Casting Crowns Concert!!!

YYYYYEEEEEEESSSSSSS!!!!! I got to go see my f-a-v-o-r-i-t-e band in concert last night! I am a HUGE HUGE HUGE fan of Casting Crowns.

They came to Wichita last year but I didn't get to see them, so when I checked their touring schedule this year and saw the closest place for us to go see them was in Oklahoma City, I let Roger know about it and he agreed and we got tickets for the whole family to go. Since my birthday is this month, I considered this my birthday present.



The concert started at 7:00 with doors opening at 6:00. We left the house at 1:00 and stopped for gas and snacks before hitting the road. We arrived in OK City about 4:00, found the church where the concert was at and then found a restaurant for dinner. There were about 5 huge tour buses parked in the parking lot. Roger kept saying we should go knock on the doors and see if anyone would open up so we could say hi LOL! He was even willing to drive closer to the buses so I could get a picture of all of them, but I was a little nervous to do that because of all the police cars around--I didn't want them to pull us over like we were doing something wrong.





Okay, I was so excited about this concert that at dinner I have to admit I kept checking out the restaurant (which was so close to the church)in hopes that maybe band members were eating there too. Nope, no sign of anyone, but we did discover that Lauren had a very, very loose tooth that was ready to be pulled out. She refused to let us take it out at the restaurant so once we got back to the church we tried to get her to take it out by herself which was unsuccessful, so Roger tried and Lauren wanted him to, but then would get scared. Finally, I had to put the camera down, hold her arms and we had to make her open her mouth and Roger pulled it. After all the drama she was now happy and excited that she lost another tooth (I don't remember how many she has lost now).





It was now 5:30 and we saw people entering the church so we joined the crowd and stood in line ready to go find our seats. We did not have assigned seats, we just had to go up the balcony and find seats wherever. I had prayed that God would help us find the best seats possible for our family. Once we got up to the balcony, we ended up in a section that was slightly to the right of being centered to the stage, and decided to sit on the end of the back row. We figured this was the best place because the kids could stand in the aisle or behind the pew, we would not have to walk over people's legs as we headed to the bathrooms, and if people in front of us stood up, the kids could take off their shoes and stand on the pew cushions. It ended up being the best place for us to sit--yay God for answering my prayer. We also sat by some very nice people who were surprised to hear we drove down from Wichita for the concert.




We waited an hour for the concert to begin, but it passed quickly. The first opening act was Caleb. Didn't know anything about him, but then two young men took the stage and their names were Caleb and Will Chapman--Steven Curtis Chapman's sons! They did a great job singing 3 songs and shared personal testimonies and stories. During intermission, Evan and Lauren got to have their picture taken with them. Caleb and Will were so nice and gave high fives to Evan, shook Lauren's hands, asked them their names, and were just really friendly.




After Caleb came Kutless. I have to admit I've only heard a few songs from them on the radio. They did sing their popular song "That's What Faith Can Do", as well as about 3 or 4 other songs. They were good! I think we need to invest in a few CDs from them.



After Kutless of course came Casting Crowns! I wasn't sure what to expect from this concert. I kept telling Roger I hope they sing some of their older songs because we hadn't even bought the new CD yet that was the basis of this tour, so we wouldn't be able to sing along to most of the concert. Not to worry, they sang p-l-e-n-t-y of their older songs and we had no problem singing and dancing along!







All along I kept telling Roger I hope they sing Lifesong. That is my all time favorite song from Casting Crowns. It is the name of our homeschool, included in our family blog name, and the song that represents how I want to live my life for God. It was the last song they sang, and I could tell this song meant just as much to other people as it did to me, because the crowd errupted! Everyone was singing, dancing, and worshiping! I'm getting chills just typing about it now. If you want to hear this song, it is above in my blog playlist, as well as I Know You're There which is another one of my favorites from CC and they sang that one as well!



The concert was done at 10:30. There was quite a line for autographs and picture taking with Kutless, and I don't even know for sure if Casting Crowns was going to give picture opportunities with fans, but we needed to head home. We rolled into the driveway at 1:00 am.

After all was said and done, this was THE best birthday present I've ever had. My family got to share in a dream of mine--yes, seeing Casting Crowns in concert was a dream of mine and one of those things I put on "my list of things I want to do during my life." The kids loved it. Lauren could not stop dancing, and Evan kept saying "I love this concert. It's the best!" Roger wasn't all that keen on going in the first place, but it was fun to see him sing, dance, clap, and worship Jesus with everyone else. He had just as much fun as me and the kids. I know he was glad he came. In fact, he said that we could always go see them again if they tour next year! In a way I'm glad we didn't go to last year's concert, because I got to hear all of my favorite past Casting Crowns songs, plus their new ones. Roger surprised me by buying the new CC cd, plus a concert t-shirt!




As I was catching up on facebook this morning, I noticed that K-Love had a post about next year's Christian cruise. I was just interested in what the dates were, so I clicked on the link and who's faces should be on the site as one of the groups that would be aboard the cruise--you guessed it: Casting Crowns! Roger said I better get a job if I want to go on that. Well, that won't be happening, so I guess I'll just pray that the next time they tour they will actually come to Wichita!