10-30-2008
What a blessed time we had in Branson this year! It was great to see friends from last
year and to meet new ones. God is so good and just keeps on giving blessings on top of blessings. We were awarded
2nd place for Vocal Group, Reciter, and Young performer. Deede and Penny were named Whistlers of
the year. This is their second year! We were so proud of Jansen and Selah. It is not easy for little kids
to get up in front of large group but they really had a good time! Take a look at the pictures on our photo tab!
We were fortunate to meet Barbara Fairchild. She was the MC for the awards show. She
did a fantastic job and really is a God filled, down to earth Christian. She is very quick witted and always
had a cute come back or a joke to keep things going smoothly. We got a picture with her (check out the
Photo Tab)!
We
will be taking some time off to catch up on home stuff and to learn new song for next year. We will do
a few concerts during Christmas time and then start back up in March, 2009. We already have an Arizona,
Kansas and New Mexico trip planned for next year and have a tentative date in May set to do a joint
concert with the “Bost Family Tradition”! What a great family and talk about great sound and
testimony… We will keep you posted on this one…
We are looking forward to next year, God has opened
up so many doors for our ministry and we just can’t wait to see what He has planned! If you would
like us to come to your Church next year please give us a call.
9-21-2008
We just got home this evening from our concert yesterday with "The Isaacs"
in Ridgway, Colorado.
The wonders and
blessings that God bestowed upon us this weekend are still swimming in my head. I wanted to share with all of you
what a glorious experience it was but unfortunately I do not have the ability to express in words the workings of our Lord. He
showed up in quiet force and none of us will ever be the same. From the time we arrived in Ridgway until we left
this morning God has been expressing His love. I must quickly add, that God certainly placed us in the midst of
the most beautiful and colorful scenery, which only gave definition to this experience! It truly is a visual banquet
for the eyes, to see the beauty that God has placed in our home state is breath taking. But then again this
is the place where He spends most of His time, right?
We spent Friday evening in Ouray with Victoria Hearst and her assistant, Linda. It is
humbling and inspiring to observe the “servant” heart so freely demonstrated! Victoria gave us the
Ouray 101 History Lesson, and she took us into shops where we were introduced to shop keepers. We all
agree that this little town has to be one of Colorado's most lovely, ah-inspiring places! We shared a lovely
dinner and made friends that we will cherish for life. Victoria is a very remarkable Christian woman and she has
a staff that is second to none! God is truly working in the Ridgway Christian Center and proves to be a ministry
all it’s own with Victoria's strong leadership.
Saturday we had lunch with "The Isaacs" and met each of them for the first time. What
a wonderful Christian family! We were honored to be a part of Lily’s birthday celebration! The RCC
Staff had a birthday cake complete with candles! We have watched the Isaacs for years on TV, admiring their gift
of song and love of God they express in their performances, but to see it in "real" life was truly
a blessing. They are a family, free from any pretences, just like we hoped they would be.
The afternoon was spent watching the Isaac's crew set up equipment and doing all our "mic" checks! Our
nervousness' grew with each minute that past as we realized the magnitude of what was about to take place. By
3:00 we were back in the motel "trying" to rest and finally started getting ready. By 6:25 pm with five
minutes left until we headed over to the Christian Center we were wrecks!
I am sure you can
relate to the feeling of wanting to do everything possible to do your best, yet working at it so hard you are afraid
that you might lose grip! We were about to that point when God showed His presence and offered us the peace
of mind that can only comes from Him. Just a few minutes before we were to go to the center, we received a
call from Mark Davis, a pastor in Cedar Vale, Ks. He just wanted us to know that he and his congregation were thinking
of us and praying for us! The encouragement that came just at this critical moment for Crosswalk, was proof that God
is there to calm our storms. Although it has been nearly
a year since we were in their home church in Kansas, time came together at that moment, in our motel room. As Crosswalk
huddled around a cell phone, speaker on, we were lifted before our heavenly Father for His peace and His will to be done…a
moment like this only comes from God!!! By the time we heard "in Jesus name, Amen” our eyes were filled
with tears of thanksgiving and our hearts were being prepared for his ministry! Praises be to God!!!
When we arrived at the Christian Center we were met by staff
and escorted to the dressing rooms. What an awesome and helpful staff. We were overcome by having our own
dressing room, which was filled with anything we might need; water, juices, snacks, and fruit. Enough to feed the entire
audience! (Who can eat!)? Pastor Jimmy came in to check on us and held us up in prayer and shortly Victoria came
in and prayed with us as well. (I told you that Victoria was "Bold" in her ministry, what an example
for the rest of us!)
Finally it was
time for us to walk on stage and the rest is a blur. I only know that God had us in His hands and every thing went
according to Him. We came off stage with a standing ovation, giving praises to our Lord who loves us the most!
After a short intermission, it was time for
The Isaacs to take the stage. They were totally awesome and gave all of us an evening that we will remember. Sonja
really summed up the night as she told the audience how much they appreciated the acclamations and hoped they were having
a good time as well. The building erupted, she continued saying that these feelings might last a day or even a
week but would go away unlike the feeling of joy and contentment of having Jesus Christ in their lives. What she said
is so true, unless Jesus is in your life, in your job, in your family, and Yes, in your singing you can never fully enjoy
the music of this life.
What a great God we have!!! Do I hear an "Amen"?
After everyone had gone home, the staff at RCC served another wonderful and
relaxed meal with Victoria, The Isaacs and Crosswalk. It was a great time to let down and just reflect. I
sat there watching Sonja "texting" on her phone, Ben talking with Jesse the fiddle player, Melody visiting with
Lily, Deede and Penny laughing while Brandon exchanged ideas with Jake the sound engineer! Life was good! I
was thinking about how all summer I had imagined what this night would be like and then realizing how different it had been. God
had indeed made it better than I could have imagined. We got back to the motel around 12:30. The Isaacs headed
out on a 22-hour road trip to California never fully realizing what an impact they had made in our lives.
I have discovered, in my walk with the Lord, that no matter
how hard I try or do not try to make this life work. He is always there. I recently heard a song with a message
that really sums it up for me, "Here I am, There He is". His faithfulness is unfathomable!
God has been showing us all summer what He has called us
to do, we have tried to be true to His will. Please keep us in your prayers that our ministry and our fruits will
be worthy.
Our desire is to stand strong
and to be bold in our Savior with a mindset that it is never to be about us but always about Him!
In
Him,
Crosswalk
Tanky-Deede-Melody-Penny & Brandon
