Author: Big Mama

I slept until noon yesterday.

And I am not going to lie, it was glorious.

The weekend was so incredible, but it started at 3:30 a.m. Friday morning and didn’t end until I walked through my back door last night at midnight. And then I was so excited to tell P all about it that we stayed up until after 1:00 a.m.

God bless him for getting up with Caroline and taking her to church yesterday morning. He is a gem.

On Friday morning at 5:00 a.m. my dad picked me up to drive me to the airport. My flight didn’t leave until 6:30, but he wanted to pick me up a little early so he’d have time to go home and work out on his elliptical machine before he went in to the office.

The early morning workout gene seems to have skipped a generation.

However, I was never so glad to be somewhere early because when I arrived at the airport, it was totally packed. In fact, it was the longest security line I have ever waited in. I’ve never seen anything like it.

It was like discovering a whole new world that I never knew existed, like people who don’t enjoy cold Diet Coke over ice or chocolate. Weird and unusual. Who are all these early risers and where are they going at 5:00 a.m.?

And then, as I was waiting in the line at Starbucks to see if they offered caffeine with any sort of I.V. delivery system, I overheard a couple in front of me talking and the wife was trying to explain to her husband who Faith Hill and Tim McGraw were and it was taking quite a bit of effort because she wasn’t really sure who they were but thought that they “might do some singing on stage together”.

Lord have mercy.

This is why I don’t need to be around people who wake up at 5:00 a.m. Clearly, we are from two different planets. How do you not know who Faith and Tim are? Even if you don’t listen to country music?

I’m sure it’s because this couple is very sophisticated and well-traveled and would never try to beg a security guard to let them go through security with their flip-flops on because they forgot their fungus-preventing security socks (I haven’t actually trademarked that name, but I will eventually) and have phobias about their bare feet touching the place where thousands of other bare feet have walked.

Anyway, I arrived safe in Atlanta where the lovely Annie not only picked me up from the airport but took me to eat breakfast at The Flying Biscuit. Eating that biscuit was the first time I saw the face of God this weekend, but it wouldn’t be the last.

Annie dropped me off at The Omni. I checked in and got in the elevators to head up to my room, but I punched the bottom on the elevator and nothing happened.

Punch again.

Nothing.

Again.

Nothing.

I stood there for five minutes in a non-moving elevator until I realized you had to insert your room key to get the elevator to take you to your floor. They don’t have that at the La Quinta.

Sophie arrived around 1:00 and we went down to the arena to watch sound check. We had no idea what exactly that entailed, but Travis had told us we could come down to sound check and it was either that or watch some old episodes of “Sanford and Son” in our room, so we chose sound check.

As soon as we walked in we saw Amanda and Janelle. It was so great to finally meet them in person. I also got to meet Travis’s sweet wife, Angela, for the first time which was so fun after hearing so much about her.

We all stood around and visited for a few minutes because they were all very busy doing official sound checking things, and then Beth Moore came walking up to us. I could have died.

I got to meet Beth, we hugged and I was pretty much speechless because I knew if I said anything I might go straight into the ugly cry. I think I may have said something like “You have no idea”, which is really so profound and eloquent.

I am quite the wordsmith.

I’m also pretty sure I introduced myself as “Big”.

Nice.

Everyone had places to be and things to do, so Sophie and I went back up to the room to catch some “Sanford and Son” and possibly a nap. That’s the benefit of not having any real talent, you’re able to just hang out in hotel rooms and watch Aunt Esther and Lamont. “Hey Dummy, here comes 5,000 volts of ugly”.

Finally, it was time to wade into the sea of 19,000 women to get into the arena. I have never seen anything like it.

We finally arrived at our seats and a little while later Travis and the Praise Team started singing. And that’s pretty much when I started crying.

I was just completely overwhelmed by the presence of God. Not to mention that I was sitting directly behind Beth, Kay Arthur and Priscilla Shirer. It was honestly one of the most surreal moments of my life.

And I just kept thinking, “God, how did I get here?”

But there was no where else I would have rather been.

I’ll tell y’all more tomorrow, because, seriously, could this be any longer?

That’s a rhetorical question, by the way.