can dance.

so still working on some blogs and thoughts from tour. hoping to get something up here soon, but in the meantime i punked this video from Auntie Rachel's youtube page of our kids performing dance they do called 'the Can Dance' (not the 'Can-Can'...) in a theatre we performed in on the east coast about a week and a half ago.




have been with the kiddos and their chaperones for only a couple of weeks now, and can honestly say am enjoying almost every minute of my time here!

the children rock they're a sixteen piece Choir, small in comparison to other Choirs i have traveled with, but they sound so huge! hats off to our music team!

and the chaperones rock my socks off. i wish y'all (kentucky is making me talk funny) could meet each of them. LOVE that the Lord has put us all on this journey in this season together.

anyways, enjoy the vid. hope to have an update here soon.

much love!

- steve

just learning to trust.

my friend Kate recently got a tattoo on her foot that says 'TRUST'. she told me that the reason she decided to get it was because she wanted to have something to keep reminding her to continue to trust in the Lord's goodness and leading in her life. 

since i saw Kate's tat a few weeks ago the Lord has been teaching me a lot about trust. 

i was reading Deuteronomy the other day and was again reminded of how big God is. and how much He wants to look after me, and us, because we are His kiddos and He is a legit Father. i came across this passage at a time when i was honestly feeling discouraged about some things. i felt led to pursue a particular path weeks prior, but as the day approached for me to take off i still had needs that weren't met. i started wondering if i was really being led or if my flesh got in the way of my trying to follow the Lord's leading. i guess i doubted that He would provide. and i felt like such a tool after He did. 

at the beginning of Deuteronomy Moses is i guess reminding his peeps about their story. once slaves in Egypt, delivered by the hand of God from their captivity. into battles, and out of battles alive. into the desert with nothing, and somehow provided for during their years of wandering there. captives, delivered. captives. delivered. time and time again. a continual cycle of emotional lows and emotional highs. definitely a wild ride. 

so this one time they come to the border of this country that the Lord says He is going to give to them. He basically says 'yo, trust me. i know this looks impossible, but it's not. don't be discouraged. i've got your back'. so rather than confidently moving forward, they decide to send some spies into the country 'just to be sure things are safe'. even though the Lord said don't be afraid. so the spies come back and it's decided that the people in that country are huge and strong and that there's no way a group of puny little Israelites is making it through. and they start to cry about it. and so Moses speaks up, reminding them of their time in Egypt. 'Hey, remember being slaves? and remember when the sea opened up in front of us and closed directly behind us? remember that?'. and they probably mumbled something like 'yeah, yeah. we remember. but look at us now'. 

and in spite of being reminded of all the Lord had done for them, they chose not to trust in Him this time. because that was then and this is now. that problem was overcome, this one isn't. 

crazy. 

crazy because if they would have learned anything from their history it would have been trust. right? i mean, how many times throughout their story did God provide for them precisely in their hour of need. 

so i read that, in the context of not knowing where my funds were going to come from. knowing where i was supposed to be, but unsure (and even doubtful...) of how i was going to make it there. 

and so the Lord reminded me of where i was this time last year. in need of a couple 'thou' to get me from America to Europe to work with the Choir. He reminded me of a group of a couple of hundred teens that raised a grand in the span of a week, right at the start of my fundraising season. and then He reminded me of another group of a few hundred teens that managed to pool their money just before i left for the Choir with the exact amount i needed to fully fund last fall's tour of the UK with my kids. 

twice He did that. exactly when i needed it. 

this past weekend we played at my home church (always a treat, and perhaps the subject of another blog). in a nutshell, we were planning to leave the next morning and i was short $X to get back out to the Choir. so i got home and started packing. and literally in the last hour, the Lord delivered an envelope with the funds that i needed through someone i didn't even get the chance to talk with that Sunday morning at church. 

she was told that the Lord just told her i needed to have what she gave me. and i believe the Lord did tell her, because He knew my needs, and was willing to wait until the last minute to provide in order to keep my faith active. 

the LORD provides. and often in our hour of greatest need. 

so grateful for His gentle reminders to trust in Him. 

and grateful for Kate's tat, because it reminded me to share this bit of my journey. 

oh yeah! i'm heading out to spend about eight weeks with Choir #36 of The African Children's Choir. pumped to hang with some new kiddos, travel with some familiar faces, and spread the love of Jesus to some venues on the east coast. 

heading out tomorrow, and would so love your prayers and emails as i spend a short season with the Choir, yet again. 

will keep ya posted for sure though! thanks for keeping up!

much love,

- steve

www.stevetheuncle.com

www.africanchildrenschoir.com
twitta: @jstevehiggs

email: jstevehiggs@gmail.com

ps - for a more accurate account of that passage in Deuteronomy check out Deuteronomy 1:18-34ish

the beauty never stops.

i love to drive. 

when i left college in the spring of 2008 i packed everything i owned into a station wagon and drove for fifty hours until the atlantic coastline was in view. when i finally reached my Mom's driveway, the first thing that i wanted to do was take a road trip somewhere. 

when i first joined up with these brothers (Atlantic) that same spring the first thing they made me do was drive for like twenty hours, until the sun came up the next day. i thought they were trying to initiate me or something. i remember being really tired, but i vividly remember loving the drive, knowing four brothers were sleeping in the back, watching the rising sun wash away the stars, enjoying the quietness of the morning on the interstate somewhere in the mid-west.

and throw a close brother or sister in the passenger's seat. it doesn't get any better. it doesn't get any better than driving on a clear night, looking out your windshield at a sky full of stars, and then looking over your right shoulder and seeing the face of a friend who is just as beautiful as the picture you just in front of you, out your windshield. 

that was tonight. 

starting this tour off has been hectic. just with nailing down the details and getting gear stuff sorted out. all while trying to cram in a few hours of sleep each night that isn't haunted by the thoughts of what else needs to get done before tour starts. 

tonight we had to drive a couple of hours to pick up our trailer and sound gear at home and then drive a couple of hours back to where we will be starting tour from at some point tomorrow morning. i wasn't super stoked about the trip, to be honest. growing up, driving the two hours from fredericton to moncton was a trip that was made only on holidays, and you stayed a while when you got there, maybe even the whole summer. it's funny now looking back, after having spent most of the last three years in some kind of moving vessel (a van or a bus), that same two hour trip has become like a jaunt to the grocery store. it's done in no time, and can be made just to pick up a few needed items. anyways, i knew the drive tonight wouldn't get us home until just after midnight, and once you get used to putting kids to bed at 8:30  you get pretty used to going to bed at around... 8:35. 

but the drive home made the drive there worth it. even though it was late. and even though i had to get a cup of coffee to keep me awake. 

i realized tonight that i am constantly surrounded by beautiful things. beautiful people. beautiful sights. hearing beautiful stories or listening to beautiful music. or being a part of some pretty beautiful moments. and i realized tonight that i so often take these beautiful moments and don't appreciate them for what they are. 

tonight i took the wheel and was so glad that i did. the sky was clear and the stars were beautiful. and the bro next to me? i kick myself - because i have known him for my entire life but have only in the last couple of years formed a tight bond with this brother. and have become such a fan of his story.

we talked about some cool stuff. about our faith. about our hearts. about memories shared from recent tours. about things inspired by late night drives and skies painted with constellations. 

all this to say, tonight was a reminder that beauty is all around us, and i'm going to make an effort in being more aware of the beautiful things happening around me. might even post a list every now and again of beautiful things i'm seeing in my travels. more or less to keep myself in check than anything. there is definitely no shortage of beautiful things happening around us though. hope you can see them too. 

pumped to be hitting the road tomorrow!

hope you all are well, friends! 

- steve.

currently listening to some pretty beautiful music:

I Am Oak

Balmorhea

surrounded by beautiful people.

yesterday i met up with the coolest group of people in one of america's coolest (and windiest?) cities. what made the reunion even sweeter though was that none of us are from Chicago. actually, most of us are from different places altogether. a few people from the east coast. some friends from Michigan. a sister from North Carolina. yet somehow for a few hours on a saturday afternoon the Lord brought us together in a city hours and days away from each of our homes.

we went out to eat last night at some snazzy pizza place on the north side of the city, and while friends from all over sat around the table talking and laughing together i sat back and thought 'how crazy that we are all here right now. old friends re-united, new friends united. what a gift this dinner table is tonight.' 

when we got home i realized how beautiful that picture was. for a few hours last night a handful of stories bled onto the same page. and then i thought how beautiful each individual story was, sitting around the table, and realized how blessed i was to share slices from the same pizza with these guys and gals. 

here's a picture of the peeps sitting around the table last night, just so you can see the kind of people that we get to hang out with on the road. so cool...

• a brother and sister, young and in love, and so deserving of one another. two hearts that beat loud for Jesus, and love on anyone whose path they cross. 
• a sister and artist who wants to use her gifts of expression to bring healing and therapy to those traumatized by wars and disasters. a gal who knows that art can be more than just something we look at, but something that brings freedom and inspires redemption. 
• a teacher who loves her students and isn't in it for just a job, but for what she can give. who believes that kids don't just need teachers to show them how to solve word problems, but teachers who challenge their students to solve world problems. 
• a sister who believes that educating children when they are young will provide a foundation for future change in the world in years to come. 
• a sister who believes that the gap between the rich and the poor can be bridged, even here in America, and can only be fully bridged by the love of Christ. 
• a group of bros who gave up the security of paychecks and spouses in order to show the world that the love of Jesus is for real and not just some kind of good religious idea. 

just a picture i guess. 

crazy or what, that all of the people around that table have such huge dreams and such unique giftings. and none of them care to use those gifts for their own benefit, but want to give of themselves in order to leave a dent in the world around them.

 

so blessed by the company of these few friends. 

so inspired by the company of these few friends!

so cool to be surrounded by such beautiful people.

looking forward to more times like this over the next couple of months as we hit the road.

breathe a little, child.

i came to the west coast with nothing to lose. or at least that's what i told myself. for a short while i thought i had lied to myself, and it confused me. because i felt like i lost. everything. 

but then i realized that the desires of my heart, the true desires of the depths of my heart, are probably unknown to me. because my heart is inconsistent and thinks it knows what is best, what it wants. but it doesn't. 

as it turns out though, the Lord knows the desires of my heart even more than my own heart knows of itself. 

this week i have learned that what i thought was what i needed was in fact only something i desperately wanted. initially i was stubborn. i curled up in a ball and shook my fist and whined (thanks Milano...) and kicked the ground because i didn't get what i wanted. maybe what i deserved, but nothing like what i had hoped for. then i busted myself feeling entitled to something i never owned and didn't feel so bad. because i never had it. because it was never mine in the first place. then i stood up and stopped being a baby. 

and the Lord affirmed this: that what i didn't want to let go of was better off in His hands anyways. 

and it is. 

crappy to leave it behind. but happy to leave it with Him. 

sometimes our hearts play tricks on us. they tell us they know what they want. sometimes they do. but i've learned that it's only when i try and align my heart with His heart that i realize that my desires should never be about me anyways, but should revolve around the Lord's desires to bring grace and love and forgiveness, and a lot of other things i need a lot of work on, to the world around me.

sometimes the desires of our hearts are not what our hearts think they are. 

they're even better.

this blog brought to you by the sweet sounds of Milano. do yourself a fav, check out 'A Holy Song' (links below) and then hit up their website when you realize you need to hear more - www.hearmilano.com

hear 'A Holy Song' here:  http://t.co/fu7Kjei

and an acoustic vid of the same song: http://vimeo.com/16343918