Thankfulness..looking back, the present and looking ahead.

One thing I've been thinking about recently has been the subject of thankfulness. It seems these days that many people really forget the "art" of being thankful. In the current age of take what you can get, and what's mine is mine, thankfulness sometimes takes a back seat. Many times, people seem to forget that there are many blessings in life that we aren't guaranteed, and aren't deserved in most instances. It's hard to be prideful when you're thankful. I think that when you are thankful, it almost always includes humbleness.
In looking back over my life, and specifically the last year, I know that I don't deserve everything that's happened to me, and all the opportunities that have been laid in front of me. It seems like God was and is continually opening doors and saying try this. I feel that I'm being blessed far greater than I could've ever imagined.
2007 was a year that turned out to be a landmark year for me in a few ways. Growing up being a massive music fan, I never would have dreamed that I would be able to attend the Grammy Awards. That opportunity happened for me in Feb., when a band I worked with called DecembeRadio was nominated for the Best Rock Gospel Grammy. I was honored with the opportunity to fly to Los Angeles and attend the awards and all the parties and festivities surrounding them. The whole time I was in LA., I felt like a child on Christmas morning. As an added bonus, I got to meet Martin Sheen and his son Emelio Estevez at our hotel. Being a fan of the West Wing, this was pretty amazing to me.


The day of the Grammy Awards , I received an added bonus. As if just attending the Grammy's wasn't enough, I got to walk the red carpet with the band as they did interviews with everyone from The Tonight Show, to Entertainment Tonight, to Extra. Behind us on the carpet was Little Big Town and Buckcherry. During the pre-show awards, which is where 90% of the awards are handed out, we were just feet away from legends like Tony Bennett and Smokie Robinson. Unfortunately, Dradio didn't win the award as it went to Jonny Lang.
The televised awards show was very cool, as I got to see The Police's first live performance in years as they kicked off the show with "Roxanne".
The after party was fun, as we got to see Chaka Kahn and Kool and The Gang play.

In May, I left Slanted/ Spring Hill to manage my friends Jump5. One of the first things I got to do was travel to Norway with the group for a series of concerts. Norway was incredible. How often do you get to travel internationally and get paid for it at the same time. wow.
The summer consisted of me putting together the farewell album (Hello & Goodbye) and tour for the fall. On the tour, I finally got to go to San Francisco, which is a city I've always heard about just how amazing it is.



For me, the biggest event of the year started with a phone call I received on Sept 3rd from Sammy Ward. Sammy has been a great friend of mine for over 10 years, and I also manage his music career. He had been playing a retreat for First Baptist Nashville over the Labor Day weekend. He called to say he found me about the student ministry assistant, Bonnie. He said he had been watching her life for a few years, and loved how she carried herself. He felt that she would be great for me. He asked her if she was dating anyone, and if she liked older guys. She said no to dating anyone and sure to older guys. So he gave me her email address. The next day I emailed her to introduce myself. She emailed back the next day. After a week of emailing, we became facebook friends. We had our first "blind date" on Sept 13th at Fido's, then went out again on the 17th with a group of friends, then again on the 20th to a Predators game.


Needless to say, we hit it off. We officially became a couple on Sept 23rd, at around 1045 PM.
After about a month of dating, we both knew we had found the one, or T O as we both called it. We were engaged on Dec 21st. Needless to say that was the only Christmas present I needed.
We were married this May 10th.


To say I'm thankful for Bonnie is an understatement. She's the completion to who I've always wanted to be. Every day she fills my life with love, happiness and contentment. I don't ever want to take her for granted.

On the professional level, I'm getting to do what I love. Each day I consider a blessing.

All this to say, too many times I think people tend to focus on the negative parts of life, the things that drag us down. Take a minute to reverse that, be thankful for the things in the past, the present, and what God has for you around the next corner. When we start thinking that we deserve certain thing, that's where trouble can creep in.

The Story Continues..

So sorry it took a few days to continue the story. On Friday, Bonnie I had the chance to go to another taping of PBS's "Songs and Lyrics" show. The taping on Friday afternoon was a special one for Bonnie, as it was her first time to see and hear Mindy Smith in a live setting. It was really fun for me to watch Bonnie be giddy about something like this. Mindy ended up singing one of her favorite songs called "Raggedy Ann" which made Bon really happy. After the performance, Mindy stayed around the stage to meet and take photos with people. Bonnie was a little nervous about meeting her, but after some prodding she gave in. She ended up getting 20-30 seconds with her, a great photo and a memory that will last a long time.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jzu3Ihyq50c

Very Fun Night!

Last night was one of those nights that I will remember for a long time.

During our small group get together at the park on Tuesday, Lee Steffen mentioned that there was a taping for PBS Storytellers type show going on this week, and that he had an email to get us on the VIP list. Come to find out, Thursday night (last night) was Richard Marx/ Kenny Loggins and 3 Doors Down. Happens that I've always been a fan of Richard and Kenny so I knew it was going to be an amazing night. Bonnie and I went down with our friends Greg, Robin and Brittany. On the way down to the taping, I got a call at 430 that Metallica was going to be doing a private show at the Basement Club here in town. The club only holds a couple of hundred, so it was going to be amazing to see a band of this magnitude at such a small place. I knew that we already had tickets to the taping, so we proceeded to that thinking how cool the Metallica show would've been.
We ended up getting front row (plenty of camera time, I'll be the chunky one next to my beautiful wife)for the taping. The show was great, each of the 3 did 5 songs a piece. I won't spoil the songs so you can be surprised when you catch it on tv soon.
After the show all the artists hung out, so Bonnie encouraged me to go down and get a photo with Richard Marx.

We then left for home. On the way back, Bonnie had to stop by her old apartment. The route we took had us going by the Basement club. As we drove by, all the busses were still there, so we turned in and parked. There were some people waiting around outside so we thought, why not. Turns out, we got to meet Robert (bass player) and then James (lead singer/guitar) for Metallica.
What really surprised me was how nice they were. I guess you always think these "heavy metal rock stars" are going to be angry etc., this was not the case. In fact, Bonnie made a comment that her camera battery was dying almost under her breath, and James looks around and says "who's camera battery is dying"?
Last night once again showed me how amazing a wife I have. It was getting late as we were driving by the Basement, and she could've easily said she was tired and had to get up early. She didn't, her immediate reaction was to turn in and wait as long as it took, smiling and being amazing the whole time. She showed me love and unselfishness in that instance last night.
Today we got to the TV taping again. Just so happens today Bonnie's favorite artist Mindy Smith is singing. It's fun to see her excited and almost nervous about it. Hopefully I'll have a new story and photo to share tomorrow!

I really love what I do..

It's really a blessing when you can take a step back and look at what you do for a living, and be thankful for it. Far too often growing up, I had friends or family members who didn't really like what they did for work, but did it for the money, or because it was the only thing they knew how to do.
Ever since I was young, I always dreamed of working in music, but thought it would never happen. Now here I am in my 16th year of working in music in some sort or another. I don't take it for granted. I know there are many who may be smarter and could do a better job, but for some reason God has allowed me to do what I'm passionate about.
All that brings me to tonight. One of the artists' that I manage, guest sang the National Anthem tonight at the Nashville Sounds baseball game. If you've known me for any length of time, you know that two of my biggest passions are music and baseball. Before they sang the Anthem, we got to be on the field for 10 min. That's a pretty amazing feeling. I think the high point for me was taking Bonnie on the field with me. This was a special occasion for me, but getting to have my wife with me made it all the more special. Having Bonnie around to go to events like tonight, and concerts that I get to attend has been amazing for me, because I get to watch her light up, and even get a little giddy at times. If I ever forget just how amazing it is to do what I do, and ever take it for granted, all I have to do is look at her live the experiences through her again for the first time. This weekend, Bonnie and I get to fly to Portland Oregon to meet with a young 13 year old pop singer, and to meet with her family. Wow.

To sum it up, life is too short not to do something you love. I always heard, "find something you love doing, then find a way to get paid." God gave you/me desires and passions, and made us good at certain things. Figure out what those are and dive in with all you have.

Thoughts from an old song

While driving back on Sunday from Atlanta, I was going through my IPOD and came across a song I hadn't heard in a long time. Since I'm a wise man and married a woman 10 years younger, I figured the song from the nineties would be right about the time to take her down memory lane.
I never really paid much attention to the song, until Sunday. There's some good points to take to heart. What areas of this song could be applied to you?

If I could offer you only one tip for the future, sunscreen would be
it. The long term benefits of sunscreen have been proved by
scientists whereas the rest of my advice has no basis more reliable
than my own meandering
experience…I will dispense this advice now.
Enjoy the power and beauty of your youth; oh nevermind; you will not
understand the power and beauty of your youth until they have faded.
But trust me, in 20 years you’ll look back at photos of yourself and
recall in a way you can’t grasp now how much possibility lay before
you and how fabulous you really looked….
You’re not as fat as you imagine. Don’t worry about the future; or worry, but know that worrying is as effective as trying to solve an algebra equation by chewing
bubblegum. The real troubles in your life are apt to be things that
never crossed your worried mind; the kind that blindside you at 4pm
on some idle Tuesday.
Do one thing everyday that scares you Sing Don’t be reckless with other people’s hearts, don’t put up with people who are reckless with yours. Floss. Don’t waste your time on jealousy; sometimes you’re ahead, sometimes
you’re behind…the race is long, and in the end, it’s only with
yourself. Remember the compliments you receive, forget the insults; if you
succeed in doing this, tell me how. Keep your old love letters, throw away your old bank statements. Stretch Don’t feel guilty if you don’t know what you want to do with your
life…the most interesting people I know didn’t know at 22 what they
wanted to do with their lives, some of the most interesting 40 year
olds I know still don’t. Get plenty of calcium. Be kind to your knees, you’ll miss them when they’re gone. Maybe you’ll marry, maybe you won’t, maybe you’ll have children,maybe
you won’t, maybe you’ll divorce at 40, maybe you’ll dance the funky
chicken on your 75th wedding anniversary…what ever you do, don’t
congratulate yourself too much or berate yourself either – your
choices are half chance, so are everybody else’s. Enjoy your body,
use it every way you can…don’t be afraid of it, or what other people
think of it, it’s the greatest instrument you’ll ever
own.. Dance…even if you have nowhere to do it but in your own living room. Read the directions, even if you don’t follow them. Do NOT read beauty magazines, they will only make you feel ugly. Get to know your parents, you never know when they’ll be gone for
good. Be nice to your siblings; they are the best link to your past and the
people most likely to stick with you in the future. Understand that friends come and go,but for the precious few you
should hold on. Work hard to bridge the gaps in geography and
lifestyle because the older you get, the more you need the people you
knew when you were young. Live in New York City once, but leave before it makes you hard; live
in Northern California once, but leave before it makes you soft. Travel. Accept certain inalienable truths, prices will rise, politicians will
philander, you too will get old, and when you do you’ll fantasize
that when you were young prices were reasonable, politicians were
noble and children respected their elders. Respect your elders. Don’t expect anyone else to support you. Maybe you have a trust fund,
maybe you have a wealthy spouse; but you never know when either one
might run out. Don’t mess too much with your hair, or by the time you're 40, it will
look 85. Be careful whose advice you buy, but, be patient with those who
supply it. Advice is a form of nostalgia, dispensing it is a way of
fishing the past from the disposal, wiping it off, painting over the
ugly parts and recycling it for more than
it’s worth. But trust me on the sunscreen…

Weekend..

Great weekend. Bonnie and I started off the weekend on Friday by driving to Chattanooga. Halfway between Nashville and Chattanooga, we stopped at this small winery in Manchester TN.
We found a great seafood place in downtown Chattanooga to eat at Friday night. On Saturday, one of the artists' I manage, Nate Huss played JFest with his band. There was around 3000 people there when he played at 1145 which was pretty incredible. After Jfest, we made our way down to Atlanta to spend time with my mom and dad, and to pick up our dog Buddy who my parents have been dog sitting for 3 weeks.

We made it home tonight in time to drop Buddy off, then head to church. This is going to be a very convicting series. It's called Sync. It's basically about how many of us are stale in our spiritual walks, and not really making an intention to be about Christ in all we do, 100 %. I love Pete's honesty in way he openly shares where he is in his life and his spiritual walk. Far too often growing up, I had a vision that my pastor or spiritual leaders were always "holy" (almost spiritual supermen) and never admitted their spiritual struggles. It was refreshing to hear Pete talk about where he is Spiritually right now. I'm sure he'll get some "heat" and flack from some of the church body for it. Maybe that's the way those people outwardly express the conviction they're feeling.

Looking forward to what's ahead!