What’s New ~ Nothing to Lose is ready for release! Our new CD is here and we can’t wait for you all to hear this new music (you can hear samples of the new songs right now on our website www.eternityfocus.com). Actually, you can buy your own copy of Nothing to Lose and our first release Eternity Focus on our site. Just click on the “Store” tab and you will see a picture of the album with a “Buy Now” button beneath it. Once you click the buy now button, follow the prompts and your copy of Nothing to Lose or Eternity Focus will be shipped to you! You can also read the stories behind the new songs (all seven originals have a story that inspired us to create them). We’re also adding both posters to the site and these are available for purchase as well. Note* If you would like your merchandise signed, send us an email after confirming your purchase.
Old News . . . what’s been happening ~ This August we were able to compete in the Gospel Music Association’s Music in the Rockies Event held in Estes Park, CO. We entered into the songwriting and artist categories. I ChooseYou (featured on Nothing to Lose) placed in the Top 20 in the songwriting category. There were over 550 entries in this division and we were blessed to be able to learn so much from this fantastic competition. In the Artist division, we placed in the Top 7 (the Top 6 made it to Finals) and had a fantastic time ministering. Competing at GMA was a ton of fun! We learned so much from the workshops and had a fabulous time meeting other Christian artists. God is so faithful and we are still experiencing His blessings daily.
Going Deeper . . . into our personal lives ~ School has started for Janika and Lainika (Janika can’t wait to graduate, of course Lainika can’t wait either but she has four years to go). Alika and Danika both elected to hold-off on college because of our busy tour schedule. Online courses would be an option except for the fact that voice and piano lessons aren’t offered. They don’t really do music degrees online. They’re just waiting for God’s timing. Speaking of God’s timing, we’re booked almost every weekend for the rest of 2008 so check out the schedule page on our website to see if we’re in your area soon! The tour schedule keeps us busy on the weekends and our jobs keep us busy during the weekdays. Lainika just got braces last week. Her smile is starting to shape-up and she’s looking great! We continue to live and learn and God is filling us with the love, grace and strength we need to face each new day!
Focusing on Eternity . . . devotional ~ I read a fantastic quote about hope from Max Lucado. That day was “one of those days”. You know the ones – one of those days were nothing goes right, everything turns out wrong, and you wonder if your dreams are ever going to come true. One of those days were you wonder why all this stuff has to happen to you, you’re hopeless and downtrodden… Most of us are always hoping that our dreams will come true, that we will past the test, that we will get a good report from the doctor… Is there a problem with hoping for the best? Well, are we hoping for the best or are we hoping that what we want to happen will happen right now? God knows what is best. We don’t. It’s not wrong to have hope. It’s wrong to have hope in ourselves, in our own abilities. When our only hope is ourselves, our only help is ourselves and we all know how well that works out. We’ll end up having “one of those hopeless days”. However, sometimes our hope is stripped from us because of trials, difficult circumstances, and the storms of life. When that happens, we need to turn to Romans 5 verses 3 through 6 “We can rejoice, too, when we run into problems and trials, for we know that they help us develop endurance. And endurance develops character, and character strengthens our confident hope of salvation. And this hope will not lead to disappointment. For we know how dearly God loves us, because He has given us the Holy Spirit to fill our hearts with his love. When we were utterly helpless, Christ came at just the right time and died for us sinners.” Only when we turn to God and depend on Him will be have real, true hope. Sometimes we feel like our dreams will never come true, that life is too hard to keep living, that all hope is gone. God knows what is best for us and he never gives up on us. Sometimes, when we’re overwhelmed by circumstances or having a bad day we wonder if God is even there, if there really is anything to hold onto let alone place our hope in but “Hope is not what you expect; hope is what you would never dream” – Max Lucado.
Place all your hope in Jesus. He has dreams for you that are beyond anything you could ever imagine.