Weekend in Words

Friday night we went to the Casting Crowns concert and it was great. I love their music and the messages behind the music. We did sit pretty high up and I was disappointed that the humongous Toyota Center in Houston did not have screens up high, so we (at least me and my diminishing eyesight - even with contacts) had a hard time seeing anything. They did have a huge screen in behind the band, but it did not enhance much. I don't mean to complain, I was very thankful to go. The kids were a lot of fun, the music was good so I will be positive and remember those two things. We also heard Leeland who was one of the openers, but we missed John Waller due to "stinkin' Houston traffic".
Yesterday we went to Michael's birthday party in the afternoon. In the evening I drove a carload to the Haunted Hotel in Nederland. Kendra was scared to death. It took us an hour to find the place and only took them 15 minutes to get through the place. At $10 a ticket, for a 15 minute tour, they were bringing in some kind of money.
Last night we slept with the windows open and it was lovely. The temperatures were cool but not cold and with ceiling fans going in the bedrooms it was heavenly. Today the temperatures have been mild all day long, with breezes blowing in through the open windows and I am loving it. I love it here when the weather gets mild - cool but not cold. Nice.

I Can't Wait!

Life is full of both of these - excitements and disappointments. Right now the biggest excitement on my plate is an afternoon with four teenagers and my Kully-boy (who thought he was a teenager at birth) at the Galleria Mall and then top the evening off with a top-notch Casting Crowns concert! I am sure somewhere along the way there will be good food. I find much "Christian music" to be cheesy, repetitive and bland - almost as if attempting to work people into an emotional worship experience. In contrast I find Casting Crowns so full of messages, eloquently worded that echo thoughts I have had about the church, Christian life, etc. Take this segment from the first song on the new CD "The Altar and the Door":

People aren't confused by the gospel,
They're confused by us.
Jesus is the only way to God,
But we are not the only way to Jesus.
This world doesn't need
My tie, my hoodie,
My denomination, or my translation of the Bible,
They just need Jesus.
We can be passionate about what we believe,
But we can't strap ourselves to the gospel.
Because we're slowing it down
Jesus is going to save the world,
But maybe the best thing we can do
Is just get out of the way.

I love it. I can't wait. It's going to be great!

La La La La Life Goes On

I have been blogging so much lately – that if you noticed I haven't posted anything yet today and it's almost midnight – it is because I have been VERY busy today. We went with our co-op on a trail through parts of the Big Thicket. I will post more about that later. Then tonight we went to a "Leeland" (Sound of Melodies, Yes You Have, etc. - from Baytown, TX) concert at a mega-church in Beaumont (which btw was FREE, thank you Leeland!) One thing I really miss is having another adult to enjoy times like this. The teens are great – but when there is another adult with me, I don't feel outnumbered.

At one point at the concert, it was getting very warm, and I felt like people were leaning in on me from every side and felt what must have been the beginning of a panic attack. I had to make everybody spread out a bit – because I was really having the feeling that I would freak if I didn't get some space. Strange – that's never really happened to me before.

Anyhoo, it's been a full day and I'm tired – hope your day was awesome too!

I love how the picture at the top was taken outside at dusk without the flash - and it has a blue-ish tinge to it. L to R is Bethany, Kyle, Kullen (under Kyle's arm), Kaitlyn, Cecil (this picture cuts off his face) and Kendra. I took that awesome picture of Leeland also - pretty cool, huh? It was completely by accident because I mainly held my camera up over my head and snapped. Why is it that the tallest guy in the room always seems to be standing directly in FRONT of me? Anyway - lucky shot. Kendra thinks I should send it to the band! It is kind of cool with the starburst effect of the light behind the lead singer.