Saturday, August 24, 2002

SkyCar
I was sitting in traffic today and wished I had one of these. Can you imagine if we live long enough to own one at a reasonable price? Check out the SkyCar.

Wednesday, August 14, 2002

Here's a great quote:
"To do what is right and kind and brave is what God calls us to. This we should do no matter the results. But there's no way of knowing how such behavior alters the world for a person who is badly in need of such a vision."

~ Jim McGuiggan in Jesus, Hero of Thy Soul, page 84.

Friday, August 9, 2002

Funnies
Check out 'The Dead Donkey'.

Thursday, August 8, 2002

I embarrassed myself
I am an 'Equal-Opportunity-Forgetter'. My inability to remember names has become one of my most outstanding attributes. And, it has increasingly worsened since I turned 40, four years ago. I forget everybody's name. If I didn't see my mother twice a year, I'd probably forget hers. I forget the 'well known' as well as the 'unknown'.

Today, I had lunch with some friends at Houston's in Nashville. Houston's is one of my favorite restaurants. I always eat the same thing: Oriental chicken salad with extra peanut sauce. I love their peanut sauce. Then, I order the walnut chocolate brownie with vanilla ice cream. After we'd been there a while, Ricky Skaggs walked in with some young people. (I guess they were his kids and their friends.) 

I've known Ricky for several years. He's performed on several of the Gaither videos and we've worked together at different shows here in town. And, on top of all that, he is an international Bluegrass and Country Music star, for Heaven's sake.

When he walked in and passed our table, I said, "Hi Randy... uh, Ricky." 

I called Ricky Skaggs... RANDY! I felt like an idiot. 

We talked for several minutes and found out his Bluegrass tour is going incredibly well, averaging 8,000 to 9,000 people a night. His family is doing good, his wife is making a new record, etc. When he was about to leave our table, I said, "Tell that sweet wife of yours, Cheryl, I said hello." He looked at me kind of funny and said, "Uh... okay."

When he walked away, my friend leaned across the table and said, "Her name is Sharon."

It ruined my lunch.

Mailbag
I've started a new page. It's called the reMarkable Mailbag. It's a compilation of e-mails I've received recently and some I have saved.

Most are nice, some not so nice (just to show you I won't be partial). But, I enjoy reading every one of them. It's amazing, the ones you remember are usually the ones from people who think you stink. There can be 150 positive letters and, then, one from somebody who wishes you'd never been born.

When I first started performing full-time, 21 years ago, those letters used to bother me. I guess it's because I always wanted to please people. Now, they just amuse me. The older I get, the more I realize that I can't please everybody.

You have got to be yourself and, if they don't like it, there are plenty of people out in this big wide world for them to like. You can't be all things to all people. You can try, mainly because the Apostle Paul suggested it, but he never said it was possible.

I've never really felt comfortable with the idea of a chat room or message board on my site because of the anonymity of the Internet. I don't want people to get on here and say things that might offend children who visit my site. But, if they just 'hate' me and aren't overly mean or nasty, I'll post it. Why not? You can learn more from your enemies than you can your friends, sometimes. So, if you'd like to check out the reMarkable Mailbag, click here.

The Mark Lowry Show
I've taken a summer hiatus from doing the shows. Stan has been busy, I've been busy, seems like everybody's busy this summer. But, it's been a great summer. I've, basically, been traveling around, seeing friends and goofing off. 

Monday, August 5, 2002

Happy birthday, Charlie!
A few weeks ago, someone e-mailed me and asked if I would send a birthday wish to one of her loved ones named Charlie. (I can't remember if he is her father or her husband and I can't find the e-mail she sent - and that's because I'm unorganized, so there.) Anyway, I was going to post it on July 27th but I forgot because I don't have a Palm Pilot anymore because I can't remember where I put it. So, better late that never:

Dear Charlie,

A little bird (from the World Wide Web) told me that you are turning 60 on Saturday, July 27, 2002.

Your Sixtieth year represents a lot, Charlie:
21,900 days
525,600 hours
31,536,000 minutes
and 189,216,000 seconds... if my memory serves me correctly.

(Okay, if my calculator serves me correctly.)

Did you know, people under six and over 60 can get by with anything? A six-year-old doesn't know better and a sixty-year-old can blame it on senility!

What a gift, Charlie. Today, you are there! Your Emancipation Proclamation to act, do and say exactly what you please, with little or no repercussions, has finally dawned!

You are officially OLD.

You can get by with anything!

So, here's what I wish for you, on your birthday, and for the rest of your life:

• Live it wide open
• Milk it dry.
• Wrench every bit of life out of every passing moment.
• Let your hair down, Charlie! (If you still have hair.)
• And don't spend a second on your deathbed wondering, "What might have been..."

And, on top of all that... have a great day!

Celebrating over here,
Mark Lowry

P.S. If anybody should ever ask us, "Whatever happened to Charlie?", we'll blame it on senility!

Friday, August 2, 2002

Mom & Dad visit
Charles & Beverly Lowry (my parents) came to visit for a couple of weeks. For the first week, Mom went every day to Daywind to write. She writes songs with other songwriters. Dad tags along with Mom and sits in a corner and works on his computer. They both have laptops. You see, my Mom and Dad have become computer junkies in their old age. I'm so proud of them. But, if they don't get some other hobbies, we might have to intervene and send them to Computers Anonymous. Most people their ages don't have any interest in staying with the times. But, not my Mom and Dad! They're Happenin'! They are never far away from a phone line because you never know when they might get an urge to 'check their e-mail'.

But, their memory is not as good as it used to be. Sometimes they forget where they left their computers. Then, pandemonium breaks out, until somebody calls and lets them know where it is.

The second week of their visit, we went to the houseboat. I found a cove, hidden away, that was perfect. Very quiet and you could almost touch the stars at night. A friend of our family, Lurline Braud, came to visit on the weekend. She is a wonderful cook. Her late husband, DeWitt, was a dear friend, too. We used to stay at their home every time we visited Baton Rouge. DeWitt was a businessman. I'll never forget him telling me, one time when I was a kid, that he got his check every week and asked God how much He wanted him to keep. Then, he gave the rest away. He was a giver. Every morning, Lurline would cook breakfast. She would fry pork chops for breakfast! I loved staying with them.

Lurline had to drive home on Sunday morning. Sunday afternoon, more friends showed up to stay with us. Norman, Lu Lu and Camille. Now, that is an eating bunch. We ate and played Hearts. We ate and played Scattegories. We ate and took a boat ride. We ate and took naps. We had a wonderful time. A lot of great conversation and great food. To see some of the pictures that Mom and Dad took of the trip, click here.