Shine!

  What words can describe our debt of gratitude toward those who sacrificed their very lives for freedom - OUR freedom? The soldiers of the United States are heroes who had true courage, courage that is action inspite of fear. They answered the call and gave what was needed. Today we have God ultimately to thank for this blessed land of liberty but we also owe a debt of gratitude to the soldiers who served this nation and especially to those who paid the ultimate sacrifice while doing so.  We have come so far as a nation and lost so much. We have drifted far from God and have let evil overrun our great land. We forget and reject the Savior who paid the ultimate price to set us free, and we also forget the blood spilt by American soldiers who died for liberty. Ronald Reagan once said:   "Freedom is never more than one generation from extinction. We did not pass it to our children in the bloodstream. It must be fought for, protected, and handed on for them to do the same, o...

  Day 2 - Saturday, April 12. All smiles and ready to go!😁🎧 Amanda's recording room was right next to me and Jared's and she got this shot one time when we were recording(you can't see it but I am playing the keyboard).  Lunch break and pic! We had a neat little God story happen to us while we had lunch. We went outside and had a picnic lunch on the tailgate of Jared's truck, and in the middle of doing that, John's phone rings. It was one of his lawn care buddies that he had met at a mower expo a couple years ago, but the odd thing was that he's never called John before. John answers and his friend starts saying that he just wanted to call and encourage John today and our family with our music to keep doing what we're doing. Now, he knew we sang but he had no idea we were in studio that day. We were like, "WOW!" That was super encouraging after our rough day the day before. God is amazing to send us little messages of encouragement just when we n...

  Yep!😁 For those who may not know yet...we are in the process of recording a cd!!🙊🤩 We had always talked about doing this one day but never thought it would be a reality, until some friends with their church generously offered to help financially support us making a cd. We were blown away and so very grateful to God for this opportunity!❤️ The Lord led us to a studio about two hours north of us, TML Sound. It has been a blessing to work with our producer, Mark Little, and to see his love for the Lord in all that he does.  Our first studio day was Friday, April 11th. Here we are setting up all the instruments. Our goal for the weekend of recording was to get all the instrument tracks recorded.  Ready to record! Amanda and John had to be in separate rooms because their instruments were miced. Both Jared and I were plugg-ins so we were together the whole time. It was fun to talk to each other over the mics in each room and hear through the headphones. I could almost imag...

  "He is not here; for He is risen, as He said. Come, see the place where the Lord lay. And go quickly and tell His disciples that He is risen from the dead, and indeed He is going before you into Galilee; there you will see Him. Behold, I have told you."  -Matthew 28:6-7 Happy Resurrection Day!!✝️🌅🤍 He is RISEN! Praise God for the empty tomb! ~Grace

  "For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life."  The message of the cross. We as Christians know this message and live it every day, but so often I know I am guilty of becoming used to it or not thinking of the full purport of the words: "Jesus died on the cross for your sins." What does death by crucifixion look like? How much agony did our Lord go through? There is an episode of a Christian podcast that I listen to every Good Friday that never gets old. Todd Friel of Wretched Radio goes into a deep look at death by crucifixion and all our Lord went through. It is very powerful and always leaves me so amazed, humbled, and in wonder at Jesus' love for us that led Him to go to the cross. I wanted to share a few excerpts from the episode and I highly encourage you to click on  this link(The Day God Poured Out His Anger)  and listen to the whole thing.  "Crucifixion w...

  How can you get more random than a post about brownies??😆🤔😂 The little brownie incident we had today cracked me up so much that I couldn't resist sharing it...I hope it makes you smile and even laugh today.🙃  I was in the middle of making meatballs for our Sunday spaghetti lunch(or dinner...whatever you call eating at 2:30😁) and rolling them into little balls on a pan. Jared walked in and commented: Jared: "Those are some weird looking cookies you're making." Me: *takes hint* "Would you like me to make you a dessert?" Jared: *points to my cup sitting on the counter* 👇🏻 Jared: "I would be able to do that 👆🏻 a whole lot easier if you did." By this time, I've lost it.😂 I have never been so uniquely asked to make a dessert before. Brownies is my go-to dessert to whip up and Jared happens to love them(who doesn't?!), so I proceeded to get the ingredients together. As I was stirring everything together, I began to treasure the moment ...