The ones I already knew.
Watermill Express people.
They. are. so. cool! This company, this amazing bunch of people just contacted us at the Heaven Fest office last year and said, “How can we help? Can we give away free water?” Honestly, I have to tell you the jaded side of me wondered what their angle was. They didn’t have one, it turns out, other than being Kingdom-minded and wanting to bless. www.watermillexpress.com
So, they rounded up volunteers, set up water stations, and guess what they did?
- They gave away 2100 gallons of chilled water (using 5000 pounds of ice!) at Heaven Fest in recyclable paper cups.
- They saved our landfills from getting approximately 17,000 plastic water bottles thrown in them!
- They brought in 20 volunteers to give the water away – their friends and acquaintances and employees and family all chipped in to pass out water.
- They put a container out for donations for the Home of Refuge and raised $3496, an average of $1.66 per gallon served.
- They helped 23,000 people stay hydrated and safe at Heaven Fest.
- And they have our undying devotion and gratefulness. When we grow up, we wanna be just like Watermill Express!
Matt and Emily.
Reunited and it feels so good! Emily used to be one of my employees and I adore this girl! I was, after all, her very first boss and was able to fully mold and make her into a perfect and top-notch employee! Hehe.
Emily married, like, the best guy ever a couple of years ago and they jumped in to become a part of HF at the very last minute this year when we lost a leadership couple. They did it so well. We knew we were killing them with a pile of stuff to do, but they jumped in and worked their way through the festival very well. You have turned out so beautifully, Emily! I am so proud of you and thank God we are working together again. And? Matt is so great! I couldn’t have found you a better guy myself and I am pretty good at that, as you know! LOVE you guys!
The ones I just met that day.
Jason, big dreamer and God-lover.
Jason shown here with Lewis Brown (aka Proxy, some one else I truly adore) and with his ministry partner at the Appreciation dinner
G-Spot Ministries. I know, I know-he has got to change the name of his ministry (kids today!!)! Jason (aka DJ Spooky 1) is going to start a network of Christian hip-hop radio stations and he wants to pick my brain about fundraising and making it happen. I have never raised anything close to the millions he’ll need, but the adventure possibility seems fun…
This cutie-patootie pregnant youth pastor’s wife from Wyoming.
This adorable woman came up to me right after the Sacred Assembly and a very long festival day and said, “We’re here from Wyoming with 30 teen-agers and there is no point of getting caught in that traffic jam. If you can get us trash bags, we’ll start cleaning up.” They were awesome! The boys and girls competed and they cleaned like maniacs, right along with this beautiful woman and her husband. I don’t know them, but I LOVE them. Hey-if this is you and you find this, contact me and next year I’ll treat you to something special at HF, maybe an artist meet-and-greet or something!? Plus, I wanna see the baby!
Justin, the front of Main Stage Security guy.
The Sacred Assembly was, well, sacred. It was amazing. The worship was pure and cool and loud and crazy-great. And I was right there, next to the middle-of-the-front-of-the-main-stage security guy. I am pretty sure his name was Justin. And he was so sweet. And he was such a worshiper. And he loved Sacred Assembly, too. And I hope we meet to worship together again sometime. Really good kid with a pure heart! And a peace-maker, too.
Biker Missionaries from Houma, Louisiana.
Mike and Annie Bradford, full-time missionaries, came all the way to Heaven Fest on their motorcycles to help the Watermill Express people hand out water. So sweet! Annie and I got to compare “language differences” between us Coloradans and people from Louisiana. I think I was able to tap into my old “accent” from living there for a couple of years during the last millennium. It was a pleasure to have them.
Nice people just show up.
Heaven Fest was a crazy busy day. But everywhere I turned, part of the Family met me with the love of Jesus. These are good days and good people. Great people, really.
You…mentalating on actually once living in (and also apparently having some fond memories of)Louisiana……..hmmm? Be honest…it felt good to revert to those old memories for a season- even if it was a short one? True? Louisiana isn’t all bad now is it?
Not all bad. I do miss the food and even craved gumbo recently.