Archive for April, 2010

Howdy, pardners! Saddle up and Yeehaw!!

Monday, April 26th, 2010

Well, it’s begun. Every year I write a play with my playwrite partner, Terry, and we put together a full production show for our Adventure Week (that would be VBS) at church. It’s a serial, so the kids see 30 minutes of the show every day through the week, sort of a “tune in tomorrow to see what happened in Old El Paso!!” kind of thing.

This year we are going back to the Old West, and we had our first blocking rehearsal today. This cast is going to be fantastic – they are so funny! So if you’re in the Columbus area, kiddos, saddle up and join Jiffy, Miss Lilly, Leadbelly, the Sheriff, Flo, and Bad Bart for the rootin’est, tootin’est good time this side of the Rio Grande, yeeeeehaw!!

Sorry, got carried away. But it is going to be pretty fantabulous. You can register here if you’re interested. It’ll be June 21-25th, 9am-noon and it’s free. 🙂

So happy to see Friday…

Friday, April 23rd, 2010

This week has been absolutely nuts. It started with my close friend Linda having her baby, Ben, which should have been wonderful, but there were complications and it got very, very scary. Ben is still in the NICU and will be there for a while, but thank the Lord, it looks like he will still be with us, and it’s even looking pretty good that he will be fine. I’ve spent a lot of time at the hospital this week with them.

My husband left on Monday for the week in New York. He started a new job fairly recently and his first client is Sesame Street (I know, how cool is that?!), so he had to go there for a few days, but they weren’t the best days to miss. On Wednesday, another very close friend had her husband admitted to the hospital, and he may need major surgery. Very tough for them, and I really want to be there for her.

To go with that, I have the three kids and all my regular stuff and all their regular stuff, plus Toby got a double ear infection and tripped at school and tried to break his nose (didn’t quite succeed, thank goodness, but he is a study in purple right now, poor kid), so all in all, it has not been the best week. But Nathan came home, and we went to see baby Ben tonight, and he’s so beautiful, and looks so much better, it’s really hard to complain when you see God answering prayer like that!

On another note, I came out in several more blogger reviews, and it really touches my heart! I’m so glad they are liking the music, and that it keeps them focused on the Lord – that is the best thing I can think of for my music! You can read them here and here and here!

A New Normal

Wednesday, April 21st, 2010

My article about Toby’s sensory processing disorder “A New Normal” came out in a few more places – here is one.
Thanks for checking it out!

Exciting day in Chicago!

Friday, April 16th, 2010
Moody Radio

Carlos, Wendell, me, and Denny at Moody Radio Broadcasting

Well, yesterday was pretty much a study in modes of transportation. I didn’t take a boat or a helicopter or a hot air balloon, but I think I hit pretty much everything else. Okay, no bike or scooter either, but hey, you get the idea.

I had a couple of meetings in Chicago, so I got up very early, drove to the airport, grabbed a shuttle, and then took a plane. Landed in Chicago and took a train to connect with a bus, after which I walked a half mile and had my first meeting. Then someone gave me a lift in their car to the train, then walking again to another meeting. Then the subway and walking to another meeting. Then walking to the subway to the train to the plane to the shuttle to my car to my house. Sounds like a children’s book that Toby would really love. 🙂

The meetings were actually very exciting – awesome to see what God is doing! I met first with Ruth Hill who is the national women’s ministries director for the Evangelical Covenant Church denomination. I am doing a women’s event with her this summer, and they are going to feature one of my songs as the theme for the international celebration which is so exciting! There’s also a possibility that Ruth and I will go to Thailand and possibly Cambodia this summer to research another possible ministry, and that would just be incredible. More on that later if it pans out!

My next meeting was with Denny Nugent who is the music programming director for Moody Broadcasting which has radio stations all across the country. My radio promoter, Wendell, came in for that one too, Denny brought his assistant Carlos, and we went out to lunch and had a great conversation about worship and worship music and our place in God’s church. It was very cool to see how God is working over there, and I also got to tour the station which is fun since there’s so much history that happened right there!

Finally, I got to see my college roommate, Sara. She works at the Field Museum, so I went over to see her before I had to catch my flight. It was so fun – it’s been several years since we’ve seen each other. I’ll be back in Chicago for some rehearsals for a conference I’m doing this summer, so hopefully we can connect again.

It was great to be urban for a day again – haven’t ridden that much public transit since I lived in NY! 🙂

Mixed feelings

Monday, April 12th, 2010

Today Toby was discharged from services as a special needs child. It’s hard to know how to feel.

I had Toby’s IEP (Individual Education Plan) meeting today. When your child qualifies as a special needs student, they give them an IEP, and they set goals for your child taking into account all the assessments by his therapists and teachers and things. The IEP is reviewed every couple of months to see how they’re doing, and once a year it’s redone completely. I’m used to these meetings by now – Toby’s been in therapy school for almost 4 years at this point.

Today was different. Today they told me how he had met all goals, and was at or above grade level in all areas. He no longer qualifies for services. He is considered a “typical” child.

This is awesome and amazing, and I knew it was coming. I am thrilled for him, and for the miracle that God has done in his life! How different from the first assessment – gross motor delay, fine motor delay, speech delay, extreme sensory processing disorder, hearing impairment. Years of OT, PT, speech therapy, food therapy, surgeries on his ears. My little guy is a walking miracle.

But I cried through the whole meeting. These people have been our lifeline for 4 years now. They are the ones through whom God did this miracle, and it is scary to think of going on without that safety net. I also cried thinking of all the fear and pain we’ve all been through when we didn’t know how it would be, when we never thought Toby would be “okay”. It’s a little overwhelming.

But I am so, so grateful. We are ready. I know Toby is ready – I’ve known it for months. He’s great. It’s a blessing. And with God’s help, we will remember to just enjoy every moment, and let God be in control. There is no one more trustworthy!

Autism Awareness month and more reviews

Sunday, April 11th, 2010

I had an article about my son Toby come out in several places today. It’s autism awareness month, and while Toby is not autistic, he does have Sensory Processing Disorder which most autistic children also have, so they asked me to do the article. I’ve been so encouraged that I’ve already gotten some messages from people who have decided to get their kids tested because of the article! I love the way God uses the hard things in our lives for good if we let Him.

You can read the article here.

Also, I had a couple of reviews that came out today as well – here and here.

Hope you enjoy them!

A new Bechtel!

Friday, April 9th, 2010

When we were in Kenya, we were all over the country, and when we were in Mombasa, we had the privilege of staying with Bobby and Lisa Bechtel. They were so lovely, and we hit it off right away. Bobby is one of the pastors at Crossroads Church in Mombasa, and I did worship there and a concert, and also got to see two of the feeding program/schools that Bobby and Lisa started. They also took us to touch the Indian ocean for the first time. 🙂 Truly just outstanding people.

They’re home on furlough, and just adopted their third child, a little boy named Dylan! They were in Cincinnati which is only an hour and a half from us, so I headed down with two of my kids, and we spent the day with them and their boys and got to meet Dylan. It was so fun to see them and share in their joy! Welcome, Dylan Bechtel! We’re glad you’re here. 🙂

Another blogger review

Thursday, April 8th, 2010

I’m getting a lot of blogger reviews lately – here’s a new one.

Happy Easter!

Sunday, April 4th, 2010

Happy Easter!

We are having a hard time right now with bad news for many dear friends. I just heard that my cousin has cancer, and there are two other dear women in our church who have it too. The prayer chain requests keep coming in, and it is easy to feel weighed down by it all. And yet!

It may be a Christmas thing, but this Easter I am reminded again and again that God is Emmanuel, God With Us! He is no stranger to suffering – His life and death proved that. He knows our hearts and still loved us enough to shun His glory, to come down to us here on earth, and to allow us to humiliate Him, scorn Him, reject Him, and finally put Him to death. When He conquered death, He broke the power of sin, He gave us all a new hope, a new birth, a new life. What a Savior!!

It is because of Jesus that I live in hope. No matter what the prayer chain says, I know that it is in God’s hands. We pray in complete confidence that He is able, that He is in charge, that there is nothing too hard for Him! Glory halleluia! I love Him. He makes it a Happy, Happy Easter!

This one made me smile

Saturday, April 3rd, 2010

This was such a kind review – thanks so much!