Tuesday Treasures

September 8, 2015

A.P. English is going to be the death of me, so I'm at least requesting proper grammar on my tombstone, since that will be my cause of death after all. The work load is absolutely ridiculous, and I'm not one to mind working a lot. I just keep reminding myself there is more to life than English. But anyways...

Since being 16, I've gotten to be all cute with Ems. For our first celebratory cute date, we settled on the Egg and I. 

The Egg and I is a regional brunch restaurant chain that I just love. You sit on wooden benches and they give you a whole pot of coffee, which is always a selling point for me. Our cute little brunch date consisted of ordering the same meal (and taking pictures of it), drinking an entire thermos of coffee, and solving all of life's problems. After years of not liking eggs, something in me has changed, and I've recently started to  love omelets and scrambled eggs. Emma and I actually both ended up ordering the Egg Byte Omelet (mine without the mushrooms) with hazelnut coffee. 

Twas a good morning.

One of my favorite aspects of God is his faithfulness. He is exactly who He says He is, and He does exactly what He says He will do, which makes my heart rest at peace and reassures me of my future daily. Over the past few weeks, She Reads Truth  has done a study through Daniel, chapter by chapter from the lions to the dreams and prophecies. 

Daniel is a story of faithfulness on both ends. Daniel remains faithful to God and more importantly, God remains faithful to Daniel. I finished this study on Friday, and looking back, Daniel 10-12 ended up being my favorite. Though I love Daniel's attitude in Daniel 3 ("And if not, He is still good"- Daniel 3:18), Daniel 10-12 impacted me the most. 

You should totally read it for yourself, but in short..

After years of praying for God to let him and his people return to Jerusalem, a decree is issued that allows that, but at this point, Daniel is too old and frail to travel. He knows those who are going will face hardship and he mourns those hardships, so he prays. He prays night and day and fasts for 3 weeks straight for wisdom for the new nation. After 3 weeks, He finally hears back from God in the form of an angel.

Much like us, Daniel had to have been discouraged because he did not hear God. The angel tells Daniel that his prayers were heard on the first day, but the angel was caught in battle against the prince of the kingdom of Persia, a spiritual demon, for 3 weeks. 

It is such a literal depiction of the war going on all around us, but it is also a example of how God allows suffering for greater good. Daniel's persistence until he heard God serves as an example for us, but there was probably also spiritual growth for Daniel, drawing him much closer than ever before. The angel continued on explaining a prophecy so grand that the only One who knows it is the One who holds it in His hands. 

"When evil forces work hard to thwart God's purposes, we can only be sure that something significant is at stake." 

-Missy Fuller, She Reads Truth

I take so much from seeing this example in Daniel. When it feels like there is no answer and you are diligently praying and seeking God, just know that He hears you and He is coming!

She Reads Truth is just starting a new plan, and it's never too late to join! Sign up here to join an amazing community of sisters.

This week has also been full of good music. Maddie and Tae came out with a new album, Thomas Rhett released new singles for his album that is coming soon, Brett Eldredge released "Wanna Be That Song," Ben Rector did too...and he was really the selling point.
I used to say "if it ain't country, it ain't music," but in recent years, I have learned that's not true. Believe it or not, Ben Rector is the one who really made me believe that. I was actually obsessed with "The Walking in Between" for a while, and it is still in the my top 10 favorite albums ever.
He has so much control on his wide range and the right amount of elegance and ease when he belts that is is impossible to not love listening to him. His true lyrics, minimal editing effects, and soothing voice won me over in a heart beat. I'm not too sure what to call his genre...most of his songs are also what I would call "easy listening" or "feel goods." Some are upbeat, cruise worthy songs but some are also slower, bluegrassy love songs. They are also clean and real and pure and cute and I just love him. I also think that personally, he is also a good person. If you ever have a chance to go look through his twitter, check out #BenOnAPlane. Or even just go through his regular tweets. He's funny. He's real. He just seems like a solid guy, you know? (His wife is also a VERY talented writer, this is her latest writing and my current favorite)
"Brand New" is his fifth studio album, sixth released album if 2014's Live in Denver counts, too, but eighth if all of his EP's are included. All of his albums have done exceedingly well on the charts, and he has gone on tour with big names like Dave Barnes and Five for Fighting. I have no doubt that 2015 and "Brand New" will be any different.
You can get "Brand New" through iTunes or Amazon. You can also listen to some of my favorite BR songs through Spotify as you finish reading this post.

My aunt moved to a new apartment this summer, and on Friday, I went down there for the first time since moving all of her boxes. It looks very nice..very Pinterest, if you ask me, but I got to spend some bonding time with her and her roommate. We ate dinner, and I learned to play a new game..It's called Ticket to Ride. 

Your board looks like a map with trains going all directions, from city to city. Basically, your goal is to complete the most/longest routes and to block your opponents' path to complete their routes. I am totally obsessed. I loved it, and I'm buying it as soon as I can. Stephanie said it used to only be sold at Barnes and Noble, but it's available at Amazon, too. (Honestly, what isn't available on Amazon?)

If you even sort of know me, you probably know how excited I was on Saturday, considering college football came back. I got to watch my boys do my favorite thing and sing my favorite song with my favorite people, and I couldn't have been happier. It may have had a 90 minute delay, but rain or shine, it's great to be a Tennessee Vol,

 

xoxo and gbo,

Lauren

Kelsea Ballerini with CMT Next Women of Country

Friends and family always make comments to the parents of a baby about how they've grown since the last time they saw each other, and that is exactly how I felt on Tuesday night.

Tuesday night, Kelsea Ballerini, headlined her first show! Never the less, it was in Nashville, too!

After following Kelsea's career and getting to know her more and more over the past two years, I have seen the many ways that Kelsea has grown as both an artist and a person, and seeing her go from Soundcloud demos to artist parties to headlining her own show was so incredibly cool.

Right now, Kelsea is out with Jana Kramer on CMT's Next Women of Country Tour, an all women tour promoting the up and coming female talent in country music. 

At the Nashville show, Jana was not able to preform, but she did make an appearance when CMT's SVP of Muisc Strategy came out and announced the 2016 tour, which is including (L-R) Brook Eden, Cam, Clare Dunn, and Ruthie Collins. 

The show opened up with Carly Pearce and Hailey Steele, who both have loads of talent. Carly Pearce can belt like nobody's business and her rendition of Dolly Parton's "9 to 5" was cute as can be. Check her out for yourself and see what you think. Here is her on Tuesday singing "Just Another Girl."

But finally, my girl took the stage.

With teal guitar in hand, she began to rock. She did crowd pleasers from her EP like "Dibs" and "Yeah Boy" to kick off the night but also sang from her new album, "The First Time," as well as two that aren't on the album, "High School" and "Graffiti." 

One of the other girls in the audience videoed them, so if you're curious, you can check out "High School" here and "Graffiti" here. 

High School always has been a personal favorite of mine, so seeing it live was more wonderful than words.

Turns out Kelsea had more than just the surprise of "High School" and "Graffiti" planned...Maddie and Tae came out and sang "There's Your Trouble" by the legendary Dixie Chicks. Purely acoustic and raw, Kelsea, Maddie, and Tae all proved their talent. 

In honor of her first album coming out this Monday, Kelsea had to do some from there like "XO," "Stilettos," and "Peter Pan." 

I can not tell you how excited I am for this album to come out. It is so Kelsea and so true to who she is. I can't wait to watch the world fall in love with her like I have.

"The First Time" is available starting May 18th on iTunes, and you're really missing out if you don't get it. It does have upbeat songs for jamming like "XO" and "Peter Pan," but it also has very vulnerable and relatable songs like "Secondhand Smoke" and "The First Time." 

To end the show, she sang "Love Me Like You Mean It" (which is currently #9 on the country charts!!) and the entire venue sang along. I had tears in my eyes as she stood on stage with tears in her eyes and listened to everyone sing it back.

Coolest moments ever.

Kelsea most definitely lived up to all expectations I had on stage, but she far surpassed all expectations off stage.

As soon as she came off, I was greeted with "Lauren, I'm so glad you're here! I love you a lot for coming!!" and a hug before I could even open my mouth. 

Kelsea is on her way to do great things, mark my words, friends. She's going big places and I'm so thankful to be along for the ride.

Be sure to follow her on Twitter, Insta, like her on Facebook, and download "The First Time!"

I NEEDTOB(r)E(athe) at Sam's Place

Sam's Place was most definitely the place to be on Sunday night if for no other reason because Emma and I were there. 

But really, it was incredible

Sam's Place is when one Sunday a month, the Ryman returns to it's original purpose as a gathering place for worshipping believers, also known as a church. I don't know if many of yall know this, but Tom Ryman actually built the Ryman as a church for Sam Jones, the Reverend who lead Tom Ryman to Christ. Sam lead Tom to Christ during an outdoor tent revival, and from then on, Tom promised Sam he would never preach from under a tent again so he built what is the Ryman Auditorium to us today. (If you're interested in learning more about the Ryman and how it came to be, there's a ton more information here! http://ryman.com/history/captain-tom-ryman)

But anyway, Steven Curtis Chapman, the host of the night, decided to return the Ryman to it's original function and it was hands down one of the coolest concerts ever. 

The curtain came up and SCC came out and kicked us off with a song of worship to "Do Everything" and being in a room of believers all singing about glorifying God in all aspects of their lives was super cool. 

It set such a great tone for the rest of the concert. 

SCC and Amy Grant are such good friends that SCC couldn't just introduce her like normal, so he got out his handy dandy ukulele and sang a song about Amy's career and all the breakthroughs she's had as a female Christian artist, which are absolutely remarkable.

Amy came on and sang "Better Than A Hallelujah" and "If I Could See" with some jokes about hot flashes in between. Amy is an artist that's always been played in my house. She was my mom's first concert as a teenager and just a classic artist in the Reed family and honestly, I was really disappointed in her performance. I had these great expectations built up that came down by the end of her songs. She has an unmistakable stage presence but her voice wavered in and out and seemed a bit pushed to me. 

Despite the rougher performance, Amy and SCC sang a last song together: Thy Word, the classic hymn.

It was phenomenal. Absolutely incredible. They did SCC's version from his hymns album and it was amazing. Their harmonies and their voices go together so easily. Unforgettable.

They also sang "More To This Life" which was good as well because their voices are heavenly together.

And then David Nail came out. 

David is such a quality act. He came out and you could see the nerves from a mile away. From the moment he opened his mouth, you could tell he was so nervous to be on that stage. He shared a little bit about himself and then sang "In the Ghetto" by Elvis Presley, after providing a backstory of how that is and always has been one of his go to songs. David's first song, Red Light is one of his more popular songs, so of course, he sang that one. Then, with shaky hands, he drank some water and shared another 10 minute story about home before singing his last song. The last song he sang was actually a brand new song to be on his next record and was super cute. It's a sappy song about going home and it is so good. I'm super excited for his next album. David is a crazy talented artist. His voice sounds exactly like it does on his albums and I definitely want to see him again.

After David, it was Laura Story's turn to be introduced by SCC, and his method was via "story." He gave us her life leading up to that moment in under 3 minutes, which I personally found very impressive.

Being a bluegrass player by tradition, Laura took the stage with her handy dandy up right bass. 

"If I couldn't be the most talented one tonight, at least I could have the biggest instrument."- Laura Story

Laura sang "Indescribeable," "I Can Just Be Me," and "Blessings," which were all amazing. The words and the meanings of each of those songs are incredible and so powerful, plus the tune and talented singer didn't hurt.

Using his hosting skills, SCC came out and sang another hymn, much like Amy did, except they sang "How Great Thou Art" and it was just as incredible. The version they did was bluegrassy and ah. I just loved it.

After a very short intermission, the Isaacs came on. Due to my age, I was not familiar with them, but they are a bluegrassy family band so I absolutely loved them. Their harmonies were SPOT ON. So much talent in one family is insane.

In between the Isaacs and the final act of the night, SCC took a moment to share about Show Hope, which is an organization that helps families qualify for financial aid to help adopt. SCC has such a passion for adoption that the proceeds from the tickets are donations for Show Hope! Show Hope was founded by him and his wife and they've helped countless families bring home children from over 50 countries! It is a great organization, and everything that they're doing is making such a positive impact. SCC actually brought 2 guests out to talk about everything adoption means. First, his daughter Stevie Joy came out. Stevie Joy was adopted by Steven and his wife and has found her place in her Forever Family and spoke from the child's point of view of adoption. Then, SCC brought out a family who had partnered with Show Hope to bring home a little boy and they explained about their journey of adoption and thanked Show Hope for they do. To find out more about Show Hope, you can go to showhope.org.

Once Stevie Joy and SCC left, the long awaited Bo and Bear Rinehart of NEEDTOBREATHE took the stage. 

It. Was. Incredible.

Bo and Bear came out and began singing Wasteland in the microphones, but by the end of the first verse, they had unplugged and come to the front of the stage, doing a purely acoustic, raw version of the song. 

You know how they sound on the radio/album? That is EXACTLY how they sound life. In tune and insanely talented. Honestly, I was shaking. I will never forget such a cool moment.

As they sang, the entire building was silent, but on the chorus, the entire room was filled with people declaring that if "God is on my side, who can be against me?" which was beautiful. It was breathtaking.

The nature of the night was like a singer-songwriter night where you hear about the song and then they preform it, and NEEDTOBREATHE's most recent release is called "Brother." Bear explained that Bo wrote it for him during a huge fight and it saved their relationship. The performance of such a significant song resonated in everyone I'm pretty sure. Though not always a biological brother, everyone's got someone they need to be there for and Brother explained that perfectly.

Steven's adoration for NEEDTOBREATHE was so obvious. Before they took the stage, he talked about how they were the first band he wanted to invite to Sam's place, and SCC proceeded to bow down at their feet once "Brother" ended.

The adoration seemed to be a pretty mutual thing from both sides, so Bear and SCC played "When You're A Soldier." (Fun fact: When they were younger, Bear and Bo actually played "When You're A Soldier" in a school competition and won with it.) Bo and Bear are SO talented. If you haven't seen them live, I wholeheartedly recommend doing so. I'm so seeing them again, even if I have to pay an obnoxious amount of money.

No concert is complete without a grand finale of course, so to close out the night, all the artists came back out and the congregation rose for a group sing of "I Saw The Light."

To me, seeing people using their God given talents to glorify Him will never get old..especially if it involves music. 

xo

lauren

Burning It Down Tour 2015

Jason Aldean "burned it down" last night in Nashville. 

See what I did there? 

Jason Aldean with Tyler Farr and Cole Swindell stopped at Bridgestone last night. Lots of lights, lots of pyro techs, and lots of loud music, which sounds like a good night if you ask me. 

Tyler came out and ran around the stage. Being the first act, he sang to half empty arena, but by the time his set finished, Bridgestone was packed. In comparison to his released studio tracks, he didn't sound too hot to me. Pushed and unsure are two words I'd use to describe Tyler. Vocally, he tried to do some runs and hit some notes that he shouldn't have. He also seemed unsure of what to do with the room on the stage, which didn't help his stage presence much. He did set the mood for the show very well though. Overall, Tyler wasn't my favorite, but has potential.

Then Cole Swindell came out and every girl swooned and every guy raised did a 12 ounce curl. Cole was incredible. From the first moment his intro video played, the energy in the arena soared. Cole came out smiling with a huge stage presence. The entire crowd was dancing, and I don't think it was entirely because of the alcohol. He has a great voice that sounded almost exactly like he does on his albums. Since Cole is a songwriter turned singer, he sang some of his writes like "This is How We Roll" and "Roller Coaster." Besides singing "Roller Coaster," He also has some Luke like dance moves that were adorable. I was genuinely impressed by how much talent he had. Cole is definitely one of my new favs. 

And then came Jason...I have listened to Jason for as long as I can remember. Dirt Road Anthem is one of the first songs I remember bragging about having it memorized.

  It was crazy cool to see him live, and I was not disappointed. Awesome pyro techs and lights only enhanced the true talent Jason has. His albums and his live voice sound exactly the same, which always impresses me in this day and age. Though his voice was the same, many of his songs seemed "amped" up with higher tempos and heavier drum beats. It wasn't bad, but it was almost like it was a remix on certain tracks. 

Jason didn't talk much between songs, which is up to you if it's bad or good. With a 22 song set and encore, you definitely get your moneys worth. If for no other reason, the concert was well worth it's cost because Randy Owen of Alabama came out and sang a few songs. Jason has always liked the band Alabama, so seeing him on stage with Randy was a really cool and special sight. 

As the night went on, the artists got more and more talented and only confirmed that concerts with loud music and lots of lights are my happy place. 

~lauren