What do a police helicopter, a rock concert, baseball and marmalade have in common?

They were all part of my weekend! And, I count them all as gifts from God.

175. Safety. Thursday night Brian and I went to a park and played some catch, then came home and had dinner on our patio. We sat out there, just enjoying the evening, and I commented on all of the airplanes going by. “No, there’s a helicopter circling our apartment….and it has a search light,“ Brian informed me. That made me a little….nervous. Brian wanted to stand on the front porch to see the helicopter from there, and I didn’t want to be left alone in the apartment, so I went with him.

As we were watching the helicopter overhead, a police car pulled up in front of our building. They had a search light too that they were shining around our building. I gasped as two police men with German shepherds rounded the corner and went past us. I really wanted to go inside, so I made Brian come in and look in all the closets and behind all the doors, and then I shut all the windows and blinds. Brian stayed outside on the front porch; he said he was watching for a dark scary guy to go running past, and then he’d call the police. I think he’s been watching too many crime shows lately!

I searched for news online, and discovered there had been an armed robbery not too far from us. The helicopter continued circling overhead for some time, but eventually moved on. I don’t know if they found who they were looking for. I’m just glad we were safe!

176. The Rock and Worship Roadshow. For $10, we got into the US Airways Center to see several top notch Christian rock and worship bands: Anthem, The Afters, Thousand Foot Crutch, Lecrae, Matt Maher, Jars of Clay, and Mercy Me. We had a blast! It was so much fun to sing and worship with thousands and thousands of other believers.

Brian got really excited when we saw Lecrae’s van

We were especially excited to see Lecrae. We’ve been fans of his music for a long time and he was the main reason Brian wanted to go to the concert. Neither of us enjoys rap usually, but Lecrae is something else. His hard hitting, truth filled lyrics make all the difference.

He ran and jumped and hit the cymbals. I caught it at just the right moment.

I was excited to see the Afters since “Light up the Sky” is one of my favorite songs. I was really glad they played it!

Light up the Sky

The Afters

I love Jars of Clay too, and knew most of the songs they played.

During one of the songs, he walked around in the audience

He moved around a lot, so it was really hard to take pictures!

Matt Maher’s songs are always on the radio, and we enjoyed worshiping with him.

Matt Maher

Thousand Foot Crutch is not my style… they’re a little scary. They were sooooo loud too, I had to keep my fingers in my ears because it was just painful! I did enjoy taking pictures of the guitarist though.

He had dreadlocks past his waist, which he flipped around while playing

That blur is his hair

Mercy Me was amazing! They were my first favorite Christian band. They played for an hour, and it was awesome!

Here Bart is talking about the song “Beautiful” that he wrote for his daughters

Of course, they sang “I Can Only Imagine”

177. An answer to prayer. I don’t know if it had to do with the video shown at the concert and Mercy Me talking about how Compassion International has changed their lives, but Brian has agreed to sponsor a child. I’ve wanted to do this for several months, but Brian wasn’t willing to before, so this is a very exciting answer to prayer!

Compassion is very wise with their finances: 82% of Compassion’s funds go straight to their child development programs, which include education, food, medical care, clothing, and Biblical teaching. Their administration and fundraising costs are minimal, and as a result, they have been routinely given the highest ratings for a charity organization.

178. Spring Training Baseball Games. Brian and I both love baseball. I’ve never understood why some people think it’s boring! As a late birthday present, we went to the Chicago Cubs and Cincinnati Reds game. The weather was perfect. It was such a beautiful day and a good game, even though the Cubs lost.

179. The smells of popcorn, cotton candy, and lemonade.

180. Life in a plant I thought was dead.

181. Warm toast with orange marmalade.

182. No school over Spring Break!

183. Two days before my family comes to get ready for them.

184. Mercy Me’s new CD, which I bought at the concert for a mere $5.

185. Two more semesters of college. I registered for fall classes, so I guess I’m going to school online again.

186. Spring flowers.

187. Many prayers offered up all over the world for Japan.

Please take time to pray for Japan and the other places affected by the earthquakes and tsunamis, maybe right now as you read this sentence?

What gifts are you grateful for today?