Hey guys….hope you all have had a wonderful season leading up to Christmas this Friday. I think after our last singing the last weekend of November our group “blew up” in about 5 different directions to handle all kinds of stuff. Marty and Jess welcomed this break since they were both director’s of their respective church’s Christmas programs. Wasn’t able to be at either, but talked at length to both earlier this week and they went off wonderfully. I’ll probably get shot if I don’t add here that both guys were “co-director’s” I believe and shared those responsibilities with their wives and (in Marty’s case) I think perhaps a couple of other folks as well. Don’t want to get angry emails from folks who gave blood, sweat, and tears with no recognition! Scott wore out a song in the Christmas program where he, Darrell, and I attend…great job boss as always. I wore a very festive Christmas sweater and sang in the choir (which is like a front row seat to watching all the hard working kids and parents). I know I’ve harped on this over and over, but I absolutely LOVE this time of the year…the songs, the decorations, the “feeling” in the air…it is infectious. I love going back and day-dreaming of the way it would have been here on Earth some 2000 years ago when Jesus was born. What did the star look like? Who were the kings who came? It’s all mind-boggling to me. God’s son came to earth in the form of a baby to save the world…Jesus was here while his Father watched (in agony I am sure) for over 30 years as he suffered shame while bringing peace, love, and joy. I passed a car the other day with the old bumper sticker “No Jesus, no peace….know Jesus, know peace”. Always kind of chuckled and moved on, but seeing it at this time of year when my senses are heightened to the realization of Jesus’ ministry here…it just sent a chill through me. Know Jesus and you will know peace that passes all understanding, but have no Jesus and you truly will have no peace….ever. What a gift to receive this Christmas if you don’t have the peace I’m talking about. Go to Luke in your Bible and read the story of the shepherds and wise men as they sought Him…and seek him yourself. It’s the one gift that you will never return.
Can’t go much further without mentioning that Marty has once again eclipsed my Christmas light display effort. I just can’t compete with his brash willingness to hang a strand of lights anywhere…and he works on his masterpiece for weeks. Me…I devote a weekend (usually just a Saturday) from lunch until about 1:00am and get the house lit up. This year we added a second tree to the house to celebrate finishing a room over our garage (that we started working on over 8 years ago). Marty on the other hand has like 5 trees in his house…got some catching up to do even inside the house. Marty…I wave the white flag and give you the Called Out Quartet Christmas Light Display Grand Award yet for the 6th or 7th year in a row (basically since Called Out Quartet has been in existence). Maybe next year…unlikely….
Speaking of next year…want to get this past year in the books (so to speak) and start focusing on next year. 2009 was tough for the quartet, but even in that we had many blessed times and got to know some awesome folks in a very special way. Steve Barbour and Eric Melton both spent some short stints with the group and we thank them and the good Lord for bringing them our way when He did. The Lord had reasons for all the challenges we endured this past year and we are taking what we learned and are applying it to being stronger in faith in 2010. One area I (for one) failed miserably in was praising God during difficult times. Sure…easy to do on the mountain, tough in the valley. God is good, has been good, and will be good for all eternity…and I am just now starting to grasp it fully. Sure 2009 was challenging, but we grew in many ways and now find ourselves stronger and better than ever before. We are ready for 2010 and looking very forward to getting out there and doing new and exciting things. We appreciate your patience with us as we endured the loving hand of the Potter as He worked us like clay…and your prayers have been felt and were much of what guided us through to where we are now. So where are we now? Well..for one thing we are back on track and looking for opportunities to come sing. We’ve dabbled in booking agents and we’ve tried other ways of getting our name out, and haven’t really been pleased with any of those efforts. We are now going to rely on you guys to help us get to places where we need to go. If you’ve had us in the past and want us back….call, email, send Pony Express…do whatever. We want to come back and are ready to book as I type. If you know of a place for us to go….call them and let them know who we are and what we are about. Folks tell us all the time they have places for us to go sing, then usually either we drop the ball or we never hear back…now is the time for us all to fix that. Send them here to our website, shoot them an email, or give them a call and get them our info. One thing most folks don’t know is that we had very detailed information on all the churches we sang at…names, address, phone numbers…the whole shooting match. Then in September of 2008 we had our van broken into and my backpack was stolen…which included that book of info and the backup of that information on my laptop. All that info is gone, so there are several churches we would love to return to and have no idea how to contact them. So if you’ve thought we didn’t want to return…not the case, we just don’t have your information anymore if we did not sing at your church in 2009. Pretty soon our main man Marty is going to gut the site and make it better than ever. We will play clips from the new “Live in Nashville” CD and have new pics available. Got ideas for us? Email is the pipeline…shoot us your thoughts and we will all pray about doing whatever is in God’s will for Called Out Quartet in 2010. Too often we have found ourselves worrying and wondering…well I think we have had enough of that and are now ready to focus on singing and doing His will…we’ll let the Lord have all the stuff we worry about…just like He tells us to do (we just don’t always listen very well). 2010 is going to be an awesome year for not only us, but you guys as well…hang on and get ready for an awesome ride!
One more quick thing while people are in the Christmas mood…not long after Christmas trees and wreaths are being put away we are going to head into the studio (good Lord willing…still praying about the financial side, but like I said before…no worries in 2010!) and work on a Christmas CD. The reason I am bringing this up now is that lots of churches plan out their yearlong calendar’s in January and though November and December 2010 is a year away…in some places it’s not too early to be talking about schedules and such. So…our tentative plan right now is in November and December of 2010 to do a Christmas tour (of sorts) and focus more on the songs from our soon to be new Christmas CD. So…if you’d like to set a date for us to come and do Christmas music….we would love to talk about it. For years folks have told us that if we do a Christmas CD that they will book us for a special date like that…so here you go! Let us know what you think and help us get November and December booked up!
Whew…think I covered all my bases finally! It’s been a long time and I appreciate all the fine folks who stopped me at the mall, at church, or sent gentle emails asking about the updates. They weren’t gone by any means…just on hiatus I guess. Will endeavor to leave you guys hanging no more. We love and appreciate you all VERY much and wish you and your families the Merriest of Christmases and the Happiest of New Years…and as Tiny Tim said in the Charles Dickens classic…”God bless us….every one”….
Jess, Scott, Darrell, Marty and me (Von)
