Guy Penrod...

(In which I elaborate on Sunday night's Facebook status: Worn. Teetotally. Out. But it was SO very worth it! No way I'm going to get 456 photos edited/uploaded tonight, but I'm hoping to do a *few* before I crash completely. Thank you, Mrs. Jodie, for Bayley's super-fun birthday surprise (and Mr. John for staying with Mrs. Shirley so we could go)!!! Not just fun, but a wonderful worship experience...not sure I've ever taken notes at a concert before! :))

It all started last winter.  My friend Jodie was unexpectedly and seemingly randomly given tickets to hear Guy Penrod sing in Van Buren.  "You know, the guy with the long  hair from the Gaither Vocal Band!" she said when she called me.  

I guess it actually started a little before that.  Jodie had started watching Gaither Homecoming DVDs with her MIL, who had recently moved into their home due to issues with dementia.  I was sitting with S a couple of times a week, and had begun watching the videos when I was there with her as well. 

Neither of us had been particularly interested in the GVB or Gaither Homecomings before that, but thanks to our "Gaither sessions" with S, I at least knew who she was talking about! :)  However, the concert ended up being a huge blessing to J, and her excitement about it was contagious.   It wasn't the hair, or the voice, she said more than once, it was his genuineness, a seemingly very real and open heart for God.  

From there, the whole Guy Penrod thing kind of mushroomed.  Partly just silly fun during some stressful days, partly a real admiration for this singer who seems to have such a genuine heart for the Lord along with an incredible voice and some amazing hair.  (Which is pretty hilarious, considering no one involved has ever been particularly fond of long hair on men...?? :-D)   Not to mention the fact that I (and several other homeschooling moms I know) absolutely FELL. IN. LOVE. with Guy and Angie Penrod's "little red schoolhouse" that is just down the {lush, rolling, green} hill from their farmhouse.  That and the video footage of their seven boys (before their only girl was born) singing beautiful a cappella harmony in the kitchen of said farmhouse while fixing breakfast.  *Sigh* :)   

After watching Mrs. Jodie's "Best of Guy Penrod" DVD, Bayley became a fan as well.  So when Jodie discovered that Guy Penrod was going to be in concert at FBC, Lavaca, on the weekend of Bay's birthday, the wheels began to spin...:)

And on Sunday afternoon, Bayley and I found ourselves walking up the sidewalk to Mrs. Jodie's house.  Bayley thought we were there to visit Mrs. Shirley...which we were.  She just didn't know that rather than having a short visit and then going back to church, we would be heading the other direction to see Guy Penrod. :)  

Things started getting exciting even before we walked in the door.  Bayley was walking in front of me, and I heard her squeal.  I thought she'd seen a spider.  Nope, it was a lizard.   And the next thing I hear is "It just slid under the door, Mom!"  I told her we had to make sure Mr. John or Levi got it fast...Mrs. Jodie does NOT like lizards.  Mr. John opened the door and we pointed in the general direction the lizard had gone and told him about their uninvited houseguest.  He took over from there, with only minimal torturing of Mrs. Jodie with it before taking it back outside. :)

The lizard

Then Mrs. Jodie gave Bayley her birthday cards.  Yes, cards.  7 of them...6 with the letters of her first name on the envelopes, to be opened in order, each containing one word, and the 7th a more traditional birthday card.  

The lettered cards said:

Let's...

Go...

See...

Guy...

When she got to this one, she said, "I know what the next one says!"

Penrod...

"What is Mrs. Jodie up to???"

tonight!!

You just don't quite get the full effect without the audio here...you'll have to imagine the squeals. :)

So, after a brief visit with Mrs. Shirley, Jodie, Hannah, Bayley, and I set out for Lavaca.  We were going to stop by Mrs. Shirley's house in LA and then be at the church when they opened for seating at 5.  We were running a bit early, though, so Jodie said, "I think we'll drive by the church and see if his bus is there on the way to the house."  

"Wait a minute!" Bayley interrupted.  "Do you mean Guy Penrod is going to be there LIVE and IN PERSON???"  

Bless her heart, she thought we were going to a simulcast or some such thing. 

Now she was *really* excited!  :-D

We decided to do group pictures when we went by the house, rather than when we got to church.  Jodie has done SO MUCH WORK on this house, and it is looking SO GOOD.  I love these bookcases. :)

We arrived at the church right on time, found good seats, and then the girls took off to the sales table.  Hannah came back so excited..."They have keychains!"  I wish I'd gotten a picture of the look on her face at that point, but this one was pretty cute, too. :) 

Then we waited, and visited, and asked Jodie about three thousand times for the official "Guy Penrod Time" to see how much longer we had to wait. :)  (J has a picture of GP signing her CD cover at the Van Buren concert as the wallpaper on her phone, which is also how she keeps track of the time.  On a recent outing, Mrs. Pam dubbed it "GPT". :))

And then, it was finally 6:00.   I tried to get a picture of Bayley's face when she actually saw GP walk out on stage, but my camera wouldn't cooperate.   Suffice it to say, it was obvious that Mrs. Jodie had made a good choice in her birthday surprise. :)

The concert itself was wonderful.  It truly was more worship service than concert.  Of course, I usually don't take pictures of Bro. Kent while he is preaching (and Guy did give a few mini-sermons between songs :)), nor do I usually take pictures of Lyndel while he's leading the song service...but then, I've never taken notes during a concert before, either.  

Here are a few of the ones I took at this one...quotes from Guy Penrod during the evening...

"I submit to you that if you're sucking air, you're a person of faith.  The question is...where have you placed it?"

His guitarists are really excellent.  

"We are more than just human beings having a spiritual experience; we are spirit beings having a very temporal experience."  

"Man is a funny little bunch..."  (I'm hoping that Jodie or Hannah remembers what he said that in reference to...I wrote that part down, thinking I'd remember the rest, and then of course didn't.)

"That's the devil's biggest weapon...to convince you he doesn't exist!"

"I'm not one of these people who thinks there's a demon behind every bush.........I think there are a hundred!"

With my kids seemingly growing up at the speed of light, the song "Are You the One?"  was such a good and timely reminder to me.  So was this comment: "If you can't make it work at home, what're you gonna export it for?"  I need to be reminded often where our first priorities must be.

"When God gives you a dream, it's usually so big that it completely flips you out...and that's the point!  Only God can do it!!

"Let you happen to life, not life happen to you."  

Another reminder I need often is in the area of prayer.  He sang the old hymn (the first one I learned to play on the piano as a beginning piano student, btw :)) "Sweet Hour of Prayer" and his new single, "Pray About Everything", and talked about Philippians 4:4-7 and Matthew 6:35-34.  God has been dealing with me, yet again, in the area of my prayer life recently, and I so needed to hear what was said/sung Sunday night.  

There is so much more I could say about the concert itself, but since I've already written a book, I'll save some for later. :)  (That is actually code for "There's a lot I can't remember at this moment, so I'll leave myself an out to come back with what I forgot later." :))    It truly was a worship experience, and when Jodie said on the way to the car, "NOW do you see what I meant?", we all did.  As Pastor Tony said at the end, "My favorite thing about this man is no longer his music...my favorite thing about this man is his heart for God."  We had a LOT of fun...we laughed hard from the lizard until we finally left Jodie's house late that evening...but we also left the church encouraged and challenged.  

Breathe deep...

Breathe deep...

Moments like these are treasures to keep...

Listen close, look long.

Breathe deep.

~Don Poythress, Barry Dean, Tony Wood

Treasures to keep, indeed...

Waiting in line to get her picture autographed...

We ran into Kristin and Payton and Perri there. :)  Not sure what Jodie and Kristin  are talking about here, but they  sure  are intent about it!

A very happy birthday girl (with the "icing on the cake"...her very own box of Star Crunches :))

(Thank you, again, Mrs. Jodie, for the wonderful birthday surprise, Hannah for going along and adding to the fun...and being good-natured about hearing a million times during the night, "I'm taller than Hannah!!" :), and Mr. John for staying with S so we could go!)