Drumroll Please!

The winner of the Hear No Evil giveaway is....

Mike Van Hal!!

"I grew up in a Pentecostal Church. When I was in middle school, I'd raise my hands and worship to the music. While doing this one day, my leg started to shake violently- an obvious work of the Holy Spirit. I noticed that once I shifted my weight onto the leg, it stopped. After being convicted that I wasn't allowing the Holy Spirit to work in my life, I shifted back to allow the Holy Spirit to shake my leg.

The Holy Spirit shook my leg for several weeks. I soon grew tired of it and stopped allowing Him to destroy my leg muscles."

When I read this, I laughed out loud for 3 minutes straight. I've been repeating the phrase "I shifted back to allow the Holy Spirit to shake my leg" in my head over and over, and it makes me laugh every time. Try it, it's fun. So for that reason, Mike Van Hal wins Matthew Paul Turner's book! Congratulations! Send your mailing address to shmoozanne74 at gmail and I'll send the book asap.

While Mike wins first prize, I must acknowledge some of my favorite entries. You all kept me very entertained last night, and I thank you for that. This was my first blog contest, and it taught me that I really love judging people. It's my calling. There will be more giveaways in the future, so keep checking back.


Second prize goes to seeitblind's worldy parachute pants story. I absolutely adored it:

I remember my dad taking me to see my first concert at the age of 8...Petra's "Not Of This World" tour. One of the things that stuck out in my mind, beyond the lights, the stage setup, the songs, the decibel level...was the parachute pants. As a soon-to-be hip 9 year old, I knew having a pair of these rockin' trousers would thrust me to the heights of coolness, just like it did for Greg X Volz. Alas, after getting home and reflecting on such an amazing experience, I conveyed to my mother my desire to be the coolest kid in my Christian school by getting a pair of shiny, royal blue parachute pants. My mother's response?

"No way. Those are too worldy."

Thus began a life inside Christendom that would include no parachute pants, being forbidden from watching cartoons like He-Man, and not being allowed to ride Six Flags' "The Demon" rollercoaster, simply because of the name.

Chad Estes takes third prize with his Psalty story. I was a HUGE Psalty fan, and Chad's "Psalty, Men In Tights" story is hysterical:

I found myself a little self conscious when I was backstage moments before the start of my church’s children’s program. Even though I was in 7th grade the Children’s Pastor had asked me to be in the musical “Psalty the Singing Songbook.” I was excited to have the lead role, to have several solos and to have the attention of thousands of people. But just before going on stage for the first of five performances I realized that these thousands of people, including my friends, who were going to see me wearing blue tights. Wearing pantyhose, no matter what the color, is a poor decision to start out your Jr. High experience. Trust me.

And last but not least, fourth place goes to my niece Bonnie's smart Mastercard comment, which made me laugh because I was the one who directed her 10 year old rendition of "The First Noel" and let me tell you, it was priceless. She could have won a ventriloquism contest, that's how much her lips moved...painful.

Copy of Hear no Evil $10.19; Amy Grants 'My Fathers Eyes' album $7.99; My rendition of "The First Noel" for the Childrens Christmas concert.... PRICELESS!

Oh, and Jonathan Stegall gets 10 points for using the phrase "Jesus metal". Using Jesus as an adjective always scores major points with me.

Thanks again for playing! Come back anytime, you're a funny bunch.