A Great American Idol Concert!!!!

I am not one to have too many out of the ordinary opportunities. For some reason, unknown to me, God has for me a simple life. I would love to travel and experience the world like some are able to do, but instead I am challenged to be content with where I am at. I look forward to heaven, and living in the new earth as the Bible tells us that God will create. I'm hoping to see the whole earth, after all I will have eternity! Thus said, opportunities for out of the ordinary in my life are much loved.

My husband had American Idol tickets to use as incentives for the stores that he works with for his job at Kellogg's. Fortunately, he was not able to give away 5 of the tickets and we were able to go to the American Idol tour in Fresno, CA last night!

For the past three years the boys and I from January to May have religiously followed the show. The first time (2006 season) was thrilling and confusing, not understanding why the judges were so hard on the contestants. The year after that (2007) was less interesting because nothing could beat the first time we watched and the talent wasn't as good, in my opinion. This year was a blast! The night the show had the top 24 performers, the boys and I chose who we thought would win, one guy and one gal. I told them that if their person won they would get a prize, the prize ended up being $10 (a lot of money for the boys)!

For my two contestants I chose, David Archuleta and Brook White; Devin chose: David Cook and Amanda Overmyre (Devin is 12 and into Rock music); Drew chose: David Archuleta and Shyesha Mercado, and little Jake chose: Jason Castro and Alaina Whitaker. All of these people except Jake's gal was at the American Idol Tour last night. We picked good!!!

For the boys, this was their first concert (unless you count Devin going to one when I was pregnant with him)! We drove for two hours from our home in Lodi and arrived at Save Mart Center in Fresno, Ca at about 7pm. We found our seats right before the concert started. And if we had seat belts we would have had to strapped them on because we were in for a wild ride!

Devin was so excited to be in such close proximity to "Famous People". I had to remind him that they were normal people (knowing that fame is cool, but we are all people just the same). He was just so pumped about being so close to "Famous People". The arena was packed, the lights were low and the show began. The lights, the thumping sound, the excitement was taking us into an exhilarating high that would last for about two hours. We screamed, and cheered, with the rock out songs and we sat quiet and listened when the music and singer were more thoughtful and mellow. As each new singer came out the crowd would cheer. The show started with the number 10 finalist and slowly progressed to number 1, the American Idol. As we got closer to the top final five, the crowd would be more and more excited as the new "Idol" would come out. We were excited and having the time of our lives, I can't even imagine what it was like to be the recipient of all the cheering and screaming. When David Cook, the AI winner came out, he directed the crowd to cheer and cheer louder and louder. Then he got out his tiny new video camera to record the crazy crowd. He said he wanted to record this so that when he gets lonely he could relive the experience. Smart guy! Fame only last for a time and then the new guy takes the stage.

As David Cook, rose from the floor of the stage, I had a thought.........would we cheer so exuberantly if that was Jesus up there? David Cook is merely a young man with a great talent to sing and perform (a God given talent non-the-less). So this thought leads to another.........what if it was acceptable to raise hands, sing loud and cheer in church meetings to show our Lord Jesus how we adore him?! Strange how I have no problem yelling at the top of my lungs for the people who sang at this concert, and wave my hands back and forth and dance in front of my seat and yet in other parts of my life I'm scared to make a move. I guess because it is okay at concerts to get a little crazy I feel more free to do so.

What if we made as big deal every time we saw someone we loved? How amazing it would make someone feel to open our arms and yell there name when they came. Imagine the love a father feels when his children yell, "Daddy, Daddy, Daddy's home!" when he gets home from work every day. When I see someone I haven't seen in a long time, I open my arms for a hug and smile real big letting them know how special and important to me they are! Wow! To feel so excepted and loved by others would be such a boost! Angels celebrate when people believe on Christ as their own savior, I wonder if they celebrate like we did last night?!

Something else I notice last night was that although each performer was amazingly great they all had a different appeal. Some of the singers were dynamic! Two were very sweet and their style was much calmer than the dynamic rockers. All of the performers could sing great, but some of them commanded the whole stage and energized the crowd, and others pulled you into their songs intimately and spoke words to give meaning to their songs. The diversity of this group of 10 young adults was amazing. There where five men and five women. Two of the performers where from two different countries originally. The group included people not only from different original countries but also from different nationalities. All of the diversity made for one amazing group and an equally amazing show.

This reminds me of how talented my God is in making people and especially how wonderful diversity (that is pure) is such a beautiful thing. This thought bleeds perfectly into what the Bible teaches about the body of Christ, how each of us has a different part, are equally dependent on each other and each are important. As I grow older, each day, month and year I realize how I do not embody enough talent and ability on my own to do it all (that is such a no brain-er)! Okay, here is an example, as much as I love to write and share my point of view I equally need someone to edit what I write because of my terrible disability in spelling. I have never, ever been able to spell well, it is a literary thorn in the flesh of the paper (or screen) that I write on. I would hate to see today, notes and letters (even yearbook signings) of the past, I would die of embarrassment for my lack of spelling skills! God has given many people such a command of the grammatical English language that they can spot a grammar or spelling error like I can spot a photographic opportunity. What I have in the latter I do not posses in the former. So, if you are a reader, and spot an error, e-mail and let me know, so that I do not embarrass myself any further.

What inspired me the most about last night, was that repeatedly I heard these young people speak of dreams, having them, not giving up on them and then living them out, like they were the very moment they spoke of them! I love dreams! Dreaming today and then seeing with your own your eyes your dreams come true in the future is amazing! I live that every day. I dreamed since I was about 15 of being a wife and a mother, I am in the midst of living that dream right now! Praise God! I have more dreams for my life and hope to see them come true like the people who we went to see perform last night! Do you have a dream that you care to share? I would love to hear about it!

After the show, we went to Denny's for dinner at about 10pm. We headed home after that and made it back to Lodi at about 1:30 am today. Although the ride home gave me a feeling of claustrophobia and nausea, as I sat in the back seat trying to help Jake sleep comfortably and trying to keep him from putting his feet in Drew's ears, it was well worth the wonderful experience of going to the American Idol tour!!!