I like feelin...I like bein....8-98

I'M HAPPY!!!!!!!!! I MET MARK LOWRY!!!!!!!! AAHHHH!!!!! Gosh, were do I begin??

You guys want details, so here goes, bear with me...Ok, we arrived at the concert. I left the tickets in the car, which was parked a million miles away, ran to get them, came back and my sister tells me Mark just passed by.  I was majorly disappointed. She didn't say anything to him, but I probably would have screamed, well, gone crazy at least. 

The concert started at 7. A choir sang for half an hour, then Anthony Burger came out around 7:30. He was absolutely incredible, as usual. He talked about his childhood, played a few songs. He was hysterical, very funny guy. Then, they introduced Mark at around 7:45. I went wild, stood up, screamed, clapped, then sang along with him...."Bein' Happy" and "House of Gold"(which I requested, but I'm sure he had it planned anyway). He actually looked at me, probably wondering how I knew the words. My sister and I sang together and clapped. He looked at us and smiled(you know that look he gives when he opens his mouth and smiles at the same time and nods his head), like hey, they know the words. Then he did some familiar routines, we took a fifteen minute recess, I met Anthony Burger, then came back. Anthony played again and Mark did this thing were he had one aisle pick two songs, another aisle pick two song, etc. Then, Anthony had to put all of the songs together into one medley. Mark was like, "I love when Anthony travels with me and I can do this to him". Anthony got a kick out of Mark. He was laughing so hard, he was wiping away tears at one point.  Then, Mark talked about the Bible and Mary, then sang "Mary Did you Know?"  Which was awesome. Then we all sang a hymn, then he said a prayer and that was it. 

Ok, maybe not. After that, we found out he was doing a book signing.

We waited on line for a while, and thank God the line wasn't too bad. BUT, as I stood there, I got butterflys, I was weak in the knees. I mean, MARK LOWRY was standing five feet from me!!!! I got to take a lot of close ups then(I took a ton of pictures, by the way, which I will send to all of you, except Bev, of course, unless you'd like some too Bev) I finally got up there, and he started signing my cousin's stuff first. My sister chimes in and says, "This is your biggest fan" He goes, "Who?" She points to me, and he says, "She don't look that big." He's so funny. So, then I take out the bus I made him (I bought a miniature bus, painted it black and copied Mark's signature on one side, then put ...But Seriously Tour on the other side) and because I was so nervous, I dropped it on the floor, my hands were shaking so bad. I picked it up and gave it to him. He says, "Hey, my own bus. Thanks!" He signed my books, we took some pictures, and then I gave him my original copy of my drawing of Piper (actually it was a copy of the original that I had colored in. My sister lost the original) and the poem that went with it. I also took out my poetry and told him I wanted him to have it. He was really nice about it too. He said thank you. I wasn't going to give it to him, but decided to anyway. He probably went backstage and threw it out, but at least I gave it to him. I'm sure he kept the bus, I hope. Of course, after everyone had left, I saw I was the only one that had given him anything. He was SOOO down to earth and extremely nice. I was so impressed. It makes me like him even more, if that's even possible. Then my sister said, "We're from New York, don't hold it against us." He says, "You came all the way from NY just to see me?" Ann says, "Actually, it was her idea." He replies, "No one has ever travelled that far to see me." I chime in, "Mark, I'd travel the world to see you." He says, "Thank you so much." and shakes my hand again. Then I walked away, then realized he didn't sign my shirt (his hyperactivity shirt I had bought). So, I waited til everyone was done, and walked back up. While I'm waiting, this older man, who was part of the coordinating group, winks at me and says hello. I said hello and smiled back. He tells me, "You have the prettiest smile I've seen here tonight." I said, "Thank you. That's so sweet." So then I finally get up on stage again and this other guy, who was also a helper, says, "I know you. I'd recognize that smile anywhere. You were here before." I was like, "Yeah, I'm back. I want him to sign my t-shirt" SO, I go up to Mark and say, "Mark, I'm back. Can you sign my t-shirt?" He was like, "Sure, no problem." So, I bend down and he says, "What was it? IB, what?" I said, "IBIJC." He says, "I Believe in Jesus Christ." I said, "Amen!" He wrote on my shirt:

To IBIJC, Mark Lowry '98. I was so impressed he remembered my on-line name.  I had told him the first time I had met him who I was. I said I was a subscriber and my name was IBIJC, told him what it stood for and he says,

"Oh, I was wondering what it stood for." HE KNEW WHO I WAS! I can't tell you how impressed I was. Of course, I send him so many, and my sister called me the psychotic e-mailer, so it's hard not to remember me :)

Then I told him I had spoken to you, Bev, and how nice you've been. He said, "Oh, yeah?" My niece also met him and imitated him doing "Waaater". He sang along with her. He was sooooooo nice. Then, we took more pictures with him.

That same guy was up there and he said, "What a beautiful smile she has."

Isn't that so nice? Everyone says that about me. No matter who I meet, that's the first thing they notice. Thank God for braces, or my teeth wouldn't be so nice. Also, thank God for giving me such nice teeth too. Such nice people there. I feel like writing a thank you note to them. Their auditorium was incredible. Brand new and beautiful and everyone was so friendly.

Well, I'm still on my Mark high. I immediately called home and spilled. I feel like I'm leaving out so much. Things will come back to me, and when they do I'll let you know. I guess that's all for now. I can't wait to get the pictures developed. When I do, I'll make copies of the best ones and send them to all of you. I hope they came out.

I still can't believe I met him. He looked so handsome. He just gets better looking with age. I even told him that, I also said I couldn't wait to see him at 50! He has a really short hair cut which looked so good on him. I don't know what he's talking about either with his head or his chin. Both are perfect. Susan, you were right, he looks even better in person. I didn't think he could, but he did. He's got to be the most handsome 40 year old I've ever seen in my life. He was really thin too.

Oh, yeah, when I walked off stage the first time, I jumped up and down and shouted, "I just met Mark Lowry!" everyone was laughing. What can I say, I'm a starstruck fan.

I MET MARK LOWRY!!!! ok, that's all for now. Talk to ya'll soon. Bye for now!

Love ya, Elisa.