Update From Jana...(in progress...7/2/08...more photos coming!)

July 2, 2008

"Life shouldn't be a journey to the grave with the intention of arriving; safely in a pretty and well preserved body, but rather, to skid in broadside, thoroughly used up, totally worn out, and loudly shouting, "Wow! What a ride! Thank You Lord!"                     Beth Moore

Hey, friends!  Well, the above quote certainly seems to fit our lives these days!  It is all fast and furious, but a great adventure serving the Lord!  I can scarcely begin to sum up all that has gone on since I last updated, but here are a few photos to give you some idea:

Graduation day for Haley!  Above, Haley with Brittany and Chandy, Ron and me.  Below, my mom and dad.

VBS at Mariners Church...what a blast leading 2000 kids (and leaders!) in praising Jesus!

Below, Our bass player, Jonathan, with his WAY too cute little Brooklyn.  Baby boy due early August!

Signing some well-loved VBS shirts!    Brittany helped lead the worship with me (so did Chandy, but I don't have a single photo of her!), along with dozens of other amazing kids!

You can't tell by this little photo, but the stage was PACKED (3 rows deep) with men doing the motions at the Friday closer/concert! Way to be a blast, guys!

As you can tell, this VBS was a pretty enormous production and a complete honor to be part of.  Hundreds of kids made commitments to Christ, deepened their faith, and took all that joy home with them to their parents and homes.  I've had SO many conversations around town about how families were affected in such a positive way!  Ron and the band and I loved being part of such an amazing week.

July is in full force now...next week we're doing a concert at a VBS in Olympia, Washington, a preschool conference and two concerts* in Texas, two concerts in Riverside and the amazing Summer Spectacular VBS at Saddleback to finish off the month!  Whew!  I often look forward to strings of so many important events ahead and feel overwhelmed....and maybe a little scared that I'll run out of steam.  But when we are weak, He is strong, and as I lean into my precious Lord, feast on His word, pray for Him to fill me up again and again...He ALWAYS gives me just what I need.  No more, no less.  I shouldn't be shy to ask for prayer for my voice...months like this are a marathon, especially huge VBSs like these.  I would be a lost fool to think I could last without Him...so please pray for all these things if you feel led. 

URGENT PRAYER REQUEST:

Earlier in the year I asked for prayer for Rob Biagi (fellow worship leader/recording artist to children), his wife Kathleen and their children as their little Natalie fights the good fight against herleukemia. I found out news yesterday that just left me thunderstruck.  Rob has been diagnosed with a form of leukemia now!  Apparently his is a type that can be managed with drugs for the rest of his life, but presently he is in the hospital with an enlarged spleen.  He's had to cancel major events, which puts a terrible financial strain on them, and Kathleen is already worn thin from caring for Natalie and the rest of their family. They need our help, support, prayers! If you have a desire to help them, please contact his website at www.robbiagi.com, or call their office US +1 9493879300 Call .  One easy and direct way you can help is to bring all your friends out on August 23 to the fundraiser concert Ron and I are doing for the Biagi's at the Crystal Cathedral in Anaheim.  Rob was supposed to appear and do a couple of numbers as well. All proceeds from ticket sales will be donated to Natalie Biagi's medical fund.  Please see details by clicking on our concerts tab. 

Thanks for your patience with me in updating this website.  Life is sooo busy, and keeping up with this site is such a challenge for me.  I don't know how you guys with Facebook pages keep up with them (Neither Ron nor I have one...but we're being prodded!).

Our NEW Website coming soon!!! Our friend Mike Cranford and his amazing team at Ninth Degree are cooking up something brand new, bright, fun and super efficient for us. 

Our Spanish CD called "Toma mi Mano (Take My Hand)" is DONE and available!!!!  Hundreds of those CDs are out there somewhere now...I hope and pray the songs are ministering to people.   We've been asked to share our new Spanish music at a Spanish Children's ministry conference in October at Max Lucado's church, which I am thrilled about.  I can sing all of our new songs in Spanish,  but baby, do I need to get working on my rusty spoken Spanish! 

I'm in a writing season again...getting inspired seemingly every day with new song ideas for a new children's CD.  We have 5 songs done and it seems every time I study the word of God, lyrics to songs jump of those pages.  I would covet your prayers that the songs come out simple, profound, full of God's truth, and done with excellence (pray for Ron as he produces and engineers these babies).

What a thrill it is to serve our Lord.

In His mighty love,

Jana

*Wanna hear a cool story?   A few weeks ago I was going through boxes of photos and I came across a snapshot of a family who had hosted a concert in Orange, TX.  In the happy gang in the photo is a boy named Dustin...he died in a skiing accident a year after the photo was taken.  I remembered that and pulled the photo out,  put it on my dresser to remember to pray for that family.  Two days ago, someone contacted the office wondering if we could tack on a concert in Orange after we play in Houston and Pt. Arthur.  When I looked at the contact name on the inquiry, I noticed it was Dustin' mom.  When I wrote her back, explaining how I had just recently come across that photo and been praying for them, it brought her to tears.  Just a small but profound reminder of how intimately the Lord is involved in our lives, our relationships, our circumstances.  No "coincidences".  He loves us sooo much!

PRAYER REQUEST UPDATES.....

Thank you for your continued prayer for my dear friend Stacey Burg who is fighting the good fight against leukemia (see