BRO. LOU Remix...

About two weeks into our arrival to Tyler, my buddy Chris posted THIS BLOG.

Chris works in Tyler from time-to-time and he called me shortly after his "Bro. Lou" sighting. He asked me if I knew who this guy was...I said no.

We had a good laugh about it...mostly about how long it took Chris to import a picture from his phone into his blog, but the most fun was trying to guess where "Bro. Lou" went to church. (I have pretty good Denominational Vision...I can usually guess a person's denomination within a two-minute span.) Having no direct experience w/ Bro. Lou, I wasn't able to make a guess, but it made for a very fun phone call. Well, fun for two nerds like me and Chris. Chris, a good Methodist, made all sorts of guesses - mostly in the charismatic vein, I believe.

And then, it happened.

A few nights ago, I'm driving through the great town of Gresham, TX (just down the road from our house) and he passes me.

Yes. Bro. Lou, himself.

I started shouting "That's Bro. Lou! Oh my gosh! Bro. Lou! That's him...I gotta' call Chris."

My wife is used to these outbursts, but she still looked at me with a disgusted will-you-shut-up face. Par for the course.

And just as I'm about to call Chris, Bro. Lou puts on his blinker. To turn into a church.

Lane's Chapel United Methodist Church.

A Methodist...can you believe that?

Therefore, I am creating the Bro. Lou Club. If you are in the Tyler area and you experience a Bro. Lou sighting, you must contact me. You can comment randomly on a blog post, email me (toddwrightband@gmail.com) or even call me. (If you're lucky enough to have my number, yo.)

Let's be on the lookout for this mysterious Smith County creature, Tyler-ites. It'll be fun!

By the way...if you know Bro. Lou, please let me know! I'd love to meet him!

Props...is back!

"PROPS" is really one of my favorite blog themes to work on. It gives me a chance to brag on people I care about and, hopefully, introduce them to some of you out there who just tend to land here occasionally.

Today's PROPS go to Chris Caraway.

I first met Chris while playing a one-night gig at First Methodist Lufkin. The worship deal was for the youth, but the FUMC praise band wandered in like a bunch of worship junkies.

If I remember correctly, Chris was standing at the back of the group and said,

"You play any Rich Mullins?"

And that's when I knew we were gonna' be friends. So here's why Chris is gets PROPS:

1. He's the most generous, helpful, modest sound engineer I've ever met. There for awhile, I thought all sound guys were required to be jerks...but Chris cured me of that. I also think it helps if your sound guy is a former member of the armed forces.

ME: "Hey, Chris...think you can find a way to mount this video camera in the soundroom and run a direct audio line into from the secondary video sound board?"

CHRIS: "I'll figure something out."

And he does.

2. He's a servant. So far, I've asked Chris to play guitar and bass, sing, run sound, burn CDs and manage a whole host of things that are not glamorous at all. And he has done them all with a great attitude.

3. The CD. Not many folks know this, but Chris Caraway is the reason "All The Freed" came to be. He raised money, encouraged people to support it, listened to all my ideas, helped me make important decisions regarding the record and was my cheerleader throughout the whole process. Sure, he got to eat Freebirds as part of the deal, but I think he mostly did it because he's my friend.

4. He's stepped up. When all the stuff at Bethel Bible started happening, Chris knew about it. He knew it would change everything at First Methodist. He knew it would add distance to our friendship and bring about some transition at our home church, but he supported me the whole time. And then, when I decided to take it, he stepped up to fill my worship leader shoes. Knowing that Chris is there leading that congregation in praise is a great comfort to me as I pursue this new adventure in Tyler that God's called me to.

5. He loves the church. Chris Caraway has been a member of First Methodist for a long-time. He's seen good times and...not-so-good times. But he's been faithful. He has served in countless ways with a fantastic attitude.