Now THIS is a Dream Come True...

Every year, IWU books a good concert for homecoming weekend. I heard rumor this summer that the concert this year was the Gaither Vocal Band. I didn't so much believe it because I also heard that it hadn't been arranged until March...and it seemed illogical to me that the official Homecoming concert would not have been scheduled by that date. But then when I read it in print...EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!!!!

I told my Mom that after the year I've had, it must be a special message of love from God Himself that David Phelps would be on the schedule at my 10 year reunion. You can choose to think otherwise if you'd like, but you're not going to change my mind. :)

I bought tickets to go with my sister and with Isaac, but my sister couldn't come and obviously after the breakup, Isaac couldn't come either, so Jenny went with me. I was so thankful she was there!

The concert was in our new chapel/auditorium. We were very fortunate to have this concert at all, because the Vocal Band doesn't go to a venue of less than 6000...but after Bill and Gloria were on campus for the World Changers convocation in March, Bill decided he wanted to do a concert here, so.....it began! Kevin Williams (the GVB guitar player) opened things up....

And then Bill came out to sing Old Friends.

Buddy Greene did a little bit on the guitar/harmonica.

And then...happiness on a stage. They opened with one of my all-time favorites: Alpha and Omega. In case you're not the diehard that I am, let me give you a little tour of the group. Left to right...David Phelps, Mark Lowry, Michael English, Wes Hampton, Bill Gaither.

Wes Hampton - doing a little Journey to the Sky - with Mark looking on.

David sang Nessun Dorma. I had previously warned the lady on the other side of me that I'm not right when it comes to David, and I don't think she believed me. I do think that scared her, though. Bless her heart. :)

I could seriously listen to him sing this song all day. I've been known to sing it over and over in my car. I know all the words. Sometimes I remember what a few of them mean.

He was on fire with that song last night!

I would like to take this moment to say that my boss ended up getting a front row seat at the last minute. I paid her a visit at intermission to let her know she may or may not have a friend in me come Monday. :) Good thing she loves me.

Okay are you tired of David pictures now? (The acceptable answer here is NO.)

My sister loves Michael English, so I tore the camera lens away from David long enough to take some of Michael for her. What do you think - 8x10 of this for her for her birthday?

These five have a great time singing, that's for sure!

On their latest project, David also does the old song He's Alive. Don Franciso's (?) song...he does a phenomenal job of it. (Of course.)

Great, great job.

I was sad that this one was blurry!

Our University Chorale sang with them on a few songs, and about 150 alumni singers came back to sing as well. It was very powerful - both to see and to hear!

They did one of my favorites - You Are My All in All. Love that song - love this arrangement!

Mark told some great stories...and did a fantastic job of singing, of course.

Toward the end of the concert, I got too hot (stupid broken body thermometer!) and felt sick so I had to go out and get some fresh air. When I came back in for the concluding songs - including Let Freedom Ring - I got some different perspective pictures. Yes, I took my camera with me. I was sick, not stupid!

That picture above shows you how far back I really was. (Didn't use zoom on it at all.) But below you can see how great my camera did with the detail! Jonathan is in Chorale and he was almost to the very back/top of the Chorale. But I found him!

We joined them to sing Greatly Blessed...Highly Favored.

All in all, a GREAT concert. GREAT. The perfect ending to a very fun weekend with friends from days gone by and friends from now, too.

This was my new concert outfit. (Thanks, Megan, for getting it all in the picture!) And of course, you know Jonathan. He wasn't from my college class, but I had to get a picture of him for the scrapbook, because he's been a great encouragement and support in these recent, difficult months.