BLOG CHALLENGE: tears. the happy kind.

It's well known that I'm a sap. Remember those old Taco Bell commercials with the chihuahua? Yah. I once cried over one of those.

It doesn't take much to make me well up. A good sermon, a choir singing "What Sweeter Music", Aidan telling me I'm pretty... and now, listening to my sweet friends Poor Rich Folk singing their newest song. You know the kinds of tears I'm talking about. They start in the depth of your soul, slowly working their way up until they cut off your breath. They stick in your throat for a second, then give you an instant headache 'cause you're trying to hold 'em back. Then they start to well up, balancing precariously on the lower lids of your eyes before finally spilling over - hot beads of happiness rolling down your cheek and off your nose. And then you realize that you're smiling. THOSE kinds of tears. Please listen. They've added two of the brand-new tracks to their MySpace.

Here's the deal. Just over a month ago, PRF hadn't raised the funds needed to record another album. I gave everything I could give, and I prayed for God to put me in touch with a wealthy person who'd be willing to invest in the band. It didn't happen. So on the last night, at the 11th hour, I dragged my sister to the Last Ditch Tryin'-To-Raise-Money-For-Nashville live show. She was supposed to go to an Arbonne meeting that night, but I said, "Bobbie. Skip it. You have to hear this band."

When we got to the concert, Bobbie said, "Hey. This is the church my meeting was gonna be held at!" And sure enough... in another wing of the building, dozens of Arbonne ladies were milling around. Bobbie walked over and said, "Y'all should come hear this band after the meeting."

And so they did.

And one of the Arbonne ladies is rich.
She listened to the last couple of songs. She spoke with the band. She liked what she heard. And she left.

The next morning, Luke had to call Nashville and either confirm or cancel his appointment with the big-time record producer. As he picked up his phone to cancel, his email dinged. It was the Arbonne lady.

"I'd like to give you $1200," she wrote. Luke replied, "That is so awesome. We're very grateful, and we will definitely accept your offer. But just so you know, we're not going to Nashville after all. We fell way short of our fundraising goal, and we can't afford it yet." Then the lady said, "How much do you need?" Luke told her. $12,000, I think it was. The lady said, "Let me talk to my husband." Two hours later, they met with the band. And funded the whole thing!

Now here's the deal. (And this makes me tear up too!) God is in the little things! I prayed for him to lead me to a rich person with a generous heart. In a round-about way, He did that! Through my sister, through Arbonne, through making the two events happen at the same place and time.... our God is an awesome God, and I feel so totally humbled and blessed to have played a tiny role in it all.

And now, Luke and Jon and Andy and Randy - the same guys who played a charity event for me last spring and who sat on my porch swing - the same guys who've been through break-ups and weddings this fall - the same guys who quit their day jobs to follow this dream - the ones who prayed and prayed and prayed and dreamed big and kept writing and making music through it all because that's what they're called to do - the sweet guys who humor me with warm hugs and don't get scared (or else they hide it well!) when I tell them I think of them as little brothers and I love them that way too - these four guys are laying down tracks in Nashville with the dude who produces Bebo Norman and Jars of Clay. And they're recording with Jars of Clay's Dan Haseltine, who sings backup on "To End This Quiet".

Tonight on the phone, I told Luke, "Next thing we know, you'll be opening for Jars of Clay." He wasn't quite so confident. But I am. Big things are happening. I've seen it with my own two eyes. I've heard it with my own two ears. I've felt it in my own heart and soul. And I'm wiping the tears that flow because of it all.

Poor Rich Folk. Listen to 'em. Be moved. Be blessed. Believe.

the challenge:
“There is a sacredness in tears. They are not the mark of weakness, but of power. They speak more eloquently than ten thousand tongues. They are messengers of overwhelming grief...and unspeakable love.” - Washington Irving This week, paint us a picture of a time when you cried. Maybe it was recent, maybe it was ages ago. Maybe it was tears of grief over a break-up, or tears of joy over an engagement. Maybe you cry when you get mad, or perhaps you cry when you're laughing hysterically. Perhaps you have a hard time crying at all. Pick one time, and color the story for us.