Where art thou O' Martin?

My last real blog was about O’ Martin. I want to share how he came to be.

Something my friends I have made in the last few years don’t know about me is music used to be a BIG part of what I did and where my heart was near. Everywhere God sent me, music was there. It was not only there but it was the main tool of being the hands and feet of Christ. I played in coffee houses, churches, for youth groups, all over Texas, in the schools and prisons of Africa, and on the front porch of the Terrace in Yosemite. What landed me in Yosemite was the need of a worship leader for The Gathering where the following year I met my husband.

Music...writing songs...it has just always been this special communication between God and I. It is so intimate. So beautiful and extravagant. It is this unique language where no words even have to be exchanged in order to feel close and understood. When I think of praying and how I talk to my Father, I picture myself, in the bathroom, where the acoustics are outstanding, sitting on the toilet with music and journals scattered all over the ground, a smile on my face, my guitar every so often banging the wall or sink that I am way to close to because the bathroom never seems big enough, and Him just kind of dancing there with me...tapping His foot, humming the words...perhaps even playing a small drum.

Fact: 95 percent of my original songs were written in the bathroom.

Let me get a little more to the point. In 2001, I spent the summer working with a youth group in Washington State. A week after I came home I was back with the youth I normally work with. The band and I went back to a room to pray right before we started. When we came out and started to get on the stage, I went to grab my guitar on my stand and it had been replaced with O’ Martin. There was a card in the strings and two post it notes that said “Heard you needed a guitar -God”. Needless to say I lost it on stage. I could hard play and sing I was so touched and overwhelmed by love. The youth had saved up their money all summer to surprise me with that guitar. It was quite something.

2 days after my Martin blog, my guitar was stolen from the new house. There was mostly construction items in the house sine we hadn’t moved in yet. He/She/They were able to take off with a nail gun, my guitar, and everything my case had in it. The reason I wanted my guitar at the new place was The Kid can hear now and because it just sounds so awesome in a half empty house. I was getting excited about playing again and the same day it got stolen we talked to a friend and college professor about starting up a gathering with the college students at Montreat. It was an ironic week.

I was in shock the day I realized it was gone. I had no idea what to do or think. All my music including my originals were in the case. It was just gone...and there wasn’t a thing I could do to change it. Lot’s of emotions. Every time I started to cry I couldn’t breath. I still have trouble breathing out of my nose so crying just couldn’t be an option.

As much as I loved my guitar and though it has much sentimental value to me, I really just wanted my words and journals back. I knew they wouldn’t mean anything to the person who took it. It was all a bummer to say the least. I couldn’t sleep a couple of nights after it happened. I kept thinking of the different things that were in those journal or in my case.

Now it is a praying and waiting game. If it turns up at any pawn shop in the US our detective will know the very next day. O’ Martin has a serial number and so there is a chance we can retrieve it that way. My prayer is that this person opens up some of the music and journals and just reads out of curiosity. God’s word does not go without void and so I never know how this could be turned to something beautiful.

The enemy come to steal, kill, and destroy, but my Father comes so that we may have life to the fullest. We have seen the enemy do some serious work this year, but we will not give up as with one with no hope. We are no longer hopeless or desperate. We have abundant life and so many good fruits from our Father.

Round two on this coming soon.

love Jesus,

love chocolate pie,

love life,

spesh

No Internet

I have been wanting to do some good post for over a week now. I have lots to share, pictures and updates, etc. However, once again, it will not happen right now. We are in our new house now but we have no internet until we find the time to figure out how exactly America gets that in their households. This is something we have never done before. Watch out!

The house is not really finish but we are getting there. It is a crazy week with Thanksgiving here and still not a finished kitchen. Hard to make pies, but Bryce is determined to do whatever it takes to make the chocolate goodness happen!!

We have so much to be thankful for! I hope you all enjoy family and or friends this week. We will update life and such soon.

Much love...

Soon

I can't believe it has been over a week since I have posted. I am sorry to say this won't be long! We have been trying so hard to move into the new house. We tried 3 different times this week, but something keeps happening like the small flooding in the kitchen this morning. Yep. Water is once again turned off in that house which is what we are waiting for to move in.

On the up side, I have learned a lot this week working alongside our friend and co-worker Jon. Jon is the one who keeps up with our amazing organic farm and the animals. He also does a ton of maintenance and other things around camp that keep it running. I am hoping that tomorrow goes a little smoother than the rest of this week has. This one day project has now turned into a week.

We have had some other things happen this week as well but I will save that for next time. Sorry for a boring post with no pictures.

O' Martin

There are a handful or so sounds that may my heart happy, my mind pause, and my soul sing for joy. I love the hearing the sounds of hundreds of South African voices, singing as one, to One, with everything in them. It is just beautiful. It has this way of capturing my heart and turning my insides out. I don't know if there is a more powerful and just awestruck sound as water. It can be the raging river your hiking next to or a small (or big) waterfall crashing itself down into the rocks feeding into the valley floor.

The cry of a newborn. It is so pure, simple, and innocent. It is life and breath and God-made. My husbands prayers. Not so much us just praying together though I do love it too. I remember many times where I have fallen asleep before Bryce and woken up to his voice. He is about to go to sleep himself, but he is laying there whispering to God praying for his beloved, his lover, his wife. I will always treasure those moments I wake up to hear his heart.

There are probably a few other sounds that capture me in one way or another. The last one I want to share, is the sound of my guitar in an almost empty room, with wood or even tile floors. I can play almost anything in there and make it sound like the best thing that has come out on the radio in the last 3 decades. It is just beautiful. Not only does it sound great, but it is just fun. I could sit there and jam and mess around with chords and notes for probably hours!

For this reason or that, the guitar is one thing that has not really been part of me since I have been married. I am hoping this will change in this new house and with the space we will have there. Music has always been a big way I connect and spend time with God. It is this pure time of praise and worship. It is this time He speaks to my heart and uses my hands to write and play and it is amazing.

O' Martin...you will be played much.

Nameless

I had a dream last night that we had a boy and he was VERY early. I was glad he was early because the last few days I feel like I have grown and my stomach may pop if it keeps doing this! Neither one of our parents knew we had him because we didn't have a name for him yet. I couldn't call my mom and say, "It's a boy, but he doesn't have a name yet."

Well, he already talked even though he was tiny and early. Not unusual though. Many of my dreams of our baby they talk right away. We were so busy we didn't have time to even discuss names so he was still 'The Kid'.

Before I knew it he was big probably like 9 or 10 years old. He was a night owl! I was trying to tell him how I used to be able to feel him in my belly all hours of the night but hardly during the daytime. He was like, " I know mom, you've already told me this."

He kind of had this negativeness about him and this attitude about him that I just hated to see. So we decided to move to africa and get him away from this 'place' wherever that was.

The End

Little of This and That

I actually have a lot that I would love to share. Some are too long for now and others need to be chewed on a little more before writing. We have been hard at it this week on the Farmhouse so may be I will start there.

This house is over a 100 years old or so we have been told. It is right off the lake and kind of on the edge of camps property. The backyard has beautiful mountainous views and place is FULL of character. Most of the character I hated at first, but now as I pour hours into it I have found I really love some of the wacky things about this place. I really think somewhere in all this cleaning, painting, and creating God is speaking to me parallel with what I am doing. Make sense? It is going to be quite something when my heart sees and hears it and His time is right.

So back to the Farmhouse. It has 2 bedrooms and a bath upstairs and one bedroom and bath downstairs. No real closets because it's old and they just didn't do that back then. The room we have picked to live in is the biggest thing we have ever stayed in. I am pretty sure it is almost the same size as the place we live in now! (and that's just one room) I am, well, a clean person, so this much house means I think we are going to try and become a shoes off in the house family. I am hoping that keeps it a little cleaner and more manageable. I will let you know how that goes.

We are on to our last room, not including some detail work that still needs to be done in a few places. It is the most overwhelming room of all...the kitchen. You will see in the pics the disaster. This whole house has been a mess. Just cleaning the thing would have taken me at least 3 weeks I think to do a fairly good job. There are cracks so big in some place you can stick your fingers in them and part of your hand. Caulking could be a full time gig on this place!

The wall are crooked, some of the door frames have been eaten by the house, the windows are original (or at least they seem to be) which means they are old, and it just has these funny things about it. We tried moving a desk upstairs in what will be our craft room. It was then we found out the frame at the top of the stairs actually more like a trapezoid shape not a rectangle. The desk would not make it up. We really don't know now what will!! I just love all those weird things now. They drove me nuts at first, but man what great character!

All that said, here is the room I have been working on all week. It is the living room. I wish I had a handy before picture, but some of you know what it was. Can you believe it can look this nice?? Also, the color is actually baguette, but it looks a little off in the pics. Oh well, trust me, it looks awesome!

Good night!

The next two are of the kitchen...the next big thing!