As previously stated, I have some favorite channels on YouTube. Mental Floss is quickly becoming one of them because, in the spirit of a good afternoon distraction, it is less than ten minutes but longer than three and tells me things I didn’t already know. So far, this video on undomesticated domesticated animals has been my favorite.

So one of my favorite things about Girls of Grace are the Youth Leader Luncheons.

Lemme explain.

A few months before our event in each city, a few of us get to go to the church where we will be having the Girls of Grace event and meet up with a group of youth pastors and leaders from the area. It gives us a chance to meet new friends and connect with folks we already know in town, give them the heads up about our event coming soon, and hear from them, as the people ministering to these girls day in and day, about the things their girls are struggling with.

I love.

So my friend Leigh, a big wig at our parent company Word Entertainment, and I headed to Phoenix on Monday to hang out with a bunch of youth leaders Tuesday at Grand Canyon University, one of our partners as well as the host for the event. [It's a cool place, y'all.]

That’s me and Leigh. We like to call ourselves Thelma and Louise because we tend to act up and cause trouble everywhere we go. [Not really, we just wish we did. Does that count for anything?]

Phoenix was a blast. So many super fun youth leaders in a room together getting honest and open about student ministry and how to meet the needs of teen girls today. Loved it.

Then Leigh and I had True Food Kitchen which may seriously be one of my favorite restaurants in the nation. Their chia seed pudding with banana and coconut? Well it’ll just plain bring a tear to your dairy-free heart.

We hopped a plane to Portland, leaving 90 degrees and sunny for 50 degrees and rainy. But totally worth it. Also, the guy next to me on the flight told me every desert and mountain range and while you may think that would be a bit annoying, it was actually awesome because he showed me the Grand Canyon! I have never seen it before. It is big.

[You're welcome for how weird that story reads. I don't want to fix it because I think is sounds funny. Sorry.]

Leigh does such a great job explaining Girls of Grace every time, and especially to these youth leaders in Portland. And then I get up and act like a dodo bird and be silly and then be serious and talk about what God does in hearts at Girls of Grace.

We made new friends, laughed a lot, and then got a donut.

Vegan maple glazed please and thank you.

Also. ALSO. I got to see my wonderful and hilarious and practically perfect in every way friend Joy Eggerichs. And so immediately we got on the treadmill desk [I want one SO BAD] and just acted ridiculous. It’s what we do.

We made a video. I’m not gonna talk about the topic. I’m just gonna let you click if you want to see me embarrass myself for realz.

I also had a killer migraine yesterday and I don’t talk about that very much, but if you get headaches, I feel ya. The worst.

Sushi for dinner, early night to the hotel, then a 3:45am wakeup call for a 6am flight back to Nashville.

Upside? I got 4,000 words done on the next book which is awesome being that IT IS DUE ON JULY 1. [I'll tell y'all more about that really soon... but you already know I'm scared.]

Though I did go to Phoenix and Portland for the first time in 2012, I am so excited to explore these cities more when we return for Girls of Grace this fall!

[Sorry that I did a stinker of a job blogging this week... the travel was a killa!]

Have a great holiday weekend, y’all. What’s your plans?

If you are anything like me, you are biting your nails off watching the last few innings of the SEC baseball tournament match-up between Vandy and South Carolina! GO DORES!!

Watch the game live here!

I love this song from Sara Bareilles on about eleventybillion different levels. I can’t quit listening to it. You know how important words are to me, so to hear a song like this really gets me excited.

So you may remember that a few months ago, I wrote a free 30 day devotional for the girls who attended our Girls of Grace conference this season.

It’s been downloaded a lot and I am so glad that it has become a resource for girls to continue to use their words to speak life to others.

I wrote this devotional long before Speak Love was a twinkle in my literary eye because I just wanted to resource the gals in our audiences. And then Zondervan had a super cool idea to take the devotional and add in some journaling pages and some other content and make it into a journal that is beyond gorgeous.

This is what the cover will look like – made of purple leathery beautifulness.

And this is what it will look like with a cardboard cover thingy in the stores.

Cool, huh!?!? I’m kinda freaking out about how much I love it.

And just like the book, you can go ahead and pre-order the journal if you wanna.

But…. more importantly today…..

This all means the devotional won’t be available on my website anymore after May 31.

SO….. GO NOW AND DOWNLOAD IT FOR FREEEEE! And if you know any gals who would want it, go ahead send the link so that they can nab it before it is gone.

[If you try to download it and it doesn't email to you for some reason, just contact me and I'll get it to you.]

SO HURRY, FRIENDS! THE FREE DEVOTIONAL WILL DISAPPEAR NEXT FRIDAY!

Y’all know I love John Green. This graduation speech is well worth 20 minutes of your afternoon.

When I was 22 years old, I lived with a family of seven. And when I moved out, I stole their television.

Hop over to (in)courage today to read the whole story.

. . . . . .

Are you new around these parts? Well welcome!

Hi. I’m Annie. I write books for my job.

You can read more about me here.

You can follow me on twitter here.

You can like me on facebook here.

You can follow me on pinterest here.

. . . . .

I don’t even like animals that much, but I love The Brain Scoop. One of my favorite youtube channels. [Yes, I have favorite youtube channels. Love me anyways.]

Any video where I can get a dramatic jog from Charles Kelley is a win in my book. I love all of Golden, Lady A’s new album, but I think this song is a special one.

[Did you see yesterday's afternoon distraction?]

You know those songs that you kinda grow up with and love and they reside in a special place in your heart?

I have a few of those tucked away in my heart and when I hear them on the radio just causes an emotional reaction long before I can even prepare myself.

Such as, but not limited to, Testify to Love.

I’m gonna put a lyric video here and let you have a moment.

[Hey subscribers- there's a video here. Click over if you can't see it!]

Right? RIGHT? CAN I GET AN AMEN FROM MY MID-90S CHRISTIAN MUSIC LOVERS!?!

I know. It just takes you back there.

Anyways.

Fast forward to Girls of Grace. At one of our fall events my pal Amber says, “Man, last season when Michael used to sing Testify to Love? That was awesome.”

And then a sound like a record screeching happened [not really but imagine it] as I whipped my head towards her and said, “WHAT.”

Unbeknownst to me, my friend Michael that plays piano for Point of Grace is also the exact same Michael from the group Avalon that sings Testify to Love. [This I did not know. Obviously.]

Well. As if being around Point of Grace wasn’t enough to make 1994 Annie melt into a pile of uncool super fan, that about did it.

So I tried to play it cool, which you know I am really good at [no I'm not], and just hope that at some point during this Girls of Grace season, Michael would hear my heart cry out for a little throw back moment.

And it happened. I can’t remember which city, but I heard it from backstage and ran like my life depended on it so that I could watch it myself.

He sang Testify to Love.

It was moving times a million.

A few shows later in Dallas? He did it again.

My gracious, people.

And last week in San Antonio? The key change just plain about brought a tear to my eye. I did a horrible job filming it but I did a great job feeling it if that counts for anything. [It doesn't.]

[Hey subscribers- there's a video here. Click over if you can't see it!]

I wish I’d have caught that key change on video. You’d be having a moment all over again right there on your side of the screen.

It is truly one of my favorite parts of the day. And I told him. EVERY TIME. Which just goes to prove that just because you are a speaker on a national conference tour, that DOES NOT MEAN YOU ARE COOL.

In all seriousness, because you know I love a sentimental moment more than just about anybody, when Michael sang that song, it was such a full circle moment for me. Here I was, sharing the stage with these musicians that I have loved and adored from afar my whole life. I pictured little teen Annie, hanging out in her bedroom with 91.5FM playing on the radio in Atlanta, working on homework or reading a book when that song would come on. And y’all- I would sing every word like my life depended on it. Because I wanted my life to depend on those words. I wanted my life to look like that song.

For as long as I shall live
I will testify to love
I’ll be a witness in the silences
When words are not enough
With every breath I take
I will give thanks to God above
For as long as I shall live
I will testify to love

And it is still what I pray – that my life testifies to God’s love.

Also? I hope that someday I get to hear Steven Curtis Chapman sing Burn The Ships because then my life as a CCM super fan would be complete.

. . . . .

What’s your favorite 90s Christian song? Do you have one that just takes you back?