Here they are talking to Al Roeker on the Friday, Today Show! Briana is in the green hat, Hollie in the hat with pink hearts, and Heather in the light blue coat and hat. Heather’s sister, Kim, is on the left in the 2nd picture with the purple striped hat. Their sacrifice of getting up at 4:30am and standing in the 15 degree temperature paid off!
They were able to tell Al that they were there in honor of their Grandmother’s Leap Year Birthday!
Just a few pages in and I’m already enjoying Brian McLaren’s latest. I’d seen it in the bookstore, but hadn’t picked it up yet, until Jonathan Blundell started telling me what he had gotten out of it. I’m on it now. Thanks Jonathan!
In the opening pages, McLaren says that in recent years he’s been involved in conversation with others about what it means to be a follower of Christ in this generation. He says that in his longings to follow Christ there are some things he doesn’t want to be…
“not an angry and reactionary fundamentalist, not a stuffy traditionalist, not a blase nominalist, not a wishy-washy liberal, not a New Agey religious hipster, not a crusading religious imperialist, and not an overly enthusiastic Bible-waving fanatic…”
instead McLaren says he hopes to be…
“something fresh and authentic and challenging and adventurous”
Maybe its the connection of first names, but my heart beats for the same thing. I’m only a few pages in, but looking forward to more and knowing that the something that must change is me.
Heather, Briana, Hollie, & Heather’s sister Kim were all on the Today Show this morning! They were part of the crowd gathered outside in the 15 degree weather. We got to see them in one the crowd shots. Heather said that 15 degrees was painful. To get a good spot in the crowd, they had to get up at 4:30 am.
The original plan was to be there with Heather’s mom, Carol Harris,who is celebrating her leap year birthday today. She had to leaveNewYork to see her mom in Alabama who is in thehospital.
As of 8am, the girls were back at Kim’s apartment and glad to be out of the cold.
Sorry for the blog silence. I’ve been living the life of single parent this week. Heather, Briana, & Hollie have been in New York visiting Heather’s sister, Kim. The trip was a Christmas present for the 3 of them from Heather’s parents. The trip was also planned as a celebration of Heather’s mom’s birthday. She is one of the unique people born on Feb. 29. She has really only celebrated 16 Feb. 29th birthdays. So the plan was that her and Briana would both be there in New York while they were 16!
Sadly, Heather’s parents had to return from New York early because of the health of Heather’s grandmother in Alabama. Heather and the girls will finish out the trip without them.
Larry Norman, a legend in the Christian music business passed away yesterday. Norman, a native of Corpus Christi, Texas, was part of the “Jesus Movement” of the 60′s and wrote countless Christian hits, including “I Wish We’d All Been Ready” (later covered by dcTalk).
From Wikipedia:
Larry David Norman (April 8, 1947 – February 24, 2008) was an internationally recognized American musician, singer, songwriter and producer. Norman’s recordings are noted for their Christian and social subject matter and he is often described as the “father of Christian rock music”. Norman has also been described as having had a significant influence on many artists, secular and religious.
Norman has long been associated with what has been referred to as the Jesus People movement of the late 1960′s and early 1970′s, although it has been reported that “he did not particularly identify himself with the youth–oriented ‘Jesus movement’ of the time”.
Norman began recording in 1966 and recorded numerous albums. Norman’s first album, I Love You , recorded when he was the lead singer for the group People!, was released in 1968. The bands cover version of The Zombies song of the same name reached number 7 on Billboard magazines top twenty list in June of that year as a single. Norman left People! prior to 1969 and has since performed as a solo artist, appearing both on mainstream and independent labels.
In 2001 Norman was inducted into the Gospel Music Association’s (GMA) Hall of Fame as a solo artist. In 2007 Norman was inducted into the San Jose Rocks Hall of Fame (San Jose, California), both as a member of People!, and as a solo artist. At that time Norman reunited for a concert with People!
Due to reasons of ill health, Norman performed on a very limited basis in recent years. A documentary outlining his career as a troubled troubadour will be out in 2008.
Read the full Wikipedia article
From the Monday Morning Insight:
Legendary Christian Rocker Larry Norman passed away over the weekend. A day before his death, Larry dictated one final letter. “I feel like a prize in a box of cracker jacks with God’s hand reaching down to pick me up,” Larry said. “I have been under medical care for months. My wounds are getting bigger. I have trouble breathing. I am ready to fly home…”
Here’s a post from Larry’s brother, Charles:
Hello everybody.
Our friend and my wonderful brother Larry passed away at 2:45 Sunday morning. Kristin and I were with him, holding his hands and sitting in bed with him when his heart finally slowed to a stop. We spent this past week laughing, singing, and praying with him, and all the while he had us taking notes on new song ideas and instructions on how to continue his ministry and art …
Yesterday afternoon he knew he was going to go home to God very soon and he dictated the following message to you while his friend Allen Fleming typed these words into Larry’s computer:
I feel like a prize in a box of cracker jacks with God’s hand reaching down to pick me up. I have been under medical care for months. My wounds are getting bigger. I have trouble breathing. I am ready to fly home.
My brother Charles is right, I wont be here much longer. I can’t do anything about it. My heart is too weak. I want to say goodbye to everyone. In the past you have generously supported me with prayer and finance and we will probably still need financial help.
My plan is to be buried in a simple pine box with some flowers inside. But still it will be costly because of funeral arrangement, transportation to the gravesite, entombment, coordination, legal papers etc. However money is not really what I need, I want to say I love you.
I’d like to push back the darkness with my bravest effort. There will be a funeral posted here on the website, in case some of you want to attend. We are not sure of the date when I will die. Goodbye, farewell, we will meet again.
Goodbye, farewell, we’ll meet again
Somewhere beyond the sky.
I pray that you will stay with God
Goodbye, my friends, goodbye.Larry
Goodbye Farewell:
Sweet, Sweet Song of Salvation (Ontario – 1993)
