Sunday Recap

I didn't blog yesterday, but I have a good excuse.  I was gone from the house from 9:30 am to midnight, except for a quick stop to change clothes. Yeah, it was a busy day.  Let me give a *quick* recap.

I didn't do my hair Saturday night so I knew I had to get up early to fix it Sunday morning.  I was up by 6:30 for what would be a non-stop day.  I showered and washed my hair, then went to make my son E his breakfast.  I don't eat breakfast at home on Sundays because we have our fellowship breakfast at our Sunday school class, but I do have my coffee.  I was starving but was mindful not to start eating; I had a handful of Reese's cereal then went to get ready for church.

Our church is pretty relaxed when it comes to dress; no one is required to get dressed up, but I always do.  I feel like, if I'm there to meet God, I should look my best.  I wore the dress I'd gotten for my birthday because it's a perfect fall dress and our weather was looking like fall: rainy and dreary.  I debated whether to wear powder or liquid foundation, since I knew I was going to be out most of the day and wouldn't have time to touch up.  While my liquid foundation is supposed to have a longer wear, I went with powder.  I love the way my powder foundation feels, so light on my skin, and I also thought this would be a good way to test how long its wearability is.  My makeup turned out really nice again; I'm getting the hang of this, LOL!  We left the house at 9:30 and got to our respective Sunday school classes in 10 minutes.  My son goes to youth group (he's 15 years old) and I go to my class, Truth In Love.  We have been studying the book of James and just finished the last 2 verses of chapter 5.  From there we went to service, where Pastor Ray taught on excellence and why God is deserving of our very best.  It was a great service and worship time, but we didn't stay long for fellowship.  There was plenty more on our agenda.

It was my best friend IV's birthday, and I invited her out to lunch.  She chose a vegetarian style buffet place that is local.  I'd never eaten there before, though I'd heard of it.  There were mixed reviews: some folks really like it because of its vegetarian and vegan options; others say the food is sub-par.  Since it was her birthday I didn't mind going and trying it out.  I stopped off at the house first so I could change out of the dress I was wearing and into some jeans.  It's not that I don't like going out to eat in a dress, but we had other plans afterwards.  My jeans and top were an olive/khaki green, nice and neutral (and comfortable).  I drove over to IV's house and we went in one car to the restaurant.  I have to say, I was sadly disappointed.  The food was, in my opinion, bland.  I had a salad to start, and I noticed some of the greens weren't green anymore; it was certainly not the freshest salad bar I'd been to.  I then went over to where the hot foods were.  The only meat option available was in the chili, and quite frankly, I feel like the chili at Wendy's is better.  I tried a pasta dish that had red onion and spinach.  This is something I usually enjoy, but for the first time ever I had to add salt to the food.  I cook with very little salt, and I always find restaurant food to be excessively salty, but this was so bland I couldn't enjoy it.  The only thing I can say I liked was the soft serve ice cream.  My poor son, who is a carnivore, didn't care for anything.  All he ate was macaroni and cheese because his best friend (IV's son) said it was the best mac and cheese he'd ever eaten.  My son's response was, "That's because you haven't tasted my mom's."  I won't deny, that made me feel really good, except for the fact that the food was so flavorless I don't know as it was much of a compliment.  But my friend enjoyed it, and since it was her birthday after all, I was content in knowing she was pleased.

Once we were done, we headed to...Winter Jam!!!  We were so excited!  For Christmas IV got us tickets.  Winter Jam is a huge concert tour, with multiple Christian music groups.  The best part about Winter Jam is the price: $10 gets you any seat in the house, first come first serve.  Typically you have to stand in line as early as possible to get the best choice of seats, but since IV suffers from MS she can't stand for long periods of time, so she got a group together and we got to go in before everyone else.  We still had to stand in line because our group couldn't go in till everyone was there.  Wouldn't you know it, my daughter was running late because the church where she works had baptisms and she had to stay longer.  Then she got caught in torrential rains.  She finally made it, but was soaked to the bone :(.  She wasn't thrilled about being wet, but we got such great seats that she quickly forgot about it.  At 5:00 the opening acts came out.  There were three bands, but Veridia was my favorite.  They are a rock band out of Nashville, very edgy and right up my alley.  My daughter loved them too, as did my son, though I didn't find out till later because he and his friends sat as far away from the parental units as possible.  Teenagers *sigh*.  Blanca, originally from Group 1 Crew, also performed, and I've always loved her voice.  I don't care for whispery voices; I like a strong, powerhouse voice, and Blanca certainly has that.  

Then the big name acts came on, starting with For King And Country.  These are Rebecca St. James's brothers, a woman whom I've always loved, and they were just as incredible!  My daughter was especially thrilled, because we didn't get to see them when we went to Night of Joy in September.  We picked some incredible seats; they came right up to where we were seated!  My son made fun of me, though.  He could see us from where he was sitting, and he saw me wave at the brothers - instead of reaching out and high-fiving them.  I guess that's just not my style, but my son thought I was hilarious.

Newsong played next.  They're more of a country/gospel type sound; not bad but not what I lean towards.  After their set came Family Force 5.  My daughter was, again, super excited because she'd only seen them a couple of times before and they put on an amazing show.  They have so much energy!  Their music is more of a rock/rap/hip-hop mix, and I was pretty sure my son would not like it.  He's a rocker through and through, but as I told my daughter, his favorite band of all time would be performing so he'd better not say he didn't enjoy it.  Building 429 blew me away - I didn't expect their set to be so great!  Jeremy Camp came on next; I like Jeremy Camp, but I didn't mind leaving to go look at the merch tables with my daughter.  There were a few items she wanted to purchase along with some contests to sign up for.  I got my son a surprise gift:  2 of his favorite band's CD's.  We got back to hear Jeremy Camp sing his last song, Overcome, then there was an intermission.  My son came over, and I asked which band he'd liked so far.  To my astonishment, he said Family Force 5!  He loved their song Chainsaw, and all the energy they had.  I then pulled out his surprise, and he smiled from ear to ear.  For the first time he wasn't complaining about having to come to a concert - I guess he's finally getting to that age.

There was a preacher there, Tony Nolan, who presented the gospel and also gave his testimony, which was absolutely inspiring.  God can do amazing things, of that I am certain!  The next act was one of my favorites, Francesca Battistelli.  Her songs are fun, and she is another powerhouse.  What I didn't expect was for her to sing Holy Spirit, a favorite worship song of mine.  I was getting teary eyed as I sang and listened to this appeal for God's presence among us.  I'm getting choked up remembering it!  It was beautiful.

The last band to perform, the headlining band, my son's very favorite band, was Skillet!  I L-O-V-E love Skillet!  My son was even more excited.  We saw them at Night of Joy, and their show was mind-blowing, but we didn't know what to expect from a much smaller venue.  They did not disappoint!  Skillet's music is hardcore rock with deep messages about the condition of the world and Who we can turn to if we want to escape its fate.  It was pretty late once the concert was over, but all the merch tables would be open and bands would be there to sign autographs and talk to the people there.  I asked my son if he would like John Cooper to autograph his CD's.  His eyes got as big as saucers and he yelled, "I can?! Yes!!"  I didn't mind standing in line since it moved pretty quickly.  My boy said it was the best time he's had, and he didn't mind if he was going to be hoarse the next day, it was so worth it.  My daughter went to the other merch tables and got autographs and pictures with Family Force 5, For King and Country, Blanca and Veridia, plus she purchased some CD's and even a hat with the FF5 logo.  I would have enjoyed seeing the other acts, but honestly, listening to my son's excitement and happiness was worth more than any band or singer.

We finally got out and got home around midnight.  To my surprise, my makeup held up the entire time.  We were gone 15 hours, and the only thing I ever touched up was my lipstick.  There was a very little bit of oiliness on my forehead, but hardly enough to concern me, especially after 15 hours.  Bare Minerals proved to me once again that they are the best choice for makeup.  My daughter agrees.

That was my Sunday.  It was a day to remember, for sure.  I'll be posting today's recap later on tonight, but for now, God bless and have a great day.

What I've Been Up To: Concerts

In my last post I tried to get as much of what's been going on in my life as possible, but "life" gets in the way.  There's plenty to keep me busy, which is a good thing, but I still want to document a few more of the goings-on of the past few months.

A dear friend and I have been enjoying the concert circuit.  It wasn't not often that Christian bands made it all the way down to South Florida; it's a long way away from everything, and if there's only one venue to perform at, it might not be to their advantage.  Lately, though, we've seen more acts willing to make the trek, especially in the winter.  When everywhere else in the country is freezing or under a ton of snow, South Florida looks and sounds really appealing!

Back in January we had the Extreme Music Concert in South Florida, and thanks to my daughter's job at a church office, we got a couple of free tickets.  That concert was, in the words of our younger generation, off the chain!  The tickets were for one day, but we got to see multiple acts that day.

For one, we got to see Mandisa who is A-mazing in concert!  She is so full of energy!  And so inspiring!  Being on a show like American Idol could have given her a big ego, but instead she gives all the glory to God.  She was great to hear!

Switchfoot was incredible too!  They were the main band that night.  We also saw Israel and New Breed and Michael W. Smith.  It was a great night, but it got even better when we were told tickets to the next night's concert were selling for $20 for those who had tickets that day!  We rushed to get our tickets because we knew the bands for the next night were going to be worth hearing as well!

The night started off with a band I love, MikesChair.  They are from Central Florida and their music is great.  Then we got to hear Kutless.

They were amazing as well.  Unfortunately, by the time the last band came on, the band I wanted to see most, Hillsong United, I had a full-blown migraine and I could hardly think straight.  I'd prayed the headache would go away, but I felt God speak to me.  "Can you praise Me even in your pain?"  And I answered yes.  The headache was awful, but the worship was intense.  I tried taking pictures but none turned out right.  Once I closed my eyes and just let the Spirit take over, I was elevated to that sweet place that only worshiping God can get you to.  It was beautiful, and worth the pain.

In March we went to the Dade County Youth Fair where we got to enjoy another couple of concerts...sort of.

Two bands, free admission.  Couldn't get better, right?

SonicFlood went on first, singing lots of oldies-but-goodies.  Coming to the end of their set, their name became very appropriate:  we got hit with some monsoon-type rain, a real sonic flood!  Because there was lightning as well, we had to seek shelter quick and hope the rain would stop, otherwise Matthew West's concert would be cancelled.

Thankfully, the rain stopped and we were able to listen to Matthew West, which we were so excited for!

April came, and we were once again blessed.  My friend had given my daughter, son E and I tickets to ReachFest in Boca Raton for Christmas, and we were finally gonna be able to see 5 bands perform that night!

Citizen's Way started the night.  I'd heard a couple of their songs but I had no idea how they'd be in concert.  They did not disappoint!  We were so impressed by their music and love for God.

Colton Dixon was on next.  Whoa!  What's up with these American Idol alumni?  They are so high energy!  This guy was all over the place!  That's one way to do a concert!

Jamie Grace was sandwiched in between.  I love her music, but now I love her even more!  What a heart, what a sweetness to her, what a fun time listening to her speak as well as hearing her music.

We were really looking forward to hearing Britt Nicole, even though the boys weren't, LOL!!  She is wonderful!  The little girls were waving their Britt Nicole posters which was cute to watch.

The evening ended with MercyMe.  They need no explanation.  Every song they did was a great song.

I have to be honest, though.  If I were to pick my favorite act of the night, it would be Jamie Grace, hands down.  Not only was her music great, but everything about her was fantastic.  I'd see her again in a heartbeat.

If that weren't enough, we found out from our local radio station that a nearby church was hosting another concert at the end of April, so off we went.

Tim Timmons not only gave an amazing concert, his story is incredible.  You can read about him here.

When Group 1 Crew came on, I forgot I was a 50 year old woman.  I started jumping up and down and screaming like a teenager!  I typically don't like hip-hop music.  At.  All.  But there's something about this band that makes me wanna get up and worship!

If you don't recognize this gentleman, it's a native of our fair state of Florida:  Big Daddy Weave.  He was headlining that night and they did an awesome job, but once again, if I had to pick a favorite, it would have to be Group 1 Crew.  They were electric.

I'm sure our concert days are far from over.  As a matter of fact, my daughter and I will be attending the Women of Faith conference next month, and we'll get to hear Matthew West again.  Music is just one form of worship, but for us, it's one of our favorites!