I’m on the Shelter Me Tour with Selah and Aaron Shust right now. I sing a little and but mostly I’m out here to speak on behalf of Compassion International.

But the bonus is playing cities I’ve never been to before – mostly the Northeast and Midwest – and getting to know the other guys on the bus.

Like Aaron. I’ve been a fan of the song My Savior My God for a while now. But now I’m a fan of the guy who sings it. He’s great live, partly because his young talented band. Nate, Duffy and Brandon make Aaron sound even better than he already does. They make me want to tour with a band again. Aaron’s. I wonder…

Anyway, I’ve had the privilege of hearing rough mixes of Aaron’s new record This Is What We Believe while it’s being worked on. It’s a much more commercial record than he’s made in the past. Even better writing. Very hooking production. Very singable songs that churches could adopt as their own. It releases at the end of August. I’ll let you know when you can start listening and pre-ordering on-line.

Then there’s Todd of Selah. The man of (too) many questions. I’m not sure why he has an iPhone – you know the phone that has the interwebs inside? The one that allows you at all times to learn anything you want? The man treats me like Google. I’m his “Shoogle” he says. Apparently I’m the guy who’s supposed to know the population of all cities we pass through, the weather forecast, what iPhone app to use for video, and how many kids exactly are sponsored in El Salvador. It’s like having a five year-old friend. “Why is the grass green?” Google it!

But despite the minor disagreements that arise over my lack of omniscience, I consider Todd a friend. And that makes life on the road so much easier – to have a guy my age along, who also drives a minivan, who also married up, who also goes to bed early and also cares a lot about Compassion. And laughs easily. Oh, and the man can sing. Actually, he can sang.

Tonight we’re in Bismarck. And it’s snowing. Blizzard alert, actually.

No, Todd, I don’t how many inches we’re supposed to get.

I miss home. But if I have to be away, I’m glad I’m away with these guys.

Credit for all these pics, by the way, to Peter Streiff, our tour manager.