YS Photo Journal

David Crowder--yes, we were that close.

The famed and fabulous keytar.

This is Michael and George of Lost and Found. If you haven't seen them, you should go to the Lost and Found website and find their nearest concert right now. They're super-cool.

Meet Tim from Starfield. The first year I went to YS, they were brand new. I loved them, and met them, and they were wonderful. Last year, they were famous and everyone was in love with them, and I was less enchanted. But this year I remembered that worshipping with Starfield is second only to worshipping with Crowder, and I really absolutely adore them. I'm quickly coming to love their second CD as much as I do their first, and they seemed just as down-to-earth as when I first met them two years ago, in spite of their fame. Get yourself some Starfield. You won't regret it. They're great songwriters, excellent musicians, and Canadian to boot. Most of all, you can tell that they really love God and write and sing and play from their hearts.

Apparently you don't have to be a talented musician or captivating speaker or hilarious entertainer in order to make it big in front of thousands of people. This guy balanced a chair, and then a ladder, on his chin, while juggling. People loved him. It was pretty cool, I must admit.

Once again with the crazy talent thing--this is Dave the Horn Guy. He has horns strapped all over his body and plays songs on them. In harmony. Fast. It's way more entertaining than you'd ever guess.

Ever heard of The Jesus Painter? I've seen him paint countless times now, and I'm always amazed. I've tried my hand at a couple of his paintings myself, and God's shown up and they've turned out pretty well. Usually he paints on canvas, but this time he painted on glass. He did all the glittery colors and black outline work on the front side, and then painted white over the back. It was really amazing to watch the figure come alive on the glass. It turned out incredibly well. I think his "Christ Eyes" is the only one he does that I like better. It was inspiring to me (but I'll post on that later, I think).

Heck yes for being close enough to touch Jars of Clay when they sang! They did "Love Song For A Savior," "God Will Lift Up Your Head," and "There Is a River," which happen to be my three favorites of theirs. I was a little disappointed (for the second time) with their concert. I think maybe it's because Starfield and Crowder are just so much better live than on CD (perhaps because they're worship bands?) and Jars always seems to be the opposite. But they were good, and I'd pay to go see 'em.

These are Tic and Marko, some of the YS BigWigs. I actually have e-mailed some with Marko, and we were something of prayer partners before and during the convention this year. I got to meet him and go back stage and pray with him--maybe I'll blog about that later on, too. Both of these guys are great leaders and I enjoy their spiritual wisdom. And they're funny. They're wearing Ohio and Michigan jerseys, and after the big game on Saturday (which Ohio won, much to Marko's dismay) they got onstage and gave each other a big hug.

And, blurred and badly composed and all, this may be my favorite picture. Yup, that's me with David freaking Crowder and Mike Hogan. I'd met Hogan before, but not Crowder. I had butterflies (how sad/crazy/pathetic is that?!). It even prompted me to thievery, yet another topic for a later post.

All in all, YS was a blast, as I hope you can tell from these pictures. I'm impressed that you're still reading this. It's all very interesting to me, but I'm surprised it's holding your attention. Thanks for caring about what I care about, my friends.