Heart Gala 2010

Last night was the 2010 Heart Gala. The National Heart Association has this gala/auction to raise money each year for research and prevention of heart disease. It's also (according to a reporter in attendance) one of Nashville's prettiest events. Everyone looked so beautiful!

I was the producer of the event working with Erin Link from the Heart Association. Erin is the director of social events and is a dream to work with. She worked tirelessly to make this event a success.

My responsibilities as producer were to oversee the production of the event...from theme to linens to entertainment. The Schermerhorn Symphony Center is one of the most beautiful venues. Everyone there is so great to work with. Thank you to Allison Huber, Bruce Pittman, and Brian Doane especially.

Thank you also to my Gary Musick Productions teammates: Jonathan Yeaworth for doing a great job of organizing and directing the sound and AV elements, Jim Sheridan for being an awesome stage manager, Chris L, Jacob, and Chris A. for running the load-in crew, and Gary for putting together the power point presentation.

The theme this year was Asian... "Fortunes of the Heart"

Volunteers are in place and ready for the silent auction

West lobby of the Schermerhorn

Valet entrance with red carpet and silk lanterns

We had 10 large urns filled with bamboo. Thanks to my buddy, Grant Batson for finding and cutting the bamboo!

We varied the table linens...half black with green runner and the other half green silk. The red chopsticks ended up looking awesome!

The black Charivary chairs looked great too

We had a local group called "Playing by Air" perform the traditional Chinese lion dance

Co-chairs, Dan and Lisa Slipkovich and Jim and Laurie Seabury. Lisa and Laurie were great co-chairmen and deeply believe in the cause.

The Schermerhorn Symphony Center is such a beautiful place to have an event. The Schermerhorn is the home of the Nashville Symphony.

The Craig Duncan Orchestra provided dinner music as well as entertainment for the late night party. Craig is awesome and they always do a great job. Thank you, Craig!

The auctioneer helped the Heart Association raise a lot of money through auctioning off several popular lots like a trip to Italy, a trip to France, and a dinner with a celebrity chef and Kix Brooks from Brooks and Dunn.

Another popular lot was golfing 18 holes with Titans Defensive Coordinator, Chuck Cecil. During the auction Cecil came on stage and pumped up the crowd by offering to match the winning bid. With his match, the winning bid for the day of golf was around $10,000.

There is always a special appeal which was inspired this year by the story of a young woman named Nykia who received a heart transplant. She shared her story and thanked everyone for their generous donations which helped to save her life.

The Craig Duncan orchestra performed afterward for the late night dance. Denise Patton (wife of our own Dave Patton at Gary Musick) sings with them and did an amazing job. Jeff Lisenby (one of our vocal directors at Gary Musick) played piano. The party went until 1am. After load-in around 7am that morning, we were all exhausted!

Chinese Lion Dance

The Craig Duncan Orchestra playing during dinner

Tomorrow...

Three Big Shows in One Week

I am in the middle of 3 big shows...Cydcor last weekend in Dallas, Emdeon today and Heart Gala this coming Saturday. It's been a bit crazy.

I just got home from the Cydcor show. I always enjoy being with those guys. It was so fun seeing Sue, Gail, Crystal and Monique. The set rocked...we created an iphone set. The aps were all corresponding to convention sessions and speakers. It was so cool!

Executive Producer: Mary K. Schreiber, Cydcor friends: Monique, Suzanne, Gail and Crystal, and Producer: David Holloway

Set for the general session

The entertainment was DJ Slam...a fun, young mix between Stomp and live music.

iphone set at the banquet

I flew back yesterday just in time to sled with the kids after Nashville's awesome snow (4 inches). This morning we had load-in for the Emdeon show. The monster guitars were lookin' great!

The theme was a celebration of Music City and Country Music. Sheryl did the centerpieces and they ROCKED!

The rock-a-billy microphone lectern is one of my favorite features of the Monster Guitar set

I am producing the Heart Gala for the National Heart Association this Saturday at the Schermerhorn Symphony Center. https://americanheartnashville.ejoinme.org/MyEvents/20092010NashvilleHeartBall/theEvent/tabid/174541/Default.aspx After that, I can crash...but for now there's no slowing til' then!

A Picture's Worth A Thousand Words

Last week I was looking back over some pictures trying to find a few to enlarge and frame for our house. I love photography and how you can capture a moment in time. These are some of my favorites from the last couple of years...

St. Mark's Basilica--Venice, Italy

Venice, Italy. (What an amazing city!)

Venice, Italy

Venice, Italy

I took this one in Florence, Italy

This is of an old church in Zadar, Croatia--another incredible city

The Coliseum in Rome

The Vatican--Rome


These last two are my favorites. The top is of a random green door to an old hotel in Malta.

City street in Malta

Nuggets

There've been a few nuggets over the past few days...

Recently I've had the sweetest series of bed time discussions with my 7 year old daughter Ella.
She was struggling with some things and I told her the other night..."Ella, God loves you. And you know what? He doesn't love you because you're mine...when He looks at you He says-'See that girl? I am CRAZY about her because she belongs to me.' He knows exactly how your brain works. He knows exactly how your heart is put together and how you think and every feeling you have and He's crazy about you. He knows what makes you tick. He knows what makes you mad. He loves you when you mess up. He loves you when you do great things. He loves you and feels jealous and protective of you. You are uniquely created and He loves every part--inside and out."

She beamed. Then she began asking questions like, "How can God be so many different places at once? How can He be in your heart, mommy's heart, my heart...? Is it sort of like a reflection? Like God's reflection in all of us?"

I took a second to gather my jaw off the ground and then I told her that was a very, VERY good question. I did my best to explain omnipresence and we talked a lot about the Holy Spirit. Very precious discussion.

Then Ella asked, "Daddy, how do we know the Bible is from God? I mean it's not like he just rained down Bibles on everyone."

Wow. I told her what I believe about it and about the Holy Spirit's involvement.

Ella said, "Daddy, how do you know when God is speaking to your heart?"

I told her that it's something that we work on our entire lives. Sometimes for me it means being still and meditating or dedicating time to listen or journal. Ultimately, the best teacher of how to hear God is God himself. We agreed to pray together every day that God would teach us how to hear His voice and listen for Him. Needless to say...I walked out of her room that night and went back to my bed and quietly sobbed. Precious, precious moments that last a lifetime.

I don't want my kids to think there's an answer for everything. There's not. I say, "I don't know" a LOT. We talk about stuff and agree to think about it pray about it. I think God works in that open space...much more than he does our black and white theological safety nets.

In other Thomas news, Sam got a Webkinz dinosaur for Christmas which he as now appropriately named "Dino"..."Dino Scott Thomas". Sam is a little bundle of joy. Somehow he wakes up every morning and springs out of a bed with his classic smile. WHOSE CHILD ARE YOU??

We had a major ZOE Group meeting yesterday. Visioning, future, trouble-shooting, relationship building...it was a long day but needed and very valuable. We've all been on this journey together since 1996. That's a long time. God has blessed us and we pray that our vision and plans be lost in His will.

The ZOE team will be doing several worship weekends this year. If you're interested in booking us to come, please contact me at zoebst@gmail.com . So far we have Midland, Malibu, Athens Alabama, Houston, and Tyler on the books.

I haven't said it in a while, but I want you to know I'm thankful for you. Thank you for stopping by my blog and reading. I pray that today you would feel refreshed by the Lord's presence.

Tears for Haiti

The reports and pictures coming in from Haiti are staggering and sobering. So many lives lost. So much destruction and pain. They are truly in need of compassion and prayers. Send money? YES! Send support and labor? YES! Weep with them? YES! Judge them? NO!!

Many Christian leaders have responded to Pat Robertson's insanity over the last 24 hours. It is senility at best...and at worst, well, downright despicable. Pat Robertson must have read a different gospel. However, I do appreciate the measured response that Don Miller gave in his widely read blog. I would encourage you to read it. http://www.donmilleris.com

May God bless Haiti and lift up the broken and wounded by His power.

Happy Birthday, Dad

Today would have been my father's 77th birthday. My dad died 19 years ago last fall. His presence is still missed every single day. He was great at celebrating! His sense of humor, his warmth, and his authenticity made him a great dad, husband, elder, and principal.

Happy birthday, dad! We celebrate God's creation in you that left such a lasting impact.

A Snowy Day

It has been a beautiful snowy weekend in Nashville. We don't see much snow here...and ironically, not nearly as much as we had in Texas.

While we were at the Batson's house Friday night I saw some pictures that Jill had taken of snow flakes on her black car. It was so amazing...it inspired me. So yesterday I decided to experiment. I took some pics of snow on my car too.

As I was looking at them I noticed the amazing detail in God's creation so I zoomed in on a couple. What I saw blew my mind!

This is a REAL picture (enlarged) of a snow flake that had just fallen on my hood...before it had a chance to melt. Check out the artistry of God! INCREDIBLE! There is no photo shop trickery here. This exactly what it looked like when I zoomed in with my camera.

Here's another. Beautiful! My dad, who was an artist, loved cutting very intricate snow flakes. My mom and I have a few framed. He would have loved seeing these.

The kids had quite a day of sledding (even Cisco wanted in on the fun)

Bear had fun too!

Cisco has grown so much in two weeks. We're pretty sure he's going to be giant.

My girls

Maddie and Ella

Later in the afternoon yesterday we went over to the Batson's house. There is a HUGE steep street at the back of their neighborhood that is about 4-5 blocks long. It was such a great sledding hill. Pictured above are the Batson and Thomas kids ready to hit it.

Here we go!

Jill had a couple of sleds from her childhood that were so awesome...very, VERY fast!

Sam and Michael had fun too. Sam started off slow but he ended up becoming quite a dare devil!

Maddie gets going...and then Jill comes flying by.

Colt McCoy

Last night the Longhorns suffered a loss to Alabama in the National Championship game. I know so many of my friends who are Alabama fans are so excited. Congrats!

I was cheering for UT. (loved the UT/ Texas Tech game this year...another nail biter!) Colt McCoy who quarterbacks the Longhorns and I have many connections. His family has been in my life since way before I was born. His grandmother (Jan) and my mom were in the same sorority at ACU. Jan and Burl have been dear friends for years. His uncle Michael and I were roommates here in Nashville years ago. Michael has one of my favorite tenor voices ever. He was such an encouragement and mentor to me.

Colt's grandparents, his dad Brad, uncle Michael and aunt Amy used to travel around as the McCoy Family singers. I always loved hearing them and getting to sing on the same program with them through the years. That is one CLASS ACT kind of family.

The McCoy Family Singers (L-R) Brad (Colt's dad), Michael, Amy, Jan and Burl.

Colt, true to family form, showed his stuff last night. The speech he gave at the end of the game to the news interviewer was the real deal. That's how he is. That's how all of the McCoys are. They are in fact...well..the real McCoys. (sorry, couldn't resist that one.)

I did hurt for him. You could see the disappointment in his eyes. But, he cheered on his team and encouraged Gilbert as much as he could. What a crazy night for both of them.

Here's to an incredible college career for Colt and a bright future...in sports and as a witness for Christ.