What Kind of Week Has It Been

Every time I go to an Andrew Peterson concert, I get a little obsessed with the whole AP gang for about a week or so afterwards. Today was no different. I spent way too much of my lunch hour reading blog posts and watching funny videos like this one. Yes, last night Charlotte, Matt and I went to Lincoln to see Andrew Peterson in concert along with his friends Andy Gullahorn and Ben Shive. This was my ninth AP concert since 2000. And the music and the stories never get old.

Meanwhile, I still haven't had my cry. There just hasn't been time! Last night's trip to the Capital City was the culmination of an extremely busy week. Last Tuesday was one of the busiest day of the Nebraska Arts Council's year: our Governor's Arts Awards. The event went well enough, considering the massive snowstorm that hit us. And I enjoyed going on a State Senator Scavenger Hunt at the Capitol, trying to meet up with Senators whose constituent escorts were kept from their duty by the snow.

And speaking of politics, I went to see Obama at the Civic Center with Charlotte on Thursday. The line was insane, and the energy was palpable. I really hope he beats Hillary.

It was back to Lincoln with Matt and Luke on Friday for a Caedmon's Call show. It was a good concert because they played all of my favorite songs from their new Overdressed record. So, I give it an A.

Oh, but it doesn't end there... On Thursday morning I had pancakes at Wheatfields with none other than Lisa Jensen. She was in town from Minnesota all last week helping the new Half Priced Books store get ready for their opening. I'm very excited that this store has come to Omaha. I have heard great things about it from the Pleiss sisters. I was even more excited to see Lisa, whom I haven't seen in years. It was fun to catch up and share stories.

I dropped Lisa back off at her hotel and hit the road for the other Capital City, Des Moines. I had lunch and went bridesmaid dress shopping with Staci Mae and Kristin. And we had success! Yay!

Staci and I then went down to Waukee for Wendy and Clint's Basement Grand Opening party. Staci was going to leave by 7:00 to head back to Cedar Rapids, but (oh, darn), the weather was treacherous and she had to stay the night. We played a lot of the Rock Band video game before going to bed way earlier than the rest of the household. We're really cool like that.

So I drove back to Omaha very tired and cranky, listening to Andrew Osenga and Jill Phillips, drinking way too much Dr. Pepper. I could've cried along that I-80 stretch, what with some haunting songs and my lonely heart and all, but tears don't mix well with driving.

I got back to Omaha to find my roommates gone and Annie, Aleeta and Tabitha cooking lunch in the kitchen instead. The guys came over for homemade Valentines and homemade food and I slipped away after dessert for a nap before Matt arrived to accompany Charlotte and I to Lincoln for the Andrew Peterson show.

Andrew shared a quote that I think I'd heard before but must've have forgotten: "Being spiritual is really nothing more than paying attention." That is so true. Sometimes I pay so much attention that my heart just hurts. This is the deep place, beyond words, where my need for tears and my need for worship come together. And I felt it deeply in the closing numbers of the evening. First, the lament:

"And the man of all sorrows, He never forgot
What sorrow is carried by the hearts that he bought
So when the questions dissolve into the silence of God
The aching may remain, but the breaking does not
The aching may remain, but the breaking does not
In the holy, lonesome echo of the silence of God"

And then, the rejoicing:

"And in the end, the end is oceans and oceans
Of love and love again
We'll see how the tears that have fallen
Were caught in the palms
Of the Giver of love and the Lover of all
And we'll look back on tears as old tales...

Cause after the last tear falls
There is love"