Reality Stinks

For the past ten years, our town has hosted the Unity Music Festival, a four-day contemporary Christian music event.  It's an outdoor event overlooking Muskegon Lake--a really pretty venue.  I love going to see my favorite Christian artists all in one place.  Some of the bands that played this past week were Switchfoot, Kutless, The Newsboys, Barlow Girl, and more.  I had tickets for Saturday night and thankfully, (since my husband with his tinnitus doesn't enjoy concerts) my daughter Anne, was willing to go with me .

The thunderstorms cleared out just in time.

Off the subject: This reminds me of another concert my husband wouldn't go to and I had to recruit Annie.  Years ago, Barry Manilow was coming to Grand Rapids.  I really wanted to see him, but my husband refused.  I asked Annie if she wanted to go (she was about 14 years old at the time) and she asked, "Who's Barry Manilow?"  She reluctantly agreed to accompany me and by the end of the concert, she was yelling, "I love you, Barry!"

 Nothing like a little kettle corn to enhance an event.

We took off about 5:30 with chairs and tickets in hand.  The final three acts were Francesca Battistelli, Matthew West, and Michael W. Smith.  To put this in perspective, I've been a fan of Michael W. Smith for over 25 years.  He's about the same age as me and quite nice to look at.  I haven't seen him since the last time he was at Unity, maybe 8-9 years ago.  Of course, there were big screens at the concert, so we could see the artists up close and personal.  When he came out, I noticed he had a few more gray hairs and crows feet than before, but, hey, don't we all.  More importantly, he still had a youthful exuberance as he sang, played the keyboard and entertained the crowd.
 

Michael W. Smith via the jumbo screen

Great sunset

This morning, as I was reading the local newspaper's review of the concert, they made reference to MWS as an "aging rocker".   Since he's my age, does that make me an aging person, too?  I don't feel like an aging person--at least, most some days I don't.