Are You Ever Not Happy?

There’s something to be said about "genius". It comes in many shapes. My daughter correctly and on cue will finish the following statement by saying "a genius!" - "My dad is _______." She is so smart and insightful!

Tonight Amanda, my mother and I went to Paducah for the final concert of the "United" tour with Michael W. Smith (MWS) and Steven Curtis Chapman (SCC). It was an early Mother’s Day present for my mother and was Amanda’s first real concert with lights and smoke and loud music. Amanda was quite taken with the whole experience and was very much into the light designs and smoke. I was very much looking forward to this concert as these guys had never sung together prior to this tour.

I may be a genius in Amanda’s eyes, but these two guys are real geniuses when it comes to musical talent and writing songs. It is fun to watch people who are that good do what they do best.

The other part of the concert experience was an overwhelming sense that Cindy would have LOVED it! These two guys, next to Rich Mullins, were the guys that we had probably seen more often than any other Christian artist. It was during college that our campus ministry group went to the Rock Church in St. Peters, MO for a SCC concert. It was on the way back from the concert around 1am that I remember Cindy looking at me and saying "are you ever not happy?" (Cindy and I were not dating at the time.)

The concert took an especially emotional turn when Geoff Moore walked out to sing with SCC and MWS. Geoff Moore is a Christian singer who used to have a band named "Geoff Moore and the Distance" and they had an album out about 15 years ago which included the song "When All is Said and Done." That album, and specifically that song, was the last CD played in the hospice room immediately prior to Cindy’s flight to heaven. Needless to say, as soon as Geoff hit the stage, I was a sobbing advertisement for Kleenex.

And to answer the question that I know so many are wondering.... No, I didn’t get to meet the guys backstage. I was disappointed, too, but there’s always the golf tournament in August!