A few weeks ago my Pastor gave each person in chuch that day some cash (I got $5). The idea was to use it to make a difference in someone's life - to have maximum impact! So after much thought and prayer, my wife and I decided to give those funds to "The Mocha Club" - a ministry that helps those in need in Africa. The whole idea behind the Mocha Club is that you don't have to have a whole lot of money to make a difference - the cost of two mochas each month can help change a life in Africa today.

If you would like to join the Mocha Club team I created, click here.  It goes to benefit orphaned children in Africa.

Between now and early December, there is SO much going on in our lives.  I wanted to share some of it with you, so you can pray.  And because you're our friends. 

We are very thankful for all God is doing in our lives.

So...here goes:)

The K-LOVE Morning Show is moving from California to Indiana!  Now in case that confuses you because you thought we lived right there in your town...

We are actually at the EMF main headquarters in Rocklin, California.

EMF (the Educational Media Foundation) is the parent ministry of K-LOVE and our sister station, Air 1. Both morning shows on K-LOVE and Air 1 originate from California for the entire nation.

So here's the deal...

In order to be heard on the east coast at 6am, we have to start at 3am Pacific time.  Since I joined the morning show in March, my family has had to do a lot of adjusting so I can get up very, very early. With a 1 & 2 year old, you can imagine how interesting life has been at our house:)

We are so thankful.  Because of the generous support of our listeners, God opened an amazing door for EMF to purchase a radio station in Indianapolis for K-LOVE -- 101.9 FM, complete with great studio facilities!  This now gives EMF two primary locations in America--California and Indiana.

Having some of our staff in Indiana will make it easier for us to be at more events all over the country.  We're really excited about the chance to be at more K-LOVE concerts and events.  Maybe we'll get to meet you and your family someday!  We would like that:)

You shouldn't hear a change at all.

But OUR life will get a little more normal and we'll get to spend more time with our families in the evenings; This is a giant blessing to us!  We're so thankful to work for a ministry that cares so much for its listeners AND its employees.

Being in Indiana will be great for my family, since it puts us much closer to my husband's family in Illinois (the grandparents are THRILLED), and we'll only be a day's drive from my family in Louisiana. It is the same blessing for Eric and Julie's extended family in Chicagoland.

So, so, so many demands and details come with a move! Combine that with the holidays, and you can guess how we are doing:) If you've ever moved, you know!! Thank you SO MUCH for your prayers during the transition. Between now and early December, we'll be packing, shipping, moving, and setting things up in our new homes and studios.

Leaving friends and our amazing churches in California is really tough, but we believe we are following God's leading.

And we believe God is getting ready to pour through EMF to reach more and more people in America! The world needs the good news that Jesus is alive, that God has a plan for their lives, and that there is more to life than just living and dying.  Christians need encouragement to stay strong and grow.

Thank you for your love, prayers and support for this mission.

Life is an adventure!
God rocks!
Pray for us!

in Christ,
Lisa

 

"You're here to be light, bringing out the God-colors in the world. God is not a secret to be kept. We're going public with this, as public as a city on a hill. If I make you light-bearers, you don't think I'm going to hide you under a bucket, do you? I'm putting you on a light stand. Now that I've put you there on a hilltop, on a light stand—shine! Keep open house; be generous with your lives. By opening up to others, you'll prompt people to open up with God, this generous Father in heaven." Matthew 5:14-16 The Message

Click here to see Eric's flaming birthday porcupine cupcake of happiness, and the smoke aftermath:)

Happy Birthday Eric!

We pray you have an amazing year!

Lisa, Amy, Dan, Producer David, and Lisa T :)

K-LOVE's fall pledge drive starts tomorrow!

This past weekend I did something I had not done in years - I went fishing.  It was part of a kid's fishing derby our local town was doing.  I'll admit that even though I have a father who loves to fish, I have never been too fond of it.  But this was an opportunity to do something with my son Evan - especially since he has never been fishing.  So there I was baiting hooks and casting with limited success with my son.  After about 10 minutes we caught a tiny little fish (see picture below).  Unfortunately, that was the only fish we caught Saturday morning, although the fish were very well fed by the amount of worms I kept passing their way.  Alas, my son seemed to take more after his dad than grandpa - after an hour and a half he was asking if we could go home to play Legos.  

Producer David Fountain takes your calls at 800-900-1300, Amy Baumann has news updates twice an hour from her Ohio studios, and Lisa & Eric drink coffee, talk on the phone, and laugh a lot.  (Not pictured:  Dan Dillard who covers news in Denver from 6-9am local time; Lisa Torres who answers your questions when you write to the morning show.)

And we can't forget Momma!  Lisa's Momma calls in almost every morning from Shreveport, Louisiana, with wisdom, commentary on the day's news, or funny stories from Lisa's childhood.  She always reminds us to "stay close to God".

We are SO thankful we get to spend our mornings with you, playing music, hearing your stories, keeping you informed, laughing, praying, thinking and sharing life together!

Pray for Rush of Fools! Their RV "Black Beauty" is no more. So their first K-LOVE free concert has been postponed one day. See the schedule below. And say some prayers for Rush of Fools; they've had a rough weekend on the road with all the RV problems. GOD BLESS YOU RUSH OF FOOLS!! We love ya:) Lisa and Eric

 

We loved having Rush of Fools on the show this past Thursday. They're a lot of fun, really real, really talented.

 

Hopefully one of these FREE K-LOVE concerts with Rush of Fools will be close enough for you to enjoy!
 
CHANGE!!  instead of Monday, it's Tuesday Sept 1 now at First Baptist Church, Chandler, AZ 7pm !
Wed, Sept. 2 Desert Springs Church, Albuquerque, NM  6:30pm
Thurs, Sept. 3   Calvary Chapel (South), Littleton, CO 7pm
Fri, Sept. 4  Bethany Lutheran Church, Elkhorn, NE 7pm
Mon, Sept. 7 Olivet Baptist Church, Wichita, KS   7pm
Wed, Sept. 9 Life Church, Olathe, KS  6:30pm

 

My 8-year-old son Evan LOVES baseball, so when his favorite team the Chicago White Sox was going to be playing in nearby Oakland this weekend (we live outside of Sacramento), we had to go.  I bought great seats online for a super cheap price - the seats were front row near the Sox bullpen.  Evan got to say hi to a number of the ballpayers and some of the coaches gave him bubblegum and baseball cards.  He got an autograph from one of the players too.  I tried to explain to him, that this kind of stuff usually doesn't happen when you go to a game.  And then in the bottom of the first inning I got a foul ball!  I've gone to ballgames all of my life and never came close to getting a baseball.  One inning into the game and we had experienced all of these things we never have at a baseball game.

And then things went up a notch - I saw MC Hammer at the game!  How surreal is that?  We determined that every story we ever told would be much more interesting if we ended it "... and then I saw MC Hammer".  Try it.  It's fun!

 Evan with the foul ball ...

 ... and old school pic of MC Hammer

When complete strangers say, "I wouldn't go in there ... we're guys and we won't even use it", it wasn't a real comfort to my wife who was in desperate need of a restroom.  We were on our way home from Spirit West Coast Monterey, stuck in traffic with very few options when I spotted a gas station.  The joy of finding a place to stop was quickly tempered when we learned the gas station had no public restrooms, but instead had two port-a-potties - one of which was locked and the other one came with the disclaimer from the two strangers.  But then someone else told us, "hey, they are not that bad - they were just hosed down".  Not cleaned, mind you - "hosed down"!  Somehow that didn't make my wife feel better.

God bless my father-in-law, who was also traveling with us, because he did his best to strategically place those brown paper towels to make the bathroom in a box a bit more useable.  Meanwhile, I'm snapping pictures and twittering them.  Thankfully my wife has an amazing sense of humor and was able to laugh at the craziness of the situation.  I think she was also just thankful that we found somewhere to stop, too. 

Being thankful for little things like finding a bathroom and the ability to laugh at having to use a grotesque port-a-pottie, are small perspective builders and remind us that things could be a whole lot worse.  You see, not 10 minutes later, the car my wife was driving was rear-ended by a driver not paying attention, causing a three-car crash.  Thank God no one was seriously hurt.  As we analyzed all aspects of the accident, we realized a few small things here or there could have made the accident much worse.  Scary bad. Makes having to use a nasty bathroom not seem like such a big deal.