" have grown up and out. Keurigs now sit on counters and Netflix pulls up the latest kids show....the ebb and flow of life.

The main purpose of the trip was to meet up with Colorado friend Brianne, who is currently living in Roanoke, VA with her husband, Paul. We had quite the lovely photo shoot romping around downtown taking pictures on top of parking garages, against buildings and even inside the Hotel Roanoke (gorgeous!)...but there will be a separate post on that soon. :o)Saturday night I meandered my way down to Christiansburg, VA, spending the night in the home of good, long-time friends, Bryson and Lori. They are an amazing couple whom I love dearly, and now in addition to their son Jackson, have a set of 5 m/o? twins....SO PRECIOUS!!! 

And Sunday morning.... I was back leading at Fieldstone. Felt a bit like coming home, having lived inside that building on two separate occasions and having spent many a worship hour on that platform....and per the norm, the worship space was not only filled with chairs and worshippers, but also cots set up for To Our House, a homeless ministry, and of course this guy watching over the back:As I am currently looking for a church in the Northern Neck area of Virginia, it was SO GOOD to be back among a community of people that I have spent time with before. I forget sometimes, the power and unity that comes from corporate worship, and the beauty of a familiar voice worshipping beside you. The service was about living life abundantly, leaning fully into God's grace, and finding our joy, peace, and hope in the presence of Jesus. May we all be drawn closer to the One who leads us on.Later this week I'll be sharing a bit more about what has been going on and what's ahead, as well as the photo shoot, an update on the album, and anything else that seems like fun!

Back in Virginia

Happy New Year!!!....ok, I realize I'm a little behind, but the last month has been a whirlwind of packing, working, Christmas, saying goodbye....and the past week and a half has been the unpacking, ikea shopping, furniture building, spending time with family....there have been a few things going on. :o)

It feels good to take a step back and just. take. a breath. Whew. The little efficiency I affectionately call "the shed" has taken on a cozy feel and Mitch seems to be settling in after the terrorizing trip from Indiana to Virginia. While I did not escape the stomach bug that pummeled through Fort Wayne (Merry day after Christmas to me!), I did get out of dodge before the city shut down under more than a foot of snow....that was a close one! We had a dusting of snow, and temps that have rivaled the month of December in the midwest, but otherwise it is all around delightful here.

Life is a bit disorienting right now as the dust settles from moving back east. I am thankful to be among family, but leaving friends and the familiar days and schedule has left my thoughts and actions scattered. Yet, in a way, it is refreshing to throw all the cards up in the air and watch them fall haphazardly to the ground. Restorative ....this season of trusting and waiting. "Church shopping" has so far led to a Saturday night service, an early jaunt at the baptist church in town and checking out the community church that meets at the local Y....I'm sure a few more experiences and I'll have enough to share the highlights...like the one church whose bulletin requested putting the offering envelopes in the "offending" plate... auto correct strikes again! Today I'm headed up for the beginning of coffee/lunch/dinner/catching up with various friends that live within the wide radius of 2-3 hours away from this little beach town.

I look forward to sharing more in the next couple of weeks... maybe a tour of the shed, what life in Colonial Beach is like, how the album is finally coming together and what the studio was like....maybe some low tech song videos?? What would you like to hear about, to see and know and explore with me?

In other news, a trip to the Children's Museum in Richmond, VA today took us right by the site where John Wilkes Booth was caught and shot....historical win!

Lorrie-Anne

Last Thursday night, I sat in a Ruby Tuesday's with my longtime friend, Lorrie-Anne. We had only talked once or twice over the course of my time in Indiana which meant the evening was jam packed with stories and questions and laughter. Lorrie-Anne is one of the most beautiful and courageous women that I know. She has a contagious smile, loves Jesus, and continues to passionately pursue her dreams. I say all this to preface that Lorrie-Anne has had a difficult road to get to where she is today, but her tenacious, lovely spirit has kept her going.

At age 19, Lorrie-Anne was in a serious car accident. The impact pushed her body through the front windshield and into the guardrail on the side of the road. Her pelvis was broken and both legs suffered extensive damage. Despite the overwhelming odds and logical reasoning against her, Lorrie-Anne made it through surgeries, a foot amputation, and many, many months/years of hospitalizations and physical therapies. 

In the nine years since the accident, Lorrie-Anne has overcome time and again daunting obstacles. From illnesses and infections, to depending on others for transportation and help, to functioning in a world that caters to those who can use steps...the list goes on...At some point in our friendship I nicknamed her vehicle, "the time-traveling van", with a tricked out ramp that lowers from the side for her wheelchair to get in and out of. Surely something as robotic and unique, has to have some sort of super power. It was certainly always intimidating to drive, especially the backing into a very narrow carport back at her house...

But to sit across from Lorrie-Anne, with a huge smile on her face, all I could think about was how proud of her I am. Two years have passed since I last saw her and in that time, the van has been altered with hand controls, Lorrie-Anne got her driver's license, and this May, she will graduate from college!!!! To continue to push and reach and overcome, and to do so with such joy and faithfulness.... I fought to find the words to tell her how I felt, how inspiring she is, how absolutely proud of her I am. We both teared up as the moment hit.

Later on, I shared with Lorrie-Anne about my move, the forthcoming album and my songwriting. Back at her house, we watched a couple of my youtube videos. As "Draw me Closer" ended, I looked over to see her wiping away a tear. She said, "I'm so proud of you!" (even as she continued to dab at her eyes). The night was ended with hugs and promises to connect again soon....a sweet friendship renewed.

How often do we become dulled to the power and inspiration in our own stories? What seems normal or unassuming to us can be just the encouragement someone else needs to hear. May we never forget to keep sharing.

Sidenote: One of the most holy and special moments of the evening came when Lorrie-Anne shared her dream to walk again. She had been working towards it in the first few years after the accident, but with an unrealistic brace and in the midst of college and life, she put it aside. Would you join me in praying for her dream? There are many things that would have to happen to even make it possible, but I believe that God gives us dreams that seem just beyond our reach.... and He is doing a beautiful thing in my dear, sweet friend.

2018 Edit

I have since wrote a song called Dream With You….watch the music video below!

My Great Uncle Tiv's Guitar

I am on my way back to Fort Wayne today after spending a week driving across the state of Virginia, starting in the blue ridge mountains and finally settling in the river town of Colonial Beach to spend Thanksgiving with the family. It has been a trip both beautiful and difficult; road tripping with my dad, spending time with family, our first holiday without Bubba.....I'll be sharing more over the next couple of weeks, but there is just a little too much goodness for one post...so on to the first.... In fourth grade, I held my first guitar. It was a beaten up gibson (although I couldn't have told you that at the time) that had belonged to my great uncle Tivus Cox. My grandpa showed me how to play an A chord and sent me home from the family reunion with the guitar and a cheap chord book. I had absolutely no understanding of how to teach myself and so I never got further than that first chord. I thought I was amazing. :o)

Then Grandpa asked me to bring the guitar to the next reunion. Uncle Tiv's son wanted the guitar and since I had just been borrowing it, I sadly took it back and that was that. When I finally started playing guitar in high school, I remembered that dark wood, arch top guitar fondly, knowing that I would never see it again.

Fast Forward to last week:

Dad and I sat in my great Aunt Sis's home perched on a flat hillside in the same holler only a few lots down from the house where she, Grandpa and Uncle Tiv were raised. I asked about a story I had once heard about Uncle Tiv getting drunk and holding up the local drive in movie theatre because he wanted to sing. They stopped the movie, brought out a microphone and Tiv sang a few songs. He left when he finished....probably one of the many times he was "picked up and put in jail" down in Grundy.

Aunt Sis confirmed the story and we laughed at the absurdity of the infamous and mentally unstable Uncle Tiv. I then nostalgically mentioned that even though I knew it wouldn't happen, I would love the opportunity to play that guitar again. Sis looked at me and said, "It's sitting in the closet in the other room." "It's here?!?!?" I asked, "Can I see it???" Sis left the room and returned with the well used and battered gibson guitar. The strings were removed and the bridge broken off, along with missing the binding on the backside, but there it was; the first guitar that I had ever played, somehow survived the years and an attempted "fix" by one of my younger third cousins a few years back. I held the guitar in a speechless stupor.....awe and amazement soon followed. The conversation that followed is a bit blurred, but Sis agreed to let me have the guitar to fix up and I promised to show the gibson the honor and love it deserved.

I spent most of the afternoon with the guitar in my lap, needing to feel its reality, the solid wood in my hands. I still can't believe that a random comment ACTUALLY led to its discovery. That guitar never made it home with Tiv's son, so who knows who actually asked for it. I'm a bit sad that this beautiful pre World War II Gibson guitar spent so many years shoved in a closet, but it certainly won't be kept hidden any longer! 

I love that life is adventurous. That the journey to restore this 1930's guitar is leading to new friendships, discoveries, and connections. I'm digging deeper into Uncle Tivus's story, my dad and I agreeing that "The Ballad of Tivus Cox" needs to be written. And there's a nudge to discover even more this bluegrass heritage that runs through my bones. The mountains of southwest Virginia are harsh, beautiful, dangerous, and the keepers of secrets yet to be uncovered. I. Can't. Wait.So there is quite a bit more to share....from meeting the folks who will be restoring the Gibson, or "Tiv Jr.", the trip to Grundy, Thanksgiving....stay tuned.

Studio Update: In the Midst!!!

Day Three....really? It feels like only a blink ago, it was Sunday afternoon and I was nervously cooking dinner, anticipating the arrival of Bloomington friends, with nerves battling within, feeling simultaneously excited and ill-prepared for the week.....now I'm sitting at a table with chord charts, coffee cups, and notepads spread out hearing these songs come alive....this is big. We are having a blast...racing the clock to get as much done as possible in this short span of a few days. :o) Things are quieter today, Jon the drummer headed back to Bloomington last night and Jon the bassist went back to work. Ashlee is in the corner reading her million books on the journey to her Phd and Travis is adding layer upon layer of musical sorcery with cellos, banjos, keys, and guitar. I feel blessed to be here at the Recording House with Lynn and these dear friends.

It's hard to think we are still at the beginning with a beautiful foundation being laid....there is still vocals, mixing, a couple of more songs, artwork, and not to mention compiling the whole project into one cohesive piece that flows....deep breath. We got this.

Friends, I cannot wait to share these songs with you....and rest assured... Bob made it into the mix... :o)

Slightly Big News

It was announced at Saint Joseph this weekend that I will be leaving staff at the end of December. It is both exciting and bittersweet. The past couple of years have been spent in the midst of some fantastic people, friends that I will deeply miss. I wish there was an easy answer to the "what's next?" question. Well, the easy answer is the one that doesn't answer anything at all.... I don't know. I'm headed back to Virginia, to a little river town, Colonial Beach. Into a season of family, of music, of listening to God. 

But for now there are two months chock full with worship, adventures, hang-outs, and fun holiday extravaganzas. As with most things I like to make a grand exit and so Christmas Eve will cap off my time with this amazing church and congregation. Oh! And there will be album recording....the first week of November. A few friends and I will be headed to the Recording House, a studio out in Harlan, to record these songs that have been given life throughout this last season.

So Indiana, my heart is yours....let's get coffee, play music, hang out. This chapter isn't over yet....and with Lion and Lamb and other projects in the midst... visits are guaranteed....:o) Love you all.