God is awesome. Simply awesome.
Posted by A. Whipple at 11:27 PM
No kidding! The Father is more than words could ever describe. Hey, Elissa, check this out. I usually don't put lyrics on the internet that are unfinished, but God gave me this in church the other day and I think you could use it.
No words of mortal heart outpoured
Can well ascribe the praise You require
Vagrant sons and hopeless men
Find stillness in Your grace
You shepherd the innocent
And the guilty alike
To every soul and every tribe
You rain down mercy from Your face
Anyways, I'm eating fried green tomatoes tonight for dinner. I absolutely LOVE fried green tomatoes! I guess that makes me really southern.
Check this out, I believe this is the first time in my life this has happened (I hope it's the last). I was sitting at a gas station talking on the cell phone to Katrina today. These people in another car pulled up, so naturally I looked over, and I noticed that a guy and a girl in the back seat were staring at me from across the parking lot. I thought it somewhat odd, but I guessed they might have thought I looked funny or something. So I go back to talking on the phone. Then they get out of the car. The guy goes into the store, and the girl starts walking slowly towards my car, still staring at me like I was wearing a rubber chicken for a hat or something. She gets about ten feet from the car, and I asked Kat to hold on a second. So I asked the girl, "Can I help you with something?" She says "Yeah, can I get a number?" I wasn't quite sure what she meant. I thought she might want to use my phone or something, so I told Katrina I'd call her back when I got to the house. I got off the phone, and asked her what is was she needed. She said the same thing. I said, "You want a number to call ME on MY PHONE?" She's like yeah, as if it's the most normal thing in the world to ask perfect strangers for their numbers. I asked her why, wondering does she want to buy my car or something. She says "Because you look good!" I was almost inclined to laugh out loud. Here I was in the middle of nowhere at a gas station, and some girl I don't even know comes up and asks me for my number. Didn't even ask my name or tell me her name, just asked for my number!
So I sort of chuckled and said well that's not exactly how it works. She's like "It's not?!" I said well I don't even know you. She says "Well hey, you can get to know me." I laughed again and said, "Ok, first of all, let me go ahead and say that I'm madly in love with someone I care very deeply about. Second, I'm the kind of person that likes to get to know people before I call them or they call me."
I knew that I'd heard of people asking for other people's numbers, but I never really saw it happen firsthand like that. It was kind of a culture shock finding out that people actually did that. Needless to say, Katrina was a little put off that some girl would do that (especially after she was plenty close enough to hear me say "I love you" before I hung up with Kat). People sure are peculiar sometimes.
Anyways, I'm going to go eat supper. You guys keep praying that God will open the hearts of everyone at these concerts (including us). Grace to you!
Posted by A. Whipple at 6:33 PM
I can't believe that I'm in this thing. I am the person least qualified to do anything for my Father, and yet He chooses me day in and day out. He is great, He is holy, and I can no longer neglect Him as if He was any less. The best that my hands have to offer is simply not enough. The best that I can do is dirty and shameful in His glorious and beautiful presence. He has given me such things that I could never have imagined. Wonders that have never ceased to amaze.
I want to apologize for neglecting those who read this site. I certainly have the time, but I felt as if other things I was doing were more important, when in all actuality, they were selfish and therefore sinful. I suppose this is why we should remind each other to follow only the Father, and not set our hearts on the words of foolish and mortal men. We have a Savior! You guys please pray for me. The devil has been throwing everything he could at me lately. Katrina, Father bless her, has withstood the onslaught, and has done her best to keep me on track, when all I do is try to wander. Pray that I would feel the love of the Father pouring out from me. Thanks you guys! Remember August 22nd at New City Cafe! May the grace and joy of our Lord be yours!
Posted by A. Whipple at 1:08 AM
The color of coffee is a wonderful thing. It's like freshly turned earth and rain all mixed together in a cup. And the smell and taste are even better. It takes you back to warm farmhouse kitchens when the snow has blanketed the land with quiet. It takes you to summer porch swings watching the rain roll off the trees. It takes you to the crackle of autumn campfires and the sound of friends voices. It reaches elite New York City artists and friendly Alabama truckers. It is black and white. It is old and young. It is more than universal. It is a larger industry than tobacco and still we do not pay heed that so much of our money is spent on this one tiny thing. I don't really see what significance this all has, but I know there's some hiding in there somewhere. Love your neighbor! Caffeinate your world!
I guess I get a bit out there every so often. Thanks if you actually made it through that paragraph.
Posted by A. Whipple at 1:24 PM
Hey y'all. Welcome back to 'Here we are!' Sorry, the blogger service was making adjustments for a while and none of us could write. Yes Brenda, I do check my email quite often (if for no other reason than to delete the junk mail), and I did email you the directions. Have you checked YOUR email? :P (just messing with ya, I love you sis)
So anyways, it's 5:30 in the morning and it's raining pretty steadily outside. I suppose that you could say I've had one of the most relaxing evenings (and mornings) that I can remember. I drove home to the Van Gogh-esque picture of fireflies dotting the trees like Christmas lights. And behind that, lightning heralding the coming rain in the cloudy night sky. It was a symphony to the eyes. And then rain on the tin roof of this house, I could have just passed out for the ecstacy of it all. God's nature to give, even in times when we seem to be worse than ever, really defines the word 'selfless.' I guess, if we're wise, that teaches us that the very best we have to offer, the most righteous acts we can think of, are pure rubbish compared to our Maker. The bible refers to them literally as menstrual rags. Pretty harsh terminology for the giving of one's self to bring hope to the suffering. I guess, no, I know that the Father is truly beyond comparison.
I'm going to get a few minutes of sleep. I'll talk more later. Love you guys.
Posted by A. Whipple at 6:03 AM
Thanks you two. And happy birthday, Brenda! My birthday was on the 18th, that's last Wednesday. So here I am not a teenager, it's a brave new world..........*sigh*........
Ok, anyways, enough o' that. Here's the first post in a good while (as far as my open mouth goes). I went to a 'house on a hill' the other day for this wedding that Elissa THOMAS (obviously not Elissa Keck) and I played at. This home was owned by one Earl Worsham (pretty sure that's his name). He's an international contractor and does big construction. Very well traveled. Wife is from Denmark. This is their primary home. Yeah, I said 'primary'. They've got FOUR more. One on Kingston Pike in West K-town, one in Norway, one on an island somewhere, and another one I don't know about. They own the mountain that this house is on. Also on the mountain are three guest houses, which are exquisite in themselves. This home is large, not a mansion, just large. But it's beautiful in every respect. They seem to have so much money that it's comical. There's a lawn bowling area in front of the house. It probably has the best view in the Smokies. All the shingles are slate, they have a permanent caretaker that lives at the foot of the mountain. They breed two champion showdogs. They have more animals stuffed and mounted on the walls than a teddy bear store. Most of the animals were killed on the property there, including (but not limited to) a black bear as big as me, a wild boar whose head is the size of the entire black bear (yeah, you read me right), a timber rattler, an eastern diamondback as big around as a Campbells soup can, a snapping turtle, a Canadian goose, etcetera, etcetera, and so on and so forth. And never in one place have I seen a more eclectic and international collection of liquor. Also have I never seen a larger collection of anatomically correct sculpture than there was in and around this house. And we're not talking Classical Greco-Roman discus-thrower stuff. I mean things that there was no doubt in your mind that there was some connotation. The wooden african-looking male and female sculptures in one corner of the house were not only VERY detailed, but they were posed removing their clothing. Oh, you could see everything, but they were clearly removing clothing! Needless to say, I wasn't quite sure what to make of an 80+ year old man who collects suggestive sculpture.
But hey, that wasn't everything in the house by any means. They owned an original Picasso. It's a plate that he evidently made and glazed entitled 'Toros', meaning 'bulls'. It was about a ten minute journey up the driveway, and that was once you new it well. They had the stream running down the mountain beside the driveway dammed in places and stocked with trout. The wedding was awesome too! I about had a coronary because I broke the G while putting on new string about ten minutes before time to play (it was all the time I had). I had to put on a B in place of the G and just go with it, because I didn't have an extra G sitting around in my other strings (ain't that always the way). This did not do well in the humidity (the wedding was outside in the garden). But we managed to get by. Elissa caught the bridal bouquet, which, if you know anything about her, you will find extremely humorous. She didn't just end up under it, she lunged to get it, by shere instinct of needing to catch that which was falling. Sure, we believe that........*chuckle, chuckle*.....
I met SL Valentine, the head of music for Knox Co. Schools, and he actually thought we were a professional group that played together regularly. He asked what our name was, I jokingly told him 'Flotsam and Jetsam'. The food was, well, indescribably good.
So now I'm house-sitting for some friends that are on vacation. Their house is the coolest thing since ketchup too. It's like this white-siding farmhouse with green shutters and a green tin roof that's tucked back away in this little mountain hollow. And they're the coolest people in the world too. I hope that Kat and I end up being somewhat like they are. Remember August 22nd. Elissa I can't wait to get down there, Brenda I'll email you directions. Everybody else, I love you guys. Thank you so much for praying for us!
Posted by A. Whipple at 12:15 AM
So today, I believe that I've reached the end of this writing spurt. I've become irritated with myself (as I always do) because I can't keep up writing good stuff. But let me explain.
People are like pendulums, myself being no exception. The pendulum effect makes us swing back and forth between two extremes always trying to get back to some point that we know to be right. That point, which is at the 'center of oscillation' (so to speak) of our lives, is God. He is the constant, the one that we know to be right. I have been an extremist all my life, and hitting the 20 year mark makes no difference. I swing one way, then realize that I've left my Father's way. So I swing back, only to overcompensate and swing out in the other direction.
Songwriting operates under the same principles (at least, songwriting from a Christian perspective. I've never written songs from a different perspective that I know of). I write things that seem too simple and stupid. So when I begin at the Father, I start to write things that, to me, seem good because they are more complicated than my original material. But they're really just good because I'm only the pen, while God is the author. So, given my lack of intelligent appraisal of the situation, I think that I've done well by writing more complex lyrics and melodies. Ergo, I am deceived and run off trying to be more and more complex and more and more complicated until I reach the 'zeroing of the planes', if you will. Then, I find that I am writing things that, instead of being simple and stupid, are complex and stupid. So I get upset with myself and try heading back in the opposite direction (writing simple stuff), only to find that I can't. I must wait until the pendulum has reached its apex and begun to swing back. This period of dryness, which in this case would be referred to as writer's block, lasts until I again reach God at the middle. Then I write spiritually paying attention to God until I lose track again and think that I did well because they were not as complex as my last go-around.
Anyways, I can't quit and I feel writer's block coming on. Oh well. No big thing. I've got to get some sleep. Later!
Posted by A. Whipple at 1:36 AM
If anybody knows where I can find a junk VW Beetle (the old kind) for really cheap, shoot me an email. It doesn't have to run, it just needs to look like an old VW Beetle. Preferable with glass in the windows and no giant dents. I'm actually serious about this, it's for my youth group.
I am going to be going on a retreat with Magna View in July. Thanks you guys for inviting me to go.
I don't know why, but I really don't feel like writing right now. I'll talk to y'all later. Love!
Posted by A. Whipple at 8:16 PM
So I finally put a new air filter in my car (mucho thanxo to Andy). You would think with the two of us being amongst rednecks for most of our natural lives, we could figure out a lot quicker how to change an air filter (but then, rednecks never do anything quickly). So Elissa Thomas (different Elissa, duh!) and I finally practiced the music for a wedding which is in a week! Let me tell you about the place where the wedding is at.
It's at these people's house which has the (let me quote my dad in this) 'best view in the Smokies'. I haven't been there myself yet, but I can't wait. The house is one of five, yes I did say five, homes that this old couple owns. The others are in Norway (where the lady is from), on a Caribbean island, and a couple other cool places that I can't remember. In this home, which is on a mountain that they own, they have an ORIGINAL PICASSO, among their pictures with people such as Pres. Bush and Prince Charles. The 82 year old man does international construction (I guess he's the head of the company). They have a permenant groundskeeper-in-residence who lives at a home at the foot of the mountain. The have a few guest houses on the property. The driveway is four miles long up the mountain. I am, needless to say, a bit intimidated by being invited to play in this high-and-mighty Bilderberg-ish sort of thing, even though it's only a wedding for someone in my church's daughter.
So moving on...
Well, I finally finished the notes on Where Were You as far as the arranging it for all three of us goes. I hope that we can get it ready by the New City concert at least, because if we can do it, it's going to sound awesome! I don't even really care if we play it live, I just want to play and sing it with Brenda and Elissa. But of course, I know AnnJanette will have something to say about that. Plus maybe one or two others. So reminding you, come down to New City Cafe on August 22nd to see us. I know that by the time the concert actually rolls around, you guys will be so tired of hearing me say that, that you'll come down just to tell me 'HEY WE'RE HERE! SHUT UP ALREADY!' And I'll duck the various objects thrown at me and say thanks for coming.
I need badly to go to bed. Since of course I'm driving to Cleveland upon the morrow (actually it's later today, but who's keeping score). Pray for the spiritual growth of all of us. Summer's a hard time because cabin fever sets in and we tend to get rusty at things like being sane. But I'm still flying by the seat of my pants. Elissa, you know I'm praying for you.
Love y'all.
Posted by A. Whipple at 2:29 AM
We met a couple of 5th graders in 3 Days Later (our youth service) this evening. They were a couple of girls named Nicole and Erica. It was a small group, no bigger than 15, due to the recent departure of half the youth for Fuge, among family vacations and other circumstantial paraphernalia (I like that phrase). But I think that the smallness of the group helped lessen the intimidation factor and raise the intimacy factor. They didn't know the songs, and God blessed us with not being able to find the overhead lyric sheets. Yes I said 'blessed'. If we'd found them, we would've set up the whole business with the sound system and projectors, and all sorts of stuff we didn't need for 15 people including two 5th graders. Thank Jesus that He did that, cause I would have never though of it. As it was, we sat in a circle and sang and talked and had fun just being around each other. Praise God for His wisdom in our foolishness! I'm going to bed. Later you guys. Remember to love! And always pray, and never give up. (Luke 18:1)
Posted by A. Whipple at 10:44 PM
Reading a quote by Caleb Carruth, I learned to admit something about myself. I didn't know about or pay attention to Rich Mullins until after he died. He's sort of like a great artist in that respect, that he only was famous after he died, which is good for him in a spiritual sense. It makes things easier. The fact that his death brought me to seek the Father harder really shows God's hand in all circumstances.
Posted by A. Whipple at 9:34 PM
I just got a pop-up ad asking if receiving $2000 to $5000 a week would change my life. I sure hope not.
Posted by A. Whipple at 8:43 PM
Hey, I'm actually on here before 11 o'clock at night. Let me tell you guys a little about my work and the people I work with. There is my foreman, JJ. This man is a giant. He seems really to have a certain fear of me that I do not understand. Maybe it's me, maybe it's my dad. But his tongue is not as loose around me as it is around the rest of the workers. I suppose that's good, after all, it might be spiritual conviction. But he's a really nice guy (because he doesn't have to be mean, who'd mess with someone his size?). There's Antonio. He speaks very little English, but still more than I speak Spanish. He's really a master craftsman with a bit of a perfectionist side. He's incredibly good at doing sheetrock, and I sense that JJ tends to give him some of the harder places and weirdly-shaped corners because he can do it. Even though it is taxing sometimes on my sanity, I am really priveleged to work with him and learn from him. There is Jose. He is actually Lee's son (Lee is the head of the company). He invited me to play soccer on Sunday morning, but I couldn't go since I had church. I would love to go play sometime if they go another day. I have this image in my head of me going out there to play with these Mexicans who make a weekly ritual of the game (after I've not played in more months than I can count) and getting absolutely left in the dust. I haven't gotten worse or sloppy, it's just my endurance is no where near good enough. There is Brobien (I have no idea how to spell his name). He's a short fellow who knows very little English, but is extremely kind and amiable. I like him immensely and enjoy working with him. I actually feel more comfortable speaking what little Spanish I know around him, because he doesn't have a judgemental demeanor. There's Carmello. He's sort of the leader of the group of Mexicans. He's an absolute genius with construction and speaks English very well. He's very easygoing about things and is forgiving of a lot of my failures at construction. There's Ron. He's white, first of all, so he speaks English as a first language. It's wonderful to spend time with someone you can understand. I met him today, he's a painter. He seems to be a very nice guy but he knows what he thinks about the world (don't we all) and after we'd been talking for a while, he seemed to figure out that he definitely felt, challenged I guess would be a good description, by my approach to life as a Christian. I hope that he doesn't turn himself off to conversation with me because of that. I don't mean challenged in an intimidating way. I mean that he saw it as quite different, and possibly better, than his approach to life. He said girls are a dime a dozen, but I know one that's priceless to me. He said I could drop construction and play guitar if I needed money. But that's not my approach to guitars or money. He sees people as good or bad. I try to see them as people, since we're all bad at some point in time (ok, a lot of points in time), and the measure of 'good' is God Himself. He definitely wasn't thrilled with my worldview, but he wasn't all that upset by it either. I hope that I get to spend more time with him.
I remember what Chad Rittenhouse said to me about money last summer and working at camp, or should I say, what God said to me through Chad. He said that the money I make working construction will be gone in six months or less, but the character I could build working at camp would last a lifetime. He was right, and I'm glad that I got to work last summer at camp, but this is where God wants me right now, at the construction site. People watch me there. I don't know why I stand out to them, well, I do know why, but it seems silly to me that I should stand out for a reason other than being a child in a man's world. I hope that I am so unconscious of God shining through me that I forget to try to be a Christian. Then I will just be, and what I really am, a sinner who loves my Father, will be shown. Then God will use me. I wonder where the notion originally came from that we should pretend that we're perfect. Ah, yes, a lie from the devil. Twisting scripture again. "Be perfect as your heavenly Father is perfect." Why would Jesus tell us to do something unless we had to be that way? Well, the truth is, he knew we could never live up to such a calling, but he also wants us to do our best to live up to it, because he knows the consequences of sin in our lives. He meant what he said, and he knew we had to be perfect to be in God's presence, but he also knew that we couldn't do it. Thus, the stage is set for salvation and redemption through the perfect sacrifice.
Anyways, I've droned on for far too long. Oh, please pray for me that I would have an open heart to God's will in me leading worship for one or two events in Magna View Baptist Church. I know what I think and feel, but I haven't prayed about it yet, so we'll see. Continue to pray for my youth group and it's leadership and the upcoming 5th graders. Thank you guys so much!
Hey Brenda, I know a lot of guys who think of you as a 'babe in Christ.' *chuckle, snicker* Don't worry though, I'm not one of them, since I consider you my sister and that would just be kind of weird. Sorry, I had to say that after reading what you wrote. I know it's not what you meant. Love ya!
I'll see you guys later. Remember August 22nd at New City Cafe. And July 13th at Elissa's church (wherever that is). Love in Christ!
Posted by A. Whipple at 8:42 PM
Okee dokee. Trying to put images on the internet is not my strongpoint. Thanks to Bravenet for making it easy, cause I royally suck at it. Anyways, I finally got all the strings on my mandolin, Kat's having a good time in Florida, I miss her more than anyone except God will ever know, I got to go horseback riding Sunday afternoon, I'm saddle-sore, and I put money in my savings account. That's all the news that I know of right now. More gnus later *chuckle*.
I really need to go to bed. I finished Mere Christianity today and loved the last chapter. I was laughing with joy all the way through it. I want to take the book to my friend Landon and say "so THIS is what you've been trying to tell me all along." I felt a calm I've not known in such magnitude ever. I've known the peace of God before, but knowing it in such great depth and longevity hasn't happened before. I was truly brought to that moment of 'Duh' as I told Katrina. I am not going to write anything else tonight, because I really need to get to bed. Please pray for my youth group as they're at Centrifuge and pray for the leadership of my youth group that we'll bind ourselves together in Christ so that we can be examples to the group. Also pray for this Wednesday as I'm leading the music ALONE (Andy's at camp, Jeff's on vacation or something, Amy's got to get her hair-dresser license in Nashville) and Chris and Aaron are the only other leaders who are going to be there (Chris=games, Aaron=speaking). Fun times, especially since the 5th-graders are going to be there for the first time. I really want to make them feel welcome. I hope that the absence of a large portion of the group will make it less intimidating for them. Thank the Lord for our new youth leader, Sue Johnson. She's a teenager trapped in an upper-middle-aged body with a mature Christian mind (an impossible combination without God), and that's absolutely AWESOME!!! So thanks for praying. I'm going to try to update this site so you can email us (with permission from my sisters) and talk to us. Cause this was meant not just to be information, but fellowship and thus outreach, and it can't really be that if you can't talk back to us (besides we run our mouths too much, especially me, ask anybody). So look for that in the next couple weeks. Love in Christ y'all!
Posted by A. Whipple at 12:00 AM
Still, in all the insanity of my schedule, I find time to write stuff on the internet. Yeah, procrastination is not a bad habit, it's a learned skill.
Posted by A. Whipple at 12:26 AM
Today was a bit crazy because I've been writing music for this service at my church tomorrow. I didn't count on having to write music, so all I did was put together powerpoint slides and stuff. Then I find out that the piano player will have to play or some people in the church will be mad. Well heaven forbid that people object to the music! Sorry, that's my sarcasm running rampant. Gotta put a cap on that. Anyway, so I ended up writing piano music for one song and I've got to look at the sheet music for another song for tomorrow. I would write music for the rest, since they're all in different keys than we're playing them in, but I have so much time and so little to do. Wait, strike that, reverse it. But I'm not worried about it. If people want to be that way, I will pray for them. Because that's what they need anyways, if they're so blind as to argue about the music. Hey if you find me doing otherwise, then hold me to what I said, please.
Posted by A. Whipple at 12:25 AM
A word about brides. I just ran the sound at a wedding at my church. What most people see is the happiness and the smiles and the moments of beauty in a wedding. What they don't see is the rehearsal. Guys, if you get married sometime in the future, let the woman handle it and stay out of the way! They know exactly what they want and when and where they want it. No argument necessary (or advisable). This girl at the wedding rehearsal was calling the shots like a pro. She'd never been married before of course, but she was clearly one of the most in charge people I've ever seen. Pity the fool that messes with a woman who's setting up her wedding. She wasn't mean about it, she was just very very very in charge. It wasn't a bad experience, don't get me wrong. Just very enlightening. And hey, I got 50 bucks out of it.
Posted by A. Whipple at 7:10 PM
Hey y'all. Just a word about having temptation at home. Believe me I know what you mean. But just because your in one place instead of another doesn't make you any less under the power of God. That's a lie straight from the source of lies, the devil himself. Don't let him fool you like he did me with that one for a good while. It may take a little more effort to 'be a Christian' at home, but then what is a Christian? Merely a sinner that acknowledges the divinity and sacrificial love of Jesus Christ. Don't focus on being at home and trying to solve the problem of temptation. That problem will be there until the sky splits open. Focus on the Lord and worship Him with your whole heart in all you do. That will destroy the devil's foothold. Love!
By the way, Elissa, your email is messed up or something, because you sent me a blank email (and this is the second time!). Just a little FYI). Oh well, we talked on the phone...
Latte you guys. Keep trusting God to get us caught up in His movement like dry leaves in the wind!
Posted by A. Whipple at 4:15 PM
Wow how bout them apples! Sis, I don't really think it's the grandest of ideas to put your phone number on the internet where everyone can find it (not that so many people actually read this, but there's a chance right?). Anyways, your prerogative. I really am glad to have all that I have. But I know it's all blessings from the Lord. I just wonder that if it's taken away what will come next. For God is always blessing. I remember when I was with Elissa and Phil and we drove out to Wendy's in Dandridge just because we could at about 1 in the morning. We ended up getting a cd from a pretty popular (and talented) musician named Nolan Neal. Just out of coincidence (but then, I believe in Providence). He actually gave us his own personal copy of his cd and it had a song on it that Elissa needed to hear exactly at that time for something she was being dealt with about by God. I really love this life when I look at it. It's a roller coaster.
I heard the funniest expression today. I was on my break at work (at the new church building), and I was sitting in my car reading with the door slightly open. Two old fellas in the car next to me were talking and one of them said, "They're gonna have one hell of a pastor for a church like this." I almost laughed out loud. A hell of a pastor. Wonder what Phil would say if he heard. I'm sure God was laughing (and probably crying at the same time), but what an expression. In some ways so true as to speak of Phil's humanity, and in other ways so laughable as to compare to hell a man who devotes his life to God and his heart to faith. I tried to hide my smile under my book.
Speaking of work, there's another laughing matter. I found out today that the Mexicans who are working there call me 'rice', because I'm small and white. I could laugh about that for days, and I'm sure it will follow me around for longer than that. I didn't tell you that Katrina, but I meant to. Oh well, you can read it now. Ok, I'm going to edit the post with Brenda's numbers on it and just email the numbers to Elissa (perks of being a website administrator!), since I know that AJ, being the weirdo she is will call Brenda when she reads this (just kidding AJ, love you!). AnnJanette (I can't spell), if you really want to talk to Brenda that bad, I'm sure she'll consent to giving you her number, but that's off the page.
Moving on. I'm really excited about the new songs and I've stopped writing for a while to kind of let my mind drift back to normality for the time being. Gotta recover sometime after all! I'll have more jibba-jabba later (that's Mr. T. lingo by the way). I've got to go to bed. Remember August 22nd. It's on the New City Cafe website which is linked from ours. Check it out, and also make an effort to go see Jennifer Daniels on the 16th before us, I think you'll absolutely love it! Latte and love!
Posted by A. Whipple at 11:27 PM
Game on yo. Yeah, I'm definitely game for giving it to God. He's really chipping away at me right now. I think I've experienced a month's-worth of emotions in the past week. But I'm learning, which is the key thing. I'm really getting in to Mere Christianity (CS Lewis) in a way that I hadn't before. God's showing me that I can do nothing at all on my own, including being His servant. I need His help for all, and He's teaching me how to love people. He's also teaching me to quit whining and do something about my life and accept that He doesn't forget my sins (contrary to our 'forgive and forget' motto that we rally around as Christians), He just accepts me along with my faults. I am paid for by the blood of my Savior and Lord Jesus Christ, so I can enter into the holy presence of God. Even with my sins! How's that for love! So anyways, yet again a reminder, the concert at New City Cafe is on the 22nd of August. And another reminder, if you're going to cook out with ground beef, be sure to take it out of the freezer, and defrost it in the refrigerator the day before, or you'll be trying to cook with a big red chunk of ice. Oh and the microwave doesn't help with that quick defrost thing, it just cooks it and leaves other parts frozen. Did I mention that Katrina and I tried this Sunday (after I forgot to take the beef out of the freezer - silly me).
Songwriting is going very well. Work is going well. Life is good. Kat and I have season passes to Six Flags, yay! (you have to call it that now, Six Flags Yay!, that's Swedish) I hope that I'm not going to pour too much material onto my sisters as soon as we get down to Florida. But I think that I'll just show 'em the new stuff and we'll do older stuff ('older stuff' - did I even say that?!) for the concert at Elissa's church. But like she said, God can deal with all that. Ain't no thing but a chicken wing on a string..........sorry 'bout that.
I got to go fishing yesterday! That's like the coolest thing since sliced bread and then some. I love to go fishing. True I only got to be on the water for about ten minutes and thus didn't have time to really settle in and catch anything, but I had a good time. And I'll get to go again in the summer! Happiness is a rod, reel, and a quiet spot, even if they're not bitin'. It's like a cup of tea or Frank Sinatra, it's just an entirety of an experience that relaxes you and unwinds your spring-loaded brain. Now there are three things that everyone should try (not all at the same time, they just don't go together).
See y'all later. Keep praying and reading. Or as God said to Elijah "Get up and eat, the journey is too much for you." Get up and eat your spiritual Wheaties! OK that was really dumb, but you get the idea. Anyways, latte and love!
Posted by A. Whipple at 5:22 PM
// John 5:30 // we are the pen; God is the author
Miscellaneous apparitions
no concerts
Correspondence
Brenda -
tcshanx@yahoo.com
Elissa - elissakeck@hotmail.com
Adam - adamwhipple@hotmail.com
Accumulated paraphernalia
Caedmon's Call
Derek Webb
Bethany Nobles
Katrina's Website
New City Cafe
Joe Mayfield's Site
Andy Vandergriff's blog
Andrew Peterson
Many
moons
ago
