Restart In Memphis

For those of you who have been following our adventures and praying for us night after night...thank you so much. I can't even begin to tell you....we are so grateful. The HGIOG Tour fired back up in Memphis Tuesday night after an eight day hiatus (time off, which for me was crazy days at the Passion House where plans for our Regional Events and World Tour are heating up) we are heading into a stretch of 10 nights in 12 days. If you do the math, that's crazy! So here we are in the midst of a run of five straight nights that began in Memphis, TN.

And Memphis was amazing. Memphis has no shortage of churches and lots of religion, but this night was alive from the start.

For one, there's all this nervous energy going on that first night back (for me, wondering how in the world I'm going to remember how many earths (think golfballs) can fit into a 4.2 mile-wide star named MU Cephi, which of course means little to those of you who have yet to join us on the tour this time around, but is one of many bits of info that awaken us each night to the grand scale of this God we know by name) and in some ways it's like we'd never done the tour night before. But everything clicked and it was one of the best nights ever in Memphis, a place that is so special to the Passion Movement as a whole, the home of days spent at Shelby Farms for the first OneDay that marked many of us forever.

Yesterday we blew through lovely Mobile..the one in Alabama. Sadly, it was spring break at The U of South Florida (our location) and students were scarce. Bummer. But a bunch of people showed up ready to go for it and we had a really cool. And then things got tough. Our runner for the day (a volunteer who drives us places we need to go during a tour day) who is a youth pastor in Mobile got the message as he was hanging out late waiting to bring our drivers from the hotel that a drunk driver going 100mph had plowed into the bus carrying his youth group home from the night they just spent with us. All we knew was that people were injured and students were being taken to the hospital, and instantly he took off. We prayed...and waited, but all night long we couldn't reach anyone to get an update and our hearts were heavy.

It was crazy...I had just talked to Chris (the youth pastor) after the night was over and he was telling me how much his students loved the night and that they were going on and on about it. Now peril had come and we didn't know what to do, a theme that has followed us as, among other things, tornados hit south of Birmingham hours before we were to play there and a bus carrying a college baseball team tragically crashed over an interstate overpass in Atlanta the next day as we arrived there. Hurt. Pain. Chaos. Confusion. Death. Everywhere. And now again.

When morning came the news was tragic...and miraculous. Sadly, the driver that hit the bus died and one of his passengers was in very bad shape. Yet, none of the students were seriously injured (though the front of the school bus is no more), though the driver and a few others suffered more significant injuries that are not life-threatening and will heal. The youth pastor left a message for us today saying those students will never sing "How Great is Our God" the same way, as that was the last song of the night and the one that was on their lips as they headed into this collision.

This tour...these nights...are more than a concert...they are hope for those in the valley of the shadow of death. For many, it's a great reminder and something they very much believe. But for others, it's where they are as they try to find their way through utter darkness carrying loads that are crushing their souls. Yet, the truth is, we all have pain and loss waiting around the bend, and in those days what we celebrate in these nights will be true...His grace is enough for whatever this life brings our way. Let's pray for this family who has lost a son and for those who will now recover (hopefully that's the case of the seriously injured passenger in the truck) and thank God that He is all we need.

Today, Jacksonville brought sunny skies and 80+ heat, enough to make CT and I wilt in our annual tennis outing with some friends from the International Christian Tennis Academy. Let's just say we didn't win too many points today and got waxed...and we were playing girls, at that! OK, so they're pros... But tonight...wow. Many voices and a loud anthem for His fame. There was something going on from the start...some kind of God-at-work sense that makes me think things changed in this building tonight and will never be the same.

Quickly we'll be in Fort Myers and West Palm. We are so humbled by the journey and will treasure every prayer you offer for us. Much love from the bowels of Veterans Memorial Arena. LG