Love writes a letter and sends it to Hate

So the Avett Brothers came to Samford. Needless to say I was super excited. Then I found out I would be sitting 8 rows back, my excitement grew into elation. Although the opening band was, ummmm, interesting, with a singer that was Jack Black and Alan from the Hangover combined, when Avett came on the show began. And that was the thing it wasn't just a concert, it was indeed a show. They started by singing one of my personal favorites, "The weight of lies" and then it picked up. From leg kicks and jumping to an awesome Asian cellist how knew how to jam, this band was a perfect combination of rock, classical, and countryish. The two actual brothers' voices are unique and hypnotizing. Great individually, when they duet it is obvious they were well born to sing together.

Again I will say if you have the chance to see these guys live, do it. Their records, although awesome, kill it live. And they have so much fun while doing it. Their set list was AMAZING, with peaks and troughs at the perfect time, and energy from start to finish. Emotion in every song from joy to sadness. These boys are wonderful, I cannot say anything bad about this performance! You boys stole my heart. P.S. Thanks Kvic for those awesome seats!

Avett songs that I enjoy...Well I enjoy them all so here a few suggestions
1. The weight of lies
2.Ballad of Love and Hate

3.Brooklyn, Brooklyn

4. Murder in the City (Maybe my favorite)

5. Shame

6.Slight Figure of speech (I just want to jump up and down to this song)

7.Head full of Doubt (actually probably my favorite)

8.Heart drum kick

Again I say they are all good! P.S. if you like Avett check out Mumford and Sons they are great.

And they call the thing Rodeo

When I was young I believed there were only two kinds of music, the hymns we sang in church, and country. By age ten my best friend and I knew every Garth Brooks song by heart and sang them on the playground. Needless to say this concert was the concert of my dreams, and if I saw him live I could never go to a concert again and be happy. But ten years later I knew I would never see this man perform live, I gave up that dream...

Until I heard he was playing a benefit concert for the Nashville flood victims...DREAM BACK ON!

As Garth Brooks came into my view, Rodeo was the song that he was singing at the top of his lung. A man in boots, jeans, denim shirt, and to top it off a cowboy hat singing two concerts a night for eight days straight. This was the first time I had been to a concert where every seat was full, and every person, young and old, was singing Every Single Song at the top of his or her lungs.

This was indeed the best concert I had ever been to. As the concert continued Garth gained more energy, and by the end of the night he was sprinting around the stage. And Trishia Yearwood made an appearance and sang "In Love with a boy!" He was the most electrifying performer I have ever seen, and he truly loves what he does. As the concert ended my heart was swelling with joy. One of my dreams had come true. If you can ever see Garth in concert do it, he is wonderful.

My top Garth Songs (in no particular order, cause I mean who can really choose)

1. Friends in Low Places

2. Baton Rogue

3. Standing Outside the Fire

4. Thunder Rolls

5. The Dance

6. Rodeo

7. Two Pina Coladas

8. We Shall Be Free

9.Much to Young

10. Unanswered Prayers

11. More than a Memory

.....

I mean I really like it all.

Until next time.

Step by step

Walking. It seems like such a simple task, placing one foot in front of the other. I have been doing this for what now 19 or 20 years. It has become just as natural as breathing, I never have to think to myself, "ok feet walk please."

Until this semester of college my school work was kind of like walking. I had to try don't get me wrong, but I could afford to take naps, put off studying till the night before a test, ect (you get the picture.) As first semester junior year hit I was knocked flat on my back and stayed down for the count. I have had to learn to crawl, fall continuous amounts of times (too many to count), pull myself back up, and eventually learn to walk all over again. And even now I am so shaky on these feet that I have used for the past 20 years of my life.

This semester God has showed me that I literally have to place one foot in front of the other daily. He has taught me that I have to take one day at a time and sometimes every hour one at a time. My God has shown me that through all this He has provided just enough no more, no less,

just enough.

He has shown me in all things just move towards Him, whether at a full sprint or at the slowest of crawls... Just Move.

And my God is so good that He meets me where I am. He is with me when I walk, crawl, and fall, and He is right there to pick me up and say. "Be still and know that I am God, I am here, We will get through this together, and I AM NEVER LEAVING YOU."

My God has also shown me the importance of friendships, and how they get you through the days, the hours, the minutes, where you feel like the whole world is crashing in on you. And that when you fall down and feel like you cannot walk anymore when you cannot take another step towards your goal, they pick you up and carry you. They move you.

So to all of those that have picked me up and carried me this semester, or at any point of my life. I cannot thank you enough. I love you from the bottom my heart and can never put it into words.

Waffle House Wonders #1

So this is going to be a series of posts, not necessarily in order, about events that have happened at Waffle House that have just sent my mind into wonder. Tuesday, it was 1 o'clock so it was pretty slow. A cute family comes in three kids all under the age of 6ish, the wife is pregnant, and my friend Sherrie takes their order. Nothing out of the ordinary right? WRONG! We just happen to be out of chocolate chips on this fine day. The lady orders a Choc Waff (chocolate chip waffle), she gets the bad news. Her response..."SHUT UP" she screams this, then proceeds to say this is the worst F-ing vacation ever. (that quote was edited)In front of her three little kids (those poor innocent ears). But oh no this story is not over. Her son in his high chair just swinging his sweet little legs, she pushes the high chair away from the table and says, "Stop kicking me, I just hate little kids." Well hate to break it to you lady, but you are going to have another little one in just a few months. I blame the hormones. Let's all hope so. It just makes me wonder...

If Grace is an Ocean, We're All Sinking

"If grace is an Ocean, we're all sinking." This is what I wake up and see every morning. This gigantic body of water. And every morning, I look as hard as I can to see something, anything on the other side of that great expanse. And every morning the same result, I only see the horizon where the water and sky meet. This is remarkable to me. Consciously I know there is something on the other side of that water, but I see something that continues on forever. Yes, I know that a ten year old could get this. But here is what is so remarkable to me. Grace is so amazing that it really is endless, and that space I see, where the water and sky meet, in terms of grace, doesn't even exist. And here is the kicker. It is by nothing I have done to be able to receive this grace. It is a gift from our God, who loves of enough to give us this rare gift. And He has given us so much of it, that we are completely consumed in it, that once we have discovered it, it is so hard to remove ourselves from it, almost impossible. And that is the beauty of it, once I tasted that grace, I do not not want to remove myself from it. I'm just a simple sinner, who is saved on by sinking in His ocean of grace. And I would love to see the rest of the world sinking in His grace with me.