Prepare Ye the Way....... the concert.

Let me begin by saying that my concert event was AWESOME, SPECTACULAR, ENERGIZING, CONTAGIOUS, SPIRITUAL, AWAKENING, and HUMBLING............

What a amazing experience for me, for my brother, for his congregation, for my family, and for the spirit within.

I was nervous going into the first of two performances on Saturday night. During the day, I just puttered around the house, tried not to talk too much, rest my voice, drinking tea, and mentally preparing. The biggest crowd we would probably expect was about fifty people, but virtually all of them would be strangers to me. My daughter came with me early to the church, to assist in set up, and also to practice some tunes. We then went to have a bite to eat with my brother and his family, and came back to the church to prepare.

The concert took place in the church's fellowship hall, which is in the basement of his Lutheran church. They had set up couches, tables with chairs, and lamps and other low lighting all over. The name of the band is Living Stones, so they had beautiful stones on each table, and smaller ones with the band's name on the front table for each person to take.

The crowd filtered in from about 30 minutes before the show. All of the seats were taken, half of them were persons that don't even attend there! I started to get a bit nervous, maybe I am not prepared enough, maybe my voice will crack, etc.

No worries were necessary. It seemed as if my voice came from a place within myself that I had never tapped into before. I was not timid, I did not crack, I was able to focus, and it was pure and uninhibited. We sang for one and one half hours, and the audience on Saturday even asked for an encore!!!!

After Saturday's show, a woman from my brother's church complimented me on my voice, and told me that when I sang "I Don't Know How to Love Him" from Jesus Christ Superstar, the hair on her arms stood on end!!! Intense.

The show on Sunday was just as exciting, and energizing, although the audience was a bit more subdued, mellow. The house was even more full, and more chairs needed to be brought in to have enough seats. My brother was asked when myself and the other female guest vocalist there would be joing the church and the band!!! Distance won't allow me to sing with them every week, but I would enjoy continuing to do it.

The other big pay off for me, was the connection that I had with my brother. We stood in the front, next to one another, him playing his bass, and singing, and it was just so SWEET. We hardly ever do anything together anymore, and this activity could not have been more perfect for the two of us.

It was just the best.........