SATELLITES AND SIRENS “Blood, Sweat, and Rock ‘n Roll Tour” BLOG 5:
We’re currently in the middle of a break from the Blood, Sweat, and Rock ‘n Roll Tour, and I’m sitting here enjoying the beautiful weather at my kitchen table in Nashville, TN. Yep, I’m currently enjoying the weather by simply observing the cloudless sky, sunshine, and the mild temperature. You can thank my handy laptop battery for being nearly empty of charge just as I was going to go out onto my backyard deck to actually enjoy the weather outside. Instead, I’m tethered by a power cord to my laptop. It’s just as well, though, as I’m actually very sick right now. Yesterday, rather than attend church, I spent the morning in an Urgent Care Clinic getting checked out for some serious ear pain that started gradually on Saturday during the day, and then overnight, proceeded to become the most excruciating ear pain I can remember ever having. I did a little detective work Saturday night on webMD and determined that I must have an ear infection. Well, I was even more correct than I could have bargained for, as I’ve been diagnosed with not only one ear infection, but two ear infections and a sinus infection. Soooo, now I’m on a multitude of drugs that are going to help get me back into fighting (or, more accurately, performing) shape very soon.
I’m not so much annoyed as I am amused at my situation right now. I wouldn’t say I was amused early Sunday morning at 4am…but I kind of have to look back and just chuckle at it all. Frankly, I feel blessed that I’m sick during a break in the tour, rather than it happening while we’re out driving from city to city. That would present a whole different challenge to our touring experience. I guess I can say that in the last 24 hours I’ve managed to get a positive frame of mind on this whole situation.
I’ll admit that I was pretty ticked at God at 4am on Sunday for me being sick on what I believed was going to be a fantastic day off. I mean, my ear hurt so bad. It felt like someone was sticking a knife in my ear. I’ve had some pretty serious accidents/injuries in the past, and this one ranks right up there with some of the worst pain I’ve ever felt. Either way, even during the pain, I realized how dumb I was being for telling God that I thought it was ridiculous that I had to be up at 4am surfing the internet to try to figure out what in the world was wrong with me. It reminded me that our ways are not His ways. Don’t get me wrong, I’m not starting some debate on whether He caused me to be sick or not, but it reminded me that sometimes I really do get frustrated at situations that I don’t understand…Some more serious than others, but I’m known to get frustrated if things aren’t going as I had planned. My guess is that I’m not the only one out there that is guilty of this. I’ve talked before on blogs about trusting God, and I’m starting to see a theme of trust in what God is teaching me these days, and this latest incident has further reminded me that God really does want us to come to Him in times of frustration. I firmly believe that He won’t leave us out in the dark, and that He does have our best interests in mind. I’m constantly reminded of this verse in Matthew 11:28-29 “Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me for I am gentle and humble in heart and you will find rest for your souls.”
As we’ve wrapped up the first half of the tour, I want to say that it’s been a privilege sharing the stage every night with Disciple and Decyfer Down. Both bands are full of guys that are not only passionate about their art, but about Jesus and spreading His word. Definitely check out both bands if you haven’t yet.
Here are a few photo highlights of the tour thus far… and yes…wearing shorts is a highlight.
