Springfield, IL 4~19~09

[LauraA]

It just hit me about a week ago that this is the last night of the tour which means we may be experiencing PRANK NIGHT! I've never been to one and am hoping they do something.

Connie and I will be driving down from WI.
Justin and Erin are going to be there. (YaY!!)
Anyone else?

Justin, it won't be long now! Only 6 days away! I can hardly believe it.
The forecast is calling for rain, so we need to pray against that since we will be hanging out on the sidewalk for around 11 hours before they open the doors. (Unless they have mercy on us. lol)

Squeal.:D

[Kelly]

Knowing the guys involved in this tour, there will be some SERIOUS pranking going on! And I want EVERY detail! ;) Of course, we'll get to see at least TAN, MercyMe & whoever takes the place of Addison Road that night (Sanctus Real I think?)....but I'm hoping that since it's the last night of the tour, they'll allow J and Hawk Nelson to be streamed! We'll see.

I went to the Creation Tour in Corpus back in November...it was the second to last date of the tour, but the last date got cancelled so it ended up being last which meant prank night. There was some CRAZY stuff going on! It was awesome!

[drake71449]

i would hope they would let J and HN be streamed that would rock!!!

:p

[LauraA]

It would be awesome if he could be streamed that night! And last week I mentioned prank night when Bart was on chat and he said, "Prank night. I forgot about that...." then he said something about someone being really into pranking, but I didn't catch who it was. It wasn't Jeremy, I'm sure, but I know he loves a good joke, too. It's going to be great, though! Hopefully Bart remembers and they get a bunch of stuff going on.

[Kelly]

Was it Jim? He's a HUGE prankster! :)

[LauraA]

It could of been. The audio wasn't real clear when he said it, so I don't know. It'll be fun, though, whoever it was. I'll take pictures. :D

[LauraA]

:) Justin, Adie just tweeted and said she will be with Jeremy this weekend! YaY!! :)

[jedge_46]

Awesome!!! The only time if seen Adie was on the Beyond Measure tour over in Anderson, IN. The poster that I will have for you and Jeremy are rather small.... considering the one I just had printed and mounted was 2' by 3'.... I don't think they will let me in the venue with something that big. I'm going to print the smaller ones for you and Jeremy tomorrow, so I'll have them for Sunday.

Are you still looking at being down here around 6.

[LauraA]

Yeah, it will be so cool! I've met her before, but not at a concert, so it will be great to see her again. She's so sweet!

Let me know how much that poster is and I'll reimburse you for it.

Yup, we will be down there about 6, maybe before. LOL.

[LauraA]

CAMPout is declared. It will be Justin and Erin from IL, Connie and I from WI, and Rhoda and her daughter, (plus friends) from IN. YaY!

[Kelly]

Woohoo!!! :) Yay CAMPouts! Looks like we've got one in the works for Tx too! ;)

[jedge_46]

Only 27 more hours.... YAY!!!! Leaving in about 13 hours

[LauraA]

Squeal! We leave in 8 hours and 15 minutes. I'm hoping to sleep for about 5 hours before we go, since I won't see sleep again until sometime on Monday.

Drive safely Justin and Erin. We'll see you two in the morning! And Rhonda, too.

[Kelly]

You guys drive safely!!!! And HAVE A BLAST!!! Can't wait to hear all the details! (Especially what you did in line for 13 hours :p)

[LauraA]

Hahaha....yeah, it will be interesting. I did bring some Reader's Digests and I'm taking a book I'm reading. And food. lol.

We'll be in line about 11 hours or so, depending on what time we get there. It will be 6 a.m. at the latest and doors will open at 5 p.m. Some people will do just about anything to have good seats, heh? :D

See you all on the RAWRS camera. If they take an audience shot, I'll either get brave and wave or faint. We shall see.

[CaraBear]

I hope the weather is nice...sure beats standing in line for winter Jam....Have fun!!!

[LauraA]

We're leaving in about 2 hours. Can't sleep. Keep trying. lol. oh dear. :D

[CaraBear]

So wishing I was there! You guys got Jesus loves me and Josh made his debute...how cool!!!!

[LauraA]

We got home at 5 this morning and I need to sleep... I just wanted to check in and let you know that we made it safely and had an AMAZING time. I can't even begin to tell you all about it right now because my brain is a blur, but I will. Thank you all for prayers for safety.

Did you watch the stream? Wow.

I've been blessed.

[jedge_46]

So, it is the day after the final show of The Rock and Worship Roadshow. I'm still in shock from the amazing show. Whether it was jumping up and down with John Reuben or laughing as Matt from Sanctus Real went into the crowd and got a kids video camera and took it on stage with him. The concert from start to finish was the best I have been to. It also helped that it was prank night. Here is a band by band rundown of the night, including pranks.

John Reuben got things started with his unique style of hip/hop and really got the crowd going. Jeremy came out with Ari and Bella and were dancing around on stage like crazy during one of John's songs. Also, Josh (Jeremy's brother) came out on stage in dark sunglasses and started dancing.

Tenth Avenue North, who has become one of my favorite bands really brought everything they had last night, even though they did start to play "Hold my Heart" in the wrong key. Halfway through "Break Me Down," Jeremy came riding up on stage on a bike and cut right through the set.

Sanctus Real was there last night filling in for Hawk Nelson. They really got the crowd involved with singing and dancing. There music really gets to you. As stated earlier, Matt, the lead singer, jumped off stage and took a video camera from a kid in the front row. He then proceeded to run up on stage and video tape the rest of the song from the stage. And now for the prank. Everyone.... and I mean everyone (MercyMe, Jeremy, TAN, and John) all came on stage and began just "picking" on all the Sanctus Real guys. They ended there prank by throwing Matt about 10 feet in the air and Matt did not miss one word while he was still singing. Once there show was over, John (Jeremy's sound guy) came up to the end of the stage and got my attention and then proceeded to give me a broken drumstick from Sanctus. Thanks John.

Then it was Jeremy's turn. I've seen Jeremy 3 other times and tonight was the best. He had me in tears twice, once during the new "This Man" and also during "Walk by Faith." He had me jumping up and down and dancing. I have never felt the presence of the Lord so strong at a concert before. For Jeremy's set there was so much of a prank but a family gathering. Jeremy brought his dad out on stage to sing there blues version of "Jesus Loves Me." Also Adie and Josh came out on stage to dance along. It was a true blessing to see them up there with Jeremy, just having a blast.

Finally, MercyMe came on and wow...I tried to avoid watching them on the live stream so it would be a bit more of a surprise when I saw them live. And I was not disappointed. They had everyone singing along and swaying there arms. I looked behind me at one point (I was in the front row) and everyone, and I mean everyone in the crowd was singing and dancing. It was a great experience. Randy decided to come out on stage to prank the guys. He walked around and acted really interested in all of the "high-tech equipment" (guitars and mics). He sang along and played on some guitars.

After the show was over, Laura,Erin, Connie, and I went to the merch table to meet up with Adam so we could go see Jeremy. He got a hold of Walt for us and he led us down to the dressing room areas. Jeremy came out and gave us all one of his famous firm handshakes. Laura gave him a few gifts (I'll let her explain). I gave Jeremy a poster I have been working on that has 99 people holding a sign that says "I Am Speaking Louder!" He was absolutely floored by it... I don't think I've ever seen Jeremy so speechless for so long. He was really appreciative and gave me a high five and hug. We all had him sign some things and had our pictures taken with him.

All in all, this was a tremendous concert and when they come back around next year be sure that if you can go, that you do! This is not a show to miss. Thank you to all that helped out and performed in this concert. It was a true blessing to be able to see some many great artists for such a low price. Thank you so much.

Pictures to come soon... I shot over 380 so I have some sorting and editing to do (please be patient).

Thanks,
Justin Edge

[indygirl47905]

hi Laura I had a Blast yesterday Krista did too thanks to you and connie and justin and Erin for welcoming us to your group! it was a long drive home ut we made it and i had to come back and get up to get my kids ready for school and i had to work this AM. im so tired!!! krista didnt go to school today ..we got a few good pictures.it was nice seeing you again and meeting Justin and Erin and Connie...Love ya all,
Rhonda

[Kelly]

Wow Justin, thanks for that incredible rundown! I can picture all the pranks...too funny! Hope you got some pics of them though :p How cool that Josh and Tom were there! :) I can't wait to see your poster!!!! I've been so excited ever since you told us about that project...I can imagine J was floored! What an incredible thing for you to do! :)

[jedge_46]

Wow Justin, thanks for that incredible rundown! I can picture all the pranks...too funny! Hope you got some pics of them though :p How cool that Josh and Tom were there! :) I can't wait to see your poster!!!! I've been so excited ever since you told us about that project...I can imagine J was floored! What an incredible thing for you to do! :)

Don't you worry Kelly, I think I got every single prank on my camera. I just finished uploading them to my computer, now I just have to do some "artistic" editing and resizing and then I will upload them to Flicker.

[CamperGirl]

That is soo cool! The poster sounds amazing...I can't wait to see pics of it :)

[cori]

man, i wish we couldv'e made that one!!!! i couldn't even make the stream, either.....last minute family plans. *sigh* (reminding myself that family IS more important than this.....lol....don't worry, i don't need the reminder THAT much....hehe)

laura, you know i've got a gajillion questions, and you probably know what they are! (at least 2 or 3 of them, anyway, i'm sure! lol BUGGWADD!!!)

praise God that you guys made it home safely! i knew you could do it, but i was worried too - we were just shy of a full 24 hrs with no sleep, and i drove the last 45 min stretch home, TOTALLY stoked, but so exhausted my eyes stung & my vision was blurred. so...YAY for safe travels!!! :D

post! post! post! post! lol

um.....yeah....

POST!!!! :D

[LauraA]

Thank you, Justin, for posting all that. I'm so overwhelmed and still feeling all the happy "concert shock", as well the awesome "meet and greet" brain fuzz, so I'm having trouble knowing where to start. But your post really helped me.

First of all, it was a TOTAL BLESSING to spend the day with you and Erin. Connie and I had tons of laughs and I had fun getting into mischief with you guys. LOL!

Rhonda and Krista, it was so nice to see you again! (Did you get my message this morning? I called you, but you must of been at work). Thank you for the pretty cup and we WILL see you again soon.

This may take a few posts, but this is the beginning:

On Saturday I had plans to be with a friend, and she really needed support so I had to be there, otherwise I might of postponed our visit. So I woke up at 7 am and spent the day with Susan. After I got home, Connie came over and went downstairs to try to sleep until we had to get up to leave. I rested on and off throughout the evening and ended up getting naps totalling 2 to 2 1/2 hours. Dan and Ben kept busy and mostly quiet.

Connie and I left here at midnight or shortly after. We arrived at the venue at 5:05 a.m.! We didn't even stop along the way, just talked and laughed our way down to Springfield.

I have to take a break, but I'll be back shortly....

[jedge_46]

First of many images to come.

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3529/3460580589_f94f6e152b.jpg?v=0
Jeremy and I backstage

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3569/3461394390_b76e0d2ce8.jpg?v=0
Jeremy and Erin backstage

[jedge_46]

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3495/3460650197_b5fc9daebb.jpg?v=0
Jeremy realized that my camera was pointed at him. He's going to hit me for this one :)

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3556/3460644601_7e6d3347be.jpg?v=0
Probably one of my best shots, but I've only looked through 10 of the 380...

[Kelly]

Hehe love that first one!

[kristennic27]

THe pranks last night were really funny! When they took the lead singer of Sanctus Real and kept throwing him into the air!! bahah!! lol he still kept the song going though! it was perfect!

[LauraA]

Great pictures, Justin!!!!!!! I LOVE the one first one! Awesome!

Ok, so on with the day. So we arrived at 5 and then Justin and Erin were there around 6 or 6:30. I'm talking A.M.! (Yawn!) We had to sit outside with the cold, the rain and the worms until 8:30. (Justin was our hero and removed all worms from the sidewalk, even when they tried to sneak up on us.)

We got in the venue and quickly fell into the routine on "door crack peeking":

http://i211.photobucket.com/albums/bb189/Raptureready49/SundaySchoolKids015.jpg
Justin and Erin peeking

http://i211.photobucket.com/albums/bb189/Raptureready49/SundaySchoolKids016.jpg
Laura Erin and Justin peeking

We saw all kinds of fun things in there. Lighting set up, sound check, skate boarding, ramp running, etc. We could only see a very tall, very thin, view of it, but hey, with over 11 hours to wait, we were thrilled. LOL.

My computer is runny really slow and I'm tired. I'll have to finish tomorrow. I'm sorry. So much to share.

[jedge_46]

One of the many pranks from the night (Everyone throwing Matt from Sanctus Real in the air)
-They got him a good 10 feet in the air-
http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3481/3460805897_86d4131df6.jpg?v=0

[LauraA]

OH goodness, that was hilarious! Justin, your pictures are so clear! I love your camera!

Rhonda and her daughter Krista joined us, and we had a great time. (Rhonda is "Indygirl".) They are always a blessing to spend time with and we were so glad she could make it.

Part of the fun we had while waiting was writing notes and flinging them under the doors. "Have candy available. Open doors!"

We also tied a bag of mini m&ms (bait) to a piece of yarn and flung it under the doors and we went fishing. After some great lure action, I finally had a big one on the line....he fought pretty good. Sadly, my line snapped and I lost him. Never did find out what kind it was.

I think one of the guys who arrived around 10:30 to join the wait in line for good seats tied a bunch of mints to a line and we played catch with the guys for awhile. We'd give the mints a good fling under the doors, and the mints would come flying back to us, then we'd send them back in and we'd get them returned.

Yeah, waiting for 11 hours was lots of fun, though we did have our quiet moments, too.

http://i211.photobucket.com/albums/bb189/Raptureready49/CAMPout409.jpg
Connie reading

[Kelly]

Hehehe Laura that's hilarious!

[cori]

musician fishing with candy as bait...i NEVER would have thought! hehe

[LauraA]

So, finally when the doors opened, we dashed to the front and got awesome front row seats.

I had seen Jared, Heather, Tom and Terri (Jeremy's parents), April, (sister), Josh (brother)and a few others. I walked back to say a quick howdy and ended up having a nice chat with them. You know, I can see where Jeremy gets his personality from. His family is so kind and sweet! They are a true example of a godly family. I really admire them.

Ok, so the concert begins and a gal who won (forgive me, you all know how bad I am at this type of thing) some type of American Idol-ish contest sung a few songs. I loved her voice! I wish I knew her name, but I didn't catch it.

John R was next...he seemed like a pretty nice fella, but his music wasn't my thing. I can say this, I admired his energy! Wow.

Tenth Avenue North came on next. They are such nice guys, very down to earth and personable. Fun, too. I've always liked their music but after seeing them live, I like them even more. Here is a picture of Mike:
http://i211.photobucket.com/albums/bb189/Raptureready49/SundaySchoolKids053.jpg

[LauraA]

Oh, the pranks. I didn't get many clear pictures of them, so I'll leave them for Justin to share. Here are a couple I did get, though the quality of these isn't the best. They sure were funny, though.

http://i211.photobucket.com/albums/bb189/Raptureready49/SundaySchoolKids020.jpg
Jeremy running around with the girls

Randy with a swimming cap on singing with Barry:
http://i211.photobucket.com/albums/bb189/Raptureready49/SundaySchoolKids064.jpg

[Kelly]

Hehehehe....oh man....these have me rolling already!!! Think I should just go ahead and get on the floor to see the rest of the pics yall post! Might be safest hehehe

So glad you got to talk to J's family again Laura :)

[LauraA]

I didn't get any pictures of Sanctus Real, except for the one where J was riding his bike around, but it ended up so dark you really can't see it. So I'll have to skip that one. It was really fun, though, seeing Jeremy and the other guys running around on the side and in the back of the stage as they prepared their pranks and watched parts of the concert.

When Jeremy came on, he first sang "Capture Me", which was even more beautiful Live. I tried to remember to open my eyes and actusally SEE some of the concert this time, but the worship was so awesome, I really just sang and praised God most of the time. I think he sang "Give You Glory" next. The new version of "This Man" is AWESOME! I LOVE IT!!!!! I love it. I love it!!! He also sang "Tonight", "Walk By Faith", "There Will Be a Day". I was moved by all of them. I think I'm missing one or two.. and they aren't in order.

Here are some of Jeremy:

http://i211.photobucket.com/albums/bb189/Raptureready49/SundaySchoolKids049.jpg

http://i211.photobucket.com/albums/bb189/Raptureready49/SundaySchoolKids046.jpg

http://i211.photobucket.com/albums/bb189/Raptureready49/SundaySchoolKids045.jpg

http://i211.photobucket.com/albums/bb189/Raptureready49/SundaySchoolKids041.jpg

[LauraA]

Like Justin said, Jeremy had Tom Camp, his dad, come up and sing with him: "Jesus Loves Me", blues style. When his dad came on, Justin and I looked at each other, like, "Alright!" Then when Jeremy said that Tom was going to sing with him, I mouthed "Jesus Loves Me" in hopes that we'd hear that one. When Jeremy announced it, Justin and I were like, "YES!" Oh my. The crowd erupted when they started. It was simply amazing! They have just GOT to record that live and get it on a CD someday!

Here are a couple pictures: (again, not the best quality, but I'm hoping Justin got some of them.)
http://i211.photobucket.com/albums/bb189/Raptureready49/SundaySchoolKids051.jpg

http://i211.photobucket.com/albums/bb189/Raptureready49/SundaySchoolKids047.jpg

http://i211.photobucket.com/albums/bb189/Raptureready49/SundaySchoolKids048.jpg

Adie and Josh came up during this one and it was just a blast watching them. Josh was really getting into it and have a great time! What a blessing that young man is! Adie, too, looked like she was having the time of her life.

It was so beautiful watching the interaction between Jeremy and Adie. Although Jeremy was singing with his dad, he looked over to Adie several times and they just smiled so sweetly at each other. You could see the love they share in their eyes when they looked at one another. It was really precious to see. They are exceptional role models of a married couple, totally dedicated to one another. I was very touched by it.

[LauraA]

Here's Randy, who is ALWAYS fun to watch with that guitar of his! As usual, I was in awe of the talent that poured out of him!

http://i211.photobucket.com/albums/bb189/Raptureready49/SundaySchoolKids040.jpg

Donny, our new keyboard player. What a nice guy! More on that later.
http://i211.photobucket.com/albums/bb189/Raptureready49/SundaySchoolKids042.jpg

I have pictures of Andy, Walt and Leif, but didn't get any real clear individual shots of them. You'll have to find them in the pictures of Jeremy. Again, hoping Justin picked up the slack here. (Justin, you are amazing!)

[LauraA]

Mercy Me was was great, too! I enjoyed seeing them again. They were the reason I saw Jeremy live in the first place back in March of 2005. Since my brain is numb again, I better finish this up tomorrow.

Kelly and Cori, your responses crack me up, encourage me and make me long for a nationwide CAMPout.

More tomorrow....

[Kelly]

Nationwide....now that would ROCK! :) We really should organize an official yearly CAMPout though.....it could be just a HUGE gathering of Campers where we get together to meet each other & have fellowship (& hopefully we could get J to come play for us!)

Rascal Flatts does it.....Third Day does it....why not J? ;)

[LauraA]

^^^Yeah, it would be awesome!!

On with the story. lol. I took a friend of mine to see Mercy Me, Jeremy Camp and Monk and Neagle in March 2005. (Undone Tour). The main reason we chose this concert was because of the song "I Can Only Imagine." We loved it! (Still do.) I'd heard Jeremy on the radio and really liked his music, though I didn't know anything else about him . But then! When Jeremy came to the stage, I felt his passion for the Lord, and when he even opened his Bible and read it during the concert... Wow! I'd never seen any other Christian artist do that. He then gave his powerful testimony and that was that. Here I am!

So it was kind of neat that he was playing with Mercy Me again.

Here is Jim on Keyboards:
http://i211.photobucket.com/albums/bb189/Raptureready49/SundaySchoolKids062.jpg

Nate (with WHITE pants on instead of red. What's up with that?! LOL. Prank night?!)
http://i211.photobucket.com/albums/bb189/Raptureready49/SundaySchoolKids056.jpg

Barry:
http://i211.photobucket.com/albums/bb189/Raptureready49/SundaySchoolKids060.jpg

Bart:
http://i211.photobucket.com/albums/bb189/Raptureready49/SundaySchoolKids055.jpg

I didn't get a good picture of Mike. I clicked right as he turned his back and never got another chance.

[LauraA]

So right before the concert ended, we were supposed to meet Adam at the table to have our meet and greet. Adam told us that Jeremy postponed it until after the concert due to his family being there.

We left the concert during Mercy Me's last couple of songs to find Adam. He called Walt and Walt (I mean Kurt..LOL!) took us down to the area where Jeremy would meet us. Kurt (I mean Walt, hehehe) was awesome as usual and it was fun chatting with him a little bit on the way, though I forgot to congratulate him on his engagement. So we got to the room, and Leif was in the area. We talked for awhile and he ended up staying for the meet and greet, which was nice. Donny, Jeremy's new keyboard player joined us and we were introduced to him. He's awesome, you guys! A really, really nice young man. Brody also stopped by, which was cool. (Brody is with Mercy Me, and is the one responsible for all the great streaming that we saw over the past few weeks.)

So then Jeremy came in, shook hands with everyone, greeting us with his "Jeremy-ness": big, happy, fun greeting.

I think we all had a little small talk before I said I had to get things out of my bag, and asked Justin if he wanted to go ahead. Justin gave J his poster and Jeremy was blown away by it! That thing was amazing! He went around showing it to everyone and asking Justin questions about it, I think. So cool! Justin was also sweet enough to have a copy made for me. (Besides the copies for Erin and himself). Jeremy signed all of them with some very nice comments. I was very touched. (Justin, I didn't see the big one for J. Did you have it with us?)

So next, I gave Jeremy a little tube of wasabi paste. For those of you who don't know the story behind that, watch this:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cr77pF3j6u4

I also gave him a little box of wasabi almonds, a bag for each of the girls (just little skirt/purses that I decorated with buttons) and a few home made cards for Adie (tradition). Nothing big, just fun stuff.

Oh, but the fun conversation! Jeremy talked about the wasabi for awhile which was hilarious. He told us about his worship CD which will be released in the fall of this year! (YaY!!!!!!!!!) It's Live! Oh yeah, I gave him an OLD copy of Degarmo and Key, a band he really liked as a teenager. He told us the story that went with that. He actually held onto that thing and danced around with it. He was so excited. It was really funny. Goodness, he is so full of the joy of the Lord. It's so awesome!

He signed my copy of Burden Me, and was really thrilled about seeing a copy again. He said he has only has one copy of it himself.

Let's see...what else? We were in there for about 20 minutes. Justin do you remember what else was said? It was very comfortable, laid back, enjoyable. A real nice time.

Here are some pictures:

Erin and Jeremy
http://i211.photobucket.com/albums/bb189/Raptureready49/SundaySchoolKids070.jpg

Laura and Jeremy
http://i211.photobucket.com/albums/bb189/Raptureready49/SundaySchoolKids069.jpg

Connie didn't get her picture with him and Justin, you got a good one of you guys, but the one I took didn't turn out. Thankfully it was just an extra.

[LauraA]

Oh yeah I remember saying right before Jeremy and I had our pictures taken, "Someone say something funny. I can't do a cheesy fake one, I have to hear something funny." So Jeremy started talking about that. He said, "Really? I can't either. I can smile inside, but I can't do the fake ones. They come out like this." And he started making funny smile faces. Then he said, "That's why in my photo-shoots I always look like this...." and he made more faces. I had to crack up.

Oh, he said he'd go get the girls, but they were probably almost asleep if not already sleeping. It was after the concert, not before as originally planned. I told him, "That's no problem at all." It was fun to see the girls on stage with him, Adie and Josh. Wow, that was just FUN!

We had about 10 or 12 different conversations. LOL....I don't know if we really ever finished one because we were all having so much fun, we just kept going from one thing to another. It was the very best meet and greet ever! It FAR exceeded what I was hoping for. After the joy of worshipping the Lord, then to spend time with others who were obviously feeling it, too. Praise God. It was so good!

(Need to go see if Ben just woke up. I'll come back when I can and tell more. Yes, there is more. :))

[jedge_46]

Laura, I didn't have the big version of the poster with me. I'm probably going to take it to Lifest or Ignite Chicago and give it to Jeremy then.

Did you watch the new Cover Tune Grab Bag on MercyMe's site that has everyone in it. They shot the whole video in the room where we met with Jeremy and everybody. The video ends in the exact spot where we were standing, you should check it out. The song they did was Dead or Alive by Bon Jovi.

I'm still working on pictures.... there are so many of them. I did a quick browse through them all and I did get shots of all the pranks so those will be up here or on Flickr soon.

[CamperGirl]

Laura, that is sooo awesome! It really warms my heart to see that you, Erin, Connie, and the other had such a great time! It only makes me look forward to my next CAMPout even more :)

BTW-Great pics everyone! Ya'll must have some amazing cameras, he-he! :D

[jedge_46]

Brody just posted the "Over 500" aftermath from Sunday Night. http://brodyharper.com/2009/04/21/over-500/

[LauraA]

Laura, I didn't have the big version of the poster with me. I'm probably going to take it to Lifest or Ignite Chicago and give it to Jeremy then.

Did you watch the new Cover Tune Grab Bag on MercyMe's site that has everyone in it. They shot the whole video in the room where we met with Jeremy and everybody. The video ends in the exact spot where we were standing, you should check it out. The song they did was Dead or Alive by Bon Jovi.

I'm still working on pictures.... there are so many of them. I did a quick browse through them all and I did get shots of all the pranks so those will be up here or on Flickr soon.

LOL...Justin, you probably told me that you didn't have the poster with you about 5 times Sunday. That's the price you pay for hangin' out with grannies. hehehe:D

Yup, I saw the new Cover Tune Grab Bag. Funny! I loved the faces Jeremy was making. I didn't catch that it was in that same room. That's cool. Now we have a recorded tour of that place. :)

I saw that you were taking lots of pictures. It's probably a little overwhelming to take care of them all, edit, name, upload, post, etc. Take your time.

Still smiling over the blessings we were given on Sunday. Connie just called and mentioned how comfortable she felt during the meet and greet, and how Jeremy has such a knack for making everyone feel special.

[jedge_46]

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3621/3462233787_d8665b55e2.jpg?v=0

Walt
http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3663/3463047780_39d34415dc.jpg?v=0
Walt again
http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3650/3463041032_b55b3b82fc.jpg?v=0
Jesus Loves Me
http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3484/3463032690_26f10f2cc0.jpg?v=0
Jeremy getting the crowd involved in Speaking Louder Than Before

Sorry for the "longness" of this post. Once I get more images up I'll just attach a link to my Flickr page.

[jedge_46]

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3536/3462215991_51191dd0f0.jpg?v=0
http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3479/3463004770_6a660205ee.jpg?v=0
http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3613/3462205945_ce4f99f139.jpg?v=0
http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3646/3462231993_1bafe97b1b.jpg?v=0
Mike from Tenth Avenue North (Got to meet him and the band and they are a great group of guys with a very strong heart for the Lord)

[LauraA]

Laura, that is sooo awesome! It really warms my heart to see that you, Erin, Connie, and the other had such a great time! It only makes me look forward to my next CAMPout even more :)

BTW-Great pics everyone! Ya'll must have some amazing cameras, he-he! :D

Sorry about that. I accidently clicked on edit to quote you. I didn't edit your words. Just gasped and jumped out. LOL. Here is what I was writing when I discovered my boo-boo:

Awww, thank you! You'll have another blessed time next CAMPout!
Justin has an awesome camera and took great pics. Mine is a dinosaur of a digital, old, but it does "ok" for now. Sure is fun trying, though. LOL.
You sure are a sweet girl.

[LauraA]

Brody just posted the "Over 500" aftermath from Sunday Night. http://brodyharper.com/2009/04/21/over-500/

Yeah!!!! Can't wait to go look! Thank you, Justin.
And your camera is amazing. You do a great job with it!
Did you catch up on your sleep?
I have more to share, but will do that in a little bit.
Dan was so thrilled hearing about it all, I think he will be joining our next CAMPout. He's so sweet!

[jedge_46]

Yeah!!!! Can't wait to go look! Thank you, Justin.
And your camera is amazing. You do a great job with it!
Did you catch up on your sleep?
I have more to share, but will do that in a little bit.
Dan was so thrilled hearing about it all, I think he will be joining our next CAMPout. He's so sweet!

Thanks Laura. I did catch up on my sleep. I actually don't have class til 4 today so I slept in and now I'm just working on some of the pictures and such. I'm really hoping things work out that I can make it to Lifest this year and even Ignite Chicago cause Jeremy and Tenth will both be there. More pictures to come soon.

[LauraA]

Glad you caught up on your sleep. It was so nice to spend the day with you and Erin! She is so sweet, lots of fun! I just love her!

I'm thinking about Ignite, too. Dan said it's fine with him....hoping he will be able to join us! Lifest is a go for sure.

[Kelly]

Love it! Sounds like you guys had an incredible experience at the M&G! Laura did anyone get pics of J's reaction when you gave him the wasabi stuff? That had to be funny! BTW somebody got a haircut! ;) Looks good!

[LauraA]

Continuing with our night.

After the meet and greet, we all went back upstairs to see who was still around. I think Justin and Erin were able to get in a couple signing lines.

Connie and I were walking back towards the doors and came upon Randy. He was packing away his Compassion table. I'd never talked with him before, and just felt that this was the time to introduce myself if he wasn't too busy. So I took a deep breath and did it. Oh my. What a nice man! He was smiling, kind, chatty and just....I don't know. Just very nice. I truly enjoyed talking with him.

I commented to Randy that I REALLY loved what they did with "This Man". Randy said, in a humble way, that he had come up with that change. He said they like to change up the songs a little bit once in awhile. (You guys have to hear it! It's awesome!) We talked a few more minutes and then said good-bye.

We went over by Tenth Avenue North's table. Justin and Erin were in line there. I wanted to meet them, but I was literally overflowing with joy from all that had happened, from the things the Lord showed me that night and just simply from all the fun of the day. I just didn't have it in me to add more to it. But the Lord had something else in mind.

We ran into Donny (The new keyboard guy). We ended up talking for 30 minutes. I'm telling you. Jeremy has surrounded himself with amazing people who are on fire for Jesus. It's so inspiring to be around them.

I asked Donny how he came to be Jeremy's keyboard player and he told me the how it came about~ He had grown up with Jacob in MI. They both played keyboard. Well, when Jacob got a new job, he referred Donny to Jeremy. (Donny, if I mess this up, please feel free to correct me.) The reason Jacob came back for a time (remember, we were all confused, thought he was gone, then he was back..) Donny said that Jacob's new job had fallen through and the band stood behind him and asked him to come back until another new position presented itself for Jacob. Donny thought his opportunity had passed, but eventually he received a call saying Jacob had a new job and they wanted him to start. Cool!

Donny said that Jeremy and the band have had some "crazy awesome prayer times" out on the road during the RAWR. Thank you, Jesus!

He also said that he is hoping to be able to blog on the site here. I hope Dale will set him up. It sounds like we would have some fun bloggage from Donny!! YaY!

Then Andy came over and we talked for about 10 minutes or so. For the life of me, I can't think of what we said, but I remember thinking that the guys were all so down to earth and so in love with the Lord that it rubbed off on everyone they came in contact with. I felt really blessed. It almost made me cry. (And yes, I was beyond tired! lol)

And now to go change a daycare diaper. More soon. :eek:

[cori]

laura said -> He called Walt and Walt (I mean Kurt..LOL!) took us down to the area where Jeremy would meet us. Kurt (I mean Walt, hehehe) was awesome as usual and it was fun chatting with him a little bit on the way, though I forgot to congratulate him on his engagement.

*chastises* bad granny, BAD granny!!! lol i have already owned up to my shame & paid my penance in walt's thread.....lol did you tell him about that?? i was seriously tempted to go into all the posts about my m&g to fix all of that in hopes that he'd never know, but..then i figured, eh..whatever. people mess my name allllll the time (ok, not usually THAT much, unless they know my legal name, but still....lol....), "it aint no thang." lol so...i left it there for kurt....er.....WALT (hehehehehe) to see for himself. :)

[cori]

Nationwide....now that would ROCK! :) We really should organize an official yearly CAMPout though.....it could be just a HUGE gathering of Campers where we get together to meet each other & have fellowship (& hopefully we could get J to come play for us!)

Rascal Flatts does it.....Third Day does it....why not J? ;)

i still think we should see about booking a wknd retreat or something at tom & terri's (teri?) church with jeremy & adie there to lead the worship. all CAMPers welcome. :) that would be sooooo hard for me to get there, but...if it ever happened, i'd TOTALLY find a way to do it! :D

[LauraA]

Love it! Sounds like you guys had an incredible experience at the M&G! Laura did anyone get pics of J's reaction when you gave him the wasabi stuff? That had to be funny! BTW somebody got a haircut! ;) Looks good!

I'm not sure if Justin got a picture of that or not. It was pretty funny, though. Jeremy went on to tell the whole story about it. Funny!

Brody's picture! LOL! Poor guy has to go to GMA week like that. But I'm sure he looks very nice. All he showed us (for now) is the top of his head. Sounds like all the guys worked on his new do! Can you imagine?! What a great sport!

[Kelly]

Oh wow...that would be INCREDIBLE!!!! How do we set that up? :p

i still think we should see about booking a wknd retreat or something at tom & terri's (teri?) church with jeremy & adie there to lead the worship. all CAMPers welcome. :) that would be sooooo hard for me to get there, but...if it ever happened, i'd TOTALLY find a way to do it! :D

[Kelly]

Hehe actually, Laura, I was talking about you :p But yeah Brody was an awesome sport for doing that...and did you read his blog....15,000 viewers!!! :eek:


Brody's picture! LOL! Poor guy has to go to GMA week like that. But I'm sure he looks very nice. All he showed us (for now) is the top of his head. Sounds like all the guys worked on his new do! Can you imagine?! What a great sport!

[cori]

Oh wow...that would be INCREDIBLE!!!! How do we set that up? :p

ummmm....i have NO idea!!!!! i would think the first step would be to contact the camp's church - see if they'd be up for it, what they would charge to host, etc....get a date set up, etc...

well..i don't know....i guess they would need to know a guesstimation of how many of us would be invading them, first, huh? lol i have NO idea!

i think i remember aaron saying he worked at a camp? maybe we could have a CAMPer camp there? get tom & teri in on the action, adie & jeremy to lead worship? i have no idea......lol......

i love the idea, just have no clue how to pull it together & make it happen! anyone with the gift of administration wanna chime in?? hehe

[LauraA]

ROTF!!!!! Cori, grannies are like that.

I didn't tell Mr Wart, Kult, Kalt, Wurt or whoever he is about it. Would I do that to a fellow grannie?! Naw.

Seriously, though. If you want to change the posts, we can help you with that. I don't want you embarrassed or uncomfortable in anyway. BUGGWADD! :D

If Walt knew about this, he would roll! Either that, or he'd put on his preacher voice and teach you a thing or two. lol. :cool:;) You know I'm teasing.

I'll stop now... LOVE you, my fellow CAMPer Grannie!




laura said -> He called Walt and Walt (I mean Kurt..LOL!) took us down to the area where Jeremy would meet us. Kurt (I mean Walt, hehehe) was awesome as usual and it was fun chatting with him a little bit on the way, though I forgot to congratulate him on his engagement.

*chastises* bad granny, BAD granny!!! lol i have already owned up to my shame & paid my penance in walt's thread.....lol did you tell him about that?? i was seriously tempted to go into all the posts about my m&g to fix all of that in hopes that he'd never know, but..then i figured, eh..whatever. people mess my name allllll the time (ok, not usually THAT much, unless they know my legal name, but still....lol....), "it aint no thang." lol so...i left it there for kurt....er.....WALT (hehehehehe) to see for himself. :)

[CamperGirl]

ummmm....i have NO idea!!!!! i would think the first step would be to contact the camp's church - see if they'd be up for it, what they would charge to host, etc....get a date set up, etc...

well..i don't know....i guess they would need to know a guesstimation of how many of us would be invading them, first, huh? lol i have NO idea!

i think i remember aaron saying he worked at a camp? maybe we could have a CAMPer camp there? get tom & teri in on the action, adie & jeremy to lead worship? i have no idea......lol......

i love the idea, just have no clue how to pull it together & make it happen! anyone with the gift of administration wanna chime in?? hehe
I'd SO be in. ;)

Making the call and seeing if everyone is up for it would be the first big hurtle to leap, and then everything would be cake from there. We could always all just show up and swarm the church with 'speaking louder' CD's and banners, but that would cross the borderline from CAMPing, to STALKing :p

[cori]

ROTF!!!!! Cori, grannies are like that.

I didn't tell Mr Wart, Kult, Kalt, Wurt or whoever he is about it. Would I do that to a fellow grannie?! Naw.

Seriously, though. If you want to change the posts, we can help you with that. I don't want you embarrassed or uncomfortable in anyway. BUGGWADD! :D

If Walt knew about this, he would roll! Either that, or he'd put on his preacher voice and teach you a thing or two. lol. :cool:;) You know I'm teasing.

I'll stop now... LOVE you, my fellow CAMPer Grannie!


lol laura, i was TOTALLY teasing you! he shall forever be kurt in those posts.....lol....like i said before, people are CONSTANTLY messing my name up, so.....it's no biggie. i'm sure he's probably getting a good laugh from the whole thing, if nothing else! :D (thanks for being a good sport kur....walt! :P lol)

[cori]

I'd SO be in. ;)

Making the call and seeing if everyone is up for it would be the first big hurtle to leap, and then everything would be cake from there. We could always all just show up and swarm the church with 'speaking louder' CD's and banners, but that would cross the borderline from CAMPing, to STALKing :p

lol, exactly! stalkers, no...CAMPers, yes! :) i think it would be more fun if they were in on it, though.....i'm totally up for it - think we can pull it off?

[LauraA]

My 2 cents: I think it would be great to have a huge CAMPout around a concert. For instance, the one Cara mentioned in South Bend, IN. We could all hang out, fellowship, enjoy the concert and all that comes with a CAMPout.

The Camps are gracious and would welcome anyone to visit their church anytime, Im sure, but I wouldn't feel right asking them to get involved in a CAMPout. If they came up with that idea some day, then I'd be in, but to ask for it....I just don't think it would feel right.

[cori]

yeah, that's true - i didn't think of that. *blush* (i'm on a roll with that, lately.....)

when is the south bend concert? maybe we can plan for that?

[LauraA]

The South Bend concert is in South Bend, IN. It would be quite a haul for you, but it's not that far from WI. :)

[cori]

i do believe we have family in indiana.....but...i could be wrong. (we're kinda scattered all OVER the place! lol)....

but yes, you're right..it would be a long haul for us to get there....but if there's time, i try, i try! :D

[Give_me_Jesus]

I might be able to come to South Bend...oh man, I really really hope i can!!! Ahh, CAMPout! :D

[LauraA]

Well, I'll try to finish up the day of the concert. Let's see, where did I leave off?

We left the venue at around 10 or 10:15p.m., then promptly got lost in Springfield. It took us about 20 to 30 minutes to find out way out by asking help at a gas station.

I had a MAJOR migraine by the time we left the venue. I'd not slept except for 2hours since Saturday morning, didn't eat at all since Saturday afternoon, except for once piece of chocolate, and all the excitement...it just did me in and we had a 4 1/2 hour drive home, not including stops. I became really nauseated, and by 1:30 a.m. I was in dire need of prayer, a stop, some food and medicine. We prayed, I took the meds, then remembered that they make me tired. Oh dear. (And I needed to drive. I can't sit as a passenger...I just can't.) We stopped at Wendy's and I forced myself to eat a little. It just made me sicker. I told Connie that I had to take a nap right there in Wendy's parking lot (lol....in the truck, of course.) We each grabbed a blanket and fell asleep on our seats. We slept for about 30 or 45 minutes and I woke up totally awake, alert and headache free!

The rest of the drive went pretty well, except for around 3:30 I started getting pretty tired again. We stopped to get out for a stretch and again, I felt totally renewed.

We got to my house at 5 Monday morning. Dan asked me what we were doing at 1:30 and 3:30, and told me that he'd woke up and prayed for us at those times. Praise God! What an amazing, faithful, precious Lord we serve, amen?!

This was the absolute best concert experience I'd ever had. We were totally blessed, just TOTALLY blessed! Funny, but I say that after each one...they just keep getting better.

[Kelly]

Wow Laura...I prayed for you twice that night too! Don't remember what times though. Sorry you had to experience a migraine on the road...that must not have been fun! But praise God that you were able to sleep it off! :)

[LauraA]

That's awesome, Kelly! Thank you. And thank you, Jesus, for giving us precious friends who will intercede when called upon.

[cori]

wow laura, driving with a migraine! that is SOOOOO hard! i am SO glad to hear that you were able to get that quick nap in & do the remainder of your drive home migraine-free!!

thanks for posting!! i feel kinda dorky, though, because i'm a little sad that you're done! lol.....if you remember anything you forgot - any little thing! lol - post it! HAHAHAHA

buggwadd! :) (yeah, we forget lots of details...especially when we *think* we're caught up on our sleep......)

[Kelly]

Hehe I'm with you there Cori! Always sad when the moment's over....especially when they're as long and detailed as some of our reviews/recaps are....hard to believe they end at all :p I read over my own sometimes & find myself actually going back to the show & I get sad when I'm done reading it cause it's over :p Dorks we are indeed :p

Random fact: My friends and I started a Dorks of America club in college for things like this....we had a website, flag, pledge, motto, hand sign and everything!!! It was serious business. Unfortunately the site's not up anymore :(

[cori]

i vote we make a dorks of america thread!!! :D dunno what we'd do about the handshake part (hehe), but.....it promises to be interesting, at the very least! :D

[LauraA]

I am starting to feel the "letdown when it's over syndrome" today. Really. I'm almost teary over it. I am a DORK! But really, my spirit has been lifted and encouraged. Something very powerful took place at this concert Sunday....I can't explain it, but I hope it continues to grow in me, and in everyone who has experienced a boost like this.

[jedge_46]

Alright everybody, I have finally put up about 30 pictures from the show Sunday night. You can see them all @ http://www.flickr.com/photos/justin_edge/show/

I hope you enjoy... many more to come, but I hit my photo upload limit for the month so it will take a while.

Justin

[LauraA]

Justin, your pictures are awesome!!! Thank you for getting those up for us. I'm looking forward to the rest of them. I can't believe it's over already. Wish we could push a replay button and do it all again. :D

[Kelly]

Oh no! Sorry Laura! Mine started a few days after the show too. Sad! I, too, was teary over it. But no worries! You will be able to look back on it now and always remember what a blessing it was, and you will remember exactly how you felt that day :)

[LauraA]

You're sweet, Kelly. (((HUGS!!)))

[PaulandSteph]

Wow!!!

Justin, your pictures are amazing! I really enjoyed looking at them and the one you posted to flickr too! Thanks so much for sharing. BTW, we're new here! Hi, nice to meet you :)


Laura,

I really enjoyed reading your posts! It sounds like you had an absolutely amazing time. I loved how you told ever single part of your day! It was a blessing to read. And I'm also glad you made it back home safely! I prayed for you that night too, because I knew you had to be exhausted!!! Again, I enjoyed reading your posts and seeing your pictures! I'm sad to see the RAWRS over, but I'm looking forward to the next one!!!

[LauraA]

^^^Thank you! We love sharing the details of the concerts. When I read about other's and their experiences, it's almost like I was there with them. The more detail the better. I'm not a good writer, and I'm not good with details after the fact, but I tried to share as much as I could remember. Especially the fun, silly stuff. I'm so glad you enjoyed it!

I miss the RAWRS, too! Very much. But I'm looking forward to summer festivals, hoping to make it to a couple, but will make it to one for sure. (God willing) Then comes the SLTB Tour...can't wait for more info on that. Will you be going to any festivals this summer?

[PaulandSteph]

Yes, we're going to the Celebrate Freedom Festival at the end of June in Dallas...... I'm ready for the SLTB tour too... I hope it comes close enough for us to go. We've never been to one of these festivals, so we really don't know what to expect, other than it being HOT!

[LauraA]

I love the festivals! I always feel so carefree, so encouraged when I'm there. Being surrounded by so many people who love the Lord is such a blessing. The weather can be an issue, but be in prayer about it before your big day. The Lord really came through at Lifest in '07 when a storm came through and they started taking the stage down shortly before Jeremy was to come on. I just stood there crying and praying...and the storm passed! In fact, the clouds broke into two sections and we had a clear patch right above the festival grounds, then a double rainbow came out, and then a rainbow around the sun! Building 429 was in awe of how it all happened, because they were on before Jeremy. Wow. It makes my heart pound just remembering all that happened that night. Jesus MOVED in so many ways!!! Hallelujah!:)

[LauraA]

Here are a couple articles I just found about the weather that day, but there was another one that described the clouds parting.. I want to find it! (I should of saved it.) I remember watching it happen, and tears were just pouring from my eyes. It was so powerful and so obviously a move of God. These don't do it justice, but at least you can read a little bit of what we experienced.

http://disabilitiesunlimited.org/index3.html
http://live4him.jeanwensink.com/2007/07/15/chemo-countdown-again-1-down-5-to-go.aspx?ref=rss

[jedge_46]

Hi Paul and Steph, welcome to the boards.

I just thought I would stop in and let you know that MercyMe has just posted a video to their blog of Brody's "500" haircut. I didn't realize he had so much hair to begin with... http://www.mercyme.org/blog

[PaulandSteph]

Here are a couple articles I just found about the weather that day, but there was another one that described the clouds parting.. I want to find it! (I should of saved it.) I remember watching it happen, and tears were just pouring from my eyes. It was so powerful and so obviously a move of God. These don't do it justice, but at least you can read a little bit of what we experienced.

http://disabilitiesunlimited.org/index3.html
http://live4him.jeanwensink.com/2007/07/15/chemo-countdown-again-1-down-5-to-go.aspx?ref=rss



Wow Laura

Thanks for sharing!!! This gives me goosebumps :)

[PaulandSteph]

Hi Paul and Steph, welcome to the boards.

I just thought I would stop in and let you know that MercyMe has just posted a video to their blog of Brody's "500" haircut. I didn't realize he had so much hair to begin with... http://www.mercyme.org/blog



Thanks so much for letting us know! I've been waiting for it... :)

[LauraA]

Yeah, it was amazing. I'd been standing in the front of the stage since the gates opened at 8 that morning. Jeremy was to play at 7 pm. The weather started turning bad in the later part of the afternoon or so, and I started praying. Well, it got worse, and finally the security guards told us to leave, that they would be taking down the stage. I said something like, "I'm going to stay here and pray that the weather improves." The guy said, "Too late, it's coming down!" Well, disappointment was an understatement, but a little bit of stubbornness stepped in and I just stood out there in the rain praying and crying. I wanted to see Jeremy so bad because I know that the Lord was going to use him to speak to me that night.

Well, a little bit of time went by and the rain started letting up. Then the clouds started moving apart, literally! They ended up moving to either side of the fairgrounds, and we had clear sky right over us. Everyone was pointing to the sky and rejoicing! They started putting the stage back (speakers and stuff) and I was just overcome with how much the Lord loves us and wants to show us that He cares! More crying. lol. Building 429 came on and a double rainbow appeared, then a rainbow around the sun. We were pointing up to the sky and taking pictures of it, and Jason of B429 said, "What is everyone looking at?!" He turned and looked in the sky and was visibly moved!

It was a night I'll never forget.

Plus, it was the night I met Jeremy for the first time.

TWBaD is on the radio as I was writing this. Cool!