There Are Simply No Words

A little over a week ago I was sitting at my kitchen table eating lunch when Randy brought the mail in and placed an envelope next to my plate. It was addressed to "Andrea Todd" but had no return address, and I didn't recognize the handwriting. Well, that's not all that unusual; I often neglect to include my particulars when I mail a card. I tore open the envelope and what I read made my stomach do a flip:

"Girlfriend Time--Pack your bag and wave bye to the kids! Your chariot will arrive on Thursday morning, October 23 at 10:30 a.m. Get ready for fun, laughing, LOTS of talking and a special event that will knock your socks off!" Is that cool or is that COOL??! But wait, it gets better!

"Yes, Randy knows about this. Yes, he will be taking care of the field trip and orthodontist appointment. Yes, he can feed four kids for 24 hours."

Are you kidding me? This is being planned behind my back?! I begged Randy to tell me who was behind the scheme but he claimed he was "sworn to secrecy." Stupid preacher ethics. (JK!) I finally realized that the person or persons who were planning this little outing would be disappointed if their identity was given away so I gave up trying to figure it out, and I turned my attention to figuring out the socks-knocking special event! Days went by, a week, and finally Tuesday night as I lay in bed, having already shut down my computer, an idea took root: "Could it be? Is it even remotely possible that we could be going to the Steven Curtis Chapman/Michael W. Smith United Tour? No, it's not possible. They're nowhere near here! Andrea, don't be stupid--you're getting your hopes up. Besides, it's sold out. There aren't even any tickets available."

All that was running through my head as I lay there in the darkness, but I couldn't stand it--I just had to know. I jumped up, powered up my laptop and googled the tour dates. Dang it--Tulsa. Oh well.

Thursday morning dawned bright and crisp and clear, and I was euphoric at the thought that someone would go to all this trouble and secrecy to surprise me. And right on schedule, my doorbell rang at 10:30. And this was my expression when I saw my friends Leisha and Diana standing on my doorstep:



After I called them a couple of sneaks, Diana stuck this in my face:



Two words: NO. WAY. No way!!! This is not happening!



I was beside myself! I've been a fan of Steven Curtis for as long as I can remember and I really love Smitty's more recent worship albums. Seriously, I do not know how to capture the jubilation I felt when I realized that one of the tickets to this SOLD-OUT show belonged to me, and that I was going to the concert with two of my best friends (yes, Diana, pulling a stunt like this AUTOMATICALLY vaults you to "best friend" status!).

And they made good on their word--we laughed, we talked, we laughed some more (okay, a lot more) and in no time we were in Tulsa and preparing for the concert. Now, call me naive or out of touch or whatever, but it never occurred to me that we would have any traffic to contend with. This is going to sound so dumb, but ever since I started reading SCC's blog I feel like a close, personal friend and I think I forgot that I was going to a concert with 4,500 of his other close, personal friends. But traffic was indeed a bear and as the time for the concert came and went, we just kept sending up prayers that they would hold the show since clearly, there were LOTS of other people just like us who hadn't made it to the arena.

We made it to the SpiritBank Center at about 7:20 and only had one little snafu when we took a "shortcut" that led us to a dead-end of sorts; the only way to get from Point A to Point B was to shimmy under this metal bar and drop down to the pavement I don't even know how many feet below. I'm guessing it was maybe a six-foot drop because when I lowered myself under the bar I was fully stretched out and my feet still didn't touch the ground. Suffice it to say that one person in our party had a little difficulty navigating the bar ("I'm stuck!") and the other person said, "Quick! Where's the camera?!" You woulda had to be there, but we got a lot of mileage out of that!

When we arrived in the arena, the first thing that struck me was how many people were milling around in the lobby--a good sign. We made a quick trip to the bathroom and literally the moment we stepped into the darkened arena, this huge roar went up and we started whooping and hollering because Steven and Michael were walking out on to the stage! With only minor difficulty we quickly found our seats and settled in for what was arguably the greatest three hours of my life! Believe it or not, this was the first "Christian" concert I've ever been to of this magnitude and it wasn't so much a concert as it was a worship experience. Un-be-liev-able. Simply amazing.



The whole idea for the United Tour had been cooked up long before Steven Curtis and his family experienced the devastating loss of their precious Maria Sue, and he has told the story many times that after her death he wasn't sure that he would ever step onstage again. But this tour is clearly a catharsis for him, and I think it's even more special that he is sharing this time with Smitty. It really was almost surreal, thinking about how they are both pretty much legendary figures in Christian contemporary music, but in truth they are just two guys who love their God passionately, fervently and whole-heartedly. It was, in a word, perfection.



Here's a shot of the CD Leisha and Diana each bought after the concert. It's not hitting stores until Tuesday, so I guess that makes them special!



Leisha, Diana and I stayed up until 2:00 a.m. doing a lot more talking and laughing and I'm not sure any of us ever thought to break out the camera, so I took these next two shots in the car on the way home today. Yes, I look like a total doofus but I'm dealing with it. These are memories, people! Oh, and yes, Diana was actually driving when I took this picture!




I told Leisha and Diana that I felt a lot of pressure to write a really funny entry to capture what a great time we had and that's probably when my writing is at its worst--when I feel like I have to say something vs. letting it flow naturally. But the truth is, we actually talked about a lot of things that weren't even remotely funny and were quite poignant and serious, and I've never felt so humbled. I prayed with each of my kids separately this evening and repeatedly thanked God for the blessing of these friends who love me--ME!--and wanted to surprise me and spend 30+ hours with me, and who opened their hearts to me and allowed me to grow so much closer to them. Girls, I will never, EVER forget this. I love you!