.. Aug 6, the Wedding and the concert....

so. maybe I should talk a little about that Saturday..... the Saturday my children witnessed their Dad getting married to someone else... sad and awkward for them, but their reality. not so much my reality anymore in the way that it hurts... just in the way of regret I guess...
that Saturday... the day for which God had given me this extra special gift, a small little intimate concert by my most favorite artist.. Michael W Smith... what I didn't know was that He had so much more for me than "just" getting to go to my 10th Michael W Smith concert ( I am kind of counting the cruise as 5 concerts)

all this said, the concert was sublime... I didn't expect anything different... it was my best one yet.... yeah...it's true... :)

when meeting with Derek the day before I had debated asking him if there was any chance I could get to do a little "Meet and Greet".. but had decided not to say anything, he is a really nice guy and I didn't want him to feel I was using him....
so anyways, when my friend Michelle and I entered the theater Derek came up to me and motioned for us to follow him... I felt like one of those teenage groupies, screaming inside ... wow... walking up to the 2nd floor .. and there it really happened.... Michael came out to meet us.... Derek had told him my story and he had said to bring me up.... now how great is that????
we talked for a few minutes, took a picture and then went back down...I couldn't believe what had just happened...
Michelle and I had had a great dinner in a cool place before the concert... we had been to the Opryland Hotel and Lifeway Christian Store in the afternoon and met again with a friend of Michelle's..... it was a full day and it was fun...

the next morning we went to her church, the Gate "simply Jesus".... He was there, Worship was amazing and the sermon was really great as well...

going back Monday morning, I had another wonderful encounter with a lovely Southern lady who was most encouraging and just blessed me...

what I thought was the gift for me, having the opportunity to go to Franklin and attend another MWS concert, turned out to be so much more.... it became this life changing, most encouraging trip I ever had...
life is back to reality... interesting new challenges, never a dull moment, that is a fact, what has not left me though is the assurance that He really, really cherishes me... I have reached a place of thankfulness, for the turmoil, the heartache, the pain and the loss, yes, it is true... without having lost everything 2 years ago I would not know Him, my Daddy, the Lover of my Soul the way I do now, I would not trust Him and know for a fact that He does indeed restore the years the locusts have eaten, much differently maybe than expected but He does, and it blows everything else out of the water... nothing compares... nothing compares, I know what I am talking about....