Happy Tuesday, everyone!

 

A major sign of being home for me is actually knowing WHAT day of the week it is… when I’m on the road, every day sort of feels like a Friday or a Saturday. I’m pretty sure it jacks you up after a while!

 

How was your Memorial Day? Shane and I had lunch over at some friends from church’s house… then came home and made a Kashi roasted vegetable pizza (sounds like it wouldn’t taste good, but ooooooh buddy, it’s an explosion of flavor!) and watched The Secret Life of Bees. It’s been hard to wake up this morning, for some reason. I got up early and had my coffee, but now I sort of feel like I could take a nap until lunch.

 

I had kind of an emotional day yesterday. It’s sad, because I feel like “emotional” has this negative connotation to it—but really, it was one of my favorite days in a long time. Maybe another word for it is “soft”. My heart felt very soft. It may be a product of being home for a solid week, being adjusted to having time to think, breathe, process, enjoy. Especially to really set aside time to enjoy the presence of God. I wish I could invite all of you over to our house today for lunch and a hang—our house has a BUNCH of windows, lots of open space, and we are blessed enough to live in a part of town that still has trees. I’m sitting in our living room right now, and all I can see around me are green trees with splashes of morning light on their branches, and sweet little birds hopping from one tree to the other. In a word, this home of ours is RESTFUL. I can’t believe how restful it is. Who knows how long we will live here in Dallas, but I am so deeply thankful for the time we do have here. I feel like I’m constantly witnessing His hand in and on creation—sort of like having the Discovery channel on all day, but a little better. :) All that to say, I think time off and the season turning from spring to summer and watching beautiful birds land on our bird feeder by the kitchen while I drink coffee in the morning has softened my heart and undeniably stirred my affections for Jesus.

 

And I was really, really struggling with something the other day. I guess Sunday night and Monday morning… just… self-consciousness. Pride. A situation had come up and all of the sudden, I was keenly aware of the way it might make ME look… and it involved me choosing to either stay in relationship and friendship with a group of people or just half-heartedly doing it. That may sound vague…. Sorry… just go with me on this. :)

 

So, I was sweeping the floor. I had some moments of quiet and was going to go up to my room for a little while and enjoy it, and just wanted to sweep the floors really fast before I did. And, let me tell you, the grace of God has been so tangible lately. The more I walk with Him, the more I’m convinced that we really have just a few seasons of clarity with Him… and because of that, makes genuine love for Him fuel our perseverance and hope in Him. But, even a crumb of clarity from Him is so glorious and wonderful! And… I had about five seconds of it yesterday when I had made my way to the downstairs bathroom, sweeping the floor. I feel like He spoke to my restless heart: “Do you love because you want to be loved in return, or do you love because I am love?”

 

It might sound overly simplistic… but man… did it mess me up! I flipped to passages in 1 John that talk about love in a very similar way (imagine that, God having the same Truth then and now) …

 

 “So we have come to know and to believe the love that God has for us. God is love, and whoever abides in love abides in God, and God abides in him.” (1 John 4:16)

 

So I’m just chewing on that today. Abiding in love towards my brothers and sisters. Asking for a heart of humble love that produces fruit of service and encouragement.

 

I think I’m going to go tidy up the house a bit now and then go enjoy the beautiful weather outside! I sure love summer. :)  

 

Hope you all have a lovely rest of your day… see you soon. Beth

Hey friends. :)

So, alarm went off at 5am this morning. Shane and I both were flying out of Dallas/Fort Worth airport (Shane- 8:30a, me- 10:30a) so we carpooled with the guys over in my Honda. I saw him off fine, went to get a grape nuts/yogurt/blueberry parfait (highly recommend), sat down and read for a little while. Around the time my flight was supposed to board, I mosied on over to my gate to see.. GASP!... that my flight had been cancelled. As far as I was concerned, it looked like a baby rain storm outside, until I saw a huge bolt of lightning take over 80% of the sky. Hmm. That's what I get for totally checking out with a book and tea. Anyway, I stood in line with about 50 other people looking for another flight to Nashville, and by the time I got up there, all six of the afternoon flights had been completely booked and I was put on stand-by.. which is the airline's way of getting you off their back, but also not having to do anything with you. Stand by = little to no chance of getting on the flight... at least in my experience. So, I'm confirmed for the 9:40p to Nashville tonight. I called a friend and got a ride to my house (because Shane has the keys to the car in his book bag... yeah. It only gets better!), to remember... GASP!... that BOTH spare keys to the house are with Shane. Hmm. I sat outside in the sunny, beautiful, 80 degree weather for a couple minutes (of course it's nice now!) and then decided it was torture to sit there and be able to look inside. Kind of that "water, water everywhere; but not a drop to drink" sentiment. :) I seriously do have the worst travel luck of anyone I've ever known. At least this morning there was a good reason! Usually I just show up and they tell me it's cancelled... or I've been bumped off the flight... why?, I ask. Oh, I'm not sure, sorry, is the typical answer. Ha! It gets comical after a while. Cruel comical. 

So, here I am... sipping Southern Pecan coffee at the White Rhino, about to go read and journal, get a massage, then maybe go see a flick. Shane knows what a to-do list person I am, and how deeply frustrating it is to not be able to use my free time to organize or sanitize something, and he has just been chuckling when I call him and the only thing I can get out is, "aaaah!"  -- and has reminded me that it might be good for my soul to have nothing to "accomplish" today. To just... be. 

That... is... (deep breath)... DIFFICULT.

I wanna be able to do it. I want to enjoy the next seven hours fully. I want to remember that in His endless, mysterious, purposeful sense of humor, He knew what today would look like. I want to have my mouth open wide for Him to fill it (Psalm 81:10) ... my very poor, poor spirit open for Him to fill with His riches. His wealth of mercy, kindness, and vision today. Settle my heart, LORD! Remove frustration and replace it with rest. 

Hope y'all are having a fabulous Thursday... and if you can't think of anything to be thankful for, be thankful you can get in your house today. :) Love you guys! If any of you are in the general area this weekend (Lincolnton, North Carolina; Herndon, Virginia; Perrysburg, Ohio), come say hello and hear some new songs! 

Beth

Hey!

 

How are you guys doing? I was thinking the other night on our LONG
drive from Wyoming, Michigan, to Columbus, Ohio, that I haven't blogged
in a while. It's crazy to think about the last two months flying by
like they have. My part of the record is done, mixing has begun, the
photo shoot was last week, and now I'm out on the Turn Down the Music
tour w/ my husband and the other Shane, Matt Maher, and David Nasser. I
felt like hopping on their tour was light years away, and now it's HERE!
I have eight more sweet days with my husband, and then flying out for a
couple shows and meeting back up with the crew on the west coast.

 

Today... we are staying at some friends of ours house in Naperville,
just outside of Chicago. I flew in yesterday morning after getting
approximately 2 1/2 hours of sleep, and we were kind of on the go all
day. So today happening with no agenda is very, very nice. Except Shane
feels like he's getting nodes (sp?) back on his vocal chords, so he
isn't talking today. Which, I might add, has been really, really funny.
His favorite way of getting my attention so far has been "pssst!" which
I'm pretty sure is a sound... but oh well. :) I think we're going to go
downstairs and watch a movie in a minute, play some ping pong (I'm
getting better!), eat lunch, go ahead and register us online for our
World Vision trip this summer to Zambia (I couldn't even BEGIN to tell
you how ecstatic I am about that! There's a little boy from Zambia that
Shane has sponsored through WV for about 10 years now, and we get to go
meet him in August! It's going to be so surreal and wonderful.) ...
waiting on some laundry to get done now.

 

I've been learning a lot about community. I feel like the Lord keeps
pushing me into situations that FORCE community... sharing space and
time... pouring out all I've got... loving like I love myself. It
sounds simple, but fleshing it out has been very difficult! Because,
before you know it, it pours over into sharing the Gospel with someone.
Yeah. Talk about being inconvenienced AND uncomfortable! But how
worthwhile it is! I can see some circumstances recently that have been
Sovereignly ordered to push me forward in that area... to love people
more than wanting them to like ME. To say the name of Jesus even when
it's offensive, or sounds narrow minded, or even excluding. To press
through that and share His deep, passionate love for them displayed on
the cross, and ESPECIALLY in the empty tomb. A lady named Michelle that
I sat next to on a plane a few months ago put it well, "I've learned to
pray every morning for a natural way to share Jesus with someone in
that day." I want to grow in that area of my life -- I'm sure I'll be
learning in it til I'm 75, but I'd like to get a headstart. ;)

 

Alright, well I think I'm gonna hop off and go do some Pilates or
something. The possibilities in today are endless! Shane just whistled
for me across the living room, so I'm gonna go hang with my silent
husband for a little bit. Y'all have a great day! See you soon. :)

 

Beth

**I'm listening to the mixes of my new record, releasing September 8th :)

It is one of those rare overcast days here in Los Angeles, and I am FEELING it! Maybe I am also feeling the last month of non-stop going, and maybe coming down from my caffeine high is contributing, but I'm going to blame it on the rain. (<-anyone know that song? Shane sings it all the time. :)) Anyway, today is last day of vocals for the record! I can't believe it. All we're doing tomorrow is recording an acoustic version of the first single, "Everyone To Know" for a little bonus on the CD, and that's it. I fly home Saturday afternoon and have Easter with my sweet husband and church family, a couple days at home to let my suitcase explode and launder things, and then back out for photo shoot, some shows (what's up Bellefontaine show coming up! All my hometown peeps say what!), and then I'm hopping on tour with the Shanes, Matt Maher, and David Nasser for most of the month of May. I think I may be helping out with the World Vision table (being a "rep" as they call them), so I'm looking forward to that!:)

Alright, well lunch just arrived, I gotta re-charge and then plug through the last song! Thank you all so much for your prayers during this process... I have felt them, and the Lord has done such amazing things. I can't wait to tell you about them!

Have a blessed weekend, my friends.

Beth

Make sure you...

a) follow me on twitter twitter.com/bethanydillon
b) tell all of your friends to become fans, because that would be AWESOME!
c) check out where I'm doing shows so you can say hi to me in person
d) last but not least... pray for me as I finish up this record!

Good morning!

It has been such a good one for me. We got home last night from visiting Shane's fam in Lubbock, and I had had one of those emotional days. And, let's face it, five and a half hours in a car, staring at the desert, and having time to think... it always makes me emotional. In a good way, I think. If you haven't caught on by now, I'm someone who likes to be DOING... even on a day off at home, I love having a to-do list, getting things accomplished, having goals set. I don't think that's a bad thing, but when it comes to "being still" and "waiting on the Lord", like I am COMMANDED to do-- now that's a bit of a toughie. The Lord is SO good in it, though! So good to dig up all the things that are causing anxiety in the secret, hidden places in me. So good to give opportunity to let it out, take a deep breath.... ENJOY. Deeply enjoy. Even when there's a hundred things going on in my head at the same time, an hour of feasting and waiting and adoring brings such enjoyment to my soul. He is the best thing there is!

So, there you go with that! :) Anyway, it has been a great morning. I read, prayed, had my coffee, and now I'm walking around the house getting cleaning done- which I really, really like to do. I think it's the instant gratification thing. Get your hands dirty, be on the go, organize, sanitize... magnetize... okay, that last one made no sense. Any peeps out there that enjoy the smell of Pine Sol, Comet, and Windex with me?

Just thought I would stop by and say hello! I need to finish a few things and then I think we're going to eat some lunch. I went to the grocery late last night and bought some stuff to make Rachael Ray meals this week. I'm super pumped! Today is... Black-Bean and Cheese Chicken strips (with a salad, of course!) and for dinner, Brown-Sugar-Mustard-Glazed Salmon with fresh green beans and rice! Mmmm Mmmm Mmmm! I think my mouth just watered talking about it!

Have a wonderful day, y'all, and breathe in the spring air! It's almost here!!

Beth

We just finished the last morning of the Designed Women’s Conference here, and let me tell you, it was a sweeeeeeet time. There’s nothing like a room with about a hundred tired (but ecstatic to have time away to rest) moms and young women, drinking coffee, talking, ready to soak up whatever the Lord has for them. This morning was so moving! Nicole (the sweet heart of a lady putting it all together) spoke on Matthew 25:31—serving in small things, bringing our inability to Him. Anyway. It was awesome. I love you, ladies! No offense to the male demographic here at all- my husband is living proof that men CAN have (and, in my opinion, SHOULD have) soft hearts to Jesus. But there is a difference in a group of women, their estrogen levels encouraging each others’, and the gift of God within them to cry at the drop of a hat. It’s really powerful! It’s really honest and raw and real. And disarming. I love, love, love it! I love Him in it.

The other cool thing about this conference was… note to all of you visionaries who like to put these things on!... that there wasn’t a million things to do. There were sessions this morning, spa-treatments last night, stuff like that… but they also had time to really, really rest. Which you can tell by looking in their eyes that that is a gift beyond any other gift!

So, now Aaron and I are sitting in my hotel room watching Fox News, waiting for the conference peeps to get done and go eat lunch with them. We are flying out this afternoon- Aaron to Nashville, me to Dallas… but we are seeing this storm system go through Tennessee… I hope we can make it home! That’s always such a bummer. Travel stuff. Speaking of which, I had a bonkers day in the D.C. airport yesterday! Got up at 4AM, drove to DFW airport, flew out at 7 to D.C., had a four hour layover before flying to Syracuse. BUT, we got on our plane to leave, and the pilot came on and said the hydraulic pump was broken… niiiiice. As if I didn’t have mini anxiety attacks whilst being on a plane apart from my husband, being on a plane that was broken and about to take off definitely doesn’t help! But it was all good, I got here in time, had a great night. It just was scary to be waiting at the gate with about a hundred ticked off New Yorkers. Scary doesn’t even scratch the surface. I just stood there and smiled.

I’ve felt such a call to encourage lately. I’ve been reading Acts and it hit me how Paul spent a lot of his time traveling to places JUST to encourage the believers. He definitely gave a lot of time sharing with the Pharisees, Sadducees, Greeks, Romans… but his burning passion was to GET somewhere so he could build up the church. Can’t you recall how many letters he started with, “I have earnestly desired to come to you”? I don’t know, it’s really convicted me. I think I forget how necessary it is for us to hold each other up, speak truth to each other, verbalize what we love in someone or what we see God has placed within them. All of that to say, the passage we focused on this morning was an even deeper call to that for me:

“When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, then he will sit on his glorious throne. Before him will be gathered all the nations, and he will separate people one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats. And he will place the sheep on his right, but the goats on the left. Then the King will say to those on his right, ‘Come, you who are blessed by my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world. For I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me a drink, I was a stranger and you welcomed me, I was naked and you clothed me, I was sick and you visited me, I was in prison and you came to me.’ Then the righteous will answer him, saying, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you drink? And when did we see you a stranger and welcome you, or naked and clothe you? And when did we see you sick or in prison and visit you?’ And the King will answer them, ‘Truly, I say to you, as you did it to one of the least of these my brothers, you did it to me.’” –Matthew 25:31-40

Praying for the grace to do that today… even at the Syracuse airport, Philadelphia airport, Dallas airport. At home this week. Lord, help me, help me, help me!

Love you guys, see you again soon.

P.S. Recording is coming up soon – March 16 -- please pray for any last minute songs, songs to be finished, God-breathed inspiration, rest leading up to it, all that! It’s going to be a pretty slammed month. I know He will provide, but just join me in praying!

Beth