The Avett brothers-A life altering experience.

This post should really be a catch up of our Christmases, etc., but I have another post burning away inside of me.  I'm sure it won't be life changing for anyone else, and I know the title sounds a little overly dramatic, but in some way, it's true.

Jaret and I have been fans of the Avett brothers for quite a few years.  One of the few moments that turned out to be 'cool' in my life is that I found out about these guys before anyone else. Even my dear hubby-which is truly a feat.  I heard them being interviewed, a few songs and thought, "Jaret would love these guys."  So I told him about them, and he was hooked.  Honestly way more than I was. 

But such is my life as a mother.  I often want silence-not more sound.  On top of that, music has always moved me deeply, and so anything even slightly melancholy is often avoided.  Real life is too easily full of it already. 

Anyway, we have travelled to a couple of their concerts and enjoyed them.  Then this fall a friend told Jaret that they were coming to our fair city.  He was beside himself with joy.  The friend got tickets for all of us, and they ended up being in the 3rd row in the pit.  I really wasn't looking forward to going because I imagined being crammed with a bunch of crazies in the front, craning my neck up because I was too close and down below the stage. 

As it turns out, I look back on it as one of the highlights of my life.  Most importantly there wasn't any cramming and no out of control crazies.  If that hadn't been the case I probably wouldn't be writing this.  The pit was also raised, so I didn't even have to strain my neck to watch.  And being that close, you could see their expressions and just be drawn into the music more.

The concert was a mix of unbelievable energy and quiet (yes, even melancholy) experiences.  There is something that feels grounded about these guys.  They don't have a proud or braggy feeling.  They just look like they are doing what they absolutely love.  And doing it with all their hearts.

I left thinking all kinds of things.  First how wonderful it was and how blessed I felt to experience it.  Second I start thinking about them.  (I am forever such a serious person...)  :(  I prayed for their families-I can't imagine it's easy to have your husband on the road so much. And I prayed for them spiritually.  I just want to know that all is well with them. 

For the first couple of days after, I was filled with a deep longing, almost aching feeling.  It made me tear up and then smile, too.  I tried to figure out what the longing was.  It hit me after a lot of pondering that it was what C.S. Lewis wrote about.  Experiences that we have on earth that are wonderful, but leaving us longing for something more.  He talked about how that feeling is our eternal beings longing for something we can't find here.  A longing for heaven. 

While that longing is a little hard (but thankfully has subsided a bit), it is also beautiful.  I am thankful to have experienced something that stirred up the longing, and I'm thankful that there will someday be satisfaction. It is beyond belief all that God has done and is still planning for us. I wish I was eloquent enough to express it.