Sooo, I'll make a story out of the concert-going, here it is: I told my sister I would take her to a Skillet concert for her 13th birthday. She found one right around that time, but because they are a heavier rock type band, it was with some other groups that weren't appropriate for her. I told her that, and we decided to look for another one, which she found. What she found was the one we went to; it was at the Big Ticket Festival. This was a three day event with over one hundred bands, and Skillet was playing the first night (..at 9:45pm..), so we decided to go for the day and see some other bands before . Well, leaving at noon turned into leaving at one, and the help of a GPS (and cell phone navigator!) turned into an extra hour of driving because of incorrect directions (and lots of back roads..), and we finally arrived around 4:30pm. We had hoped to be able to see Sidewalk Prophets.. but all we caught was part of their last song as we were trying to find the ticket booth, ..oh well, we got there safely and by that time I was so frazzled that I all I cared about was arriving safely =] [[[[On a side note, I'll just mention that it had rained A LOT before we got there, and the fairgrounds are lower than the roads.. yup, you guessed it.. so, when we got there it was already and mess, and we left shortly afterwards on a Wal-Mart run for rainboots. Which we wore the whole time we were there]]]] We did get to hear Leeland, Sanctus Real, Parachute Band, and speaker Bob Lenz though, and they were all great! The speaker was on the main stage, so while he was speaking, we started to wiggle our way closer and closer to the front.. which proved difficult. Of course everyone was doing the same, because Skillet came on next, and they wanted front row standing area as well. But, because we are both really small, a lot of tall people in front of us let us in front of them.. so we just kept wiggling our way up closer to the stage. By the time the concert started, we were about ten feet from the front of the crowd, and could see if we peeked through the heads of tall people, and that was just fine with us! =] The concert was amazing. They are awesome live. Bot of us girls had a great time, and were hyped that we finally got to see them in concert (I checked it off my bucket list.. haha). The effects they used were great, and both of us were intrigued by how much fire they used! It was really cool, but it fit the band and the music perfectly. They also explained some of the songs, and that was really cool because I didn't know the explanations; it was quite eye opening. The light rain that was blowing onto the stage, and falling on the rest of us, fit the concert also, and my hair was soaked by the time we got to the car. By then it was 11:30pm, and we were beat. I'm sooo glad that my amazing sister-in-law let us stay at her place that was only about 40mins away, because I really didn't have the energy to drive home. So, we stayed the night there with her and another friend.. and ended up playing Apples to Apples until 3am =] The next morning I woke up to a call from my hubby and the day was underway. After some yummy waffles (as promised by my sister-in-law!) us girls got to talking about the bands that would be playing that day... and decided to go for round two on a whim! Soo.. on went the rain boots and we headed out for the day. We got to see Kerrie Roberts, Chris August (who was fantastic!), the Afters, Rebecca St. James, Marvin Sapp, KJ-52, and worshiped with Sevenglory. But, our main reason for going that day was because TobyMac was there! =] He came on stage at 9:35pm, and we made our way up as close to the stage as we could, which ended up being right under one of the screens to the side. But he (and Diverse City) put on a fantastic concert. After we got back to sister's apartment, we headed home and arrived at 2:45 am. Driving home as tired as I was definitely wasn't a smart choice, but thank God He got us home safe. All in all, it was a great two days!
One of the things that really made me think after the concert was seeing the diversity among the people who had all gathered at the fairgrounds to see their choice of bands. The more rock type bands like Skillet, and the more hip-hop or rap bands like TobyMac and KJ-52 attracted the largest and most diverse crowds. All three attracted people of all ages, and those people all had very different appearences. Some looked like they would fit the group some call 'emo', some looked like everyday Joes, some appeared more well off, etc., but they were all there to listen, all there to hear a message, and what a message they heard! All the bands talked about God's love, and whether the people there wanted or didn't want to hear that message, they did! It also struck me that if the concert had only hosted mello Christian artists, some of the people may have not came. I guess I hadn't thought of that before... hip-hop or rap bands spreading God's love and message through their music to reach people who may not hear it otherwise.. people whose culture it is to listen to that kind of music instead of mello gospel stuff. Music really does speak to the soul, and I am now so thankful to have a different perspective on how music that frequently gets looked down upon can be used for God's glory to bring people to Him. Here are pictures of the three bands I just mentioned:
Skillet (above)
TobyMac
KJ-52
**Last but not least, is a new ministry opportunity that Caleb and I are waiting to hear back about! I can't really share any details because we don't know much yet, or if it will even happen (but it looks good!), but I can tell you that we had both been open to and praying about this opportunity before it was even presented to us. We had been thinking/praying on it individually first, and were surprised to find out the other had been thinking the same thing when one of us brought it up =] I love how that works.. on the same page even before we knew it ;) That was back in January. Well, we talked about it, but couldn't do much more than that at the time. I then went to a church ministry conference in March, and someone presented the idea to me, and I made sure they knew we were both very interested in the opportunity, and would be more than happy to do it. So after that we were hopeful to see some movement towards it happening, but again, nothing. Then, just recently someone (different than the first person) presented it to Caleb this time, asking him if we specifically would be willing to do it. We are so excited! I guess there was a meeting prior to Caleb being asked where our names were brought up with the idea of the opportunity, and we were excited to know that. Knowing that we were the people they thought of for this opportunity is so encouraging, and is making us even more excited to see what happens! Caleb told the asker we would love to and be more than willing to take the opportunity. So, as of now, thats really all we know. All parties involved know we are very interested in undertaking this task, and we can't wait to see what God has in store for us and this new ministry opportunity! Please be praying for us! I'll update when I know more =] Thanks!**
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