CrossWay Blog

We are still here!

2005-10-10T10:14:00.000-07:00

Greetings to all. I believe that we can now be classified as the worst bloggers in the industry...it has been over a month since our last attempt to communicate via "blogging," and for that we apologize. I am sure that if Crossway could be nominated for an award...it would be the "Worst Blogger Award." Anyways, we appreciate your patience, and faithfulness to inquire about our group. We have been extremely busy this past month or so trying to fill in shoes of "Daddy Hurt" There have been many concerts as some of you may have seen that we have performed as a trio. Needless to say, every concert was interesting in its own way. Chris and Paul have been doing a fantastic job I believe singing like women:) They both have taken turns sanging that ole tenor part. It is quite funny to listen to the three of us swithching parts every other song, and even forgetting which part we are supposed to be on. In all seriousness though, I believe that it has made us grow as more versatile vocalists and it has been fun, but we do miss Daddy Hurt for sure. We would not have it any other way though, Marty is exactly where he needs to be to be, with his new family. The babies, and Christy are all doing wonderful, and I am sure that Chris will give you all the details in a future blog...hopefully not too far in the future. May God continue to bless you and yours. Matt

Great News

2005-08-24T11:31:00.000-07:00

Have I got some news for you! Last week, I blogged you all requesting prayer for Christy, Marty, and the triplets. Well, they are all still doing fine, however, there have been three new additions to the Hurt family. Hayden, Hana-Beth, and Hadley were born, around 4:30pm, on Sunday, August 21, 2005. The babies are all healthy, but are very small. Hayden weighed 2 lbs. and 1 oz., Hana-Beth weighed 1 lb. and 15 oz., and Hadley weighed 1 lb. and 7 oz. They are the cutest little things ever. The triplets will have to remain in the hospital until they get a little bigger and stronger. The Baptist East Women’s Hospital staff are all very optimistic, and they are taking very good care of Christy, Hayden, Hana-Beth, and Hadley. Hopefully, Christy will be released later this week. The doctors say that the triplets still have a long road ahead of them, but that they should all be fine.

Marty, Christy, Hayden, Hana-Beth, Hadley, CrossWay, and our families, want to stress our most sincere appreciation to you all for including the Hurt family in your prayers. We all agree that prayer made the difference. God is watching out for His little creations, and we know that He will continue to be with them throughout each of their lives. We will have some pictures up on the website as soon as we can get them.

In Christ,
Chris Weaver

The Triplets' Update

2005-08-19T11:00:00.000-07:00

Hey everyone, this is Chris! Sorry, it has been so long since I have posted a blog, but this married life takes a little bit of time to get used to. But, I am still enjoying every minute of it. Carla is doing fine, and she says, "Hello!" We are spending our last few days together before she starts back to school. She has about two years remaining, but they will be a hard two years for her, so please keep Carla in your prayers.
Well, let me get to the real reason for this blog, and that is to inform you all about Christy, Marty, and the triplets (Hayden, Hana Beth, and Hadley). They are all doing fine, however, the pregnancy did take an unexpected turn. Last Thursday, Christy had a doctor's check-up, and during the exam her doctor told her that she was having contractions. This led to her being admitted into Baptist East Women's Hospital. The doctor's staff finally got her contractions under control by Sunday morning, but it was not an easy process for Christy. The medicine used to control the contractions is kind of hard on the body because it shuts the body down. Christy complained that it hurt to breath. As bad as the medicine was, it did its job. Now Christy is in a regular room and doing very well. I guess the hardest part for Christy, Marty, and the Triplets, is they have to stay in the hospital until the babies are born. Christy is in her 27th week, and her goal is 32-34 weeks. Needless to say, she is going to be on total bed-rest for a while.
Christy and Marty are very optimistic right now, and so are the doctors. Christy has a wonderful attitude about the whole thing because she realizes that she is in the best place possible if something were to happen. Right now she is only concerned for the well-being of Hayden, Hana Beth, and Hadley, as a mother should be. Please be in prayer for them because it is not easy being on total bed-rest for 6-8 weeks. Since Christy is going to be in the bed for quite a while, I am sure that she and Marty will have a lot of time on their hands. In short, they may get a little bored. So, if anyone would like to send them a card or correspondence, I know they would enjoy reading it. I will enclose CrossWay's address at the bottom. Thanks so much for all of your prayers and thoughts, and for being such wonderful friends to our ministry.

CrossWay Ministries
P.O. Box 177
Ripley, MS 38663
Attn: Marty and Christy Hurt

Thanks again,
Chris Weaver

On Interstate 81

2005-07-29T10:59:00.000-07:00

The time is 1:13 pm eastern time. We are currently on Interstate 81 making our way up to Dillsburg, PA to the annual King's Kid's Camp. We were just talking about how it seems like just last month when we were up here. The older I get, the more I'm starting to believe that there is a group of alquida terrorist pranksters moving the clock forward a little faster each year. I currently have Matt McFarland working on the situation. He's informed me of a suspect named Bin-wiyhndin deHahndhup. Hopefully he'll soon have this problem resolved and time will slow back down to it's normal speed like it was when I was a young teenager.

Just to let you know I'm currently running on 29 hours with no sleep which will transcend into 41 hours before my head reaches a pillow. I stayed up last night working on a sermon that I will be presenting at Hiawassee, GA on Sunday morning (which by the way I am extremely nervous about). I finally finished at about 11:00 last night, packed, then pulled out at midnight to head to Chattanooga towards Pennsylvania.

Christy and the trips are doing great. I'll be keeping everyone more up to date as the time grows nearer.

Thanks for reading. I hope maybe you've read something today that will change the way you look at modern technology, world politics, or at least make you smile a little bit.

Marty

What a trip!

2005-07-22T15:28:00.000-07:00

Greetings from British Columbia! I am sure that most of you have seen our recent photo gallery of the mountains. (not to shabby of work if I do say so myself...I may need to consider photography as a back up plan if things dont work out here:) We flew into Calgary last week, had one of the most well received weekends in the history of Crossway, rented a vehicle to travel across country to Vancouver, and are currently in Chilliwack anxiously waiting for Sunday to come so that we can fly home. The trip has been fantastic in every way imaginable, but Chris, Marty, and I are more than ready to be with our wives. (Paul has mentioned that he may just stay here.) It is beautiful here, and the Canadian people have gone far out of their way to make us feel welcome, and for that we are grateful. I believe that the only negative experience that we have had thus far came when we spent the day at the "largest mall in the world." In the humble opinion of 4 boys from Mississippi and Tennessee, this was no mall.....it was an entire city! It came equipped with even a theme park inside, and of coarse I was going to ride only the rides that dropped, spun, jerked and pulled me around with 4 g's or more! And yes of coarse I was intelligent enough to have done this immediately following the consumption of Japanese food. I probably do not have to continue for you readers to understand what came next....but i will. Ok, I won't, but you can imagine that it was not a pretty sight, nor was it an enjoyable experience. (especially for the custodial crew at the theme park) Oh well, it gave the other guys a good laugh and perhaps bring a smile to your face, so I would consider it to be worth it. Overall we have enjoyed the trip and look forward to coming back at the end of the year. We will probably be placing more photos up soon so please continue to check in with us. thanks again for your support and encouragement of Crossway...may God continue to bless you and yours! matt

Tales from the Newly Wed

2005-06-28T07:22:00.000-07:00

I just wanted to post a quick blog to let everyone know that after 17 days of marriage I am still hanging in there. Just kidding! I love the married life. I am so in love with my wife, Carla Quinn Weaver. I have posted a picture of Carla and I at the wedding. Most of you probably have heard me talk about her for hours, but have not seen her, so I thought that I would let you all get to put a face with a name. We had a wonderful time at Sandals Grande Ocho Rios in Jamaica. I am thinking about moving back there when I retire. I will post some pictures we took while on the honeymoon in the upcoming weeks. There should be some pictures on website now that we took at the wedding and reception. I will also post the photos that the photographer took as soon as I get them back. I want to take a quick second to say thanks to all of our many friends and family that have been so kind to Carla and I. She is at home right now still trying to find a place to put all of the gifts that we received. We both love you all very much and thank you all for playing an active part in the beginning of our new life together. I think that Carla is going to post a blog as soon as we get our internet going at the house. Please be in prayer for us because I am on the road with CrossWay today, and it is the first day that we have been apart in 17 days. We are doing alright, but we can always use your prayers and thoughts.

The Newly Wed, Chris

Anybody know Oprah????

2005-06-27T18:43:00.000-07:00

What is good for the goose is good for the gander! Have you heard that expression? I am not one of the CrossWay guys, but I am the next best thing; one of the CrossWay girls. About 7 years ago, Marty started traveling full time with CrossWay. I will be the first to admitt, it was hard for this new, fresh out of college wife, but I survived it... Up until Matt joined CrossWay (which was just about 2 years ago) I was the only CrossWay wife. I remember dreaming of the day that their would be other CrossWay wives...at that time I thought Paul would be the next to marry...good thing I was not holding my breathe. HA! Anyway, now their are 3 CrossWay wives!!! I am so excited. The only problem is that we all live apart. Carla Weaver lives about 2 hrs. south of me and Jenny McFarland lives about 3.5 hrs. northeast of me. I really wish we could all live in the same town, so that we would be each others support team. Ok, ok, ok, I admitt I am being selfish. Really, I just need both of them here to help me with these 3 babies. Yep, I am not really sure how I am going to pull this one off. Please think about it; three babies...all the same age...all in diapers...all wanting fed at once. And need I remind you, Marty will be in your hometown singing at your local Freewill Baptacostal Church!!! Any suggestions?

Anybody know Oprah Winfrey personally??? I could really use one of her "dreams come true."

By the way, the babies are 2 girls (Hana Beth & Hadley) and 1 boy (Hayden).

Thanks for letting me share.

Christy Hurt (Marty's pregnant wife)

The Wedding

2005-06-14T19:57:00.000-07:00

The vows have been said, the cake has been eaten, and it's all over but the crying of Chris and Carla's Moms. I'm here to report that they had a very nice wedding last Saturday and everything went as planned, other than Chris forgetting to repeat part of the vows (he was pretty nervous). He did however have the best looking groomsmen of any wedding I have ever attended (Paul, Matt, his brother in law Moultrie, and myself). We even sang a song, The Lord's Prayer. Even on our days off we're still working! Congratulations Chris and Carla! We're proud for you!

Marty

Can you believe it?

2005-06-09T15:10:00.000-07:00

Well, this is gonna be short... I am not a very good blogger. But can you believe that Chris is gonna be married day after tomorrow. It just doen't seem possible. You really need to keep Carla in your prayers :)

Paul

I'm Taking OVER!

2005-05-26T18:25:00.000-07:00

Greetings Crossway fans! Just a friendly posting to inform you all of an upcoming substitution in the line up of Crossway:) The day that Marty takes his first leave of absence to be present for the birth of his TRIPLETS...I, Tim McFarland(Matt's brother), am taking over!!! and if Marty doesnt let me...I'll take my brothers place...he needs to learn how to sing on pitch anyways:) I look foward to seeing you all on the road later this year. Tim McFarland
whats going on internet world? brotherly love huh? i thought he was going to write something nice and encouraging...tim is going to try and fill in a time or two if he already has the weekend off from his hectic job as a police officer...we will probably ring each others necks driving down the road though. hope to see you all soon...it seems like you will be able to with as much of the world as we are going to see in the upcoming months. take care and may God continue to bless you and yours. matty

I LOVE MY MOMMA MOSTEST!!!!!!!!!!

2005-05-09T03:08:00.000-07:00

Well, I guess that the phrase, "better late than never," applies here. The truth is that I was driving while we came up with the idea to post blogs about how much we love our mothers, so that is why I am last. I know that when all the guys said that they loved their moms, they were being sincere. But I weigh more than all of the rest of the guys, so I have more love to give than they do. Mom, I love you very much! I thank you for all that you have given me, even those times when I was too immature to appreciate it. I know that you and dad worked hard to give me a wonderful life growing up, and an even greater life now that I am old enough to value it. I hope that I can show my kids (when I have them) all of the wonderful and unconditional love that you have shown me for 26 years. I LOVE YOU and HAPPY MOTHER'S DAY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
CHRISTOPHER

I LOVE MY MOMMA MOST!!!!!!!!!!

2005-05-08T13:02:00.000-07:00

I LOVE MY MOMMA MOST!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Well.... I want everyone to know! I love my mom most of all! She is AWESOME! And I am the only one who knows how to put a picture on here :-) so you can see how awesome she is. Pictured is my mom, my brother Alan, my sister Allison, and mom's dog Sadie. I just want you to know we are all blessed with great moms and we are very thankful for them.

Paul

I LOVE MY MOMMA MORE!!!!!!!!!!

2005-05-08T12:16:00.000-07:00

I sit here in sincere appreciation of my mother rebuking the blog earlier written by my comrade, one Matt McFarland. While he may state that his love for his mother far surpasses the love that I possess for mine, let it be known that no man could ever love his mother more than I.

Happy Mothers Day Mom!
Marty

I LOVE MY MOMMA!!!!!!!!!!

2005-05-08T10:47:00.000-07:00

this is a message of proclamation...."i have the GREATEST mother in the world, and I love her with ALL of my heart!!" the other guys may have something to say about that because they have such wonderful mothers as well..but Deborah McFarland holds the title in my books. to all the mothers out there we wish you a happy mothers day. thank you for your countless acts of sacrifice and love!! i love you mom. see you soon. matty
p.s. i just let the guys read my blog and they arent happy so i am having to edit this before they can copy my idea...they say that i have put them in a bad position....well let it be known that i am the only sincere one...and noone can love their momma more than me.

Weekend in Review

2005-05-01T14:12:00.000-07:00

It took me all weekend but I finally talked Paul into letting me use his computer. It's been a while since I've posted one of these blogs, but I've just now started speaking again after learning that we were expecting triplets. I just talked to Christy a little while ago and asked her how she was feeling. Her response was, "Other that the fact that I have three babies in my stomach I feel fine". So now thanks to these blogs, you know a lot more about CrossWay. You know that Paul is a terrible driver, that Chris really can, and does, talk to a tree, that Matt goes on a five day trip with all of his luggage stuck in his back pocket, and finally, that my wife and I are actually expecting triplets.

It's been such a packed weekend, I really don't know where to begin. It all started Friday morning in Winston-Salem, NC as we visited with the folks at Joy FM. They even fed us breakfast when we got there. Thanks Rodney, Mike, Connie, and Chef for inviting us to stop by. Later that night we had a CrabbJam concert in Charlotte. We have really grown to love the Crabb Family and the McRaes over the last couple of months and the three groups together really make a cool concert. The next day at lunch we ate at a soul food restaurant called Mert's, at which I would highly recommend the Carrot Cake. That night we sang in Aberdeen, NC where we met so many nice people. Among them was the Twyman's who after hearing our interview on Joy FM learned that we are avid pizza eaters. After the concert they took us to a local pizza place called Vito's, and I'll have to admit it was one of the best I have ever been to. We even got to meet Vito. After stuffing ourselves beyond the point of uncomfortability, we drove three hours to Myrtle Beach, SC. The church had reserved a really nice beach house for us to stay in. We arrived at about 1:30 am, but it took me about 45 minutes to get the keys out of the night safety box. Needless to say the guys gave me a hard time and said that it was my fault that we didn't have enough time to really enjoy the place. Right now we are on the road between MB and Columbia, SC after leaving the concert at Surfside Presbyterian Church. It was great to get to see so many of the friends we made while living there a few years ago.

Check the web site some time monday and we'll have some new pictures for you.

Until we blog again,
Marty

Announcement with 3 Times the Excitement

2005-04-26T22:05:00.000-07:00

Hello everyone, this is your favorite CrossWay member. "No not Matt, it's Chris!" I just wanted to let you all know that CrossWay, or should I say Marty, has a little secret he would like to tell you. Now, for those of you who are devoted fans of Greg Goodman's afternoon show on Solid Gospel Radio, this may be old news to you, but for the rest of you, you are about to get a big shock. Marty and wife, Christy, would like to announce that they are expecting, not ONE, not TWO, but THREE babies in October! (I will give you all a moment to shout, cry, laugh, or even call friends and family members). If you thought you were shocked, you should have seen all of our faces when we heard the news. I think that Christy cried for a solid week, and Marty sat in his chair and didn't speak a word for four days. However, I think that they are warming up to the reality that, in the near future, three little kids will be running around the house. Paul, Matt, and I are all ecstatic about this, and we can't wait to become God-Fathers. I know that if the babies favor their UNCLE they are going to be VERY VERY GOOD-LOOKING. By the way, you all did know that I am Christy's brother, which makes me the VERY VERY GOOD-LOOKING UNCLE? Alright, enough about me, back to the story at hand.
Marty and Christy are thrilled about the three additions to their family, as well as a little nervous. That is why I am excited to inform you that I have started an organization called "Feed Marty's Children." Just send diapers, formula, toys, clothes, college tuition, minivans, or nerve pills, to: Feed Marty's Children, 3 Babies Lane, Oh My My, MS 33333. Just kidding! However, I would like to ask you all to keep Marty, Christy, and their "family-in-the-making" in your thoughts and prayers for the upcoming months. I will go ahead and stress our appreciation to you in advance, THANK YOU and GOD BLESS!!!!

....................UNCLE CHRIS

driving machine!!!

2005-04-25T04:50:00.000-07:00

folks i'm gonna be honest with you... I am a driving machine!!! it is now 4:41 est and I have been driving for the past 7 hours and i refuse to give up my driving throne until i am safe and sound it chattanooga tn. many of you may ask how does one drive through all hours of the morning without growing weary. the answer? the excitement of seeing my beautiful wife. just to let you know what the other guys are up to right now, paul is typing this and rolling his eyes telling me how mushy i am, marty is stuffing his face full of pimento cheese sandwiches while griping over a speeding ticket he got earlier today in va :) and chris is snoring soundly in the back of our luxurious econo line van. by the way we had a rockin' concert in moyock, nc tonight. we are looking forward to doing it all over again at the crabb jam in charlotte, friday night. while you all sleep, we drive on!

matt

Bored with One-sided Tree Conversations

2005-04-20T00:06:00.000-07:00

Hey, this is Chris with CrossWay. I just wanted to give this Blog message thing a try. I have kind of grown tired of talking to trees, so I figured that I didn't have a lot lose. I just wanted to let everyone know that I have discovered that I have some talents other than just singing and carrying in speakers. Today, I mowed my parents lawn, as I usually do, and while I was mowing I noticed that there was a small pond in the front yard where the water meter was supposed to be. After pondering these thoughts for a good half hour, I said to myself, "That's odd!" So, I did what any grown man would do. I went into the house, put on my work clothes, grabbed a shovel, medidated on a few words of manly wisdom, "GET R DONE," and I finally started to work. To make a long story short, Mom and Dad no longer have a small pond in the yard, thanks to me, but now they have a beautiful 12 acre lake. And they have asked me to inform you all that they have 23 half acre lakeside lots available for sale or lease. Just respond for details. So, if you have an annoying small pond in your yard, and you would like to have a compact yet luxurious lake without investing a fortune, just let me know. And remember, I'm not just a lake builder, I'm a lake builder that can sing. Talk to you later.
Chris

crossway quirks

2005-04-18T22:41:00.000-07:00

folks...i guess if we are going to continue these journal entries, there are some things that you as fans need to know about crossway. #1. paul smith is a horrible driver. # 2. marty hurt is a dead man because he just now wrote all over my face with a permanent marker! # 3. chris weaver will talk to a tree. and finally #4. matt mcfarland will leave for a 4 day road trip with only the clothes he has on his back, and then borrow from everyone else. if you would like to inquire more about crossway and their many, many challenging traits, please respond to this posting. until the next entry....matt

im gonna be honest with you

2005-04-17T10:42:00.000-07:00

folks...im gonna be honest here and tell you that i despise doing this, not because i don't want you all to be a part of my "INTRIGUING" life here on the road or that i am not excited about what is going on with these three .....guys that i eat, sleep, sing, ride, walk, talk, and everything else that can possibly be done with the same three people day after day...after day...AFTER DAY, it is because i hate computers ,and i have what some people may call a touch of attention defecit disorder. but i am going to overcome this personal struggle because i have been told that there is atleast one person out there in the internet world that cares about what i am doing right now...maybe that one person is my wife. i love you my sweet heifer, and every minute that i am away from you, i am thinking about the moment i get home to find you asleep and give you a kiss and hug only to have you push me away and get on to me for waking you up:) she is so going to make me delete this, but you all get to enjoy a smile or so before she does. anyways, i apologize for that little side note, but i am also overcoming my lack of interest for computers and writing letters because paul said that if i don't, he is going to talk to me the entire rest of the trip to Corbin KY. and heaven knows i hear him talk enough! much love to you all and until the next time i muster up the attention or energy to write again, i hope that God blesses abundantly. matty mac

Tying The Knot

2005-04-16T14:30:00.000-07:00

Here we are again. Driving down the old familiar stretch of Highway between Nashville, TN and Louisville, KY. I just thought I'd post a notice that some of you may not be aware of. Chris is going to be tying the knot on June, 11. Yeah, believe it or not, he's finally asked someone who said 'yes'. The bride-to be is Carla Woods from Vernon, AL, and the wedding will take place on June, 11 in her hometown. We congratulate Chris and I know that many of you will want to as well. You can e-mail him a chris@crosswayqt.com. Chris will be writing more about it later and posting some pictures for you to see.

Marty

Welcome

2005-04-15T20:13:00.000-07:00

Hello! Well we are trying something new. I am sure many of you are wondering what a blog is. Well, it is short for web log... get it... weBLOG. We are going to be doing our best to keep this up-to-date. Hopefully we will have several updates a week and some days we may have several on that particular day. We will be journaling things that happen on the road and day to day life for the CrossWay bunch.

Paul

Gospel Music Week

2005-04-15T18:27:00.000-07:00

We had a great time at GM week this year. Some of you may know that "Unscarred" from our latest album just charted #36 on the national Christian Inspirational chart. This is a very cool thing because it means a lot of new people will be hearing our songs. I spent time meeting several Inspirational DJs and program directors from many different stations. Everyone was awesome and I am glad to have all those new friends. We also sang at the Southern Gospel Late Night Showcase in downtown Nashville. It was great. We finished the GM week off last night by going to the Dove Awards. Click Here to see photos from the week.

Paul