Dinner with Max - Priceless!

My big day arrived and Frank and I took off for Columbus by 1:00.  Mr. M.L. had agreed to teach the Revelation class tonight so it was all lining up.  We got there a few minutes before 4:00 Columbus Time and checked in.  The letter said that dinner would be served precisely at 4:30.  We could hear Third Day, Toby Mac and Michael W. Smith having their sound checks in the auditorium part.  More people started to arrive and finally a line began to form.  We found a table and were joined by Martha Murphy, Steve Pemberton, and Bridget and Dee Dowdy, all from Alex City.  We had a scrumptious meal of Caesar Salad, a Chicken and Penne Pasta Dish (that was so good), and killer chocolate cake.  While we were eating the cake the MC began his introduction of Max Lucado.....and I looked up and there he was.  He was younger than I thought he was....and that surprised me.  He looked like a baby.  He talked about his book. Out Live Your Life  and then began to talk about his big plan and the reason for this tour, the Make a Difference Tour. World Vision and the tour want to get children sponsored. They showed the most adorable babies on the screen.  Talk about your hard sell.  I am a sucker for kids who look hungry.  I could adopt the world.  Dinner finished up about 6:30 and Frank and I took our tote bag of goodies to the car and came in and found our seats for the concert.  The auditorium was kind of bare at 6:30....by 7...not so much.  Josh Gray kicked the concert off with three or four songs....how would you like to open for TobyMac and Mac Powell?  Dream of a lifetime I tell you.  TobyMac and his band Diverse City opened the concert up.  Now let me tell you, I don't like rap music....but I love me some TobyMac.  The civic center was rocking and it was a high energy performance.  I stood the entire time, waved my hands, sang, and danced.  Are you familiar with TobyMac?  Well let me tell you this young man is amazing.  "Having climbed the mountain once with the group dcTalk (4 Grammys, more than 8 million albums sold), TobyMac knows how difficult the journey can be and how much work the process actually takes. Rarely does an artist get to soar to great heights for a second time, but soar he has. He took home his first Grammy as a solo artist last year after receiving Grammy nominations for each of his first three solo projects (Momentum, Welcome To Diverse City, Portable Sounds). And last year TobyMac topped 2 million in total albums sold during his solo career. He has done it with a combination of talent, hard work and humility which has produced songs that resonate with people from all walks of life."  He is also a new author.  His book, City On Our Knees is just out.  We got a copy at the dinner in our goodie bag.  I can't wait to read it.  After his part of the concert ended....in the middle of the floor was a B stage...and there....in the spotlight was Michael W. Smith and Mac Powell....they sang several songs while the stage crew set up Third Days instruments.  Toby Mac joined them and Max Lucado spoke about the children.....then...Third Day....the band I had been waiting for....took the stage.  I love me some Mac Powell too.  His gritty voice just touches my heart.  Third Day is a Grammy award-winning Christian rock band formed in Marietta, Georgia during the 1990s. The band was founded by lead Mac Powell and guitarist Mark Leeand former member Billy Wilkins.The other band members are bass player Tai Anderson and of course the drummer David Carr. The band's name is a reference to the biblical account of  Jesus rising from the dead on the third day following his Crucifixion.  The band was inducted in the Georgia Music Hall of Fame on September 19, 2009.  After their concert part, Max spoke again....and Frank and I were deaf.  There was a 20 minute intermission and since we are leaving in the morning for Knoxville, TN for a few days,  we decided it was time to go.  We got home about 9:30 our time and I sat down in the chair for a few minutes....and fell sound asleep.  Frank woke me and told me we had to pack...so I did.....and then went to bed.  I am so sleepy.  Who would have thought that all that activity at the concert would make me so tired...or was it that I missed my Sunday afternoon pastoral nap?  Ya think?  Tomorrow we are Knoxville bound.