Harvest Crusade 2007

By arriving a couple hours early we managed to get GREAT seats!

Me, Luke, Johnny, and Kyle
The band POD playing... a band Jim really likes and we have a few of their CD's

The Stage

THOUSANDS of people came forward to accept Christ (on the field). It was really overwhelming to be a witness to! I found it moving to see people on the field but even more so when I looked around and saw all the now empty seats that was once a packed stadium. I thought they just might run out of room on the field. So cool!

Our family's experience: As with almost everything we do in our lives... the decision to go to the Crusade was pretty much a spontaneous one. We were unsure about taking our young boys but after checking it out online and seeing pictures of many young kids at past events, and because Jim had heard on the radio that it was the most kid/teen friendly night of the event...we decided to give it a try and go as a family. I must admit- we won't be doing that again for a long time!

We got to the event a couple hours early and had excellent seats as you will see in the above picture. The kids were wonderful and the couple hours of wait was really fun as the crowd was having a great time together (see very short video below). THEN the concert started. What was I thinking??? It would have been a total blast if it were just me and Jim but it was as loud as you would expect a concert to be. My mistake is not thinking through the fact that we had an autistic child with us. Johnny wigged out as loud noise really bothers him, and this was way louder then anything else he had experienced. He covered his ears, curled up in a ball, and burst in to tears and in an absolute panic within just seconds of the music starting. I got Jim's attention as he was on the end seat and Johnny was sitting next to me and Jim grabbed Johnny and got him out of there. There was no time for us to talk or make a game plan first. When Luke saw Jim and Johnny leave he wanted to go too and burst into tears. I had to scramble around grabbing all our bags and things since I couldn't leave them behind and rush Kyle and Luke out to try and find Jim. I told the usher what was going on and that I would be right back to let her know if we were going to leave or stay so if we left she could give our seats away.

I was so glad to have been able to find Jim quickly (having a tall husband has major benefits!). I told him what happened and we decided what to do. I had packed along a blanket and some games so we decided to make a picnic outside of the auditorium until the concert ended. I went and spent a fortune on snacks from the snack bar. I went back to the usher and told her my husband would be back in for the concert and then the whole family would be back for the message so we would like to keep the seats and she assured me it would be done. So, I went back and we got the kids all set up and sent Jim back in to enjoy POD since he likes that band. He was back quickly. He went back in to find that the usher had gone ahead and given away our seats anyways!

Now what? Being outside in the hallways of the stadium was cold and we were not dressed for it. We were so close to just going home. We took the snacks and had a little picnic on a small blanket and then packed up to leave. Just as we were getting ready to leave we heard it was the last song and had really hoped to stay for the message. We thought maybe we could just stand somewhere and listen and watch. We lugged our bags and kids around looking for a place to stand but there were few spots even to stand and you couldn't see anything from there even if you found one. Just as we debated leaving someone told us they were opening up seats but they were behind the stage and the only spot you couldn't even watch on the big screens. We decided to go ahead and have a seat and listen in. The message was great and the seats may not have been what we would have picked but here is another example of why I'm glad God leads us to where we are supposed to be:

At the time that Pastor Greg Laurie offered an opportunity to come forward to receive Christ guess where they had them go?... right in front of our seats!!! While sitting there it was so overwhelming to see floods and floods of people giving their lives to Christ. I began to pray about the people around us. There was a teenager in front of us that was squirming in his chair and looking like he was bored and uncomfortable. God put it on my heart to pray for him and I began praying. It was not long after that he stood up and walked forward! Then God directed my attention to another man in the crowd and I felt I was supposed to be in prayer for him. As they were giving the last opportunity for people to come forward him and his wife stood up and walked forward! God's SO good!!! It was an event I'll always remember.

Some of it was fun, some of it was very moving, some of it was frustrating.... all of it was worth it! Enjoy the short videos below for just a few glimpses of what it was like to be there. We would like to go again sometime but this time will absolutely get a babysitter!!!