Winter Jam / Holt child sponsorship night

I. Am. EXHAUSTED.

Let me just start by saying that I am officially OLD.

"Old" as in "why does it have to be so LOUD in here?!?"
and "I think my ear drums are bleeding...". That kind of "old".

Last night I took my two oldest kiddos and two of their friends and we went to the Winter Jam concert here in Nashville.

If you happen to be just super un-cool and you have no idea what Winter Jam is... it's an annual concert that travels all over the USA with many of the top bands in Christian music.
Not Christian music like Amy Grant and Twila Paris.
Christian music like LOUD, rock/rap/pop music.
Newsong, The David Crowder Band, Newsboys, Francesca Battistelli, Kutless, KJ 52, Sidewalk Prophets, Chris August, and the very frightening - Red.

So, I figured... heck, I listen to christian radio... I know of most of these bands... and besides, I can help get kids sponsors which helps keep kids in their birth families... win/win.

So I signed up to volunteer.

This meant we got to get to the concert 2 hours early, wait in line at the VIP entrance, and then wear this awesome yellow vest.

And no, there are no photos of me WEARING this vest.

You're welcome.

So, my kids and their friends were super excited because they got to get in early and find seats. 

They chose to sit on the third row - right next to the stage. 

Super close.

View from our seats. SUPER close.

I looked through the stack of "my kids" - the 5 envelopes in my pocket. I prayed for them and looked through the endless rows of other children needing sponsors.

Crazy, right?? This was one of three long sets of tables in 

ONE area of the venue.

So, not being able to just sit and wait...

I decided to go hang out over at the main table on the floor.

There weren't many people working over there, so it seemed like a good place to be.

Given my fancy yellow vest... no one really asks questions about who you are and why you are there.

At one point I went to go find some coffee and wound up in the backstage area. Ooops.

This is obviously BEFORE they opened the doors to general tickets.

The concert was a sell-out with 16,000+ people in attendance. 

16 THOUSAND. People. In one place. 

I kept thinking "oh dear Lord, what would happen if there were an emergency??"

But then, I'm old..

So, hanging out in the center-court area of the arena, right under the guy with the huge camera, I realized that I was standing right next to famous people that I didn't know I was standing next to. 

Case in point:

Tony Nolan - pastor/speaker, 5 feet away.

I'm so famous by proximity.

Tony Nolan wrote a book called Hurt Healer. He spoke about the pain from his childhood, being born to a mentally unstable/prostitute mother, living in an abusive home till he was 3 at which point he was adopted (at a "blue light special" rate of $200) into a family that further abused him. He talks about how God had a bigger plan to redeem his life and how satan wanted to do anything possible to keep him from that plan. He has also adopted a daughter from China. I wasn't a huge fan of the particular terminology he used in describing his own adoption experiences, but to a mostly positive-adoption-terminology-ignorant crowd, he got the point across.

He was a good speaker for this particular demographic for sure. 

As for our Holt sponsorship mission? I believe our final count was around 450 kids sponsored last night! Given the 16,000 people in attendance, not a huge percentage, but when you take out the kids who can't really make those decisions for themselves... I'm happy 450 kids have sponsors to help them get the medical and educational things they need.

And me??

Well, I noticed abnormally large amounts of cleavage on many of the girls in attendance.

(pun intended)

What is going on with girls?? I mean, at what point are you getting dressed to go to a Christian concert and you say "is this enough cleavage, or not enough cleavage?" I mean, some of the outfits I saw were outright offensive to me as a woman, much less offensive to me as a mother of boys. Put some freaking clothes on, girls! Women have fought for years to be taken seriously, and you are sending us back in time 70 years with your flagrant disregard for your own modesty. 

(and no, I don't have a photo to prove it. You're welcome.)

Oh, and my hearing came back today.

And the kids had a great time!

See? Doesn't she seem to be having fun?

The one in the front is mine,
 the one behind him might as well be too.

This was the line we had to wait in outside.
Just the VIP line. Seriously.