After we had participated in the Siege, and walked around, we saw the police getting the feeder ready for the march, and we decided to walk back over to the CCC and watch from there. It was about an 8th of a mile, and perfect weather. About halfway back to the march start, we saw a second group of people standing in silent prayer. There must have been several hundred people there, and I started getting choked up again, realizing that we had stretched out the borders, and filled them.

Throughout the day, as we saw people, I kept finding myself wanting to raise my fist and shout, in excitement and solidarity for what was happening. Then I would remember that they all had their mouths taped...

We kept walking and as we approached the underpass, we saw a big group of people walking toward us. It took a second for my eyes to adjust and realize the line reached all the way back to the horizon. They were a quiet group, 1 of 3 groups of 3000, marching with Life tape on their mouths, some with hands raised. Few people were talking, and you could feel the heaviness and the solemnity of the moment. It's not enough, some would say. It's just walking. Well, I was there and I can tell you that Heaven heard us. There is so, so much work to do. But for this day, we raised our silent cries to God.


I watched them coming. I stood on the sidewalk and cried as they walked past, every one person carrying this burden of the heart of God. Thousands of them, marching past. A half-mile away, Matt Gilman was leading worship at the CCC, and his voice rang out over the city, "Holy, holy, is the Lord God Almighty." I took it to heart that God is holy, that He is above it all and that He sees. This evil WILL be overturned. Maybe this specific clinic, maybe not. But abortion, abortion will be outlawed in our lifetime.

I wrote this yesterday for my poetry blog.

Blush

Just the sound of walking
Shoes scraping against asphalt
Strollers whisking past, full of life
Overhead, behind and before us, angels sing Holy.

We are silent, because we can hear children screaming
We are silent, because their voice is denied
We are silent, because broken hearts make no sound
Hear our silent screams, you kings.
You will answer for every drop of blood.

Around us, trucks and helicopters and why, why, why, blaring from screens
“You should be ashamed” they say.
No, you should be ashamed.
Your hands are stained, and you have forgotten how to blush.

God, end abortion and send revival to America.

Monday morning we all woke up at the hotel and had some Texas shaped waffles and talked to a guy for a while in the breakfast room, and then cheerily walked out to our cars. Richy's voice was still gone, so we weren't planning to lead worship at the Catholic Charismatic Center (meeting place), but we were still trying to be there a little early.

And that is where fate, or the devil, bit us in the butt. We were sitting in various cars charging phones and sending texts here and there when Matt told Richy his truck had been broken in to. It took a second for me to realize what that meant.

I went and spread the word to the other cars and we all came and stood around kinda helplessly, making lists and trying to remember what had not been in the Tahoe. After a minute, the nausea hit us all as we realized how bad this was.

We all gathered in a circle to try to pray and make a plan. Richy led in prayer as we all stood behind the Tahoe with all its doors open. I had the hilarious thought of some guy sneaking up to the open door and stealing the remaining stands and boxes as we stood with our eyes closed. I started laughing, because I'm so spiritual like that, and then everybody wanted to know why, and then we all laughed and laughed. It's just like that, sometimes, you know? Everything is so, so dark and confusing and then this little ray of mischief hope peeks through and you realize you're going to make it.

We notified the hotel and the police, and then the public ASAP via our mobile devices. Then it was off to the march.

First we went to the CCC. There were thousands of people there, milling around, worshipping, waiting in line for Life tape. We were pretty late to that, so we hitched a ride in the back of Daniel's truck over to the proposed clinic site, where 950 were standing in a silent siege at that moment. (By the end of the day, they would count 4200 at the siege, making it the largest silent siege in history). Now, if you follow the history of Bound4Life, you might be shocked to know that this was my first real siege, i.e., the first time I have put Life tape on my mouth and stood in prayer. Every time our team has participated in one, I was elsewhere. So it was very meaningful for me to have my first stand in Houston.

We stood single file on the sidewalk surrounding the building, 3/4 of the way around... we weren't allowed to touch the grass, and that was as far as the sidewalk went. There were "spotters" from Planned Parenthood placed around the grounds to watch us, and the official word was if even one of our water bottles touched the grass, they would call the police. The police were there, anyway, so the worst I heard happening was someone getting a whistle blown at them. Ah, America.

I stood, with my back to the freeway, facing this 6-story building. Behind me, Houston roared with life and activity, but my eyes were open. I stared at the 3rd floor, which is being outfitted to be an international late-term abortion hub, and I thought about my children, the children that I gave birth to, at 24 weeks. The only words in me, the only cry in my heart, was the 22 word Life Prayer. "Jesus, I plead Your blood, over my sins, and the sins of my nation. God, end abortion and send revival to America." Then, "End abortion, end abortion. Oh, God. End abortion." There is no eloquence, there are no words, there is no inpsired speech to combat this horror. Just, "Oh, God. Oh, God. End this thing."

Later, we walked the line and saw the hundreds, tape covering their mouths to symbolize the silence of the unborn, eyes closed, heart-prayers lifted. Black and Latino, white and Asian. I tried to take pictures to capture the enormity, the solemnity, but they can't communicate how it felt. It felt like hope, like this tangible hope hanging thickly overhead.

I'll stop here, before the march, because this is already looooong.

To be continued, again...

I am feeling quite revived currently, from eating Chinese food all ALONE and then going to the thrift store ALONE. I heart ALONE, on occasion.

Now, about Texas. Lemme explain. No, let me sum up… we arrived in Texas on January 2^nd and then we started playing and doing pre-call rallies at churches and showing the bound4life video and promoting the events on January 17^th and 18^th. Probably my favorite pre-call day was Saturday the 16^th, when we played at a men’s conference in the morning and then a citywide youth thing in the evening.

About the morning: the men’s conference was filled up- about 80% of the participants were guys involved in rehabilitation and recovery from drugs or alcohol. This is one of my very favorite crowds to work with because they have been forgiven much, and they love much. They worshipped from overflowing hearts and blessed us SO much. I hope we get to go back there someday and do more ministry.

Saturday night we played at the Core and we rocked the heck. It was one of those flying nights- the band was in sync after all those weeks of playing together, and we gave it our all. Literally. We woke up on Sunday with no voices, from a combo of sickness and overuse. J Worth it. (also, little did we know this would be the last time we would play our instruments. What a way to go)

Sunday was theCall and we were scheduled to play last, at 10:15 pm. Our assignment is usually breakthrough either before theCall or at the beginning, so this was a change of pace and we were looking forward to blasting some high praise.

Except… we had no voices. We babied our throats all day, Richy drinking honey straight from the bottle and both of us swigging gallons of hot tea. We thought maybe it would work, but by the time we got up there for soundcheck, it was clear. Richy’s voice was gone. He made the decision to give up our slot, and not try to make something work. And it was God, you know? I would have expected us to be crushed- all those weeks of work leading up to this moment of being able to play together, in our home city, in front of this crowd.

Instead, we were glad to hand it over to Eddie James and let him tear it up for an extra 40 minutes. I’m not saying that because we’re so humble and holy- just we had so much grace. It was fun to be in the audience during Eddie’s set, dancing like fools.

Participation in theCall was awesome. I don’t have an official number of attendees, but I’ve heard 10,000. We were so excited to be a part, and to ask God corporately to turn the tide in Houston.

To be continued…

Ooooh, so y'all are all snarky and stuff, all like, I'll comment when you BLOG and such... Shoot. If you knew the frustration of being largely internet-less, you would have some sympathy.

I have an internet signal right now, here at the ol' hotel. Who knows if it will last long enough for me to post this blog... only God. And He probably has more important stuff on his mind. So, if the interwebs holds up here, this post will actually be published.

Some event details: tonight Radiant leads worship at Fairmont Church in Pasadena, at 7. Tomorrow night we have a citywide youth concert/gathering at the Core at Willowbrook Assembly (Houston), and then Sunday night is theCall, we lead worship at 10:15(ish) pm, and Monday is the Justice March. THEN, I will talk about something else, probably. Well, after the recap, anyways.

More specifics about theCall and the march:

Sunday, January 17th Location @ 6:00PM We are calling for the pro-LIFE people of Houston, Texas, and America to gather Sunday night, January 17th, 2010 for four (4) hours of prayer for spiritual awakening and justice, from 6:00pm to 11:00pm at Grace Community Church.
Grace Community Church
South Campus
14505 Gulf Freeway
Houston, TX 77034
Parking on Sunday is limited. Please utilize carpools.

Monday, January 18th Location @ 9:30 AM
On January 18th, on Martin Luther King Jr.’s holiday, we will gather by the thousands to launch a silent prayer march through the streets to the abortion “super center” for the nationwide press conference and prayer stand.
Catholic Charismatic Center
1949 Cullen Blvd.
Houston, TX 77023
Parking on Monday is limited. Please utilize carpools.

We have achieved that mid-trip condition of continual toddler meltdown. Typically this occurs about a week in, and then we go home, so I don't know what the cyclical "end" might be. Now, we put it to the test and stay on the road an extra two weeks post apocalypse.

Today, we have our prayer/business meeting first, then lunch and practice for a couple hours before we head to 1960 for tonight's event. I might be able to stream it on ustream, if I can then I will put the link up here prior to the service.

If you live within a couple hours of Houston, and you go to a church, consider having Radiant Worship or a representative come to your church to talk about the Call Houston and the Prayer March on January 17th and 18th.

It's time to stand up for something. Go to thecall.com/crisis and bound4life.com for more info. Tell everyone you know, and then be there.

So, the glasses came in today. So far, Toby has not messed with them, probably because he has been asleep. Brynn has stolen them twice. And despite my adjuring "Don't put your face over there!", his face keeps getting within her grasp.






Pretty good, huh?
He's walking around tilting his head and looking at stuff... very excited and cute.

In other Clark news, we (Radiant) are definitely playing at the Call DC II. You should go. Find a bus, train, or plane... stick out your thumb and plan on sleeping in a tent, whatever. We will be gathering on the Mall in Washington DC, and fasting and crying out to God. For 12 hours. Or maybe 14. To quote Dr Phil, this is gonna be a changing day in your life. August 16th. Be there.

In other, other Clark news, Brynn is sitting up on her own now! She tried it the last day we were in Texas, and now she's a pro. Also on her agenda, pulling up. She doesn't quite have it, yet. But she gives it a good try. If we pull her to standing on something, she can't figure out how to sit down and will stand there whining indefinitely.

And that is the news of the day... later.

I was going to post some pictures today, but in technology's eternal battle to destroy me, every rechargeable battery in the house is dead and so I cannot import anything. Am I charging the batteries now? Of course I am. Do I really think I'll win this one? Not really.

We flew out of KC Friday morning at 6:40. In the MORNING. Ay Caramba. I hate flying, so I have defense mechanisms for the times when we are most likely to crash to the earth, like the moment when the front wheels leave the ground, and the early trajectory, and descent and landing. I am fine when we are 34,000 feet in the air. My thinking is, it would take a while to fall out of the sky from that height, and I would have some warning. So I try to have a good book to divert me for the crucial moments, which means I have to ration it so I don't finish before landing. I blew it this time and finished my book, which meant I had to do a crossword puzzle during landing, which, frankly, was not sufficiently diverting. More than you needed to know? Well, this is my blog, folks. I can ramble on about any old thing and you just have to take it like a man.

It was such a great vacation. Maybe some of you would not want to fly to some remote oppressed city and spend 12 hours in prayer and fasting, but that's our bag. We just took our time. We sat around the hotel and watched a little TV. We ate good food, slowly. We drank Starbucks and watched far-off thunderstorms. And I remembered why my husband is my best friend.

Saturday was the Call. And I always say, the Call was awesome, intense, etc. It's just very hard to describe a day like this.

There's thousands of us here
and nobody really knows why
except maybe if we join together and ask
You will come
and remove the curse from this nation

We're all badly broken
and flawed, so flawed
but maybe, if we lift You up
You'll draw us near

The sound is deafening
of eight thousand hearts breaking
with Yours, for Yours

And maybe we've got it right
maybe we've got it wrong
but we can't stop asking
that much we know

More about the Call and vacation this week.

Here's the little weekend update... the plan was to drive to Cincinnati in the evening to avoid all the visual stimulation for R2, which we are considering might be a trigger for seizures. So we planned on leaving at 3 pm and driving for 9 hours. But really, it was more like 4 when we finally got on the road and then it took 10 hours. Which sounds insane, but it really wasn't that bad. Except I hate McDonalds now.
So we got to the hotel at 2 or 3 or something insane- 3 because of the time change. Since Toby had a nice nap from 9 or so, he was cheery and awake and very excited about everything. Until 5:30. Then he got up around 9-ish ready for the new day. The Call started at 10 but that was not do-able... Daddy moves a little slow in the morning, and R2 makes him look fast.

Eventually we got to the Call, and stayed for 7 hours. It was awesome, it always is. This one was focused a lot on the African-American issues and abortion and such. After 7 hours, my arms and my brain were tired... we probably could have stuck it out the remaining 5 hours, but me and the wee folk went back to the hotel. Where I watched about 5 minutes of the webstream before Toby tripped over the power cord and broke it off in the laptop. So that was the end of that. Maybe the end of that laptop, too. Time will tell.

Sunday we slept in till 8:30. Thanks, Toby. He and I snuck out of the room with him in his Spidey PJs and his stick-up hair. Everybody in the breakfast room was admiring him. What a cutie. He talked through half a waffle, several strips of bacon, eggs, froot loops and some yogurt. And some OJ. I don't know if he would have ever stopped, but you know, I did.

Then Sunday we drove home, used a gift card at Olive Garden... yesssss. And got home by midnight-ish. It was a good trip and a fun one and our first family vacation, technically. So there you go.

In other news, American Idol starts tonight. Time to find the rabbit ears in the garage.

Toby and I went to the library today. I made it about 1/4 of the way through the fiction section... and what a workout! He is nuts. He had the greatest time of his life running through the racks. I didn't have quite as much fun, but at least I got out of the house.
Speaking of the house, if you didn't see the house tour, go watch it. On yesterday's post. I'll wait.




Okay, cute little house, eh? I am going to be putting photos and videos up as time allows on my photobucket account here.

In other news, we drive to Cincinnati tomorrow night... we are attempting to make the drive easier for R2, so we're leaving late afternoon so most of our drive will be in the dark. Then Saturday is the Call Cincinnati (look at the spelling of Cincinnati.. not what I thought) and then Sunday we drive back to KC. And maybe, if we figure it out and finances permitting, we take the crew to the Veggie Tales movie which is going to ROCK.

And that's all for today, folks.

except for this gratuitous cuteness.

All right, all right. Politics.

Now here's the whatsit. I LOVE politics. But I don't enjoy discussing it that much because it gets ugly so quickly. Nonetheless, I will now discuss it with you.

I like Huckabee, started liking him during the debates and have been watching him since. I also like Romney and Thompson. I'd be okay with any of them.

Here's where it gets tricky for me. Rush Limbaugh. He is my main man. I HEART Rush. And he doesn't like Huck. Doesn't feel like he's conservative enough on the issues. This has shaken my faith in Huck. Not because I believe whatever Rush says, but because I know Rush has the understanding and the experience to know what he's talking about. So it does sway me some, or at least make me think. Which is good, I should know why I support someone and stand by my convictions.

I believe the KEY issue right now is abortion. I think it is heavy on the heart of God, and it's time to END this abomination. Because it is. It is an evil institution. So that was my foundation, and the first reason I ruled out Rudy, who I loved for his leadership on 9/11. Another key issue is gay marriage, and preserving the sanctity of marriage between a man and a woman. Huck and I see eye to eye on these.
I am a conservative, and I believe in conservatism. Smaller government, less taxes, free trade, crackdown on immigration, a strong military and defense policy- capitalism etc etc. And Huck is a little disappointing on these. But the social/moral issues are weightier, for me and my one vote.

Add to that some of the prophetic voices that I greatly respect putting their support behind him, and that is in his favor.

Here's the deal, though. It's early yet. Candidates will drop out and show up. Somebody might unearth a love child or some crime or (gasp) politically incorrect statement anda candidate will drop off the landscape in a matter of days. So at this point, it's important to study and listen to the candidates, and learn.

Here's some political ground rules for my blog.
• Feel free to promote your candidate. We can all learn. NOTE: don't post long articles. Just post the link.
• DO NOT criticize somebody elses candidate. It's rude, and I don't like rudeness. You can post a link to a hit piece, just add a warning.
• No personal attacks on other bloggers. Come on.

So there you go.

In other news, it has been record temperatures up here for days, in the 60s. BORING. I need some snow. And I shall have some, tomorrow. Also, the Call Cincinatti is Saturday and we Clarks are driving up, or over or whatever and attempting it. I may spend the majority of the day in a hotel room watching the webstream. But at least I'll be able to go to some of it.

Well, here we are. 5 of us alone -several states away from friends and family. I have been dreading this, but you know, it's okay.
So begins the Clark family adventure.

The Call KC was beautiful. R2 didn't go at all, we just took the babies and traded them back and forth between me and the MOG. They actually did very well, although we did have Toby on a wrist leash. Sorry if you think that's cruel.... 25,000+ people and a runner... he gets a leash.
It felt very true to the spirit of the original Calls we attended, less praise and worship, more prayer. It was intense all day long. Me and the munchkins left after 7 hours, but I watched the stream on God TV, which you can watch for free on your computer anytime... and they will be replaying the Call, so keep an eye out.

Radiant did not play, we just attended and prayed. And actually, that may be why I enjoyed it so much. Being behind the scenes sometimes, you miss the flavor of what's happening on the floor. So that was refreshing and awesome.

Richy woke me up at 11:55 where I had fallen asleep watching the stream on my laptop, and we had a nice quiet Happy New Year listening to the neighbors fireworks and him eating his chili dog.

This morning I said goodbye to my mom for the longest separation we will ever have, at least a few months, maybe longer. I didn't cry... but I feel the gap already. Then I said goodbye to the team and my sister and Nate. And now we're on our own.

This is going to be fun.

I left you on Friday... so, a recap. Friday, we got lost in Vegas some more. Went to three services at the School of Intercession. Ate at In-N-Out. Friday night Mike Bickle preached at the service. I'm not much of a sit-and-listener, but I did. And it was good.
Don't like thinking about the end times, though. But I think I would be less fearful if I was closer to Jesus... gotta work on it. That simple.

Saturday morning we woke up for the Call- Hannah got in from the airport around 2ish... AM. We sleep-talked for a while, and then the alarm clock went off at 5. Oops. That was supposed to be set for 6. So I was wide awake after that and lay there wishing I was asleep for an hour. At 6 we got ready. The guys... who knows. I called at 645 and nobody answered. Sheesh.
At 7 we left for our 7:30 sound check. We arrived at the Thomas and Mack Center at 7:06. So, you know... we stood around for a while, took some pictures, prayed... and went in to the stadium to stand around with our gear until 7:45 when they were ready for us.

Now before I talk about the Call, let me give this disclaimer. I don't speak for Richy, or Radiant, or the Call. These are just my impressions and my heart, which is undoubtedly a little hard. I'm being saved.
The stadium was basically empty- remember, this is 2 hours before the event begins. There were a couple hundred people there, mostly volunteers and ushers and such. We starting what Richy calls a "D piddle" which is just piddling around in the key of D and singing spontaneously. And there was such a sweetness. Just being there, in that empty stadium singing to Jesus. Simplicity. Later it got a little harder. Our goal was lifting the opression. Breakthrough. Somewhere during You are Holy that began to happen.
So it was good. It wasn't easy, but good.

We left to take Nate and Hannah back to the airport (and the Shatter Festival) pretty soon after we finished. So we weren't there for the beginning of the ten o'clock set. But the rest of the day was good. I think that we (people) connect more with this or that cause. So the focuses (foci?) of this Call were not as close to our hearts as Nashville. But we did pray, and worship, and pray, and fast. All day.

The thing with mass intercession like that is, there are ebbs and flows. You're praying or worshipping, and somebody hits on something that is in sync with God's heart in that moment, and zooooom the momentum just takes off and a room of 6000+ people are crying out in unison for one cause. And it is exhilirating. And emotional. And then, it slows down. And you wait, and pray... and hit it again.

But in that moment... you are in destiny. And you (I mean I) can breathe for a minute. It's the right place, at the right time.

This is already maybe the longest blog post I've ever written, and I don't know if anybody will even read the whole thing. So I'll finish the trip update tomorrow.

Oh, and new pics on my picture blog! Click here

After a long day of obsessively making lists and eventually packing, we were off. I said goodbye to my babies.... sigh. My mom picked us up and the MOG (speaking of obsessive) spent 20 minutes looking for his OTHER sunglasses.
I was looking so cute in my overalls with all the brass buttons and buckles. They loved me in airport Security. They just wanted me to stay and stay. I was wanded.... excessively. Everything beeped. *undie alert* even my foundation garments... every dadgum button set off the thing. Wanded wanded. I had to take off my shoes, unbuckle my overalls, arms up, arms down. (that's what it's all about) Frisked, TWICE.

i have to stop this newsy little tome as we have to go now. Catch ya later.

No Smartypants this week.

---

False alarm. We don't really have to go... because the MOG has to get some Jesus... this is possibly the most oppressive city I have ever been in.
Anyways. Frisked, and then we get to our gate as the flight is boarding. The flight was 3 hours, which is LONG. I did watch my first in-flight movie (Nancy Drew)... that was fun. Unfortunately, we were seated far, far away from each other. But it was okay. My seat companions were British, and I just blissfully eavesdropped on the accents for a while.

Got here. Pacific time. It is so trippy to take off, fly for three hours, and land one hour after takeoff. Ride shuttles and buses and such until we finally get our rental mini-van. I was hoping for something sporty, in fact, I rented a Jeep Liberty online. But we have to pick up the whole band tonight, and besides, the car rental place was out of SUVs. So they rented us a minivan for the same price, which is awesome. And... matronly.

We drove in crazy circles. Figuring out a new city is always a challenge, and doing it dog-tired is wacky. After 4,983 hours, we finally went to sleep. The end.

My mission today, whether or not I choose to accept it, is to pack for 5 people for 4 days.... I have to start making lists or my brain will just combust.

The MOG and I leave for Vegas tonight. It will be my longest separation from Brynn ever. Uh, except that 2 months she lived in the hospital. But you know what I mean.
I'm pretty nervous about it. She is not such a fan of the bottle, and I haven't started solids yet. So best of luck to Viking Granny!

Oh, and in the usual way these things work, we found out that Radiant is playing before the Call again. But we get a whole hour this time, so that's cool... the songlist is exciting. There's something about opening the morning, preparing the field... hopefully we can get some video for all you cats.

The other thing happening this weekend is Shatter Festival. Leah and Tred (her dance company) will be dancing and there's a webcast. So check it out.

My stomach is all nervousy. I should take a shower now, and then wash clothes. And pack. Clothes. And bottles. And patch cords. And batteries. And **poof**