Music for Haiti Fundraising Campaign extended 'til Friday!!

For the past week, we've been giving $5 from every CD sale to the relief efforts in Haiti. The response has been wonderful, so we're extending our campaign until Friday, January 29.

For more info, please read the post just below this one!

Thank you!!!!!!

Music for Haiti Fundraising Campaign

Last night, I was transfixed by the story of a little girl who had been stuck under the rubble in Haiti for 2 days. Her arms and one leg were free, but the other leg was still trapped. Rescue volunteers struggled to free her, while at the same time, whispering love and wiping away her tears.

Like many of you, my heart is breaking, and I'm wondering what I can do to help.

Inspired by a friend of mine, I've decided to put my music to good use.

FOR THE NEXT 10 DAYS,
$5.00 FROM EVERY CD WE SELL WILL GO TO HAITI RELIEF!

This includes "Real Big Fan" and "Hymns in the Key of Grace." We want to make this really easy, so you can purchase the CDs online, through iTunes, by mail, or in person.

We'll be donating the funds through The Primate's World Relief and Development Fund (a very reliable Christian-based agency). All funds will be matched by the Canadian government, so your $5.00 will become $10.00!

We encourage you to buy a CD for yourself, your friends, or anyone who loves Gospel music! We want to get our funds to Haiti as soon as we can, so we'll be running this special until Tuesday, January 26.

Here are the different ways you can purchase CDs.

TO PURCHASE ONLINE:

Real Big Fan
Hymns in the Key of Grace

TO PURCHASE ON ITUNES:

Real Big Fan

TO PURCHASE BY CASH, CHEQUE OR MONEY ORDER:

I'll have CDs with me at St. John's York Mills Church on Sunday, January 17 & 24. Please come find me after the 9:30am service.

If you're attending St. Christopher's Anglican Church, Burlington, you can purchase CDs through my parents, Hollis & Helen.

You can also mail a cheque or money order, made out to Allison Lynn, for $18.00 per CD ($15 + $3 s/h). Please consider emailing me by January 26 to let me know your cheque is in the mail (no joke intended), so we can include your purchase in our relief campaign.

Allison Lynn
c/o St. John's York Mills Church
19 Don Ridge Dr.
North York, ON
M2P 1H3

Please comment or email me with any questions!

Thank you so much for partnering with us! We hope you enjoy the music, but more than that, we pray that our funds will be well used to provide relief and support to the people of Haiti.

New ideas...

I wrote on Facebook this week that a new idea gives me more energy than 10 espressos, and it's so true!

I have a lot of things percolating right now (no pun intended), and I can't wait to get them to the place where I can share them with you.

Right now, there's lots of brainstorming, jotting down ideas, breaking down goals into doable steps, and putting steps into action.

I have a good one that I'll be revealing tomorrow, so stay tuned...

Free Books & Nashville Replanning

Today I had the house all to myself! *bliss*

Two quick things:

- I've just found a company that's providing free books to bloggers in exchange for book reviews. I love free stuff, but I'm especially crazy about free books! I just ordered my first book - "Fearless" by Max Lucado (love him!). It'll take at least a week before I receive the book, so keep an eye out for the review. If you're a blogger, you can sign up here.

- So we're meeting with Monique last week about planning the next few months, and we realized something awful: our NSAI new leader training is in Holy Week! Our original plan was to take one Sunday off (doing an evening service to make up for it) and stay in Nashville for 10 days. But we can't miss a day of Holy Week, much less a Sunday. I'm so peeved with myself for not realizing it sooner. Needless to say, the trip is now up in the air. We'll probably go some time in April, post-Easter. I've contacted NSAI, and we're trying to work out something with the training.

Today I focused on booking research, looking for Gospel festivals in Ontario. If you're interested in having Gerald and me at your church this year, just send me an email at Allison@AllisonLynn.com

Goethe, Mark, and American Idol

A day of good stuff and productivity! I'm finally feeling healthy and good and well rested! It's sad that it takes a stomach bug to make me rest, but I guess that's got to go on my 2010 Goals & Resolutions - "Learn that resting and relaxing is positive and productive, and not a colossal and lazy waste of time."

I started a new Bible study today at St. John's. It's lead by the brilliant Olivia Lee, and we're doing Mark. I know most of the ladies in the group - they're wise and honest, and I'm looking forward to the challenge!

The afternoon was steeped in practical things, which meant I felt shameless when I indulged in my favourite television event: American Idol. You can hate it if you like, but it is my guilty pleasure. I don't keep stats like a football fan, but I love a good voice and a good story.

That said, I think some of the audition candidates need to be reminded of the Goethe quote: "I wish the stage were as narrow as a tight rope so that no incompetent would dare walk on it."

No one would hire me to build a bridge, fly a plane, or perform open heart surgery. At least take a voice lesson or two before stepping out on national television!

This may be Elvis's birthday for most of you...

... but in our family, we celebrate Helen's birthday!

Happy Birthday, Mom!

We love you!

Quiet Day Discoveries...

Happy Epiphany!

It's been a slow start to the New Year for me. Friday morning, I woke up with a tummy ache that ended up knocking me out of commission for 5 days. I'm finally feeling myself again, but I haven't had that energetic, proactive start that I wanted for the year. Instead, I've given myself complete permission to rest and relax, and it's been good.

I've enjoyed the snow, and watched a little too much TV, but I've also done a lot of reading, and here are a few things I've discovered:

- Beth Moore is coming to Toronto in March! Must get tickets...

- My new favourite blogs are Seth Godin (good business advice) and Anne Jackson (honest Christian journey stuff).

- My Dad wrote an article on interim ministry that was in the November 2009 issue of "The Anglican". You can download the issue here. Dad's article is on page 8.

- Sunday morning, I heard John C. Maxwell speak on TV. I'm finally finishing working through his book, "Talent is Never Enough". If you have any intentions of taking your talent outside your living room, I can't recommend this book enough!!!

- I'm considering changing my social networking habits. More on this later...

- I'm working on a new song for infant baptism. More songwriting is definitely in my Goals & Resolutions for 2010.

- And my new favourite quote:

"There is no beautifier of complexion, or form, or behavior, like the wish to scatter joy and not pain around us. 'Tis good to give a stranger a meal, or a night's lodging. 'Tis better to be hospitable to his good meaning and thought, and give courage to a companion. We must be as courteous to a man as we are to a picture, which we are willing to give the advantage of a good light." (Ralph Waldo Emerson)

Wouldn't it be amazing if we all decided to SCATTER JOY in 2010?

A PR lesson to start the year off right!

New Year's Eve, Gerald and I decided we would keep it simple - visit friends in the afternoon, spend the evening at home with good food, and call family at midnight. We had recently visited a lovely sushi restaurant in our neighbourhood that offered free delivery. I called the afternoon of the 31st, just to confirm they were still delivering that night, which they were. Perfect! It's a new place without a website, so we decided we would drop by the restaurant on the way home from visiting our friends to pick up a takeout menu.

Around 5:30pm, excited by the prospect of California rolls and spicy tuna, we dropped by the restaurant. Parking was terrible, so I stayed in the car while Gerald ran in to get the menu, only to reappear seconds later, empty-handed.

"They don't have takeout menus," he said.

"What do you mean? They ran out?" I questioned.

"No, they actually don't have them."

"Well, how do they expect us to order food from home for delivery?"

"The waitress told me to look at the menu, memorize it, then go home and tell you what they have."

Seriously????

They offer delivery, but you actually have to visit the restaurant to look at a menu?

So here we were, New Year's Eve, with no plan for food.

On the way home, Gerald spotted another sushi restaurant on a side street. We pulled in, and Gerald went in to ask if they did delivery. They didn't, but they did takeout and had tables available, so we decided to eat there.

Long story short, we will never go to the first restaurant again. Not only were they unable to fulfill the delivery service they advertised, but the second restaurant had better food, better parking, comparable prices, and lovely takeout menus! And even though they don't deliver, the rest of the services were so much better that we would gladly drive a few minutes to pick up our order.

Lesson: Don't advertise a service until you are ready to fulfill that service for your customers! Not only will you disappoint your customers, but you may lose them to a competitor!

Isn't it always nice to start off the year a little bit smarter?

Happy New Year, everyone!