Dear Reader,
I want you to know that even when I don't write in my blog, I'm still thinking about you. It's true. But sometimes, thinking is all I do and I can't drag my sore, feverish, coughing body to the computer to write to you. Even though I have soooo much to tell you.
OK, enough excuses. Here's what's up. -
I have my fabulous sideboard now! Remember me telling you about the carpenter that I met who set about to build me a sideboard? He made it from German oak and walnut and even made the drawer pulls out of slate squares that we used on the floors. And then he set on top, exactly how I wished, a squirmy, twisted plum tree. I've put up the picture so that you can see for yourself how it turned out. He, Frank Roth, is an artist. And a perfectionist. And I am honored beyond words that he would take time out from his family to make this gorgeous piece. I will cherish it for the rest of my life.
Last weekend I served on the jury of the Werte Awards (Values Awards) in Schwäbisch Gmünd. This is an award that is given every two years to people who have served God and others selflessly either through volunteer work, projects, or courageous actions in everyday life. During the process of familiarizing myself with the various candidates, I was required to read through about 35 heart-wrenching bios. People who have opened their homes and their lives, and given generously to total strangers and embraced the unlovely. Honestly, this was one of the most humbling experiences I have ever had. I don't know what made me qualified to judge these people. Next to these Ambassadors of Compassion , I am a pauper.
The big news of the day: today, this very day, the graphics were finished for the CD booklet of "Inner Sanctum". Bernd Hartwig, the graphic artist, has stayed awake for the most part of the last 2 nights putting the finishing touches on the booklets. And I love the results!
This means, barring any unforeseen glitches at the press, we will have the new CD with us for the Christmas concerts.
We're scheduled to have our first Christmas concert rehearsal with Florian, who has been crazy busy with Söhne Mannheims, on Friday. We will then get the final set list put together and work out an arrangement or two. We are tremendously excited to be premiering several of the songs from the new album. Hope you like them!
I've been busy every evening making new Lifelines for you. I want to have a nice selection with me at the Christmas concerts. This week I've been making a lot of black Lifelines, simply because that's how it felt inside my head. Black! I HATE being sick. (I don't know anyone who enjoys it) In my mind though, I was just busy building antibodies to give me immunity from all the creepy crawly little flu bugs that seem to be everywhere right now. I hope YOU are staying well.
Luke is in the office while I'm writing this blog, listening to various Mozart recordings. He has decided that he appreciates Mozart's order and clarity of composition. I couldn't have said it better myself. And I studied music for 100 years!

I promised to tell you when ERF got the video of the ERF Gala up on the internet. You can find it at : http://erf.de/index.php?PHPSESSID=o7r7ctncgj8sgc4kvblf7o5sq7&node=4806&content_item=4#4806/4

We sing at 57:12 "The Prayer" from our new album INNER SANCTUM.
And at 71:55 We sing a little medley of two old Billy Graham favorites, "What a Friend we Have in jesus" and "Blessed Assurance".
I don't know how long the video will stay there on their site, so if you want to watch it, you might need to go ahead and do that.
You can see my hands shaking!

Maya and Domenico

I just finished reading my very first GERMAN book all the way through from front to back!!! Yes, folks, it has taken me more than 20 years to finally tackle a novel in German. The novel in question is the 5th in a series of youth novels about a young couple, Maya and Domenico. "Schatten der Vergangenheit". Shadow of the Past. Do you know what a youth novel is? It's a story that is written in a style and about situations that youth- in this case 17 to 18- year old young people, can relate to. Since I haven't read the first 4 books in the series, I don't know the history of this young couple. But in this book, Domenico, a chain-smoking, drug-using, rehab-jumping, hot-blooded hunk, wants to find his father, an Olympic gold-medal winning athlete who lives in Norway. He is accompanied by his long-time girlfriend, Maya. She is a good and generous girl who could be a poster girl for "Women Who Love Too Much". But, hey, they complete each other. She needs him to take care of, and he needs her to take care of him. So, they make a slightly dysfunctional entity ready to take on all the problems that the world throws at this age of teens.
Yes, I read the whole book! All by myself and without a dictionary. So, I think that means that I now have the functioning vocabulary of a 17-year old German.
You may wonder why I chose this as my first ever novel in German. The answer is simple. I am in the book!!!!
A man who works for Brunnen Verlag, the publishing company of the book, wrote me praising a song on my album, "Petrographs". He crowned "Flügel" the best Christian pop song of 2008- or something like that. He said such lovely things. :)
A while later, he informed me that he had played the song for the author of the book, Susanne Wittpennig and she found that it fit the story she was writing so well that she wanted to incorporate it into the action. While Domenico is in Norway, he discovers he has a musical half-brother who just happens to be a Christian, and they become very close. This half-brother plays "Flügel" for Maya and Domenico while they read the lyrics which are actually printed on page 248. And they compliment the singer (that would be me). At the end of the book, there is even a page about me, with a link to my homepage and to this blog!
I must admit, it was the search for my song and my name that made me start reading the book. But I eventually got sucked into the drama and couldn't put it down.
And now? Will Maya and Domenico find a way to stay together? Will Maya be a help to her father and mother, who has been diagnosed with cancer? Will Domenico stay in contact with his new found family?
Stay tuned for Volume 6 of the Maya and Domenico saga.