Journal entry for: 2-24-2001

Hello Everyone,

      I'm sitting here in a hotel somewhere outside of Oklahoma City. We left yesterday morning for the first big leg of our Spring tour. We're meeting up with Caedmon's in a little less than a week, and until then we've got some shows of our own, which will be fun. This trip is celebrated with the maiden voyage of our new trailer! We have gotten pretty much back on our feet completely, and it is amazing. God has been so good, and through your kindness, for the most part. Thank you so much.

      Leaving yesterday was about the hardest it's ever been, though. We've been off for long enough that we were able to settle into some semblance of a "real life" and it was not easy to leave our friends and family for such a long time. Please continue to pray for us and our loved ones as we try to continue to care for our relationships through cell phones and satellites.

      Early in January one of my good friends from back home, Bobes, came down to Nashville to visit me for a few days. As he was leaving we spent some time in prayer for eachother. One of his prayers was that we would learn to really hate sin. I remember being pretty stunned by that thought. God has been very faithful in answering it, though, and I have continued to pray that for me, and the people around me. It has been surprising to me as God has been revealing to me just how much sin I let come in my life without really thinking about it. Sometimes I just hurt so bad for the people that I love. It is so sad how we are so surrounded by terrible things that to simply survive we must become numb to them. If we are continually shocked and horrified by sin we would never be able to get out of bed, or even be awake! We have to become calloused to things so we don't get eaten alive. But we need to be disturbed by sin. It needs to bother us. We should have the honesty to know that things are wrong, and that those things are in us as well.

      I wish that we could just be innocent. It is impossible to act in a cartain way if you're not aware of the choice. The crux of the Fall is that we traded in our knowledge of only good, of beauty, truth, simplicity and love, for the knowledge of good and evil. Now we see it, we are surrounded by it, we are hurt by it, and we ARE it. I know I can't change it, and I know that the truth is that God can, and that He is. Still, though, I just wish sometimes that I could take the people that I love and hide them away so they don't have to know the things they know, and so they don't have to do the things they do. As Paul said, it's not us, but it's the sin that lives in us. God has made us new creations, who are beautiful, holy, pure and innocent. God, please take that sin from my life, and from the lives of those I love, and help us to be who we really are! Praise God that He is continually making us holier and more like Him. I know that to be afraid of the "big, bad world" is dumb. I know that it's a lack of faith in the God who has promised to restore all things, and make beauty from ashes. I just wish it was happening faster, and that it didn't hurt so bad...

      That was a lot longer than I intended, but reading through it, I feel it all and I want to share it. Anyway, we're here in Oklahoma. I'm sitting here typing while Mark and Dawn are watching Reading Rainbow and eating sandwiches. It's hard to be gone from home, but it's good to be on the road and be with my brothers again. It's good to make music again, (and have instruments again!) It's good to get to drive through the country, throw on some Springsteen, and have some time to think. It's a bittersweet blessing to have someone at home to miss. It's wonderful to know that there are people who are glad we're touring again, because they want to see us. Thank you all so much for your prayers and your encouragement to us. We are really excited to be out again, and we hope to see as many of you as we can the next few months. Please continue to pray for us; for our spirits, for our health, for our girls at home, and our safety on the road. We are blessed to have you care for us. Thank you, and we'll see you out there soon...

Grace and Peace,
Andrew