Along For The Ride

On Valentines Day my husband and I began our crazy trip from Colorado to California. While most couples were planning dinner reservations and buying flowers, we were about to drive 1,200 miles!

My husband tours with the Jared Anderson band throughout the year. You may know Jared’s worship songs, “Amazed” or “Hear Us From Heaven”. Many people wonder how we make it work in a marriage with two full time touring musicians. Well, we are home often for starters. And we find loads of excuses to jump on tour with each other’s band!

For no other reason than a disdain for being apart from each other, Chad and I decided to drive the band’s van across the country to meet up with Jared’s tour this February. Except for the tire we had to change in Laramie, Wyoming it was a superb Valentines Day.

My big idea was to hit Salt Lake City for some shopping on the way, and then settle in Lake Tahoe before crossing into California. Lake Tahoe was a highlight boasting magnificent sunshine! Did you know Lake Tahoe never freezes – it’s too deep. And perfectly clear water, you can see right to the bottom. Amazing!

Catching up with the guys on the road was fun. I managed 3 days with them! (8 guys and 1 girl in a van can have it’s hilarious moments.) It wasn’t too rough for a girl who knows tour life better than most. We kept our spirits high in Sacramento with In-N-Out down the street! (In-N-Out is the most famous burger joint)

I’m welcoming Chad back home this week! Next, I’m up to bat touring-wise with a trip in March to Pennsylvania. Can’t wait!

-Elissa

3 Bits

Gearing up for girls' retreat season. :) Starting tomorrow with "Tapestry", we will be leading worship and sharing our hearts with hundreds of girls at retreats around the U.S. this Spring. So cool how the Lord provides opportunities to encourage young women. He knows every need in their hearts, and longs to reveal His love to them. And sometimes he sends us, imperfect but willing, to express that.

Can I give you three bits of advice that I learned through my teen years? These three helped me along the way, navigating and growing up, and all the change that comes with it. Looking back I can see how these choices really made a difference, and brought me to where I am today.

1. Spend more time with God than is easy to do. Nothing great is produced by just doing what is "easy". It takes some sacrifice and determination to do the hard things. But there is a reward.

2. Find godly women you can look up to, and ask them what choices they made that brought them to where they are today.

3. Never quit going to church, even if your parents stop going. I'm thankful my parents were consistent and involved in church, but even if its not the case with you...find a way to plug in and never unplug.

-Becca

Love Is...

I love designing rooms. I love Chick-Fil-A. I love Starbucks Vanilla Lattes. But love is much deeper than that…Love is about people.

Today I’ve been thinking about the relationships that are closest to me. My husband Bryan and I enjoy serving the Lord together and are committed to doing marriage with Him at the center. It’s also a journey that God has used to sharpen my character. My family relationships are a gift from God. They know me so well and yet love unconditionally.

If love is about people, how should that affect us on a daily basis, if we are to be people who love well? I heard a truly profound perspective on worship from Tim Hughes yesterday:

“Worship much more than singing songs. It’s about our response to a God who first loved us. God is love and when His followers live as He encourages us through the Bible to live, it makes a difference in society. We begin to love people. When we worship and connect with God we catch His heart and His vision. We are loved by God so that we can love those around us.”

I love to lead worship, but this is a reminder to me that it’s not about what I do on-stage; it’s mainly about what I do off-stage. Love is about people. Worship is about God. It’s not about us.

-Becca

Courageous Girls

Over the last few months, I’ve been told by countless people, “You really need to see that movie Courageous!” My husband agreed. He went with my dad and brother-in-law to the theaters to see it while us girls were on tour.

Bryan and I sat down on our sofa to watch “Courageous” recently. I wasn’t expecting the tearjerker kind of movie that really messes with my heart! I won’t spill the plot for those of you who haven’t seen it yet...I will just say: See it. Redbox. (And Redbox is one of the best things in the world, in my opinion. Why? One dollar for a movie (plus tax) is cheaper than Trident!)

In the days after our movie night, I kept thinking about the word courageous. It’s one of those stirring words that make me think of epic scenes of battling over evil, you know, Lord-of-the-Rings stuff. Sacrifice. Tireless persistence to fight for truth. Total ‘guy’ stuff. Well, not exactly.

Courage isn’t reserved for guys, even if us girls grew up playing with dolls and mini kitchens, while the boys pretended to be superheroes.

I’ve known many courageous girls throughout my life. And when I look at the Bible and all the epic stories, I see courageous women. My friend Jaime is courageous. She left home to be a teacher in southeast Asia, showing the love of Jesus to Buddhist families. Then there’s Callie, working hard in state politics to be a light for Christ and influence those around her.

To me, courageous girls are the ones who stand up for truth, no matter what happens. In school, that could mean losing a few friends when you say ‘forget it’ to peer pressure. It’s being sure of what you believe, choosing to lean back on intimacy with Jesus when the world around you is chaotic.

How do we find courage? I do know Someone who is more courageous than anyone else who has ever lived: Jesus Christ. He will give you inner courage for whatever comes your way, and you can count on that.

“For this reason I kneel before the Father, from whom every family in heaven and on earth derives its name. I pray that out of his glorious riches he may strengthen you with power through his Spirit in your inner being, so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith. And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, may have power, together with all the Lord’s holy people, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, and to know this love that surpasses knowledge—that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God.

Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us, to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, for ever and ever! Amen.”

-Ephesians 3:14-21

-Becca

A Heart for the World

This morning I had the privilege of sitting in a room listening to Patrick Johnstone speak about his new book, The Future of the Global Church. It was an hour filled with statistics, graphs, maps (thanks to my husband Bryan for making them) and big ideas. Normally I would consider this well outside my scope of music and creative expression…which takes up most of my day…but this time I caught a bigger picture and saw the need for all believers to understand missions (and become passionate about it).

I admit, I only picked up John Piper’s book “Don’t Waste Your Life” a few years ago because my husband said it had a profound influence to lead him to go into missions research. While reading Piper’s book I felt a deep conviction to be burdened for the world that doesn’t know Christ. And today another brick was laid while listening to a life-long missions mobilizer, Patrick Johnstone (who lives in Peterborough, England). God wants us all to see the world through His eyes. It’s not just about our personal lives, which, if we’re not careful, can be all that we see each day.

Our church supports missionaries around the world. Your church probably does too, and you may have a world map in the foyer showing who they are and where the live. They’re part of the church family, even though you don’t see them every week. In the same way, Christ-followers all around the world are part of our church family. Some of them choose live outside of their own culture in order to reach a different culture that needs Christ.

I want to share their heart for people and be just as passionate. You and I can do so much where we are, right now. The city where you live has multiple cultures within it, people who have migrated there and still don’t know Christ. We first need to ask God for a heart of compassion and love for them, most of all. The love of Christ compels us. Missions isn’t for a select number of enthusiasts. It’s the call of every believer, because the heart of the God we serve is for them to know Him.

-Becca

Read Operation World, a daily prayer guide for the nations.

{This is Kathya, our little sister through Compassion Int'l. This picture reminds me of what matters most.}

Football Frenzy

On tour last month, Becca and Bryan invited me and Chad for a pizza/football-watching night. Chad and I weren’t up on our football much for this season, but Becca has caught the football fever Bryan has for Clemson, his alma mater. Commonly Becca will jump off the couch with hands in the air for a Clemson touch down. And this was an exciting game. Lots of shouting and finally Clemson won. We all agreed to return for the Orange Bowl where Clemson would end the season by playing for the title.

Over at Becca and Bryan’s for the Bowl last week, they were on the couch suited up with Clemson attire and all the frenzy for a memorable championship. Well, if any of you are sharp on your recent sports facts, Clemson made a shocking record for losing the worst. We couldn’t even watch after they were 40 points down. The final score hurt for even a non-football-fan like me.

But what about those Denver Broncos? They certainly helped sooth the wound of Clemson’s loss when they beat the Steelers this weekend. Our whole state is catching a crazy hype over Tebow and rightly so. Good things are happening and I’m proud to live in Colorado where football is exciting for even the non-fans like me.

-E

The Dream Life

I was on a walk with my mom down a well-worn broad path. Looking up, we saw a family coming toward us from the other direction. The parents were walking and laughing as their three kids barreled ahead on little bikes. I’m sure the two older brothers were around 7 and 8 years old, and their little sister of about 5 lagged behind them. As the brother zoomed past Mom and me, we got a good look at the sister doing everything in her power to keep up with them.

She had bright red cheeks from the cold air, long curly locks thrown back by the wind, and a set of training wheels bouncing over the gravel. She whirled past too, and we glanced back. How cute, I thought. Then, she let out in the greatest triumph, “I’m living the DREAM life!”

Long after the family was out of sight, Mom and I were talking about this girl.

What is the dream life anyway? I pondered this after hearing the words from the five-year-old on training wheels. In my heart I had been caught up with future goals so deeply that the present was beginning to feel like grunt work. All I could think of in my day was the household duties, computer work, and paying bills I had to pay to make those goals a reality. But truly, the dream life isn’t about those things.

Matthew 6:34 says, “…do not worry about tomorrow…” Worry was all my mind was doing until this revealing walk with my mom.

If I looked at my daily life, forgetting my future goals and worries, the reality brings days filled with romance with my loving husband, exciting opportunities to play my music and sweet times with my family. Why do future worries swallow up these present joys? As adults we have to guard our hearts against this. For those of you who are teens, you need to develop the habit of praying over your future but making a choice not to worry about it.

Matthew 6:33 says, “Seek first his Kingdom and his righteousness and all these things will be give to you as well.” Matthew was talking about food and clothes, but I realize as I seek the Kingdom and the presence of God to abide with me, I will see God doing more than I could imagine.

There is more joy, more courage and strength for the future when Christ is what I seek and not the things I can attain.

My new year's resolution for 2012 is to yell out, “I’m living the dream life!” as often as I can. I want to be like that little girl joy-riding on her bike, celebrating what my Father in Heaven has done for me each day.

-Elissa