Merry Christmas for me!

This post departs from the usual adoption post.  It's just a glimpse into my life, and the happy time I had today.  Don't worry though, the girls are never far from my thoughts as you will see by something I did later on in the day.

While I enjoy music a LOT, I'm not the type to go to many concerts.  I don't enjoy the crowds or attempting to see over the people in front of me - and they are usually standing up to further complicate things for this short gal.

There are, however, two artists who have been so instrumental in my spiritual journey that I'd make extreme efforts to see them. I'd sit in a freezing cold stadium or stand in the burning heat and be happy for the experience.  Sadly, the first one is someone whom I will never have the opportunity this side of heaven to see. Keith Green challenged me in so many ways, but he has passed on to the afterlife.  The other is Matthew Ward. 

I saw Matthew in concert with his sisters (in the group 2nd Chapter of Acts) when I was about fifteen.  Um....that is closer to four decades ago than I care to admit!  Their music was vitally important to me as a teen.  Matthew's music continued to minister to me as an adult.  His cd's "My Redeemer" and "Even Now" were so meaningful to me when I was going through a really difficult time in my life about a decade ago.  The songs spoke to me like nothing else could have at that time.

I was just asking Ruth this week, "Is Matthew Ward performing any more?"  You can imagine my surprise and delight last night when I "just happened" (love those stories!) to be going a few minutes down the road to the grocery store and I heard an ad on the radio.  It said that Matthew Ward would be in concert in Cincinnati on Sunday.  WHAT????  Seriously, I nearly wrecked Rachael's van!  I immediately called home and told them to get on the Internet and look this place up!  It gets better.  Not only was he giving a concert, it was FREE!  With our extremely tight budget these days, that was the perfect price!

We rushed across town after attending our church to get to the concert early, convinced it would be standing room only.  What we found was a small and intimate place, set up more like a theater/coffee house really.  We sat in the second row with a clear view - even for Tikvah!  There were seriously only about fifty people in attendance.  I'm not sure if Cincinnati wasn't aware of the concert or if they didn't realize the great treasure that was in our midst. It was a fantastic concert of his favorite Christmas carols.  I had such a wonderful time!  It was seriously the best Christmas present I could have been given - well unless our little princesses could have come home in time for it.

Tikvah (who has been listening to Matthew Ward all of her life) was tickled to get her own Christmas cd autographed, and get her picture taken with him. He had a little trouble with her name, so she had to spell it for him.  He was very sweet to her.

Matthew Ward and Tikvah

I talked with him a bit about his family.  He raised three girls and has grandsons now.  One of his daughters is expecting again, and he is hoping for a grand daughter this time - yeah, he admitted he is somewhat partial to girls.  Taking that cue, I pulled out a photo of Abigail and Jennifer, handed it to him and asked that he pray for them if he thought of it.  Yes, I actually did.


If you need a refresher on the history of Christian Contemporary Music check out Matthew's biography, or if you are familiar, you'll enjoy the stroll down memory lane!  Check out Matthew's stuff if you are not yet a fan.  His early music is quite rocky, you can sense growth and maturity in his more recent music, and he is just, plain GOOD!  If you are a fan, did you know all of his solo albums - even his old ones - are available on cd now?  Cool!

Perfect afternoon!  I feel so blessed today.