Heading East

1000 miles down and 800 more to go. It's been a crazy past few days for A Life Set Apart... The journey has been pretty amazing for both the band and myself over only a week's time. Last week, only days before leaving for the longest tour we've done, we had some unexpected news that meant that we'd have a blank spot of almost a month in the middle of our tour on the east coast. This immediately made all of us worry... we had shows to play for the first week of the tour and we had to be in Nashville for an amazing event that would open up a lot of opportunities, but as of right now we have relatively nothing planned for the following four weeks after Nashville. We found ourselves at a crossroads, on one hand the rational side said to cancel the first part of the tour and send one or two people to the meetings in Nashville and on the other hand we could just leave like scheduled and pray for the best. As we thought about it my opinion became very clear, God reached down and touched me with peace and resolve and i knew that i wanted to leave into the unknown and let God direct our moves. Later that night we had a band meeting to discuss it and after some discussion the band was in agreement.

God will provide for us.

We're still driving into the unknown, but what do we have to be afraid of? We are the tools of the one and only God! The creator of the heavens and earth. The same God who used a staff in the hands of Moses to part an entire sea and allow two million people to pass through it unharmed. I'm so overwhelmed with how capable God is. We have no idea what's ahead and we know that it could very well be the desert or it could be the promise land, but that one fact remains. God will provide. And how could we ask for anything more.

I have never felt peace like I do right now. I'm looking out the front window of the van at the freeway and I know that somewhere ahead of us is a purpose. He's out there and He's guiding us to people in need. God is so amazing, I'm in awe of the things that he's allowed me to be apart of and the next four months will be such an experience. I'm excited to see my life changed, the lives of people around me effected by his presence. I'm sure there will be some failures, like loosing my temper or losing sight of the goal from time to time, but the amazing thing is that God is still going to use this time. I think the lesson that I've learned from the past week is that sometimes you have to jump into the water, even if you don't know where you're swimming, you're going "somewhere" and God knows exactly where that is!!!

In all this uncertainty God provides awesome opportunities and signs of his awesome plan for us! Even as I'm writing this we just heard our song on Effect Radio for the first time, a christian station that reaches all across the nation! We're so excited to see where God leads us next and I'd just like to ask for your prayer as we head into the high water! Please add us on Facebook and stay in contact with us! We love you all very much and couldn't do this without all the prayer and support you've given us :)

If you're reading this and you feel like God has left you out of his plan or you can't see where God even is in your life I want to encourage you. I've felt lost so much in my life! and still do from time to time. but i can tell you without a doubt that God loves you so much. Every life in this world is significant, not a single person goes unnoticed in Gods eyes. If you'd like to talk about anything you're struggling with you can talk to me at www.facebook.com/derek.reaves and if you don't want to talk about it but you just want some prayer I strongly encourage you to check our www.mybrockenpalace.com this website is amazing and allows you to post your needs and prayers anonymously to a wall for people to pray over!

I love you all so much and most importantly God loves you.

October... and what it's brought for myself and the band.

Hey Everybody, it's been quite a while since my last post and I'm really sorry but I've been finding it hard to sit down and write a blog at the end of the day :) but I'm here now and I've got lots to talk about. I'd like to start everything out by saying that our new music video for God's Armor just got finishing and it's looking pretty amazing. If you want to go check it out the link is: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OsTpreip2ls We're really proud of this and I hope you like it to.

We were home for about three weeks and it was a ton on fun. We're writing new tunes and stuff like that! Now we're on tour in Cali and it's been amazing, we spent three days at Joshua Fest and it was probably the best thing I've done in a while. Our concert on Friday was amazing, then I got to see a few great bands and meets some more awesome friends. I'm really excited to be out here and I can't wait to see what God has in store for us on this tour.

Thank you guys so much for supporting me and praying for me! God is continuing to be an amazing force in my life pushing me and effecting the lives of people I meet. I thank God everyday for this opportunity and for my friends that are there for me when I need them. Please keep me and the rest of the band in your prays as we keep going on this tour.

And if you could also keep my family in your prays that would be amazing. They really need it right now. Thanks a lot!

-Derek

My first video blog... don't laugh at me :)

8/27/2010

So things have finally calmed down a little bit here in Boise and it's finally time to give another update on what God has been doing in and through the lives of myself and my band members. As of today it's been a full week since I moved in with the band and it's been absolutely amazing already. The band has played five shows since I've been here, not including four worship services at Eagle Christian Church over the weekend. I wasn't playing in these concerts, however I actually liked that more because I've been able to understand how the band operates, and I feel much more comfortable jumping into the lead guitar roll this week.

This week has shown me even more why I am excited to become a part of this ministry, the ability that this band has to reach people is amazing. Over several concerts I've been able to sit back and watch how amazing it is to see the kids open up afterward and really connect to the band. We were able to not only share the love of Christ with them, but also to share the struggles we go through. C.S. Lewis talks about how fiction can break down the "watchful dragons" in our mind, and it seems to me that the same is true for music. It's amazing to be able to go into a venue or church, set up, then play for an hour and have people connecting with us even though they haven't known us personally. I know that God is going to use this to affect people and I've seen Him at work even in the short amount of time that I've been here.

Thank you all so much for supporting me, and I ask that you continue to pray for not only myself but also Morgan, Jacob, Reid, and Prestin, the other band members. Keep checking in to see more updates soon along with a few video updates I hope.

With Much Love,

Derek

Introduction

Hey guys, so this is the first post ever and I'm going to try and keep it short :) Basically I've started this because I have just become the lead guitarist for a band called A Life Set Apart. I'm going to be going on the road with them and I'm super excited to see how God is going to use me and the rest of the band in the coming year or years. I really have no idea where this is going to lead, I'm trying to just let God use me however he wants.

The first step in all of this is moving from The Dalles out to Boise. This is happening this Friday the 20th. I'm extremely excited about this, but I'd love pray support cause this is a pretty crazy move for me. At the beginning of September we go out on tour :)

Thank you to everyone who is supporting me, I couldn't do this without you. Can't wait to see you out on the road :) If you have any questions contact me here, or Facebook, or by my Email derekreaves@gmail.com

-Derek