With the opening of our new worship center, our church has ventured into hosting concerts. We skipped Big Daddy Weave. Being in our 50's, our kids advised us to also skip Kutless. When I heard Caedmon's Call was going to be there, it was an immediate yes. I love, love their music. Give me a male lead singer with a scratchy voice every time - Rod Stewart, Bob Seger, several come to mind.

The evening started with an opening act, an adorable couple - husband and wife team. Mandy Mann sang, really good vocals, while her sweet husband just sort of did his thing. They were very cute. At one point she wore butterfly wings and it reminded me of Addison, my little granddaughter who has a set of her own. Mandys were blue, Addison's are pink.

Mandy and her husband cleared the stage. With no buildup whatsoever, two guys with guitars came out and stood in front of the mikes. It took us all a bit to figure out it was them, Caedmon's Call, and you could tell it amused them to sense our confusion. After a few songs, they actually started to talk a bit, and that's when we found out the female vocal was home in Houston with her sick kids. The lead singer is the father to said sick kids, and he entertained us all with a few stories of vomit on his head, etc. They had Mandy fill in for her vocals, and she not only did a good job, she was adorable. She smiled the entire time.

It was an interesting evening. The music was professional, what we expected. They were just a bunch of guys. They shared their struggles, their stories, their hurt for the kids in India being oppressed. They had on mostly ratty jeans and t-shirts, and I suspect that's just what they were wearing all day. There was no funky hair, several didn't have any hair by choice. They were not the group on the cover of a CD, they just sang from their hearts.

Of particular note, Andy, the guy with about 5 different guitars, shared his story of coming back. He said he'd become so discouraged by dealing with Christians, he'd decided he wanted nothing to do with them. He'd just love God and leave it at that. After his trip to India, seeing a people who had nothing to lose, and only God to cling to, he came back restored. He's about to become a daddy for the second time, and asked us to hold our applause and buy his CD's instead, so he could buy diapers. I really enjoyed that comment - very real. Just a guy trying to buy diapers for his babies.

At the end of the evening, Andy would be going to our local coffee house, and for $5 you could come in, have coffee and listen to him on his acoustical guitar. The place only holds about 50 people, the building is well over 100 years old, and has fireplaces at each end of the main room. I know anyone who went there had their socks blessed off. It was hard to go home, and climb into bed instead of hanging out there too late.

The evening wasn't what I was expecting. It was more. Seeing this group who has sold many, many CD's, seeing them just as Daddy's trying to pay their bills, being away from their wives who were at home with sick kids, that ministered more to me than if there had been slick techno effects, or the usual stuff you expect at a concert. I came away refreshed, encouraged. If you can be very successful in the world's eyes, and still get lost here and there, worry about paying your bills, and hope people will applaud your efforts - that I can absolutely relate to.

I bought Andy's solo CD. I want to hear more about one sheep who was lost, and was found. I'm confident I'll get my money's worth.