Show Gig

Ssshhhh!!!  Don't tell, but I've got a gig tonight in town.  It's not for 29:11, but just for some extra cash, filling in at one of the shows.  I'm TRYING not to tell too many folks just because I'd be too nervous if the word got out;)  But anyhoo.  I just wanted to tell you guys so that you could pray for me that all goes well, but most of all I wanted to show you this example of how good our God is.  He knew we needed some extra cash, but not something that would take up too much time away from 29:11, so he gave me this gig for a couple of weekends in a row.  And you know what?  It has been so much fun that I have been so giggly thinking about it, and so hyped to be back onstage;  it's been about 12 weeks since I've gotten to do an actual show.  (And no, Praise Team at church doesn't count;)  Anyway.  This is just an example at how, if you just turn it over to God, even those pesky finances, He WILL take care of you.  He WILL find a way.  He owns all, doesn't He?

You guys have a good one!  Bless you bunches!  Love you dearly, Tara K

GIVE IT AWAY

"If you want more happy than your heart can hold, if you wanna stand taller if the truth were told, take whatever you have, and give it away."  This song we're singing at church next Sunday, Give It Away (and I'm not sure who it's by, so you may wanna check that out with our church, ManleyBaptist.org for more info), says it all.  This picture (above) is one piece of a 2-part painting that my husband and my puppy did for me.  Isn't it so thoughtful?  He just dipped her little paws in little bowls of paint, and picked her up, dotting her all across the canvas as a present to me.  I love these paintings so much because of the thought behind them (besides the fact that they really are pretty cool lookin').  Every time I look at them, it makes me feel so wanted and loved.  Don't we all wanna feel like that, constantly, all day long?  To have that assurance that there are folks on this earth that aren't too absorbed in themselves to give you a little piece of their time and energy?  Hearing that song makes me wanna give it away.  Not the paintings, of course.  You know what I mean.  But hey, if the Lord leads...  ;)  He provides us with so much.  He really is there for us.  And Jesus gave all of His time and energy to other people; we should do the same.  Take time out of your day, not just today, but every day this week, to make someone feel appreciated.  See how it affects your week.  Yeah, you may feel run over or not appreciated enough even at the time, but God will bless you for it.  He really does want us to be happy.  So this week (in the least!), let's make someone's day.  Every day.

Double-Minded

Psalm 110 is 7 short verses:  The Lord sends forth from Zion your mighty scepter.  Rule in the midst of your enemies!  Your people will offer themselves freely on the day of your power...the dew of your youth will be yours.  THE LORD HAS SWORN AND WILL NOT CHANGE HIS MIND.  You are a priest forever... The Lord is at your right hand; he will shatter kings on the day of his wrath.  He will execute judgement among the nations, filling them with corpses; he will SHATTER CHIEFS over the wide earth...

Seems a little, well, whoa!  I know.  But what I wanted to show you today is that the Lord will not be of two minds.  Follow the paths that HE has chosen for you, what HE wants you to do in your life, and he will be at your right hand, right there with you.  He WILL give the nations judgement, "scattering chiefs over the wide earth."  No worries for the future okay?  If you're scared of what this world is turning into, don't be.  God is at your right hand, no matter who is "in charge" of your present nation.  He'll be right beside you.  He really is your right hand man!

-tk

Just Say It. You'll Be Glad You Did.

This is a picture from a show I did last year.  I played "Martha," as in 
"Mary & Martha" from the Bible.  That's my good buddy, David on the left.  He plays "Jesus."  He has a musical that you can look up online called JudahBenHur.com.  You should check it out sometime.  The music is gorgeous from the show.  Anyway.  Now to the blog:

Time is such a precious thing.  Have you told anyone lately that you love them?  And not casually either.  When was the last time you made SURE you had someone's complete attention and compassionately told them how much you love them?  And they don't have to be your spouse, soul mate, etc.  Anyone.  Anyone that you really do truly love.  Someone that your life wouldn't be the same if they hadn't been in it.  I recently lost one of my best friends, who had been living a few states away, but he was still close in my heart and I thought of him probably every single day.  He is someone who made my life different because of who he is.  And I never told him that.  Not once.  I hugged him often, talked to him via phone, internet, etc.  But I never got serious, and got his attention to tell him that, and now I never can.  He made people he didn't even know happy just because of the stories I would tell about him.  Everyone knew him even if they didn't, directly.  Tell that person, or people, that you are changed because of them.  They'll appreciate it forever.  And YOU won't have to wait FOREVER to tell them, like I'm going to.  I'VE gotta wait til I get to heaven to do so.  But I should've told him here, as mortal as it gets.  Shalom, tk.

TRANSFORMATIONS

So. So so so.  I took this picture right before I started writing this blog, but then I had to turn on the tv, didn't I?  Here's the deal.  Let's just say heart hurts.  My heart hurts pretty bad when it comes to stuff like this.  And we it happens to us, we don't really wanna admit it to anybody (like writing it in an online blog).  But guess what?  Here I am talkin about it here.  The ONLY reason for is, is that I'm in hopes that it will do someone else some good, as it's not doing me any except for the fact that I'm letting it out.  It's really hard to watch tv sometimes, ya know?  Actually, MOST of the time I watch tv, I'm watching reruns of Reba or The Office.  I am a big fan of movies, but I really have to be careful flipping through the movie channels as well.  Even when the ratings say things like, PG-13 or SC, they can still be seriously vulgar.  Its horrible.  And when I think about why families are torn apart, what little seeds are planted because of ridiculous things like this.  Little things like watching a movie about cars transforming themselves into reality, while the girl sitting in front of the television is pretending to not scrutinize herself in front of the digitally-enhanced beautiful mostly naked girl in front of her, pretending not to notice or wonder where or not the person sitting next to her is more intrigued with the person on the screen than they are with her.  This happens all the time, every day.  And most people pretend that it doesn't bother them.  The truth of the matter is that they probably don't even have to pretend anymore.  Our minds are so numb to these images, that people actually just think it's a part of life to let our eyes mingle on other people, enjoying too much about their sexuality.  When we have a Word that tells us that we can ask God to keep up away from evil.  Not to pry ourselves away from it when it comes our way, but that we can be numb to it in a brand new way.  Not the way that we're just so used to it, that it seems like a normal everyday thing.  But the fact that we won't want to look and try to distract ourselves.  That's where we need to be.  I've stopped watching a lot of shows the past couple of years, stopped reading certain magazines, and it's funny how I don't even miss them.  I like to dress up, look cute for my hubby, don't get me wrong.  But by doing all of that, it keeps me from trying to meet certain expectations, which on the outside NOW, I can see how pitiful and very sad almost ALL of it really is out there.  We should be standing up more against all of that than we have been.  I'm not saying to give up the fun tv family time, because Jesus was a storyteller Himself.  It's such an effective way of communicating; visuals and understanding someone else's life is sometimes easier than trying to figure out your own.  So just try to stop watching the time-passing shows and invest into one that you can learn from.  Don't give up your fashion and things that make you feel pretty (if you're a lady) or things that make you happy.  Just don't invest in the things that don't matter.  Especially in the long run.  That's all.  Really enjoy your life.  And if that means giving up stuff that never really satisfied you in the first place, then go for it!

-TK

Studio Time with 29:11

Help! I'm Lost

So fresh and so clean!  My little doggie is such a precious little part of our life; we love her so much.  I took her to get groomed yesterday, which took all day.  Didn't expect that.  But good things come to those who wait, and she really needed to get cleaned up.  The Works, for real.  I got to spend the day waiting around on her (since the appointment was out of town), reading books at the bookstore, having a nice relaxing lunch close by.  But it still didn't pass the time away as much as I needed, and I knew if I went to the mall I would spend money...  So that idea was out.  So I went to pick up our wedding rings that were being fixed, and I got lost.  I took the wrong exit, and thought I knew the area well enough to just keep going on the wrong exit, and still be able to find the jewelers...  Not so much.  It was awful.  I even had my gps with me, but it wasn't helping out too much.  Don't rely on those suckers, btw;)  So anyway.  FINALLY, after sitting around once I pulled over for a few minutes, quite upset, I asked God to help me.  Aha!  What an idea!  Buh.  Really?  I'm just now asking for His help?  As soon as I did, I was like, "Fine.  The gps won't show me how to get where I'm going, so I'm just gonna go find it myself."  And wouldn't you know it?  A few streets down was right where I needed to be!  Yay!  Hmmm.  Ask God for His help and He gives it?  Who would've thought?...  Wow.  We can all be that silly sometimes, right?  I couldn't believe I let myself get so upset and feel so helpless and then finally realized the Creator of the Universe obviously knows His way around.  Why not ask Him?  So let's not forget Him in little times of need as well as the big ones.

-Tara K

OK......Movin'......

Well, here's my first blog....and I'm crazy tryin' to move. I am so excited about 29:11's progress, and thank God for His Awesomeness, I finally found a place to live here in the Knoxville area where we are based. It's a big step too! I'm getting married in November so it's going to be our first "home" together. I found a place that looks just right. Oh, you don't even know details I guess as I have never blogged so you have never formally met me. Well...I'm getting married, but my fiance' is currently in Texas. (She'll move here after the wedding and DISNEY HONEYMOON!) So, want to pick a place together...which is hard since she's in Texas. Therefore, I go look at places...and take pictures or videos and then email them to Jenny (the greatest woman in the world) and then we talk about it. I'll have to put up pics when it gets all cozy. For now, before the furniture is shipped, it'll be my, a tv, an airmattress, and my black cat Gypsy, who you will meet soon enough.
Let me tell you 'bout the pic. I know I look crazy...because I am...I have so much packing to do, to get my stuff out of Tara and Justin's house and head to my other place....sooo much packing that i am stalling and typing my first blog!
I am so excited to meet each and every one of you and really appreciate your faithfulness in keeping up with The Plan. You know...He really does have a plan for you...and He is faithful...getting married is stressful...i didn't believe it when people told me...but there is just soo much involved. But I try to remember one of my favorite quotes, from a Caedmon's Call song that I LOVE called Table for Two. It says: "He can't plan the ends and not plan the means". So I know, that the Father has our back. I know that He has a perfect Plan for us. And I thank Him so much for giving me the most beautiful, talented, amazing, fiance' in the world!

Remember, that no matter how crazy stressed you are, no matter how much it feels like the world is closing in on you and you can't breather....The Lord is right there, with a flashlight and a snicker's bar ready to give you guidance and necessities!

:-) Good to meet you!!!

-Aaron Daniel

SURVIVAL & TEMPTATION: Choose to Love

I've lived here in Tennessee for almost 2 years now.  And I STILL don't have a TN Driver's License.  I've been here in temporary contracts (which I've done my whole career), so there was really no reason to jump the gun in thinking that I needed to finally switch my DL to TN.  But God hasn't told us to move from here, and now that I'm not on the temporary contract anymore, I guess it's finally that time.  And whoa.  What a process to get it all done.  Yeah...

Whatever.  Anyway, today I was reading about how to defeat temptations from the world; an extension of my temptations blog from a couple of days ago.  A friend of the world is not a friend of God.  In other words, don't love the things that God doesn't.  Sounds pretty simple, right?  Well how about this?  God will not be in the people of the world.  Getting deeper, eh?  And now for the last tid-bit.  By practicing righteousness, you WILL SEE GOD!  Meaning, the more we try to walk and live CONSTANTLY in His Spirit, and not of our own wants and desires, the more easily we will hear from God.  I want to hear from Him constantly, don't you?  Then life wouldn't seem so confusing all the time.  If we listen to him daily, hourly, by the minute, He will lead us in HIS direction.  And sometimes, He chooses to let us choose.  But I promise, even in those times when he lets us choose, He is gently telling us, by His Spirit, the right choice to make.

And for those of you out there who are skeptics of my God, get this:  The church doesn't even know what God is capable of.  Got that?  The church can seem to be, and sometimes really are, the biggest hypocrites of them all.  I know it, you know it, we all know it.  But don't let that get in your way of a crazy awesome relationship with Jesus, because by daily listening to Him, we WILL overcome.  We WILL become a better group of believers. We WILL strive for righteousness so that we might seek first His Kingdom.  You know just as well as I do that it's easy as pie to live and look out for ourselves first, before anyone else.  But the bible tells us to love your neighbor as yourself.  That's where we have trouble in the church, people.  And we all know that we can be those people at one time or another, or sometimes ALL THE TIME; we can be those people who cause others to stumble or to feel on guard as opposed to feeling loved first.  We all have a little piece inside of us for survival.  But that desire for survival should be used in a different way.  We are surviving!  We're living and breathing right here and now!  The survival we feel should be so that we have the ability to love each other all day long, to spread the Word and Good News wherever we go, surviving in the midst.

Bless you guys.  I love you so very much.  -Tara K

Cheese Eggs on Errand Day

Cheese eggs for dinner!  Welp.  It's been one of those days.  I have been workin' ever since I woke up this morning, and I'm still not done.  I know, I know.  I'm preachin' to the choir;)  But seriously, we need to say a little "thank you" to God for giving us tasks all day to do for His Glory, am I right?  And why not reward ourselves with a little cheese, and perhaps some eggs thrown in if you feel the need;)  Enjoy your life.  Enjoy your food, your errands, and most importantly, your company.  That's all I got for today.  Sometimes there's nothin' to say, except, "ENJOY TODAY!"

(P.s.  The dude-o in the pic-o... That's my hubby Justin.  He's the hero who made me these cheese eggs, and he's been workin' hard all day too!  What a man, what a man, what a man, what a mighty good man.)

On Those Tough Days

Yup.  I know it.  Sometimes life seems to really stink.  I had a pretty rough day yesterday.  Don't you feel... wait.  You know what?  I KNOW you feel this way sometimes-  Sometimes you just feel that everyone expects so very much out of you, but they don't give a rat's behind about you or how you're doing or if you day is going dandy.  Am I right, or what?  Yesterday was one of those days.  So on my way home from it all, I just asked Jesus to give me peace that passes all of my understanding, because I was DEFINITELY not understanding why I felt so used and run down.  I didn't even know what I was asking for except peace of mind.  But you know what he did?  He went above and beyond and just held me, right then and there, gave me an embrace, like He was right there in the car with me, hugging me like He would ever let me go.  And it felt so so real, so warm and tight, just like a hug is supposed to feel.  I didn't ask for that hug, but HE knew what I needed, not me.  Then shortly after, I remembered why God had put me into those situations that I've made commitments to.  It's all for reasons in His Great Plan to give me a hope and a future that is for my good.  Not just to get me by, but to give me life.  Life that He so willingly gave up.  He only got to be in His ministry for 3 years.  That was it.  And on top of that, He was only 33 when He died.  He hadn't lived an extremely long life, but just 1/4 of what we all wanna live to one day.  So from that, we KNOW deep down, that He has a greater plan for us.  So we just need to remember that in times of weakness and need.  God is good.  When?  ALL the time.

-Tara K

Free from all Evil

Did you know that we can be free of temptation?  Yup.  If we ask God to KEEP us from temptation, but just help us THROUGH it, but He can actually keep us completely from those desires!  Even free of those split-second trials of temptation.  He can keep us from those.  As in the Lord's Prayer, it says to keep us from evil so that we may not harm others, so that we may not cause others to stumble.  We have that opportunity, we have that lifetime available to us.  Jesus kept Himself from sin, and He was human here on earth, just like us!  Praise God!

Goin 2 Splash Country

This is my doggie, everyone!  She's a sweet little angel.  She wanted to say HI!

Well, anyhoo... We've had more family in town this weekend.  This time it's been my hubby's mom and niece.  We've had such a good time.  We have taken them all over the place, showing them the sites, and eating up all the good food in the area, of course.  We had to take them to this great thai place that we love.  If you haven't had thai food, you've gotta do it.  It's like Chinese food, but with a beautiful touch to it. Plus, it's much less sticky than Chinese food can be, although I love me some good sticky Chinese food when I can get my hands on it;)

Well, yesterday I had an experience I've never had before.  Last year I read this Joyce Meyer book, and she was telling stories of God asking her, a few instances in her life, to give a piece of jewelry to someone.  If I recall, He never even told her why to give it to them, He just said to simply give it.  I never really took much thought to it since God had never asked such a seemingly odd thing like that before;)  So anyway, I was at a restaurant last night, and this tall and beautiful hostess at the door would just not smile back at me; she just seemed so sad.  I didn't think too much of it b/c I didn't see her for a while later, but when I did, there she was with this look on her face.  All of a sudden, God said to give her my necklace.  Mind you, this was my favorite necklace, and on top of that, it was the necklace that I'd recently discovered that I'd lost.  I remember thinking, "God you gave this necklace back to me because I decided to make my family a little money by selling some of my jewelry on ebay."  How bout that, eh?  Now He was asking me to give it away!  ;)  I felt so weird about it too;  I didn't know what to say to her.  So I waited until no one was around her, an until my family was in the bathroom, etc.  I told her that it may sound weird to her, but that God had told me to give it to her for her to wear.  She said thank you, and smiled.  She smiled for the first time I'd seen her that entire night.  No telling what God will do with that dove-imprinted necklace, but it's all in His Plan.  I encourage you today to listen hard to God and what He wants you to do for others today.  I, in no way, wanted to brag to you about this story, but to testify through this story that God wants to use us in tiny little ways like that.  No telling what He will do with that situation, but it is something, huh?  Bless you guys, and Psalm 91!!!

-Tara K

This is the day that the Lord has made!  You wanna know what?  The world is absolutely beautiful.  Have you looked at it lately?  Especially in this time of the year.  (This hot sticky mess of a season is my favorite!  I guess it reminds me of home.)  I mean, look at the skies, a brand new painting every second when those clouds are making their way through to their new adventure.  Whether you live in the amazing landscape of Arizona, where you can see the "thumbprint of God," the incredibly white arctics of Alaska, or even here in the smokiest of The Smokies.  There is so much gorgeousness to see.  I wanna travel the world and see every little place there is.  We have an entire world to visit with even more people to see IN it!  Our life here on earth is endless!  Let's make the most of it.  This may sound silly to you, but I actually had a little cry today thinking of the day when my little baby dog might just pass away and leave us... and she's only 6 1/2 years old!  But I love her with all my heart, and so does her dad, gamma and gampa, and everyone else who sends her those cute little puppy outfits for her birthday!  ;)  Anyway, if I feel that about my little doggy, then think about how much Jesus loved actual PEOPLE a zillion times more than that!?  I really wanna be like that, don't you?  Have that kind of compassion that changes peoples' lives?  Well  anyhoo.  I pray this blesses you guys, and do something for me today:  Read up on Jabez's prayer today.  Ask God for the things Jabez asked for.  You might just notice a blessing coming your way;)

Heyah!

So today is the day.  The day of capturing.  'Capturing what,' you may say.  Well.  I can tell you this.  It's not the day of capturing an evil mouse in your house, or capturing criminals in the darkness of the night.  Nope.  Not that at all.  Today is the day of capturing video.  Yes.  I did say video.  I've spend my entire day in this room you see behind me capturing video.  I've been doing a lot of filming for friends and family lately, and now they're coming up all at the same time.  It's great though, really.  It's getting me the extra cash we need to 'get by,' and I get to help out some buddies in the process.  I've allowed myself a little time for a delicious lunch and also a little NYC Ballet workout in front of the tele just to help out with all that pasta that I scarfed down;)  But on a serious note, WHAT'S UP?  I love the feedback we've been getting on the blogs, guys!  So sweet of you to take time to let us know what you think!  I would actually like to hear even more of you daily!  Well, on an update, we've finished completely with the tracks, we're just waiting to get the glossed product back from the musicians, and then guess what?  We'll have music available on our site and on itunes for you to pick up!  Yay!  We'll start out with the first releases, so be lookin' for 'em.  Churches, let us know by emailing contact@2911ThePlan.com to let us know when you'd like to schedule a special event at your church.  We'll make it happen! Well guys, lookin' forward to talking to ya soon.  Keep us in your prayers, and let us know how we can pray for you too, ok?  You're very important to us!  -Tara KOh, yeah.  And about my last post... The one that said that "you learn something new everyday?"  Well, I've learned waaaay moooore than I ever wanna know about editing video today.  Wow.  My husband and all you other computer geeks, deserve a big hand!  God has definitely blessed you folks with something really amazing.  You just don't realize how hard what you do is to the "normal" folk. ;)  Blessings!  And remember Jeremiah 29:11.  No matter what you're going through today.  He has an amaaaaaazing plan for you!  He wants to bless us beyond our wildest dreams.  Let's get right with Him, and realize that He wants us to!  He loves us!   He loves us so very much!

Every Single Day, We Learn

Hey friends!  Today I went to work with my husband.  (He is the Worship Technology Director at a church here in Tennessee.)  To keep you from reading a long blog with details that don't pertain to my story, why I came to work with him today is irrelevant.  Perfectly understandably, however irrelevant.  So anyhoo, I'm sitting here in this gorgeous sanctuary, learning to play bass guitar (even though I haven't completely mastered the acoustic guitar just yet), and I just realized, once again, that there is never anything that we can't learn.  Endless possibilities, ya know?  I mean, think about how much we can accomplish before we leave this earth.  Every day we should be learning something new.  You never know when it just might make someone's day, or better yet, turn their life to our best friend, Jesus!  Plus, isn't it great to feel that awesome sense of accomplishment whenever you conquer something, big or small?  My little finger tips are on fire most days because I'm trying to be a better guitar player, and my fingernails have to be kept cut so short (at least on my left hand) in order to play, but you know what?  It's so worth it, b/c anytime I wanna just sit and be with God, and just say thank you through song to Him, I can.  And the harder I work, the more fun it is for the both of us to have different songs and styles to worship with.  So I just wanna take this day to encourage you to learn something you didn't know before.  Big or small; learn something about someone, or about yourself.  Or even how to do something.  Just do something new and different.  God bless you guys!  And always keep your mind open and colorful to new things because remember-  God created all things!  We were ALL created in His image.  So when you see someone totally on the different end of the spectrum than you, they are a little piece of God!  Adios, my dear amigos!  -Tara K

So today is my ebay day.  I'm trying to get rid of our extra stuff, mainly Coca Cola Collectibles, today on ebay.  I forgot how much time that takes.  Like all stinkin day, how bout that?  ;)  Anyway.  My computer time is about spent, but I just wanted to say hi to everyone and to let you in on a little bit of my bible study for the day.  I've finally gotten around to reading the Prayer of Jabez, and am doing the bible study to it.  It's a great reminder of how much our God wants to bless us.  I encourage you to read that sometime soon.  God wants to bless us more than we can possibly imagine.  He's not a legalistic God.  Sure, He wants us to do what He asks of us, but the reasoning behind it is not to condemn us, end of story.  It is to bring us closer to Him.  He wants to bless us beyond our wildest dreams, protect us not only from the evil in this world, but even the temptation that comes along with living amongst the prince of darkness.  Living in His Spirit, temptation can just pass us on by without us even knowing it was there.  That's how powerful God is.  He wants us to rule and reign for His glory!  God bless you guys, and I'll talk to ya soon.  Adios, Tara K

Family Visit

So my mom and dad came to visit this weekend. We had the best time. We went flea market shopping for the day on Sunday. Yes. I did say, flea market shopping. And you know what? We had the best time, and I really enjoyed it. I enjoyed it so much that I'm going back again sometime. I absolutely loved it. I'm a trinkets sort of girl, and who would've thought I would find my style treasures in flea markets? Not me, if that's what you think. Oh but I have changed my mind. So great. The people are so funny too. They're out there selling, sometimes outside in the heat of the day, and it's just so cool to talk to 'em. I talked with Cindy, who sold me her and her mom's earrings. So much fun. Thanks to ya, Cindy! I'm really enjoying my stuff, girlie. Oh, and I also got these cute little butterfly teacups. Love 'em. They're adorable. Anyway...

And to everyone else who has never been flea market shopping. Give it a lil try. I loved it!

me & my mom

test