Collide

My friend Tia took me to the Collide Christian music festival at the county fairgrounds a few days ago. It was awesome.
The evening didn't start off to well because of a persistent band of rain storms that swept through the area. We got there at 5:00, hurrying to grab a patch of grass to see Point of Grace perform. The stage was dark...it seemed a bit odd. Tia and I traversed our way through a maze of puddles and chasms filled with mud, seeking a dry spot to set our chairs up. We ended up fairly far back in the group, but still close enough to see what was going on. There was this small patch of dry earth just big enough for 2 chairs and we plopped ourselves down and "kicked back". After sitting there for 10 minutes we realized that we were on our own tiny "island" . We were so completely surrounded by water and no one could set chairs up anyplace near us. It was a very nice solitude for two women who both have 4 kids.
We just sat there and chatted for at least an hour. Tia hopped up every now and then to visit friends who were scattered all over that field. Finally, we had an announcement that the rain had fried the electric systems and they were still working on things. All of the concerts were pushed back by 2 full hours! It wasn't stressfull at all. People were all fine with that fact and everyone just hung out and chatted.

We stood up by the stage for Point of Grace, but went back to our "island" as the sun was setting. When the next group came out to sing the sky was pink and orange with God's handiwork in the setting of the sun. Darkness soon enveloped us out on that wet muddy field and the rain came back. We popped our umbrella's up as we sang along with Caedmon's Call and Sonic Flood. We were enthralled by God's calling in Ryan Dobson and listened intently to what God had prepared his heart to share with us. There were minor electrical issues and microphones buzzed off every now and then, but people didn't mind. They KNEW the songs and stood and worshipped God, regardless of the weather or the power outages.
The rain stopped and the moon rose full in the sky, directly over the stage as Michael W. Smith came out as the final act of the night. He is a "big star" in the Christian music industry, but I had a really hard time taking my eyes off the moon to look at "Smitty" instead. LOL It was just so beautiful hanging there in the jet black sky, proving that my God is more amazing than anything this earth affords. Michael sang worship songs that swept over the crowd in a wave of blessing. He felt the Holy Spirit move and changed his list of songs...singing "Healing rain". It was the most AWESOME experience. We stood there in numbers , in the dark, with only God's bright moon to light us and praised him for the "healing rain" that he would bring into our lives. From where Tia and I were sitting we could see silhouette's of men and women standing with their arms raised and faces to the sky. Smitty carried that song well past it's normal length and kept playing the piano and going back into the chorus over and over. It was pretty "cool"
We left that field around midnight.
I'm so glad I decided to go. Despite the weather and the cold temperatures. The mud washed away...the blessing didn't. :)

Wonders never cease

The miracle of modern living has morphed me into a blogger. I have no idea who will bother to read my blogs...or if they will get past my own view screen.

You might wonder why I decided to call my blog, "at the well". It's pretty interesting...I swear! I was thinking of a name that would best describe my life. It's very humbling when you have to suddenly "name" your thoughts in some random PC universe.
I was discussing the woman at the well with my friend Tia a few months ago. We were talking about about how Jesus sat down and waited for her and how empowering it is to think that through. That He is sitting...in the midst of your life's scurrying activities and "waiting" for you. I absorbed that conversation for a few days and it kept popping back into my mind ...God kept showing me things that related to that story.
I am a mom to 4 wonderful kids. I am busy volunteering and working in the worlds that they are currently involved. I am so used to working side by side with the "world". It didn't occur to me that I was "at the well" for those people until I started doing something within my church. These questions came up, "how do we reach our neighbor?", " have you been trained to lead others to Christ?", " How can we teach our kids to reach out?". God leaned over and whispered in my ear, "just go to the well". I AM at the well. I'm right where He wants me. I'm spreading his JOY right here at the well. How cool is that?
He waits for us....and He sends us to others. It's all about that well.