Free to Struggle

 If you haven't guessed already, Tenth Avenue North is my favorite band. A few weeks ago we got the opportunity to go see them in concert again, this time a little closer to home, and without it being 95 degrees standing in the sun.. but, we were a lot further away from the stage.

My sister-in-law texted me late on a Monday telling me about the concert that Friday night, and by the next morning five tickets had been bought. Exciting? Very! So we headed down on Friday night to see Tenth Avenue North, Rend Collective, and Audrey Assad. It was a great concert. There was an energy surging through the air, and so much was talked about. Mike Donehey (lead singer from TenthAve) spoke in between songs explaining some of the meanings. The man definitely has a way with words, and a way with conveying God's love in a way people can relate and understand. I think that sometimes we are so used to hearing about God's love only in sermons that we start to just think "yeah, God loves me, I know" but we don't process it, act on it, and really bask in His love. I mean, hey, we are His children. He died for us, knowing that we may reject Him.

He also talked about how many of us have hurts, shame, and so many other things that make us feel far from God. Friends, the fact is, God is never far away. In fact, He's so close we can't even imagine His proximity. He died to forgive the things that we feel shame for. He died to give us life. He died out of love, and that same love is waiting for us to run to Him and ask Him to heal our hurts. He longs for us to come to Him, and He will always be there, never giving up on us, or failing us. Our egos, shame, sin, and so many other things make us feel like we're not good enough, that we we're not worthy to come to Him. But He died for those reasons, so we can come to Him. He's there, and always will be. He loves us. And always will. I pray that you not only believe that, but act on it in a way that gives love back to Him.

The new album is called 'the Struggle', and talks about how we're free to struggle, but we're not struggling to be free. Christ has already set us free. We're free to fail, because we fall into an ocean of grace. What a huge relief. I think so many people are afraid of failing... terrified, of failing. So, they don't act. But we can miss out on so many amazing things if we fear failure and don't do anything. We're not perfect, we're going to fail; but when we fail, it means we tried. God doesn't call us to be idle. Don't fear failing.. fall into an ocean of grace.

Check them out here:  http://tenthavenuenorth.com/home

"Hallelujah we are free to struggle

We're not struggling to be free

Your blood bought and made us children

So children drop your chains and sing"

A Week In Review

Well, it has definitely been a crazy week. From today to last Wednesday, the past week has been jam-packed with traveling and events, and it doesn't look like life is slowing down any. To fill you in, I'll start with today and go backwards.

Today is my 21st birthday. Weird? Yes. When people find out I'm this young, they're usually shocked because they thought I was much older. I can't complain about that, it's actually flattering sometimes. But, I don't know what the plans are. I think my husband is taking me out for dinner, but I don't know where.. you may hear more about that later ;)

Yesterday was another Bible study night, complete with lots of fellowship with friends. We played some volleyball, checked the temperature of the lake (cold, as usual), threw a football around, and dug into the Word. It was great. Then we went out for ice cream with my mom and sister, which is always fun. It was a late night, but we're used to those, especially in summer.

Monday, Caleb didn't have to work, so we hung around the house doing odd jobs and cleaning up from the crazy weekend. We grilled dinner and relaxed, which felt fantastic.

The view from "Suicide Hill"

 Saturday and Sunday are lumped together. Our town hosts a huge basketball tournament every summer, and Caleb's family has helped out for years. He works for a guy who does the sound equipment, so he's busy all weekend. His mom and sister (and now my sister and I) help in the trailer. We give out clipboards, basketballs, radios, and whatever else the refs need. The trailer is also right by the main traffic area, so you always see many many people (which is cool, because I like to 'people watch' ;) Sunday night I was able to help with youth group. We went out to the state park and climbed the stairs to what locals call 'suicide hill'. This is a very steep dune from which you can see the road leading the state park, and the dunes and lake beyond the road. Many people go sledding there during the winter, but not me! A teacher once broke her hip there... so why would I want to go sliding down a steep hill made even faster by sleek ice and snow? I'm not THAT big of a thrill seeker ;) Anyway, we played a game with the students and then had small groups focusing on purity. It was a good night, and we got a very good response from the students.

Mike Donehey, lead singer of Tenth Avenue North, BTF 2012

Thursday and Friday are also lumped together. I took my sister and headed about two hours southeast of here for a HUGE Christian music festival. It's a three day event, but we chose to skip out on the last day. So, in two days we saw fourteen bands, two speakers, and ate enough fairgrounds food to hold us over until next year. It was fantastic. We both love Christian music, so we were thrilled Wednesday afternoon when we had the chance to jump and buy discounted tickets. The bands we saw were: Sevenglory, The Museum, Tenth Avenue North, Brandon Heath, Newsboys, Attaboy, The City Harmonic, Addison Road, Hawk Nelson, Aaron Shust (who we also got a picture with while he was randomly strolling through the fairgrounds), KJ-52, Red, Disciple, and Chris Tomlin. My favorite performance (and favorite band..) was Tenth Avenue North. They put on a great concert, and shared more things than just their music. We watched guys on dirt bikes; R4Christ, and we watched super strong men who had turned their lives around do amazing stunts; the Stand Strength team. We also heard two speakers; Johnny V, and Nick Vujicic. Nick Vujicic was my favorite. We heard him speak at the festival last year. He was born without arms and legs, and has an incredible testimony. He shared how God took his depression and feeling of worthlessness, and turned it into something great that only He could do. He shared to thousands of people that God loves them dearly, and can do the same for their lives. Many accepted Christ that night, and I'm sure many seeds were planted. Please pray for those people! It was so cool to watch everything, but by the end of the two days we were exhausted.

Nick Vujicic, speaking at Big Ticket 2012

So, the last week has wiped my energy levels as it has been crazy busy. But it was a good busy and I definitely enjoyed everything that the week brought. I hope you had a great week also.

Next on the agenda? Relay for Life this Saturday and Sunday, for a fantastic cause!

See you next time!