Thank You, Thank You, Thank You!

Words cannot express how thankful we are for your overwhelming response to Sam’s JDRF funny car design. Not only did you show up but you blew it out of the water. Sam raised the most money coming in at $6801. Even better, the whole contest raised over $84,000! UNREAL! Now remember Ford picks the winner out of the top five, so we have to wait and see. It was awesome to watch! Sam was barely in the top five and then, just like Rocky, he made a comeback!

So, as a reward for yall’s awesomeness, here is a new Cover Tune Grab Bag that seems quite fitting. Once again thank you so much and God bless!

-bart

Hello friends and slobbers. It has been a while since I have posted one of these, which I suppose is a good thing because that means I have not been on any planes lately. Well, I am flying home after a 10 day run, so needless to say, I cannot wait to land. It has been an amazing 10 days, but Daddy needs to get home! 

OK, so here is my rant…the first come, first serve seating on a certain airline. Now some people may enjoy the “jockeying” that takes place on these type of flights, but I hate it! If I am gonna pay the astronomical price to fly, I would at least like to have an assigned seat. Maybe it is just me, but when you are my size, you do not want to be stuck in the dreaded middle seat. Or even better, when you get a good seat and the one next to you is open. What a great feeling! You seriously feel like you got away with something. All of a sudden your worst fears come true as that last guy comes stumbling onto the plane right before they close the doors. As he slowly makes his way through the plane looking for an open seat, your prayer life kicks into high gear. “Please God not next to me. I will do anything. Go to Africa as a missionary…anything.” Then to add insult to injury, as soon as he realizes the only seat is next to me, he rolls his eyes as if - am putting him out! Does he not know I am the victim here? Man I am getting all fired up just thinking about it! 

Well I feel like it is my duty to share with you ways to avoid this ever happening to you. There are several ways to pursuade the late passenger to avoid the open seat beside you. Here are just a few. 

A couple of things to remember…I am normally traveling with the rest of the band, and we will usually take the window and aisle seats, so we are able to tag team whoever may consider sitting between us. Advantage: MercyMe. 

One simple trick is to simply place your carry on in the middle seat as if that person may be in the restroom or something. This may work, but the flight attendant usually shuts that one down pretty quickly. 

Another good one is when both of us will lift the armrests and spread out as much as possible and pretend we are asleep. This gives the late passenger about a 4 inch opening to try and squeeze in their seat. This works about 85% of the time which is not too shabby.

My personal favorite, and Jim Bryson is the best at this, is to really mess your hair up and stare at the passengers boarding the plane just a little cross-eyed without blinking. This always works because there is a universal law that nobody ever wants to sit next to crazy! 

Ok so there you have it. I hope this little rant proves helpful on your next flight. God Bless You and God Bless America.

-bart

For my contribution to “The 40 Day Fast” at InspiredToAction.com, I’d like to take another minute to talk about Imagine A Cure and JDRF (Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation).

One of the hardest things I have ever gone through was when my oldest son, Sam, was diagnosed with juvenile diabetes at the age of two. I will never forget the day the doctor told me that my son had an incurable disease. My heart broke into a million pieces. Nothing hurts greater than when something happens to your family. I have never felt so helpless than when my son wants me to “fix” it, and all I can do is hold him and say, “I’m sorry”. Or at least I thought that was all I could do.

We have since started an organization called “Imagine A Cure” and it is my greatest desire to find a cure for my son. “Imagine A Cure” financially supports cutting edge organizations like JDRF (Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation) who are determined to work themselves out of a job by finding a cure. Not only are we trying to make a difference financially, but more importantly we are trying to make a difference through prayer, and we need your help. If you are able to give financially then praise God, but all of my fellow believers can pray. And that is exactly what I am asking you to do.

Pray for the hearts and minds of the scientist and doctors trying to find a cure. Pray for everyone who is experiencing this terrible disease first hand. Pray that God find greater glory through a cure. And, at the risk of sounding selfish, pray for my family. Pray for Mommy and Daddy to be patient with this “new normal.” Pray for Sam’s health. And more than anything else pray that, regardless of a cure, God be glorified through Sam’s life.

Last week I mentioned that Sam was entered in a contest to raise money for JDRF by designing the paint job for a racecar. First off thank you so much for those that have helped with Sam’s car. Your giving has left my family in awe. Also let me say that all of your messages you have left for Sam has kept me in tears. My wife has printed out every one of them knowing it is something Sam will appreciate for years to come.

All of this to say, we are so close! The top 5 cars go to Ford for them to pick the final design. As I am typing this, Sam is in 6th place. Winning the chance to be on a racecar is pretty cool, but watching the donations go up all across the board is extremely exciting! THE RACE IS ON!!!!  The contest goes until July 31st so there is still time to donate.

Regardless who wins the car design, everyone with juvenile diabetes is winning as we raise more and more money for a cure! So please, please, please consider giving for this cause today. I have said it before, and I will say it again, my greatest desire is to find a cure for my son, so forgive me for asking for your support once more, but I have a pretty good feeling that you understand.

Click on this link to help. Thank you and God bless.

-bart

Alright SLOB’s here’s the deal.  We need your help.  See that right there?  That is a terrible SLOB logo.  After all this is the “Spectacular League Of Bloggers” right?  We need something epic.  Something that says, “we are a force to be reckoned with”.  ”We are SLOBS”.

Now we know that there are plenty of talented people out there in SLOB-land so we are coming to you.  Help us design the SLOB logo.  You have been asking for shirts, but without a logo we can’t have shirts.  

So this is your challenge.  Design a “Spectacular League Of Bloggers” logo and send it to imaslob@mercyme.org.  We will take a look at all of the submissions and depending on how many we get we will choose, and put a handful of them on the blog for you all to vote on.  Make sense?  

Send your “SLOB” designs to imaslob@mercyme.org and be the one to design our official SLOB logo.

-mm

Submitted By:  Barbara Marshall

Thanks so much for coming to Phoenix to play you guys are awesome.  Bart my son also has Juvenile Type 1 Diabetes and I found out yours did by the t-shirt you wore in this picture.  How can I get one of those shirts I would love one and so would my son.

Shaumburg, IL…ahhh the Newsboys…what can you say. They’re always amazing live and seriously…Paul Colman could be one of my favorite people on planet earth. Aussie Aussie Aussie…..

-mike

Walking to go see The Dark Knight today in Schaumburg, IL, Jim and I ran into an old friend from our childhood….LEGOMAN!!! Who doesn’t love leogs?!?!