The Peace We're Looking For

Lately, I've been realizing just how awesome Sanctus Real's lyrics are. If you're not familiar with this solid rock band, you should work on that. They don't use theatrics on stage or crazy time signatures or giant lyrical metaphors. They're one of those few bands that's just... good. That said, we got a glimpse of the heart that brings about those songs through an e-mail interview with them (not as fun as in person or even over the phone, but we'll take it!). What they said several times was that we can truly have peace through a relationship with God. I think so many times we feel that life is a series of ups and downs that God just takes us through; He's a shoulder to cry on in the hard times. But it's so much more! We can have peace.
When speaking of anxiety when at a crossroads in life, the members of Sanctus Real say: "The beautiful thing is that, if we are in a right, honest relationship with God, we can REST in Him, and let Him take our anxiousness and be at peace, knowing He's got us, in every situation." We are not helplessly riding a roller coaster of happiness and sadness, good and bad situations; we have an awesome Master who has a plan for us, and our experiences are all part of a bigger picture than we can even imagine (like the Domino effect, remember?). When we choose to believe in this fact and have faith in our Lord, we choose peace. "There's real life in trusting in the unshakable character of God."

The Call

I'm a fan of music, in case you haven't noticed. I'm extremely passionate about it and the impact it makes on the world; I think it's one of God's greatest and most powerful gifts to us. I suspect most of the band members we interviewed feel the same way. So when you hear one of them say, "The things that are important to me are, in this order: 1. Serving God with my life 2. My family, my wife and kids, and everything else is so distant beyond that, I don't even know where to rank it. Music falls distant behind the things that really matter...", you can only begin to imagine how passionate he is about God, and his family.
The members of Silverline (that was Steve, lead guitarist) are following the Lord blindly, and music just happens to be one of the ways they do that (they happen to be really good at it, too).
Right now, my mom and I are in the process of picking out parts of the interviews that we'd really like to use in the book. Since there are so many interviews (currently 22), and it's not going to be a book of quotes, we're trying to be reasonably conservative. I'm not kidding, you guys, I have underlined about half of the Silverline interview. So where to begin?
The biggest emphasis they made was on answering God's call. Following His path is what it's all about, no matter where it takes you; don't take yourself anywhere else. We have dreams, but we need to discern which ones are of God and pursue those. God doesn't work within our ideal timetable; His timing is perfect beyond our comprehension. Silverline has been together for around 10 years; they are not an overnight sensation. But they press forward and keep their trust in God, and He's brought them to some amazing places and done some incredible things through them for the glory of His Kingdom. As Dean (drummer) said, "You're still getting the things you dreamed and desired, but you get them from the back door of submission and obedience."
This does not mean slavery; it is, in fact, the exact opposite. It's incredibly liberating to live in obedience and submission to God. We have no claim on anything- it is all God's, and we can choose whether we're going to let Him bless us with it or whether we're going to corrupt ourselves. "If God calls you to do something, He says, 'Count the cost before you answer the call, because if you're not willing to make the sacrifices to do what I've called you to do, then don't even show up.'"-Dean.

I specifically chose to blog about these guys this week because they are playing in my town tomorrow night! I'm very excited to see them again. For those of you from La Crosse who see this today or tomorrow, come to the show at Crossfire at 5:30- Silverline, John Reuben, and a few others. If I don't know you, I'd love to meet you, so don't be afraid to introduce yourself to me or my mom, Lisa! And take the opportunity to meet with all the band members too; they are really great guys, and I don't mean just Silverline (though Dean has a reputation for giving great hugs!). Not to mention, you will be enjoying a really good show. Hope to see you there!

The Domino Effect

Caleb Satterfield. He gets it.
Have you ever thought about how life works a lot like Dominoes? The game, not the pizza place. Think about any big event that has happened or decision you made recently. Now try to find the millions of tiny steps throughout your life that got you to that place. You may not think there were millions of tiny steps, but they're there when you really think about it. I don't want to get all "therapist" on you, but honestly, the way you treated someone yesterday could be traced back to the way your mother cut your hair when you were 4. Over-analyzing life is a dangerous thing, but not being aware enough of this Domino effect is just as dangerous.
This is what Caleb, bass player of the pop-punk band Eleventyseven, wants you to know. He's realized it in his own life. For example, he's getting married this spring, and he said, "After getting engaged, I realize that every single choice that I made up until that point decides what kind of marriage I will have." Crazy thought, huh? But it makes sense. The habits you choose today could put a major strain or be a major blessing on your future marriage. And this is true for every aspect of life. The choices you make (most importantly, whether you're going to try to guide your own life or let God guide you) determine the person you become, which obvously determines what kind of life you have. And Caleb put it best when he said we need to figure out what a godly life is and live it; "Make decisions toward that life instead of just hoping you make the right decisions."
Thanks Caleb! It was great.

The Uncertainties

If there's one thing the tragedies in Haiti have taught us, it's that life is full of uncertainties. A natural disaster is something no amount of money, power, or anything else can save anyone from. Josh Havens, lead singer of The Afters, has been a little closer to the Haiti situation than perhaps most of us have, as his sister flew there last week to help. For Josh, uncertainties are one of the few certainties in life. In our interview with him, we learned of many of the faith-testing experiences he has had. Getting married at age 19, having children, and even being in the band are all situations where, at times, I'm sure he was scared out of his wits. But he trusted in God, and it has all turned out well for him. The one thing he was always very certain of was his desire to be a musician. He knew that from the age of 3. Still, he talked about the uncertainty of the music business; there are a lot of fields where you can go to college, get a degree in that field, and basically know you'll have a job (barring economic crises). The world of music, especially music performance, doesn't work that way. But Josh felt God calling him to music his entire life, and he never doubted it (having a very supportive family helped, too). The Afters have become quite popular and are able to touch many lives with their music, and personal interaction. Josh realizes "the life of any band is limited, unless you're The Beatles," but is just following God with 'tunnel vision,' in a manner of speaking, as we all should. We can't let our doubts or fears of the uncertainties in life hold us back from the amazing things God wants to do with us. Thanks for your brave, bold advice, Josh!

The Reason

In light of the recent tragedy in Haiti, I've chosen to write about the band Willet. Kathleen Willet, Jeremy (lead singer) Willet's wife, is currently serving as a missionary in Haiti, working as a "mom" to the parentless at an orphanage there. The early days of this week were filled with fears I'm sure I cannot describe for the Willet family, as they could not establish contact with "Kat" or the orphanage. Thankfully, yesterday they found out she is alive and well, and the children are also. I have been amazed this week by Jeremy's attitude about the situation, as displayed on Twitter and Facebook. He kept saying things like "Kat would want us to pray for the children in Haiti," even as he had no idea of her safety. He obviously gave the whole situation to God, in a very dark hour. Today, I am just as inspired by his wife's words- a text she sent to him that he posted on Facebook- "Im ok... just being there for those who have lost... God is so amazing!" We can all take something away from this wonderfully God-centered perspective in the midst of horror.
I believe I have already said enough to describe Willet's entire vision with their music ministry. They are passionate missionaries who know the real reason for making Christian music. They tour internationally quite a bit, because they have a heart for working with those in need. They're partnered with Food for the Hungry, have adopted several villages overseas, and plan to adopt many more. Their music reflects their heart. They are very kind people. They are selfless givers. They love. They are disciples of Christ.

Please, take a moment to say a prayer for all those effected by the earthquake in Haiti, including the missionaries, rescue and medical teams who need strength and resources. And thank the Lord for how good you've got it.

The Weekend

... that changed everything. Ha ha, maybe. It certainly impacted us a lot. This past weekend, my mom and I were at the Forest Lakes Districts youth conference in Green Bay, WI. This is the same conference where I met and was inspired by Dango (of Amber Pacific) last year, who I eventually interviewed for this book. He was there again this year as part of the worship band for the weekend, Floodgate Alive, as well as to talk to kids through his ministry, Resound Living. My mom and I are both middle school youth leaders at our church and went to the conference as leaders. However, a few weeks prior to the conference, I had a dream one night that Dango promoted our book from the stage. I now realize this was most likely a God-sent dream. I ended up e-mailing the guy who heads up Districts, simply asking for permission to pass out some fliers with a little information about our book and this blog on them. A few hours later, he e-mailed me back saying he'd rather give us one of the few ministry booths in the conference center, and waive the usual (substantial) fee for it. Wow!
So then we had to get our act together. They needed a name for the booth, so that led to us finally coming up with a title. We had graphics and cards made with "Don't Freak Out!", "www.dontfreakoutbook.blogspot.com", and a few other things printed on them, and gathered together some posters of the bands we interviewed to deck out our booth. We also made 1,700+ clothespins with "Don't Freak Out!" on one side and the blog URL on the other. This was an idea we stole from the band Hyland. The idea is to go around and sneakily put the clothespins on people so they would find them later and be intrigued.
Friday, my mom, sister, and her friend drove up early to set up the booth while I took the bus with our church group. We went to Districts first and foremost as leaders. The booth was a huge blessing, but something we only attended to if we happened to have a free moment. Our kids came first, and seeing their lives and hearts change through this conference was wonderful. But I'll share with you the awesome experiences we had with our booth in the times we were there.
There were 3,200+ students at the conference,not to mention all the leaders. Even so, we figured we'd have plenty of clothespins left over after the weekend. We have never been so wrong in our lives. We ended up having to ration them out to last us through the weekend! Sunday morning, comedian Daren Streblow wore one during Prime Time, in front of everyone! They were a huge hit, and we saw them everywhere on kids the whole time. The word definitely got out. We even heard that someone actually clothespinned Dango when he was greeting fans!
Friday in the late afternoon, people were coming to the booth, asking questions, and getting interested. One woman came over and introduced herself as Dango's mom (his parents live in Wisconsin). She said Dango had sent her the material from this and she thought it was great. We were so flattered! Later, in the evening, I saw Dango's wife Brynn, who is also in Floodgate Alive (I recognized her because this was after the main teaching/worship time so Floodgate had already played). She came over and also introduced herself to me, AND complimented our work! I was very happy. It's a huge compliment that they even knew about the book, that Dango shared it with them, because then it feels less like it was "just another interview." Then for them to say such nice things was absolutely wonderful.
Saturday afternoon my mom and I both finally actually had the chance to say hi to Dango, and he thanked us for including him in the book. He really is an awesome guy, with a Christ-like heart (and a family who are the same!). I was thrilled to see many kids impacted by his ministry over the weekend.
Floodgate Alive was wonderful in bringing us into worship. Their fire for God burst out from them on the stage. I've even heard that the lead guitarist suffered through an ear infection and pink eye, but no one knew it through the weekend. We were already impressed by his guitar skills and sincere worship; that was very selfless and cool of him. And I'll bet any of the other members of Floodgate would've done the same- they really seemed to be passionate about bringing the kids into worship.
All of the cool book-related stuff was just a blip on our radar, really, that weekend. It was an incredible time of God moving and changing hearts! I am so glad to have been a part of it, and being there as a leader, after 5 years of going as a student, made it ten times better as I grew closer to my girls and saw them interacting with God. It was a fantastic weekend!
Give us a shout out if you're one of our Districts/clothespins friends! Through blog comments, or:
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/pages/Dont-Freak-Out/246781471372?ref=ts
E-mail: dontfreakoutbook@yahoo.com
And you can always chat us up on our individual Twitters (in the sidebar)!
Thank you for all of the support!

The Main Idea

As you may have noticed from the change of the URL, we believe we've come up with a title for our book. It is, "Don't Freak Out!" We thought this to be a wonderfully simple, encompassing phrase for the point we, and all the artists we interviewed, are trying to make with this book. We'd like to thank Josh Pearson, former lead singer of the former band Nevertheless, for this title- it's a quote from their interview.
That said, this post is dedicated to Nevertheless. They just recently decided to part ways, amicably, to pursue other interests and God's will. We wish each member the best in their future endeavors.
Oh man, I loved these guys! Everyone we interviewed was great, and I truly mean that, we have been amazingly blessed, but these guys definitely stood out to us. Half of that was that they were SO funny. I wish I could share every little funny moment in that interview on this blog, but that would probably be spoiling things to come in the book.
"Don't freak out." Hearing these guys' stories, it's obvious they took this advice. They had total confidence in God, or at the very least they were totally apathetic- Guitarist A.J. Cheek said "Looking back, I probably should've been MORE nervous about my future!" They didn't worry about conventions, or societal pressure. Some of them went to college for awhile, and they all emphasized school as being a valuable experience. However, they did eventually trade school for a full-time music ministry. Their hearts are so passionate about helping hurting people.
These guys want you to know you don't have to have it all figured out, especially not at 17 years old. Despite what some school officials and others may tell you, you have time, and you don't want to waste money and resources and be stuck somewhere God doesn't intend for you to be. When it feels like everyone else around you knows exactly what to do with themselves (psst... they don't), it's perfectly okay if you don't. The main idea- "Don't freak out, and rely on God."
Thank you, Josh Pearson, A.J. Cheek, Adam Rowe, and Adam Wann. We know we don't have to worry about you and, whether it be writing scores, working for the Travel Network, or anything else, God will lead you all to great things!