Babies and Bands

Besides all of the baby shower extravaganza I had a few other highlights of our trip to St. Louis.

One would be this little guy:

This is little Griffin Jude. I got to meet him for the first time and it made me oh so happy! He is one of the sweetest babies ever. Seriously, the kid hardly cries at all. I have been looking forward to being introduced to this little guy for the past few weeks and was so excited when I could finally hold him! Dale and Missy sure do make some cute kids! Other highlights was seeing his brother and sisters. It's amazing to me how fast these kids grow up. We just saw them over New Years but it seems like they've grown so much since then. Caleb is just as cute and sweet as ever and Hannah and Ava are the same sassy little girls, full of independence.

The other highlight was seeing Waterdeep. This band has been on the list as one of my top 3 favorite bands for over 10 years now. I've seen them in concert several times, but over the past few years they've stopped touring as much, so it was probably at least 5 years ago since I saw them last.

I was SO excited when Missy told me that they would be in town the same weekend we were and couldn't wait to see them live again. I know, I've said I would never go to another concert again while I was pregnant after my last experience, but this concert was special and I just had to go. Not only was it my favorite band, but it was actually the very last concert where they would be playing with a full band. From here on out it's just Don & Lori acoustic (which would still be great) and it doesn't even sound like they'll be doing to many of those shows.

So, without a doubt, pregnant or not this was a show I wanted to go to. It worked out so perfectly because they actually had seats (rather than standing only) at the concert and we got some good ones in the 4th row (we somehow thought that concert started at 6:30 when it actually started at 7:30).

Anyway, so as I sat there in a comfy chair with a perfect view listening to pretty much my favorite band ever I just felt so loved by God. I love how God chooses to show us how much he loves us in the little things. How amazing that it worked out that on the exact weekend we would be in town my favorite band would be there as well for their last concert and God allowed me to be a part of that. Music is such an important part of my life - it's how I really connect with God and only God knows just how much it would mean to me to be able to see them live this one last time. It just made me aware of how good our God is that he chooses to show us his love and bless us in the little ways that He really doesn't need to. Not being able to see Waterdeep would have not changed the fact that I know I'm loved by God, but just the opportunity to see them this one last time reminded me of just how much God knows us and loves us and cares about the little things that we care about. I love that I serve a God that is so big, yet so personal.

All that to say, one word to sum up our time in St. Louis was "love". I felt so loved by our friends and so loved by my God. Life can't get much better!