Dear Friends,

There is nothing like sitting over a bowl of gumbo in Austin, Texas.

I am in Austin for a few days having some business meetings and I walked a few blocks from the office and stumbled upon a truly authentic Texas place, The Shoal Creek Saloon. So over a diet coke and a spicy bowl of duck gumbo, which I had never heard of; the blurry, fuzzy future becomes a touch more clear. It is funny how that happens when your intestines are on fire and your brain is affected by artificial sweetener.

Or, maybe it was the prayer. The one that often wells up inside me: the longing for peace in my life. The prayer I wish I paid more attention to. The one I wish I would give in to on a regular basis.

I now understand why Paul asked us to pray, unceasingly. Because in the few minutes when prayer is filtering through me, I am at peace. It is the rest of my life that is crazily unsettled. I know that my living a life of constant prayer would fix that and bring peace. It is funny how that happens when your heart is on fire and your soul is affected by the natural sweetener called love. Peace is so far, far beyond me. But I am thankful that God has given it to me from time to time, to experience. I long to experience it more.

I have had a really busy fall playing concerts. It has truly been a blessing to lose myself in what I love to do. To lose myself in the only thing that seems to make sense in my life. In the one and a half hours that make up a concert each night, I find my most joy and happiness. I find a purpose that seems to escape me at all other times.

So, I thank you all for your support of me. For coming to those concerts and for your prayers. It means the world to me. And it is an amazing blessing to travel to so many great places and get to interact with so many wonderful people. I am so fortunate to get to experience the body of Christ.

I am having some meetings right now because plans are now underway to release my new record. There are so many things to think about and implement in trying to do this. I have made the decision to release my record independently. However, it will be a much more extensive venture that my last record was. I am going "all out", as they say, with national distribution, radio promotion, and I am working a publicist. So, if it crosses your mind, would you mind praying for all this.

I am very thankful for how my life is going right now. I am excited about what lies ahead. My prayer is that I would be available to God and open to what Jesus is doing with me.

A lot of times, things don't seem to be going "good" with certain aspects of my life. However, I am not sure if I know what "good" is. It is based on my perception of things. And my perception is pretty wacked out.

I know this...life is good. Very good. Always, regardless of my perceptions. Regardless of me.

Hallelujah.

Peace of Christ,
 Mitch