Need a Christmas Gift Idea?

How about a CD? It can be wrapped and put under the tree, or it's a perfect size for a stocking stuffer! It is an album of hymns that Matt recorded this year in Northern Ireland. The songlist is as follows: I Will Sing the Wondrous Story; I Want to Be Like Jesus/O to Be Like Thee; I'd Rather Have Jesus; Satisfied; Give Me a Holy Life; Just As I Am; Day by Day (duet w/ Amy); The Master Has Come; Fill Me Now; It Is Well; Nearer, Still Nearer; Wesley Medley (This Is Thy Will I Know/And Can I Yet Delay/Jesus Lover of My Soul). They are $10 each (plus shipping if needed). If you would like one, please contact me at kinnell01 "at" yahoo "dot" com. (You can listen to the YouTube promo below:)

Matt in Concert

Matt did his first solo concert on Sunday night at New Hope Community Church in New Washington, Indiana. This little country church is where New Hope International Ministries began, and they have faithfully supported Matt financially and prayerfully while he has worked for NHIM. It was a great time for us as both sets of our parents were able to be there as well. Matt's dad contributed some piano, and the night went really well. Matt was a little nervous (okay, more than a little), but his voice held up and we all made it through. It was especially good for us to be able to thank the congregation in person for all their support. Here's hoping that this is the first of many such opportunities.

The Long-Awaited Release!

(Long awaited by whom?) Well, it's finally here anyway. After about six months of waiting, UPS delivered six boxes of CDs to our front porch today. It feels really good to finally have the finished product in hand. It is a pretty surreal thing to be holding my CD in my hands. I never thought I would feel this attached to a product (that seems so artsy), but it really does feel kind of like my child. I'm still very nervous about what people will think of it, but that's not what it's all about. My hope and highest prayer is that God uses this to speak to somebody.

So, now to the really tough part...selling enough to cover the production costs. We have determined that we need to sell the CDs for $10.00 each to cover our costs. So, if you want one, you can email me at kinnell01@yahoo.com for information on how to get one. We're very happy to mail copies to those of you we won't be seeing anytime soon...just add $2.50 shipping/handling (plus $1.00 for each multiple copy). You can view the YouTube promo/sampler for the album here.

The songlist is as follows: I Will Sing the Wondrous Story; I Want to Be Like Jesus/O to Be Like Thee; I'd Rather Have Jesus; Satisfied; Give Me a Holy Life; Just As I Am; Day by Day; The Master Has Come; Fill Me Now; It Is Well; Nearer, Still Nearer; Wesley Medley (This Is Thy Will I Know/And Can I Yet Delay/Jesus Lover of My Soul).

A Preview of "One Supreme Desire"

We are getting closer and closer to the release of my CD. The studio has promised that their part will absolutely be done by the end of the week, then it's in the mail to me, and I have to have it professionally duplicated. We hope to have it available for mass consumption by mid-June. This has been a test of creativity, ability, confidence, and patience. We are excited to see the project come to completion and are now looking forward to seeing how God uses it. We hope you enjoy this little sampler including clips from each of the songs on "One Supreme Desire":

This Too Shall Pass

Why the horse picture? Why, it's Derby weekend in Kentucky, of course. Our commonwealth's time to shine. (That and anytime KFC launches a new ad campaign.) The state is all abuzz with Queen Elizabeth here this year to fulfill one of her lifelong dreams - attending the Kentucky Derby.

Well, it's been a while since our last post (which was way too negative to leave you hanging that long on). So, I've decided to straighten out of the fetal position long enough to write a little. (We'll see where this goes...) Actually, I've been out of the fetal position for almost a week now...

Last Wednesday night we spent the night in the emergency room with my first-ever case of kidney stones. Without elaborating too much, let me just say...ouch. I was laid up feeling pretty miserable until late Saturday afternoon, when I finally started feeling better. That was good, since I was supposed to preach twice on Sunday at our church while our pastor was out of town. About noon on Saturday I was getting really nervous. But I had a backup plan - if I wasn't feeling better on Sunday morning I figured I'd just take a couple of the percocet they gave me and preach out of the book of Revelation and nobody know the difference. But God was good, I was upright, and Sunday went pretty well.

The school year is wrapping up next week, and we are getting ready for the ghost town that is Wilmore in the summertime. No rest for the weary, though - I go to Kenya in two weeks (May 17-31), then Amy has Alumni Reunion in June, then we both go to Guatemala with a group from our church in July (7-14), then I am song evangelist and Bible teacher at a campmeeting in Washington state in August (4-12).

For anyone who cares, the CD is almost done. (Actually it was supposed to have been done a month ago, but for some reason it is not yet.) Every few days I get something else to approve. I hope to have it ready for mass consumption sometime in the first days of June. I am just waiting for them to send me the final product.

No new news on the adoption front. We are waiting.

Recording Update

This week we were excited to get some sample tracks from Matt's album to approve. It seems like we are close to getting a finished product. The producer tells us he has a few more instrumental bits to add and some more balancing to do, then we will be done. He is targeting April 20 (about two weeks later than we had thought) for the studio portion to be done. After that, he sends us the master and we go to reproduction. (Picture is of Matt, our producer Steve, our drummer Sam, our bass guitarist Junior, and our acoustic guitarist Roy, working on instrumental arrangments in the studio.)

Matt's Album

Many of you have been asking for updates about my recording project. As an update for those who don't know about the project, a pastor friend of ours in Northern Ireland invited me to come over and record an album of me singing. He offered to produce the album and provide all musicians for free, so all we would have to pay for is the studio time. So, Amy & I spent January 2nd-12th in Northern Ireland working on the album.

Now for the new info....the album is hymns, and we are calling it "One Supreme Desire". The songs we recorded are, in no particular order: I Will Sing the Wondrous Story; Just As I Am; Day by Day (duet with Amy); Give Me a Holy Life; I Want to Be Like Jesus/O to Be Like Thee; I'd Rather Have Jesus; Satisfied; The Master Has Come; Wesley Medley (This Is Thy Will, I Know/And Can I Yet Delay/Jesus, Lover of My Soul); It Is Well; Fill Me Now; Nearer, Still Nearer.

We got all of my part recorded while we were over there, and the album is now in the "add-on" phase, where they add little instrumental parts to fill the tracks out. Then it will be on to the final mixing and mastering, and we hope to have a finished master by the end of March. At that point we will have to have the album reproduced for distribution here in the States.

If we had known that we would be starting an adoption when we committed to this project, it may not have happened. This is not a money-making venture; it is a ministry project. (We hope we break even!) We hope that God will use the album to encourage believers and challenge them to live the abundant life that God desires for all of us. It will also be good to have something to offer people when I am out doing song evangelism in campmeetings and revivals. Above all, we pray God is glorified and lifted up in the finished product.

Welcome

So, the Kinnells have finally entered the world of blogging...

We figure this is going to be the best way for our friends and family to keep up with our process of adopting from Uganda. We also hope this will be a resource and encouragement for other couples who are adopting. Updates might be a little slow at first, but should pick up as time goes on.

For those of you who haven't heard yet, we have started the process of adopting from Uganda. We don't know the child yet, but we are applying for a male age 18-36 months. We are being told that we could have our son home by Christmas 2007, but we are trying not to get our hopes up too much. The reality is, we have a son living in Africa right now!

We will also use this space to keep you updated on what's going on in our lives in general. We have a busy year ahead that should include: the release of Matt's first music album, mission trips to Kenya and Guatemala, church and work activities, ministry opportunities, and finally the big trip to Uganda.