Chadder

Playing at the Bluebird on March 16th at 6pm

noreply@blogger.com (Chad Cates) — Thu, 08 Mar 2012 17:58:00 +0000

I'm playing at the Bluebird with some great writers on March 16th. I'll be playing some new songs and a few olds ones. Come check it out!

noreply@blogger.com (Chad Cates) — Tue, 06 Dec 2011 23:14:00 +0000

I'm really excited to go see Matt Wertz and Ben Rector play tonight at Belmont University. Matt has a new Christmas CD out called Snow Globe and I had the opportunity to write three of the songs with him including the title cut, Snow Globe. A little back story for that song...Tony Wood and I were writing together and we were writing a really serious Christmas song. Somehow the word Snowglobe came up right in the middle of the serious song and I turned around to the piano and started playing this chorus idea. Within about 10 minutes, the chorus was done. I was with Matt Wertz in the next few weeks and I played that chorus for him. He said, "PLEASE let me write that with you!"...so Tony and Matt and I got together and finished the song. We all ended up really loving it. We also wrote Wake Up! Wake Up! together and Matt and I wrote Christmas in the City. Even without my songs on this album, it is a GREAT album. Go check it out! Click HERE and it will take you to iTunes!

Come As You Are is #1 this week!

noreply@blogger.com (Chad Cates) — Sun, 15 Aug 2010 21:16:00 +0000

The song, "Come As You Are" that I wrote with Michael Farren and Tony Wood went #1 at Inspo radio this week. This is the video about the song and this is a video of the song. Here is the chart!

Milly

noreply@blogger.com (Chad Cates) — Sun, 15 Aug 2010 21:08:00 +0000

The last month and a half seem like such a whirlwind. On July 1st, we got the frightening news that our niece, Milly was diagnosed with Leukemia. This is Sarah's brother's third and youngest child and she is 2 years old. Our world became wrapped up in daily trips to Vanderbilt Children's hospital to check up on her and spend time with family. The first piece of news that the doctors gave that first night we were at the hospital is that 85% of children that go through treatment recover fully and never have another issue with leukemia. That was good news given that Sarah and her brother Chad(yes we have the same name) had lost a high school friend to leukemia. The first few weeks felt like everything was going on schedule. They were there two and a half weeks for the first treatment and then the doctors sent Milly home. Chad and Marty(parents) were glad to be home but it was only to be for 2-3 days. They took her back to the hospital with complications with a port that had been place in her chest. The doctors fixed that and sent them back home. They live an hour and a half away so it's not an easy trip to make. The night she got back home, she started having a bad belly ache, a fever, and her body started swelling. They took her back to the hospital where she was admitted for another week and a half. Her body swelled so much that her little body looked pregnant and she couldn't open her eyes. The scary part was that the doctors at Vanderbilt said that they hadn't seen this in a child going through leukemia treatment. On top of this, she had kidney stones. There were a few nights during this time that we thought that we were going to lose her. Her body stopped making protein which apparently caused fluids to leak out of veins and capillaries. We learned that it is called "third spacing". It is what caused her body to swell so much. They began to give her protein and she started losing the 14 pounds that she had gained. She only weighed 28 pounds when she started treatment so this was a LOT of weight to gain.

We have spent so much time praying for her and asking people to pray in the last month and a half. She is recovering slowly at home. Evidently the second month of chemo is not as invasive as the first month which is good news. There are months coming in the two and a half years of treatment that will be tough. We went to go see her on Friday night and she seems to be in good spirits. She is smiling which was good for our souls to see. If you think about it, pray for Milly. Pray for continued healing. We have seen the Lord answer prayers over and over again.

Welcome to the new CHADCATES.net!

noreply@blogger.com (Chad Cates) — Thu, 29 Apr 2010 19:21:00 +0000

Welcome! Take a look around. I've had this site for a while but have refined it and added elements in the last few days. I've also redesigned the blog. Hope you like it.

Come As You Are-New Single Coming Out...part 2

noreply@blogger.com (Chad Cates) — Wed, 28 Apr 2010 20:44:00 +0000

This video is of us playing the song

Come As You Are-New Single Coming Out

noreply@blogger.com (Chad Cates) — Wed, 28 Apr 2010 20:43:00 +0000

I have a new single coming out this week by Pocket Full of Rocks. I wrote it with the lead singer Michael Farren and Tony Wood. I am so excited for people to hear this song. This video is about the process of writing this song. You can download it on iTunes here. Check it out!

True Greatness: The 2010 Belmont Best of the Best

noreply@blogger.com (Chad Cates) — Tue, 27 Apr 2010 16:33:00 +0000

On Saturday night, Belmont hosted the Best of the Best Showcase. They have 5 student-produced showcases throughout the year and this show was the winners of all of those showcases. The show was amazing. The production was stellar...and again all student-produced. For the past three years, they have honored someone tied to Belmont. This years honoree was Vince Gill.

My wife Sarah has found so much favor in her job at Belmont. I think it's because she loves to inspire people. She also loves leadership and is not afraid to walk into conflict knowing that something great can come out of resolving it. For several years, she was the staff advisor for the student showcase council and walked closely with them as they planned the showcases throughout the year. A couple of years ago, Belmont allowed her to hire and lead someone in those responsibilities. She has a new employee in that position and is still in the process training and equipping her. Because of this, Sarah has been more directly involved with the students as they prepared for The Best of the Best. A few weeks ago, the student council went to breakfast with Vince Gill at Noshville and the students talked about how selfless he was. He made the statement, "What if we lived in a world where we always put ourselves last?" This quote was directly in line with what my wife has been telling the students. She has kept saying, "This is not about you. This is about honoring someone and it will make your show SO much bigger."

They succeeded in really making the show about Vince. Sarah had hired a former student to do several videos about Vince's life as a musician, as a family man, and as a philanthropist. They were very moving to watch and I teared up a few times. There were also video tributes from Dolly Parton and Brad Paisley. During the tribute, Vince's daughter Jenni played a song and told a story about asking her dad to play at he first grade talent show. The week before, he was asked to play on the Grand Ole Opry for the FIRST time. He turned it down to play for his daughter. It reminds me of a Kyle Mathews song called "The Way We Go About It Matters". His wife, Amy Grant and his friend Rodney Crowell both played a song.

When Vince accepted the Robert E Mulloy Award of Excellence(which were replicas of his and Amy's basketball seats in the Curb Event Center), he kept telling stories that honored other people. Vince is an AMAZING musician but what makes him truly great is much more than his voice and guitar ability. He is so generous with his time and resources. I was a recipient of his generosity in college. I received one of his scholarships and was able to thank him at a reception before the show.

The students who produced the Best of the Best succeeded in making their show SO much bigger by honoring Vince Gill. It was a wonderful evening with so much good music that was filled with true greatness.

Doghouse

noreply@blogger.com (Chad Cates) — Sat, 24 Apr 2010 19:06:00 +0000

I received an email from my publisher this last week telling me that a guy in Australia had cut my song and it was his second single! Here's the video...

There's a Bluebird on my shoulder...

noreply@blogger.com (Chad Cates) — Sat, 24 Apr 2010 19:02:00 +0000

I played the Bluebird Cafe on Thursday night with some GREAT writers. John Lemonis invited Tony Wood, Dave Clark and myself to play. Dave Clark has had 25 #1's in Christian Music and Tony Wood has had 18 #1's. If your doing the math, that is 43 #1's between them. They have held the Bluebird cafe in such high esteem and it was both their first time to play. I was so honored to be playing with them for their first time there. It was a wonderful evening! Thank you John for the invitation!

The Central Park Sabbatical

noreply@blogger.com (Chad Cates) — Sat, 24 Apr 2010 18:46:00 +0000

I have written songs professionally for the past 9 years. I try to work really hard and treat it as a job and show up every day. In March, I really started feeling like an empty well and as the month progressed it began to feel overwhelming. I just wasn't enjoying it.

There was a day in March when I began talking about taking some time off. I started asking the people who this would affect(my wife Sarah, my publisher Holly, and several co-writers) what they thought of the idea. To my surprise, everyone resoundingly told me to take time off.

I met with several people that last week in March to wrestle with how to rest well. One of the guys who was really gracious with his time was Jeromy Diebler. We had several days down to write and he so willingly switched gears and helped dream with me about my time off. I'm in a marriage mentoring community group led by Greg Ham. I told our group that I was taking the month off and that I wanted to take a two-day silent retreat to begin my month. Greg had done this in the past and recommended that I meet with a counselor named Al Andrews. I took Al to lunch at Puckett's Grocery in downtown Franklin. I had heard a lot about Al as he is a counselor to many artist's and musicians. Our time together was wonderful and one of the things that he said stood out to me. He said, "I want you to consider finding your Central Park." It's like my spirit smiled when he said that and I nodded for him to continue. "Your life is like the busy-ness of New York City and the planners of the city carved out a huge space in the middle of that city that seemed to communicate rest."

I left for my two day retreat and went to a place called Deer Run. I stayed in Lodge in the Treehouse Suite. The first morning and early afternoon was great. I read, prayed, journaled, hiked, and listened. In the late afternoon, it started being really hard and lonely and I had another day to go! Looking back, I'm so glad I took that retreat...for margin, for rest, for wrestling. I will continue to look back on the things I journaled about. This is one of the entries...

Central Park Metaphor

The City is extremely busy. Tourists, people dressed in suits. Sidewalks packed, walking, waiting at red lights.

The forethought of city planners to carve out a HUGE chunk of the city and make it a place of relaxation and renewal. They could bring machines in and dig up the trees, rocks for climbing, ponds, bridges, places for running and riding bikes. It would have been seemingly easy to build more city blocks of skyscrapers, money-making structures. Instead it seems, they valued margin, space, something green amidst something gray.

Yes, the beauty of NYC is the sum of it's parts but the sum of it's parts includes the vast oasis that is Central Park. The city wouldn't be nearly as magical without it.

You can see the city from a long way off. In the same way, I want to be a sort of City on a Hill. I want to love the Lord and love people well with His love. Living well seemingly means I need to value margin...not just value margin that exists in a Redbox, a racquetball game, or 18 holes but margin that listens, that prays, that memorizes scripture, that takes time to love people in need.

I have one more week of time off. It has been good for my soul. It has been really interesting to see how the Lord has already blessed this time off. I keep hearing good news this month about songs being cut or singled to radio. I'm excited to get back in the room with friends and start creating again. As I have started to schedule May, the temptation is to pack my schedule and start building "skyscrapers"...but I am mindful to leave space...a Central Park for my soul.

Miracle on East 45th Street

noreply@blogger.com (Chad Cates) — Wed, 16 Dec 2009 17:40:00 +0000

Sarah and I got back from New York City this last week. Part of Sarah's job at Belmont University is to coordinate an extension program in New York and Los Angeles. A Belmont student was receiving an award from the ASCAP Foundation in NYC and we were there to support her and Belmont. It was our first time to be in the city during Christmas. We loved it! The lights, the window displays, the decorations, and the Christmas tree in Rockefeller Center all gave such a different experience to our trip. We had a day off and we went to see the Radio City Christmas Spectacular and had a great time.

We usually fly home in the late afternoon so we can spend a good part of the last day shopping and taking in the city. Sarah and I slept in a bit on the day we were leaving. We were staying at the Roosevelt Hotel on East 45th Street. We were in the process of getting ready and packing so we could check out the when I decided to call ASCAP about an upcoming check amount. I left a voicemail with a lady at ASCAP and within 5 minutes she had called me back. This bulk of this check was going to represent a song that I had on the radio this last year called My Deliverer by Mandisa. I typically try not to get my hopes up for a check amount to guard myself from disappointment. I had a really conservative amount in my head and was setting myself up for it to be even less. When my friend from ASCAP called me back and told me the amount, it was substantially higher than I anticipated. I got off the phone and played the game with Sarah, "Guess how much?". She started with my conservative amount and I kept saying "higher...higher...higher". When I told her the amount she started jumping on the bed. She started hugging me and said, "The Lord is using your gift to provide for us." As if this moment wasn't holy enough, this is where story takes off. Sarah and I are still hugging when we hear a voice in the hallway(the walls of the Roosevelt are not the most sound proof) say, "The Bible says that the Lord will prosper you." You've got to remember that this is New York and you don't hear people talking like this. Sarah and I went to the door immediately to see who had said this. There in the hallway was one of the housekeeping staff on the phone. She looked a little startled because we were looking surprised at her. She held the phone away from her ear and Sarah asked her if she had said what we had heard and she smiled and nodded. Because she was on the phone, we didn't say anything else but I put my fist in the air and she smiled a little bigger. We went back into the hotel room and a minute later she was knocking on our door. Her name was Monica. We invited her into the hotel room and I told her the story of My Deliverer and about my phone call and that the Lord is providing for us to get out of debt. I played her a bit of the song on my iphone. She started smiling and praising the Lord and said, "You know...people are so busy these days that they don't take time to read...but they WILL listen to songs...bless you." I asked her how we could pray for her and you could all of the sudden see the yearning on her face. She said, "My husband is not a believer and I desperately want him to be." She told us his name is Eric. They are both from Ghana in Africa. We prayed together there in room 385 of the Roosevelt Hotel for Eric's salvation. Monica seemed SO blessed by our exchange when she said goodbye. When the door closed, Sarah and I just praised the Lord for making a moment of blessing for us into a moment of blessing for someone else. The Lord is SO good!

This past fall, there have been moments during football games where I had given up on the team I was pulling for because it looked like there was no way to for them to come back. There have been moments where I didn't know if my song was going to be cut by an artist or whether it was going to be singled. Sometimes I give up easily. Sarah never stopped BELIEVING. She started saying, "I believe. That's who I am!" We walked by Macy's in New York and "Believe" was on the side of the building. Sarah said, "I believe. That's who I am!" and we snapped the picture. I am so grateful for her.

I hope you see the Lord's blessing this year at Christmas as we worship Jesus. Please take a moment to pray for Eric!

Merry Christmas!

Song School

noreply@blogger.com (Chad Cates) — Fri, 18 Sep 2009 04:11:00 +0000

Hello good people. I'm launching my new website. It is www.chadcates.net. Check it out! As a part of the launch, I am also adding a service on this blog called Song School. Hopefully it will be a place that you can check back every now and then to pick up some tips and tricks about songwriting. Here is the intro video. The second video is the first lesson called "Melody Dynamics". Let me know what you think.

Reaching For Me

noreply@blogger.com (Chad Cates) — Wed, 16 Sep 2009 02:33:00 +0000

I just got a cut on Diamond Rio's new record. The song is called "Reaching for me" and I wrote with Michael Boggs. Here is a video of him teaching how to play the song. Check it out.

Unredeemed

noreply@blogger.com (Chad Cates) — Tue, 08 Sep 2009 03:09:00 +0000

Hello all,

I wanted to let you know that Selah released their CD, "You Deliver Me" a week and a half ago. It contains three songs that I wrote with Todd(One of the members of Selah) and Tony Wood. The songs are called "Beautiful Terrible Cross", "Depth of Mercy", and "Unredeemed". Here is them singing Unredeemed. It is going to be their next single. I'm excited for everyone to hear this song. Let me know what you think.

First Beach Vacation(sort of)

noreply@blogger.com (Chad Cates) — Sat, 06 Jun 2009 20:33:00 +0000

Sarah and I just got back from Gulf Shores, AL. Sarah said that it was her first beach vacation. I reminded her that we went to Hawaii for our Honeymoon and she smiled and reminded me that it rained the whole time we were there...as in monsooned. We were offered a free place to stay in Gulf Shores and we were so grateful. We played golf together(she's gonna be an amazing golfer), got massages, and ate great food. I think one of our dinner's together at a place called Louisiana Lagniappe might have been my favorite meal ever. While we were on the beach one day, Sarah said, "I could get into this!". I have a feeling we will find our way back to the beach sometime in the near future. Thanks to Mickey Thomas and Julie Bunt for the condo!

My Deliverer

noreply@blogger.com (Chad Cates) — Tue, 03 Feb 2009 16:07:00 +0000

This past year, I wrote a song with Tony Wood and Jason Walker called "My Deliverer". We got together on a day back in March and decided we were going to write for Mandisa because she was going to record a new CD. We turned the song in and my publishing company followed up with the demo. They pitched it and from what we heard, the people at EMI really liked the song and put it on hold for Mandisa. It is always encouraging to hear that people like your song but you learn very quickly in this industry to not really get your hopes up. She did indeed record the song and they chose it for her first single from the new record. We knew back in December that it was going to be a possibility as the first single and were really excited but again took it with a grain of salt.

This past week, Sarah and I drove out to Mt Juliet to go test drive a car that a guy is selling. She has driven an 89 Honda Accord for the past 4 years. She deserves a newer car!!! On our way back from test driving the car, we had the radio on and as we were talking, we heard "My Deliverer" in the background. I have had around 10 radio singles with several of them being fairly successful. I have historically downplayed the emotion of hearing your song for the first time on the radio. I think deep inside, I have wanted to react like this:

Sarah and I got so excited in the car when the single came on the radio. We just started dancing in the car and singing. It was a great moment that I will always remember. I am so grateful for her. It is her birthday tomorrow and hopefully she will be getting a new car. Happy Birthday to you Sarah. Oh...check out Mandisa's cut of "My Deliverer" here and buy it so we can pay off this car:)

The Sound of His Voice

noreply@blogger.com (Chad Cates) — Wed, 28 Jan 2009 05:46:00 +0000

I have been telling people recently that I am grateful for this season and the songs that have been birthed out of it. I am feeling really creative. One of the guys that I have been excited to be in the room with is a guy named Michael Farren. He is the front man in a band that is signed to Word Records called Pocket Full of Rocks. He has a great passion for communicating the hope of the Gospel of Jesus and it's fun chasing songs with him. He is also a good hang.

We got together recently to write and started talking about the sound of the Lord's voice...the physical sound of it. He shared a video with me that illustrated something about sound that I had never seen. Check this out. You may want to adjust your volume down as it might get a little bit uncomfortable.

Now this is just conjecture but what if it was the actual sound of the Lord's voice was the thing creating the heaven's and the earth. God said let there be light and there was light. God said let there be an expanse between the waters to separate water from water and it was so. God said...God Said...God said...and all of creation came to be. If there is a pattern to be made by a simple frequency and sand, is it too much of a jump to wonder if the actual sound of the Lord's voice made water and made it flow into the ocean...if it caused flowers to bloom....if it so creatively formed an elephant? I wonder.

To take it a step further, is the voice of the Lord STILL holding things together? Maybe there is a frequency of His voice that we can't hear that is still audibly creating?

All of these musings birthed a song called "The Sound of Your Voice" and I'm very happy with it. Hopefully you will hear it when the next Pocket Full of Rocks CD comes out.

I am so glad I am not a scientist...although it's fun to wonder about, it almost makes my brain explode:)

Listen here Cupcake....

noreply@blogger.com (Chad Cates) — Fri, 16 Jan 2009 00:12:00 +0000

Yesterday, I went to lunch with Carl Cartee and Barry Weeks at Boscos in Cool Springs. It was chilly outside and we noticed on the way in that there was a Bocci court. I'm not even sure if it is called a "court" but there were two areas outlined to play. I looked at Carl and said, " We are totally going to play after lunch." He smiled really big and said, "You're On". We went in and ate and on the way out, Barry asked if we could stop by Starbucks on the way back. Carl and I said sure, all while walking towards the Bocci "court". It turned out that the court was muddy as in the kind of mud that will build up on your shoes until it feels like you are walking around with bricks on your feet. We were a little bit disappointed that we couldn't play. As we were walking towards Barry's car, I looked up and saw Gigi's cupcakes. I said a sentence that has never come out of my mouth. I said, "guys...what about a cupcake". Carl laughed out loud and said, "We are totally getting a cupcake". I have watched this recent cupcake craze from the outside looking in. I like a cupcake...as in...if there are cupcakes at a party, I might eat one. That being said, we walked in and the nice lady behind the counter gave us an audio tour of the cupcakes in the display case. For some reason, none of them looked appetizing because the icing was piled as high as the cake itself almost making them look top-heavy. I was about to bail when Barry offered to pay. I was still not going to get a cupcake but he insisted so I ordered one. To give a brief synopsis of our experience, I don't think I will go back. I would give the cake part of the cupcake a solid grade of a "B" and the icing would get a dismal "D". But don't take my word for it cupcake. For $3, make your own assessment.

Let me know what you think.

Start of a New Season

noreply@blogger.com (Chad Cates) — Thu, 18 Dec 2008 21:40:00 +0000

I signed a publishing deal with Essential Publishing yesterday and I am grateful to continue to be able to be using the gift God gave me to encourage people with music. I have grown so much as a writer at Brentwood Benson. I am so blessed that they took a chance on me seven years ago. I want to thank some of the people who have gone out of their way to help me in my journey. Marty Wheeler signed me to Brentwood Benson Music Publishing when I started. His belief in me was so foundational. Holly Zabka has some of the best instincts for songs and has been patient with me as I have grown. I am a better writer because of her. I could list over a hundred writers that have added tools to my songwriting "toolbox". Some of the ones that stick out are Tony Wood, Sue Smith, Brandon Heath, Joel Lindsey, Kyle Matthews, Jess Cates, Laurianne Cates, Ricky and Randy Jackson, Craig Monday, and Steve Dean. And for all the others over the past seven years that I've been in the room with chasing ideas, I am so thankful for you as well.

For all the songs behind and for all the ones to come, I am grateful.

Re-Decorating the Christmas tree

noreply@blogger.com (Chad Cates) — Thu, 18 Dec 2008 05:48:00 +0000

Sarah has a co-worker at work named Julie. She has travelled with us to New York City and Los Angeles for our trips for Belmont East and Belmont West. Several times on those trips we would have funny conversations at the end of the day that would involve a high point and low point.

Okay...so cleaning up after having your drywall repaired is not as easy as it might sound...especially at Christmas. I have never had to un-decorate a Christmas tree to take it out of the stand and drag it outside so we could shake the dust out of it...Low Point.

We were trying to clean because my brother and his family are staying with us over the holidays. They called us from the airport here in Nashville to tell us they were on their way. When I answered the phone I was hanging lights like Clark Griswald on my front porch. By the time they got to the house, everything was ready...yesssss...definitely the High Point.

So we have started the transition into the family part of holidays and it has been wonderful.

I hope this Christmas is so meaningful for all of you this year. Go out of your way to serve your family. There is so much life that comes out of it.

GREAT worship song...

noreply@blogger.com (Chad Cates) — Wed, 17 Dec 2008 21:27:00 +0000

Check this song out. It's a guy named Chris Quilala. It's called Your Love Never Fails.

Christmas Craziness

noreply@blogger.com (Chad Cates) — Fri, 12 Dec 2008 16:24:00 +0000

Merry Christmas to you all...

I can imagine talking to Santa Clause right now and him asking me what I would like for Christmas. I honestly don't know what I would tell him but if I was being self-indulgent, I might ask for a Wii for Christmas. And Santa's next question would be, "Have you been a good little blogger?" I would hang my head and with a pouting face say "No Santa, I have not". And then Santa would laugh like a bowlful of jelly in his red suit, his big black belt, his white beard, his nose like a cherry, and with a voice like the Soup Nazi would say, "No Wii for You!!!"

Sarah and I have had an eventful past few days and worthy of a blog...

Tuesday night Sarah and I met at the mall after work to eat dinner together. She wanted to do some Christmas shopping and I was headed over to Christ Community to see Jeremy Cowart do a presentation about his life as a photographer. Jeremy did a GREAT job. On my way home, it was raining like cats and dogs and I called Sarah who had been home for a few minutes. You never want to hear a person on the other end of the phone say "Honey, I don't want you to get stressed out but..."

The back half of the conjunction "but" made me drive a whole lot faster trying not to hydroplane on my way home. So, again it was raining hard and had been for two days. I think they said that some areas got 6 inches. I walked in the front door and Sarah was wiping the water off of the hardwood floors and trying to grab pots and pans to collect the water coming from the first floor ceiling. Because of the amount of water, we ended up placing the big containers that held our Christmas decorations to catch it. For the next hour we were walking around the house like Sherlock Holmes and Nancy Drew trying to figure out if it was the roof leaking or if it was the plumbing.

So the last few days have been spent watching a whole get cut in our ceiling by a plumber so he could get to the water line that fed one of the toilets upstairs. And as I am writing this morning, this is my view as I look up from my computer screen. The guy in the pictures is Francisco and he is fixing our drywall. Thank You Francisco!!!

It snowed last night here and also because of the white drywall dust, it's beginning to look a LOT like Christmas.

Hope you guys have a Merry Christmas.

Santa, is this post enough for a Wii?...and maybe Tiger Woods '09?
:)

Happy Thanksgiving

noreply@blogger.com (Chad Cates) — Tue, 25 Nov 2008 20:52:00 +0000

I love a good rollercoaster. There's something about the anticipation of clicking up the first incline that is such a rush. The feeling that you are going to scream like a little girl for the next minute because you will may lose your stomach(and maybe a funnel cake) at any moment.

This blessing and the curse of the creative brain is much like a rollercoaster. One moment, you can be so high and the next moment, it is almost like you just want to lay down and suck your thumb and cry. I was talking about one of my low moments with a friend recently and he had wise council. He said that whenever he has one of these low moments, he always tries to remember to be grateful. I am trying to live this out. There is so much to be grateful for. The Lord has blessed me with a wonderful wife, a loving family, and provided more than I need. I am so thankful.

It's making me realize that gratitude really is good for the soul.

Happy Thanksgiving everyone.

To: Ross

noreply@blogger.com (Chad Cates) — Tue, 18 Nov 2008 22:10:00 +0000

From: Chad

Okay...just typing that made me think of Christmas but that is not the subject of this entry. I just received an email from my friend Ross. He had this to say...

"Dude. I am sick of checking in at your blog and seeing the same thing...write something else...today please"

I have said this same kind of thing to a friend of mine named Randy Williams. When he started his blog, there was a few days in a row that he didn't post anything. I really enjoy the way that he writes. I saw him out somewhere and said...dude, what's the deal with your blog. He laughed and said "I can't think of anything funny to write about!"

So Ross...I know where your coming from. I've been there too. Just hold your horses. I haven't been inspired to blog. Plus, I've just been a little lazy.

Merry Christmas Ross.

This one's for you.