Waking Up Early Is Worth It

My absolute favorite band ever was at Houghton College this past weekend, and so was I. To see them of course! While it was quite the adventure getting there, I made it about five minutes prior to Matt Maher opening the event with some heartfelt worship before handing the stage over to...

So after getting lost on my way home from a quiz meet earlier that day and driving half an hour out of the way to drop off one of the quizzers, I raced home for a few minutes to give my phone a desperately needed boost to help it last the hour and a half to Houghton, and grab a granola bar. My sustenance for the day included some breakfast at McDonalds on the way to the quiz meet, half of a pizza boat in the midst of my first day as an official "quizmaster" (the one who reads the questions and decides if the kids are right or not), and a granola bar.

I dropped off one more quizzer on my way to the highway and set out for the straight shot to Houghton. Until I got kicked off of the highway for construction. With my dying phone and my belief that the concert started a half an hour earlier than it actually did, I was quite in a hurry to get there and find my long lost friends (friends from camp who are students at Houghton).

I made it safe and sound and grabbed the first parking space I found, right at the very entrance, on the complete opposite side of campus from the concert. I probably burned off all the calories I consumed that day walking up to the concert. But luckily I found some people to follow so that I did not get lost crossing the expanse of Houghton.

As soon as I walked in and handed them my ticket, my phone died. Right when I was about to look at my text to find out where my friend was. I was lost and alone in a world with no phone. Tragic.

But my friend was right there waiting for me, and joyfully welcomed me to the seat she had saved me, right on the end of the aisle. A perfect seat too, for towards the end of the concert, the lead singer came right down that aisle. Until he got almost to where I anxiously awaited his hand slapping mine in a high five, where he proceeded to turn down another aisle.

Oh well. The concert was awesome, by the way. You should totally check out Tenth Avenue North if you don't know them. They write the most beautiful, piercing lyrics that I've ever heard.

Needless to say, I was pretty exhausted by the end of the night. So what else is there to do but go straight to bed and wake up at 6:30 the next morning?

Because if you go to Houghton, you have to make a trip up to the Grand Canyon of the East.

And here is the whole reason I blogged about my journey to the Tenth Avenue North concert (although I am totally for promoting their amazing work). Basically, I just wanted you all to see what you're missing at 7 in the morning on a beautiful Sunday. This is it. This is why myself and three other photographers were standing out in the cold with our fancy tripods.

This is our world.

And it is beautiful.