Tennessee

We have performed at a few different churches in Tennessee and have went there the last couple years. 

Whenever we go to Tennessee, we have a church that allows us to stay there. This is nice because it saves us the money of having to pay for a hotel for the time that we are there. We typically take air mattresses and it works out nicely. So, if anyone from that church happens to read this, thanks for letting us stay there! 

The first year or two of going to Tennessee Andrew went with us. We then took a Heaven's Handful puppeteer named Ceyona with us when Andrew was unable to go. This past year, we did something different and Heaven's Handful actually went there with us. This was the first bigger mission trip type thing that we did with them. 

Ephesians 4:11-13 ESV 

And he gave the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the shepherds and teachers, to equip the saints for the work of ministry, for building up the body of Christ, until we all attain to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to mature manhood, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ." (http://www.openbible.info/topics/ministry)

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Branson

For years we would go to Branson, Missouri simply for a vacation. However, as of lately, we have expanded our ministry into Branson as well. 

In Branson, we perform at a few of the different nursing homes. Like in many of the nursing homes we perform at, the residents seem to enjoy our being there. We typically get pretty good feedback from the residents. We even get to have some fun and interesting conversations with some of the workers. We have even been told while at one of the nursing homes that the doors will always be open for us there. 

Maybe we will one day be able to get into churches or other locations in Branson. But until then, I am glad that we are able to show God's Love to the few different nursing homes we have performed in there. 

Matthew 5:16 "Let your light shine before men in such a way that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father who is in heaven."  (http://bible.knowing-jesus.com/topics/Witnessing,-Approaches-To)

 

Note to Readers:

I really appreciate anyone out there who is even still reading my posts. When I chose this topic, I thought that it would work out well because puppetry is such a big part of my life. However, as I am trying to write all of these blog posts, I realized that trying to stretch this over 31 days may not have been the best idea. So many of my daily topics are sounding redundant and not needed. Let alone, some of them have been ridiculously short just because I don't know what to say that isn't going to sound just like the post I posted previously. However, I am really not sure what else to write about that still fits my theme. So, thank you to anyone who has stuck this out with me. 

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Kentucky

Let's try and get back on track with where I wanted this series to go. Life has still been crazy, but I was at least a semi-okay post for today. So, let's see where this goes. 

Our Kentucky trips are pretty great. We get to fellowship with Anointed Hearts quite a bit.We also get to see other family that lives in the area. So, there is many opportunities for us to get to see and fellowship with people that we don't get to see very often. 

Anointed Hearts sometimes get to perform with us while we are there. Some of the group have even went with us to some of the nursing home performances there and watched the shows. Those occasions were always nice because we got to share another part of our ministry with them that they typically did not get to see. 

When we go to Kentucky, we go to a couple different nursing homes each year. The workers are super sweet and caring. The residents all seem to really enjoy the show we bring to them. We also get to perform at a number of different churches. Like at the nursing homes, the people at the churches are super nice and they also seem to enjoy our shows. Well, in my opinion they seem to enjoy it. I guess I don't actually know for sure. 

Mark 16:15 (NIV)

¹⁵ He said to them, “Go into all the world and preach the gospel to all creation.

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West Virginia

Note to Readers:

I am going to be up front and honest with this right now. It is getting late and I am super tired. However, I do not want to just not post. So, I am going to write up my post, post it, and if later I think of something else to add, I will edit this post. Just thought would let you guys know in case you ever came back later and something had changed. Because at the moment, this post is looking to be pretty short.

Whenever Anointed Hearts moved to Kentucky, we branched out our ministry further. We made it all the way to West Virginia even. 

One of our trips to West Virginia is one of the most memorable things that has happened for our ministry. My great grandma had passed away shortly before our trip. Her funeral was scheduled for the weekend that we were supposed to be in West Virginia. We let my dad decide whether or not he wanted to miss the funeral and go to West Virginia or if he wanted to stay for the funeral and miss the West Virginia portion of our trip. My dad said that his grandma would want us to go to West Virginia, so we actually missed her funeral. Anyways, the show that Sunday was absolutely amazing. We basically had three different alter calls throughout the show and three different people came to know the Lord. It is just crazy to think of what could have happened for the people that the show affected if we had chosen to instead stay for the funeral and cancel the show. 

Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good;
his love endures forever.1 Chronicles 16:34  NIV (http://dailyverses.net/worship)

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Traveling to the Shows

Once the shows are planned, it is time for actually getting to our shows. There are a few different things to consider here. 

The first thing is how to actually get all of our materials into the vehicle. We have to get a stage, all of our puppets, all of the props, any lights we are using (blacklight or others), stage curtains, whatever we are using for sound, any luggage we may need if it is an overnight trip, as well as any other things we may need for a particular show. Sometimes, fitting all of that into our minivan can be challenging (however, it is easier to fit it all their than when we tried to fit everything into a car!). While we have all tried to help some, my mom is the main one involved in packing. Actually, she has a certain way of packing everything, so if we put something in differently, she typically unpacks it to put it in how she knows it fits. Nursing home shows are typically easier to pack for simply because there is less that goes into them. Obviously, the picture below is not for a nursing home show.

After everything is packed, we get to get on the road. While traveling, we sometimes listen to the show(s) that we will be performing. This gives us extra time to hear the music and to practice. Well, practice as well as we can while in the van. Practicing is fun in a vehicle though. It is fun to see if you get looks from other vehicles if you are practicing lip sync where they can see. With props, all you can really do is lift your hand up. So, it isn't the same as practicing with the props, but it is better than nothing. Whenever we aren't listening to music to practice, we are typically listening to either Christian music or Adventures in Odyssey. 
Some people, when traveling, make stops every couple of hours. We, on the other hand, are not very frequent stoppers. If someone needs to make a stop, they need to mention it to the driver, and we will stop. But if no one mentions anything, we typically keep on driving. 

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Proverbs 16:9 (NIV)

⁹ In their hearts humans plan their course,
    but the Lord establishes their steps.

Whether you are traveling or you are just going through life, the above verse is important to remember. You may plan how you want things to go, but it is God who really decides where He wants you to go. If the Lord doesn't want you to do something, then He more than likely won't make it easy, if even possible, for you to do. 

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