Can You Say AWESOME?!

Friday night was the greatest gift - on many levels. The Zipps came through and were able to provide for Sean and me tickets to Third Day through a friend that once worked in the biz. You can click their album cover at the bottom left to learn more about them or visit their website HERE.

We first became huge fans after seeing them perform at a music festival in northern Indiana a few years ago along with Kutless (another of my favorites) and Michael W. Smith. We already loved their music, but seeing them live is amazing. They connect very well with the audience and are just quite inspirational. We happened to receive free tickets to this from a radio station.

When I found out they were going to be here this summer, I wanted to go so incredibly bad, but we are trying to be very tight with our money to pay down debt. So the obvious answer was that concert tickets are not on the short list of needs (which really could be argued against). The day before the concert, I was offered free tickets from someone who received them from one of the concert's sponsors, Habitat for Humanity. I felt good about this because Sean, Alexx, and Joel had worked on building a Habitat house just a few weeks before with our church.

Again - an awesome performance.

When they began announcing the dates for the tour for their new album, Revelation, wouldn't you know - two dates in Indiana were among the first ones! I kept harping on Sean about it, to which he stood firm. Yes, he wanted to go badly as well, but we have financial goals to meet. Fine. Be mature about it.

The Zipps then asked their friend if he could hook them up with tickets, and a few days before the concert - dude came through. And did he ever! Along with the terrific tickets (14th row), he included two passes to the meet and greet after the show. Oh. My.

Now, let's just say this - I'm quite the Mac Powell (lead singer) fan. Sean would laugh out loud at this understatement. It's not so much a physical rush, but an emotional one - the man's voice and the words he sings move me. I'm not even kidding you when I say this - when I was trying to convince Sean to buy us tickets to go and he was standing his ground on the financial plan we have, I actually compared my going to see Third Day to how some people feel when they go to the Billy Graham crusade. I know. But I was just trying to make him understand how much my life depended on doing this. Okay. Now you may laugh. (And my mom is now having flashbacks to how I tried to get my way as a teenager ...)

Long explanation short - I love them. I love them more that I love Keith Urban and his music. And that says a lot. Another important point is that their music has been very instrumental in Sean's walk as a new Christian these past few years. Music is a huge part of our lives as an entire family, so it's no surprise that listening to different kinds of music helps us through many things. There are days when I am trudging through autism, where listening to certain music that reminds me of what I have in my faith is what gets me through that hour to be able to tackle the next issue. So this is a little more than fun for us. It means something.

Of course, they did not disappoint. We had a great time being uplifted once again by Third Day, and were also introduced to a band we weren't aware of, Need to Breathe, and found that we really enjoyed them as well.

We also had wonderful time as a couple, which all marriages need. The concert was at IU Auditorium in Bloomington, so we also had great alone time on the drive there and back. It was a good evening all around.

AND I GOT TO MEET MY FAVORITE BAND. They were incredibly nice. During the meet & greet, they moved around the room separately, so you were able to talk to them individually, get things signed if you wanted to, take pictures, etc. They then moved everyone through so they could all get a photo with the entire band. There are a couple of photos on the website that were taken of us by their photographer that I haven't been able to download yet.

When Mac Powell walked up to me, held out his hand and said, "Hi, I'm Mac Powell," I may have grabbed his hand a little too hard - and maybe he thought it was weird when I then smelled it for a minute or so? We were able to tell him how their music has helped in the ways that I mentioned above, then he began asking about our kids and their ages and commented on how far apart they are and that they'd really squeezed theirs together . . . and then I only remember taking photos and asking if I could have his shirt to make a pillow case out of it.

Is that weird?

Fun, fun night. Now I can die.

And the next day I said something about the bottle of water I was drinking from was my "Third Day water" because it was what I got at the meet & greet. A few hours later, I noticed it was sitting on the fireplace mantel. Huh? Sean said he figured I wanted it on prominent display and that no one should touch it. Funny. Funny guy I'm married to.

Wouldn't this make a great poster? Or wall mural?

Having great couple time!

Sean and bassist Tai Anderson.

On the way home, we were recognizing God's hand in all of this. All three opportunities were put before us by others. We wanted to do something, but felt we shouldn't for financial reasons - and God provided. For all three events, all we had to pay for was gas money and, perhaps, a soda or two at the shows.

.

Now I know it may sound silly that we see these things as God providing. But we do, and we are grateful for the experiences.

And the Zipps totally rock for loving us enough to try and make this happen on their end!!