Jason and Taya Gray.

I'm sitting here trying to put all of my thoughts together about what happened yesterday, and I want to make sure I get it right the first time. Yesterday was a special blessing to me, and I want to serve it justice.

In May of 2008 the youth leader at my church told me he was in the process of booking Jason Gray to come to Grace Emmanuel. I had just seen him two weeks before and he knew that Jason's music was special to me. He immediately asked me to help him out with getting him here and I jumped on the opportunity. Over the past two years I've known God's calling on my life and I knew that this would be a great way to get some experience for the future, no matter what I was doing. I was put in charge of fundraising, which is quite possibly the hardest job ever. I knew I had my work cut out for me when things started going exactly the opposite of the way they were supposed to, from the start. Satan was definitely trying to mess this up any chance he got, but God is faithful and so much more powerful than Satan.

The past eight months have been a huge journey of success, rescheduling over and over again, trusting God with everything we had, knowing that if this was meant to happen, then it would. First, it was supposed to be on November 21, 2008, then it got moved to January 18, 2009 and then January 25, 2009. Two weeks before the 25th we still needed 1,000 more dollars to get Jason here. I knew that if we hadn't given up yet, that maybe this was really supposed to happen. It was a great test of my trust in God and I knew it. So that's what I did. I gave it all to Him, knowing that if this was His will that he would take care of the 1,000 dollars. Within hours of finding this out, we were already receiving a check from someone. Three days later we received another check. By then, it was very clear that this was meant to be. God was testing all of us, and I'm happy that He did. I believe that it made us appreciate the evening just that much more.

So the day finally arrived. The excitement was coursing through my veins and I felt like I was going to explode. With a very restless sleep the night before, I felt great! Jason and his wife, Taya, were going to be at the church that morning, because Jason was singing a couple of songs during the service. For those of you who know me, know that i've seen Jason on more than one occasion, but have never met his wife. So I finally got to meet her! She is one of the sweetest and kindest people I have ever had the pleasure of meeting. Before the service started I was talking to Jason and he was asking about my family and if they came to church with me, to which I replied "No." So he asked me if I would like to sit with them through the service, and I gladly accepted. While he was doing things to finish setting up for the morning, Taya and I were chatting each others ears off! Since I had never met her, we definitely had a lot of talking to do. As we were talking, she said that she and Jason were talking about me joining them for dinner later before the show started. I was practically speechless! Seriously? They wanted ME to join THEM for dinner? So I gladly accepted that invitation, too. Within 15 minutes of them being there..my head was swirling. They said that since I knew the area, that I could help them navigate their way around and possibly pick the place to eat.

The service started and it was great. We were having some major technical difficulties and the video for the songs and everything wasn't working at all, so it was really special. Not the technical difficulties, but the fact that we weren't singing to a screen. We were really engaged in worshipping the Lord and I loved that. I find myself focusing on a stupid screen more on Sunday's, then I do focusing on God. I think a lot of people felt the same way. Jason closed the whole service with New Way To Live and it's amazing how well it went with the whole entire service. I think it really helped in the end that he played during the service, because he won a lot of people over into coming to the show. Afterward I went and chatted with Taya and we talked about dinner and what we wanted to do. Taya said she would call me when they were ready to meet back at the church to pick me up to go eat. After people started clearing out, we said our goodbyes and went and did our own thing until we met back up.

At 4 or so I got a call from Taya saying that they were heading back to their hotel and that they wanted me to think about where I wanted to go to eat with them. I'm horrible at thinking up places to eat, so I was definitely at a loss for what I wanted to do. They said they wanted a good pizza. Originally they said they wanted seafood, but they ended up going to the seafood place for lunch instead. Which is probably a good thing, because I can't stand seafood. So I had my favorite little italian restaurant in mind, that's only five minutes away from my house. I figured that it may have been a good one, since I know that The Gray's are foodies. Jason called me back and said that they found a place that looked really good. I mentioned Ruffinos, but they really wanted to check out this other place. So I met them at the church. Jason thought he was so cool pulling up in his rented convertible. I thought I was pretty cool getting in and riding in it, too. We made our way to this place, listening to The Beach Boys. We pulled up and it honestly looked really sketchy. Jason and Taya even said so. So we got out, went in and took our seats. We were hoping for something good. It was hole in the wall restaurant, and sometimes they are really good. Well..this one..not so much. I'll refrain from naming it, because that would just be a shame.

So yes, Jason and Taya bought me a dinner of mediocre pizza. But that's besides the point. This was one of the most special parts of the day for me. I didn't look at it like I was going out to dinner with my favorite musician and his wife. I looked at it like I was going out to dinner with two good friends. It was really nice to get to know Jason outside of a concert environment. We had the opportunity to talk about books and music, embarrassing moments, different shows we saw each other at, what we liked and didn't like about them, the music industry. The most special part of the whole dinner was the prayer that was said before we ate. Jason prayed and thanked God for the food and the fact that we were all together. He thanked God for me and my work with the concert and the work I do for his ministry. It really touched my heart to know that he and Taya appreciate me, because sometimes I worry that I lose sight of why I enjoy his music, and I do. I think sometimes I go into fan mode way too often and maybe I need to tone it down a bit. But it was nice to know that Jason and Taya think the opposite. I'm grateful for people who see more of you than you do. Jason and Taya are two of those people.

After dinner was over we headed back to the church. Jason almost ran into a parked car, but thankfully he didn't. While we were on our way back, he played a demo of one of his new songs for me. Wow! That's all I can say. We arrived back at the church and it was hectic! People everywhere. Chaos is what it was. So I retreated to the sanctuary and just listened to Jason soundcheck, which was much better then what was going on out in the hallway. Meanwhile, I was also starting to freak out about getting up on stage and introducing Jason. So I was pacing the floor, trying to distract myself with phone calls and people. Anything but thinking about getting up in front of 100 people and speaking. Jason finished his soundcheck and went somewhere. I'm pretty sure he was praying before the show. Because right after that Jeremiah had asked me to go in to the room with him. He prayed with me, because he knew I was nervous. This was also a special moment. It almost brought me to tears. To know that Jason was willing to pray for me and my nerves. It was really encouraging, and made me feel a little bit better.

So I then went and sat back down in the sanctuary. Feeling like I was going to explode once again, but not the good kind of explode. Definitely the bad kind. So Kevin, another youth leader, was speaking general things and then he spoke about Jeremiah and www.myspace.com/gecbooking then he called me up to the stage. All throughout the day I was feeling really bad and I have no idea why. I was feeling like I didn't deserve more than half of the recognition I was getting and I have no idea why I was feeling that way. So it was awkward to say the least. I explained how I met Jason Gray, why his music was special to me, then I almost fell over on stage. Apparently my face turned completely white or something. So that was when I decided it was time for me to step off the stage and let Jason get to his show. So he got up on stage and said some very very nice things. Here I am..feeling bad for no reason. I think I was feeling unworthy of everything, but deep down inside I was truly truly thankful, I just didn't know how to handle it. I still don't, because I have no idea how to put into words what he said. But basically he said that I am always wanting more for myself. That I never settle for just this. I'm always looking for a way to grow and move forward. That's one of those things that I don't see. I'm thankful for people that see those things in me, to make me more aware of them.

Jason played more new songs then he did old, and all of them are beautiful. I'm so excited for his new album. Everyone at the concert really enjoyed his music a lot. It made me really happy to see that the whole thing came together and that people enjoyed it. It was one of the most special days of my life this far. So now I leave you with some pictures and one video.