Full-time...

So much has happened...

I will start from the most current and move backwards...

The members of Mosaic have decided to go full-time by January. Mosaic is an LLC as of this past August and we have decided to run our business and ministry full-time. We have all had to take a leave of absence or quit our day jobs in order to participate in the Christmas tour coming up...so we have just decided not to go back to those jobs in January.

This is risky...and it was not my plan. It's also exciting.

I am getting married and have a lot of student loans knocking at my door. I have been looking for jobs like crazy! God gave me a full-time job I think to show me that I should stop neglecting what He has called me to do. I could explain this more, but it would take a whole other blog post.

I am no longer working on the album that I have been working on for the past two years. Sometime in the future I may end up releasing some recordings from that album...but for now, I have started a whole new project. Once again, I could explain the details but it would take a whole new post. As an artist, I am very excited about the new project. I feel in many ways that it is much more of what I want to say and communicate. It will also be much less "commercial." I don't necessarily have anything against commercial...I'm just not sure if that is what God is pulling my heart towards. The new project will be much more acoustic and stripped.

I have gained some clarity within the last two years, the last six months, and the last 5 days as to what it is that I feel God is really calling me to do. I have been so concerned with what I will end up doing...but I am learning to be more concerned with what I am and should be doing now. I am learning how to listen. I'm learning how to follow the pull of God and the peace that comes when I decide to do something He says to do even if it is crazy and scary. I'm learning how to trust God. Trust that He will provide. Trust that He really will lead (it's not just a a guessing game). Learning how to lay aside what I think could happen for what is happening...for something different and maybe better than what I have planned.

Life has been hard, scary, risky, bitter, depressing, and discouraging...but out of that comes a stilled heart and mind that are better able to hear the call of God and better able to see His moving. He has turned my mourning into dancing. He is bringing a sweetness to life, music, art, writing, learning, and loving that I was unaware of before.


I'm very thankful for what I have been through and where I am now; and I'm very excited about where I am currently headed.

Mosaic in Chicago...

More news on music, Mosaic, an life coming soon

Scripture Juxtaposition...

This scripture in John gains new life to me when set together with the Proverb.


Just as the Father has loved me, I have also loved you; abide in My love. If you keep my commandments, you will abide in My love; just as I have kept the Father's commandments and abide in His love. These things I have spoken to you so that My joy may be in you and that your joy may be made full.
John 15:9-11

For the commandment is a lamp, the teaching is a light; and reproofs for discipline are the way of life.
Proverbs 6:23


So often we want to only read the first part about abiding in his love without asking the question...how? By recognizing that He is not only our loving Savior, but also the ultimate loving authority in our lives. Authority isn't established to just be a bunch of rules for the sake of keeping rules...but a lamp, a light, a way to find true life. By recognizing Him as the ultimate authority it acknowledges that we trust Him. That we trust in His love. When we trust His love we abide in it. The commandment, teaching, and reproof goes from being a pain in our side and begins to be a light leading us towards true joy.

Finished!!!

Mosaic Christmas album is complete!! It has been recorded, mixed, mastered and sent of be duplicated and packaged! In about three weeks we will have the tangible cds!

The songs sound awesome! We will be launching a website sometime near our cd release which is scheduled for the 17th of November. I'll let you know when everything is ready for sale and when the tracks will be available for purchase...or just simply available to listen to on myspace or whathavenot.

This is so much fun!

Mosaic Christmas Tour and CD!

We have spent all weekend in the studio to get our Christmas album finished. It sounds so good and the process has been tons of fun! We are sending the final mastered copy off with disk makers next Monday (hopefully). Album should be finished and released for sale by the 12 or 13th of November...more details to come.

We have a total of 7 (maybe 8) dates within a week in a half...Florida, Louisiana, Tennessee, Chicago...from deep south to the cold cold north...it will be fun to be in Chicago a few days before Christmas!

Dates...

Music stuff is picking up quite a bit!

Oct. 24-26: Leading worship for youth retreat in TN

November 6-7: Mosaic leading worship in Champaigne Illinois for a conference

November 13-14: Mosaic show in Hebron, Kentucky

December 1-?: Will likely be headed to KENYA to lead worship with some members of Mosaic!!! We will also hopefully be stopping in England for a few days on on our way back.

December 13-21: Mosaic Christmas shows in Florida, Louisiana, and Chicago


We also have a potential house show here in Nashville and we might end up also doing a show at the church I now work at part-time.

I'm in a weird, but great season in life. It's really great to not be in school and free to do all of this traveling and playing. I'm still trying to get used to not having school dominate my time and energy...while learning to channel that energy towards being productive each day with other things. I'm loving it and having a blast!

Sacred Marriage...

Sacred Marriage by Gary Thomas is by far one of the best books I have ever read. In fact, I borrowed it from a friend of mine and enjoyed it so much that I am about to go buy my own copy so that I can reread and mark in it.

Obviously, the book centers around marriage and I picked up the book because I will be getting married soon (April 10th!). Honestly though, I would recommend this book to pretty much anyone...because while it centers on marriage, the premise is about holiness and becoming closer to Christ. It's about learning how to seek a deeper fulfilling relationship with Christ in the midst of marriage...but really in the midst of whatever. Marriage is naturally going to be hard because we are forced to transition from being primarily self-concerned. Marriage also exposes the things that we could normally hide or ignore while single, which is frustrating...but for a heart that longs to truly be holy and righteous in order to gain the discipline of living and indulging in the presence of Jesus...it is a blessing if we can truly learn, through marriage, to get past ourselves.

I cannot say enough good things about this book. Please, go read it! For me it has redefined many things including what it means to pray, be in the presence of God, what fulling sex is and isn't and why God created it to be expressed in the context of marriage (it's brilliant really!), what it means to communicate, the importance of discipline, the importance of enjoying life, the importance of striving to be content in all things while fighting against discontentment, the importance of giving (all that you have: money, time, energy, body, etc.). I have unlearned and relearned several things...and now I will reread it so that it might stick even better.

It makes my heart soar to even think about it...

Anyway, I am VERY excited to get married. I love Emily, in that, I feel very much in love with her. I believe that I made a list of sorts on one of my recent previous blogs as to why I love Emily. However, I am also getting excited about marriage because I am starting to value Emily even more with each day. Through her, God is going to pull me closer to Himself (and does already). How cool! And hopefully, through me He will do the same for her. That excites me 10 times more than simply getting married because we are "compatible" and "like each other." Facing the difficulties that I know will come with only a base of feelings is scary...but facing them while standing on the base of knowing that maybe this marriage isn't solely meant to make us feel good...but to help us change into people that are more like Christ...brings readiness, excitement, and hope in knowing that we will face difficult times.

A side note:

Marriage was truly intended to tap into a love that never fails. I hope that my generation can learn from the pain and destruction caused by the selfishness of our parent's generation. My generation was wounded early on. I am just now tasting what MANY of my friends have tasted as children. We can either take the first step towards not becoming like our parents, by truly and selflessly forgiving them, or we can let bitterness destroy us. We can have self-pity because of our scars...or we can embrace them as reminders of the destruction caused by things like self-pity. I pray that the pain we feel and have felt will direct us towards the deep and true love that never fails, that we will truly learn how to be participants in that love, and that it will not push us further into the selfishness that wounded us in the first place.