What a difference a week makes! Labor Day weekend I spent my evenings at Lifelight and it was WARM. This past weekend not so much.
Lifelight,the biggest Free Christian Music Festival in the country,it began on a Church lawn with a couple of hundred people outgrew the lawn and was moved to the fairgrounds and then outgrew the fairgrounds and now is held at Wild Water West outside of Sioux Falls. It has been happening every Labor Day weekend in Sioux Falls for 11 years and this year was the first time I ever went. I don't know why. It was awesome! People come from all over the country it was so amazing to look out over the sea of people.
I have been to more then one outdoor music fest in my life and this has to be most well thought out and organized I have ever been to. At the Main Stage was the big acts, Switchfoot,Michael W. Smith and Casting Crowns, I heard for the first time Natalie Grant and Lincoln Brewster and many more. Lincoln Brewster was really awesome. He used to play for Steve Perry of Journey but did not feel a purpose until he started his own Christian group. There were 4 other stages, The World Stage which featured more ethnic music, the Children's Stage, Souled Out, which was jam packed with teenagers listing to alternative Christian music and the Coffehouse,with a coffeehouse feel. Something for everyone.
It was absolutely pleasant even though they estimated that there were 130,000 to 140,000 people there Sat and Sun not quite as many on Friday but still a very big crowd. It was so nice to enjoy great music, rock and roll included with people who were not loud and obnoxious,drunk and cussing. This is a place you can bring your kids hang out and relax and not have to worry about what your little ones are going to see and hear. Everyone was happy and kind to one another.
I really needed this weekend. I have struggled a lot in the last couple of years in my faith and have pretty much stayed away from Church. Not because I am mad at God but because our Church was one thing that always brought Bob and I together to start the week. It was something we did together and it has been a hard place for me to be. I found myself on the verge of tears or crying most of the time so I avoided it. The weekend has renewed my faith and made me realize the power of prayer and turning things over to God. I also owe some of this to my friends from support group.
This is Karleen sitting next to her Mom. She and I probably have the most in common.
Then there is Susan, with her around things are never boring
And Jeanne from Chicago who always makes me laugh.
I will be back next year to share a weekend with a whole bunch of people each in their own personal Faith Journey.
