A little later than I’d hoped, but here you go!
The family with the band
Waiting in line for pics.
All the pictures, except the one of all of us were taken by my wonderfully talented hubby, Freddy. Check out his website at www.fbreedon.com. The one of all of us was taken by BG assistant Beka Hardt.
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Last night Freddy and I took the girls to their first real concert, BarlowGirl at the First Baptist Church in Clarksville. We surprised them with VIP tickets which included a Q&A session with the band (3 sisters from Chicago with the last name…Barlow) and then a chance to get our pictures taken with them. On the long drive to Clarksville we discussed what questions we’d ask if given the chance. I ended up being the only one to ask a question. I asked them about the SuperChick song “Barlow Girls”. Rebecca Barlow (oldest sister & lead guitar) told us about meeting SuperChick and having them question the Girls about their purity rings. These are rings they wear on their left ring finger. Basically the girls have made a promise to not date. At the time the girls were 18, 16 & 14. That was 10 years ago and they are still holding strong. SuperChick was so impressed with them they wrote the song (lyrics below).
After a few more questions we had our opportunity to get our picture taken with the Girls. Freddy, of course had HIS camera, and we knew that Alyssa (middle sister & lead singer) was a camera buff, so when he handed it to their assistant Beka there was a big reaction, and some discussion of what kind of camera and what Alyssa had and wanted, etc.
Next we waited for the concert to begin. By the way we were in the second row on the right side. Great seats and really paid off! The opening act was Brooke Barrettsmith. She had some great songs with driving rhythms, and high energy but I couldn’t understand any of the lyrics. Next was Jimmy Needham. Again some good songs, a little slower than Brooke, but I only caught about half the lyrics. I guess that’s what happens when you see an artist perform and you’re not familiar with their music. He ended by bringing his wife out on stage to accompany him on her violin on It Is Well with My Soul. Really Powerful!
Then intermission and set up for BarlowGirl. They opened with Psalm 73 (My God’s Enough). It was just Lauren (baby sister & drummer) BELTING out the chorus, then joined by her sisters. It was a power punch! Then Let Go, Never Enough, Song for the Broken, I Believe In Love, Image of God (1st song they wrote), Mirror, I Need You to Love Me/I Could Sing of Your Love Forever medley (1st song WRECKS me every time!), Rain Down, Average Girl (about not dating), Million Voices (ROCK ANTHEM) and they ended by inviting anyone who wanted prayer to come up front while we sang How Great is Our God. During the last few songs we noticed that Otto Price their producer had come to the front and was standing next to Freddy. He took the opportunity to say something about how well he had mixed the albums. After the concert was over he told Freddy to wait for him and they ended up trading email addresses.
Next we waited about 20 minutes to get the Girls to autograph something for us. Savannah had them sign the back of her VIP pass, Rebecca their Million Voices CD, me the front of my VIP pass and Freddy a poster we’d bought. This ended with another conversation about his camera equipment, Alyssa testing the weight of his MEGA lens, and he shared that he worked at a camera store and left them with his business card.
All in all a great night. God really showed up during the concert. This doesn’t do it justice. It was also a charity event for Mercy Ministries an organization that I strongly support. They help troubled teen girls for no fee. The Mercy girls were out in force at the concert and you could feel their energy in the room!
I am so grateful for this band. They are amazing Christians who really ROCK. I mean it! They rock harder than any all boy Christian band I’ve heard! And they are such a good example for my girls.
I’m sure Freddy got some great pictures during the concert. I’ll post some later (once he’s picked over them and all), along with the pic of all 7 of us.
Barlow Girls by SuperChick
We met these sisters
Barlow’s their last name
ordinary girls
they don’t live the fast lane
they don’t rate with the guys that score
cause they don’t flaunt
what the boys want more
they don’t date they won’t date
they wanna see how they’re gonna grow up
who they’re gonna be
but in the meantime
they might feel unloved when
all the girls around them are
hooking up
but I know for sure
it’s never popular to be pure
and while some guys might be passing them by
I think they’ve caught someone’s eye
all the boys in the band want a
valentine from a Barlow girl
boys think they’re the bomb
cause they remind them of their mom
Everyone needs to be loved
everyone needs their own teenage fan club
any attention can feel like a good
thing to dress to impress
can be oh so tempting
you can get noticed with your body
sexual hypnosis by being hottie
you might feel like public property
you might you might you shouldn’t be
no girl should feel she has to trade
her body for love or be an old maid
and yes there are guys who are willing to wait
ask a Barlow girl on her wedding day
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Today Freddy and I celebrate our 3 year anniversary. It’s hard to believe that my life just started 3 years ago! Yes, I know I’m 30 (cough, cough) years old, but this life is only 3.
4 years and 5 days ago I had the good sense to go out on a date with a guy named “Rick” that I met through an on-line dating service. We had emailed & IMed back and forth a couple of times and spoken on the phone SEVERAL times (the first time was for over 3 hours). In one of our phone conversations he confessed that Rick was his “meeting girls name”. We arranged to meet for lunch on Sunday, October 10, 2004. We met up at Best Buy in Cool Springs because I wanted to buy a DVD/VCR combo unit. My VCR had just died and I needed to enter the 21st Century. After watching him show off his technical expertise and how he interacted with the salesperson, we left Best Buy with my purchase. The next stop was Buca di Beppo for lunch. Neither of us had been there before and we didn’t realize that it was a family style restaurant. Which meant we would have to agree on what we ordered. Could have been a nightmare for a first date, but we made it through agreeing on Parmesan Chicken & Broccoli. After lunch, since we were still enjoying each other’s company, we decided to find something else to do in the area. We had left my car at Best Buy and Freddy had driven us to Buca. While driving through the Cool Springs mall parking lot, Freddy mistimed his turn at a 4 way stop and had to swerve greatly in order to keep us from being hit. (He’ll say that it wasn’t that bad, but don’t listen to him!) I was extremely startled so I gasped. Freddy apparently took offense to this and told me to “Shut up”. I, being the strong southern woman that I am, immediate became irate and started expressing my disbelief that he DARED to speak to me in such a way. Especially on our 1st date! After a heart beat and a half of “Oh NO, what have I done!” on Freddy’s part, he realized that I was just giving him a hard time. I think that’s what sealed the deal for him. (For those of you that may not know me very well, you need to take the last 6-7 sentences with the intended over exaggerations and sarcasm.)
After our brush with death, we ended up at Starbucks where we sat out on the patio, got to know each other a bit better and discussed the teenager sitting nearby who looked like Ducky from Pretty in Pink. After 10 minutes or so of conversation, we hit a lull and I noticed he was just looking at me. “What?” “Can’t a guy stare?” Any other guy, any other time, any other situation I would have thought “pompous a_ _!”. But that confidence and admiration is what sealed it for me.
Happy Anniversary Rrrrick!
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I had a dentist appointment today, just for a routine cleaning. As I was laying back in the chair, I had a realization that, sometimes, I need a spiritual cleaning like my teeth need a professional cleaning. I clean my teeth daily, brushing them to get rid of the stuff that has built up during the day/night that I know is there. I spiritually clean daily through prayer, but it’s not a deep down clean. I don’t go looking for the hidden junk & funk.
When you get a dental cleaning, it’s uncomfortable and sometimes a little painful. Sometimes I need a spiritual cleaning that looks under the surface and in areas where stuff likes to hide. Poking at places to test sensitivity. It can be painful to discover those things you’ve let build up, that you’ve ignored. This weekend, I’m going to the By Divine Design women’s conference at Oasis, expecting to come out clean and polished, like my teeth are now.
With my teeth all clean, I’m always hesitant to eat, especially something like caramel popcorn or a peanut butter sandwich, but eventually, I have to eat something and dirty up my newly cleaned teeth. BUT after my spiritual cleaning, I pray I don’t eat a big bowl full of gossip, or a guilt/pride sandwich, or drink a glass of resentment.
(I wrote this out by hand in the parking lot of the dentist’s office. I didn’t want to lose this idea for a post, like so many others!)
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Since April, I have been to the 40th Anniversary of the church Dad pastored when I was a little kid, a birthday party that my ex-husband attended (at Freddy and my invitation) and my 20th high school reunion. There is a blog post in all those experiences, but I haven’t had time to sit down and completely reflect on it yet. It’s coming, something about the past and who I thought I was and who I am now… It’s all in there. Just wanted to warn you let you know.
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