For months, Greg and I knew we were going to Nashville on April 24. He bought me Rend Collective concert tickets for Christmas and I secured my mother-in-law to watch the kids. We planned to have a date day leading up to the concert.
And then Sunday morning came and we still had no idea how we were going to spend our day. I thought about how I was so glad the date was marked off on our calendars because we wouldn’t have gone otherwise. We had a busy weekend and there is a lot happening in our daily life.
But marking off the date reserved it for us.
About an hour into our trip – just as we were getting ready to eat lunch – Greg said, “This has been a good day so far.”
Y’all know we don’t get away by ourselves much when he said that after the first hour in the car. Yes, our conversations were good and we finally had a loose plan for our day. Obviously, we needed that kind of day, and it had just begun.
After lunch, we headed to Nashville’s flea market, where we shopped a little, browsed a lot, and talked about all kinds of things. I kept seeing quotes about adventure on wooden signs and pillows and wall art …
“Oh darling, let’s be adventures together.”
“I knew when I met you an adventure was going to happen.” ― A.A. Milne in “Winnie the Pooh”
And here we were, two people who met in college and are now somehow in our late 30s, adventuring through the day – and life – together. I had just written in Greg’s birthday card two days earlier how I was looking forward to whatever adventures come next.
Our Rend Collective tickets got us into a pre-concert event with the band, whose members answered questions and shared some of their stories. They were funny and spoke truth my heart needed to hear – and the concert hadn’t even started.
Urban Rescue opened for Rend Collective. I especially loved its song “Wild Heart.”
Then Rend Collective took the stage – and shot out confetti during its first song. That’s joy, y’all. And it kept coming. There were bubbles and dancing (okay, so, not really by me, at least not on the outside) and clapping and singing and praising.
Among the songs, the band members shared about how the Great Commission was given to us all – not just the outgoing people who like to speak in front of a crowd. We are all called to go and share the stories of what God has done in our lives, but we’re made for family too. The name of Rend Collective’s latest album is “As A Family We Go” – and it echoes what God is teaching me in my own life.
As a family we go to soccer practice for one kid and horse riding lessons for another.
As a family we go to church and friends’ houses.
As a family we go to the kitchen table, our new land, and to the Bible.
As a family we go to whatever else God has for us.
As we go through life together, I’m realizing I have things to learn from my kids while I’m trying to teach them. I need to be more like my boy, who embraces life and is free to run. My big girl is always observing and has more hobbies than anyone I know. My baby girl embodies joy.
During the concert, while I thought about my people, Rend Collective led worship in a way that united adventurers. And that stirred my heart to embrace what God is doing right here – in my family and through our adventures.
So, darlings, let’s be adventurers together. Who’s in? {Tweet that.}
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