Andy Gullahorn

Geof Morris once referred to him as “Andy ‘It’s really sad that the only thing that the only song of mine that the .net knows is that silly Roast Beef song I did’ Gullahorn”. And up until Saturday, that was pretty much all I knew of him.

(In case you’re wondering, Roast Beef is a silly song Andy wrote about Andy Osenga’s missing (amputated) toe. It is pretty funny.)

Last Saturday I had the privilege of meeting Andy Gullahorn when he came as part of the Behold the Lamb Christmas tour to Cedar Rapids. My first impressions were these:

  1. He’s tall. Almost as tall as me. That sounds like a funny observation, but compared to the other guys on the tour, who are mostly all short, Andy seems like a giant.
  2. He’s a heck of a guitar player.

Then I got to hear him in concert, and I discovered two more things:

  1. He’s really funny.
  2. He’s a heck of a songwriter, too.

The first song he did was a little piece of satire entitled Holy Flakes. It had the place laughing through the first two verses, and then suddenly quiet when the third verse revealed the moral of the story. I was thrilled. I can’t think of the last time I’ve heard a song so funny and yet so pointed at the same time. The second song he sang was Freedom. It’s a more serious piece, but a masterful bit of songwriting.

When the concert was over, I beat a quick path to the CD table, and purchased both of Andy’s CDs. (My purchasing choices were made a bit easier by the fact that I owned nearly every other CD they had for sale that night.) I don’t think I’ve listened to anything else since Saturday night. The songs are spare, not a lot of fancy production or instrumentation, but the lyrical content is right on. A song like Beginning of the End resonates with me in ways I find hard to describe.

Last Saturday provided me with many wonderful opportunities. But near the top of that list was the chance to become familiar with Andy Gullahorn. You may now count me as a big fan. Oh, and if you get the chance, go visit his website. You will see the humor shining through. :-)

I met the Queen of Iowa

I met the Queen of Iowa, She was dying on a couch in the suburbs. And of all the things she was dying of, She was more alive than the others…

-- Andrew Peterson, The Queen of Iowa

The Queen of Iowa is a real person. I met her this past Saturday. Her name is Jody. Her story is tragic; she contracted HIV after being assaulted fifteen years ago. Her story is also beautiful; knowing full well that she had HIV, her high school sweetheart decided to marry her anyway. That was eleven years ago. Jody is now in what appears to me to be the last stage of her life. She can’t move. She can’t talk. She can just barely communicate single letters at a time. Her husband cares for her at their home here in the Cedar Rapids area.

It also ends up that Jody is a big Andrew Peterson fan. Over a year ago, as she started going downhill, a couple of friends arranged to have Andrew and his trusty sidekick Ben Shive flown to Iowa to meet her. They came, visited, sang her some songs. Out of that experience, Andrew wrote his song The Queen of Iowa, which he then recorded on his latest album, The Far Country. It’s a good song.

Last Saturday Andrew was in town with a bunch of his musical compatriots on the Behold the Lamb Christmas tour. In the afternoon, before the concert, he wanted to make a trip out to visit Jody again and sing her the song. So I (as the driver) got to go along as he and his friends Andy and Jill (Phillips) Gullahorn went out to visit her. (The local friends who had coordinated last year’s visit were there, too.) I was not prepared, and I doubt I could have really been prepared, for the emotions and power of that visit.

To even enter their house, you have to take off your shoes and leave them in the garage. (Can’t chance tracking some germs in.) Then, you have to do a thorough hand-washing before you come into the living room. Jody was lying on the couch, wrapped in blankets. She couldn’t really move, only could turn her head a bit. But she had a smile that lit up the whole room. She was so excited to get to see Andrew again and hear his music. She had made a “set list” of requested songs she wanted to hear. So Andrew and Andy pulled out their guitars, and started at the top of the list.

I think they sang for somewhere near 40 minutes. They started with Gather ‘Round, Ye Children, Come from Behold the Lamb. It was a treat to hear that simple version: two guitars and three part harmony, all in the intimacy of a living room. Jill sang Labor of Love, also from Behold the Lamb. I doubt I’ll ever hear a more beautiful performance of that song. Words can’t really do it justice. Jill sang another song or two of hers. We were all choking up as Andrew sang Lay Me Down, which contains these poignant lines, even more meaningful in this setting:

When you lay me down to die, I’ll miss my boys, I’ll miss my girls, But lay me down And let me say goodbye to this world. When you lay me down to die, You must remember this: When you lay me down to die, You lay me down to live.

There were a few times during the visit where Jody began to cough, and her body was just wracked with pain. It was difficult to sit there and see it, knowing that there was nothing that we could do but pray and watch as her husband held her and comforted her. Then the pain would pass, and as she regained her strength her smile would come out again.

Saturday’s visit was a moving experience; one that will stick with me for a long, long time. We insulate ourselves too much from pain and death here in America. Last Saturday’s visit was a vivid reminder of that to which I assent but often forget: that life is short, that death will reach us all, but death is not the end.

Parting is the price, it is the price that I must pay To harbor far beyond the Havens Grey.

-- Andrew Peterson, The Havens Grey

So much to say...

So Saturday night was the Behold the Lamb concert in Cedar Rapids. As you know if you read my previous post, I was the runner for the day. And what a day it was. There are so many aspects I want to write about that they’d make for one absurdly long and multi-faceted blog post. So, I’ll try to split it up a bit.

Let’s start with the basics. I showed up at Kennedy HS about 10:15 Saturday morning to help unload. Pretty much all the gear had been carried in from the bus, but the sound guys were just starting to unload. There were a bunch of people to help unload, though, so it went relatively quickly.

My first run of the day was pretty simple; I took the bus driver (I think his name is Perry?) and Chris Biggs (the sound guy/road manager for the tour) over to the hotel to get everybody checked in. Then the next trip to the hotel was Andy and Jill (Phillips) Gullahorn. Then there was a trip with Andy Peterson, Andy Osenga, Garrett Buell, and Cason Cooley. Then there was a trip with Derek and Sandra (McCracken) Webb. Ben Shive was in there somewhere, too. OK, so I’m name-dropping out the wazoo here. It was just a treat to get to meet all of them and chat a bit.

Later on in the afternoon, as the snow started falling (we got 4 inches of snow that afternoon… fun times driving), I got to drive and go along with Andy P, Andy G, and Jill as they visited the woman who was the inspiration for AP’s song The Queen of Iowa. It was a powerful time. I’ll write a separate post later.

I thought that perhaps by the time we got to the actual concert, it would be anti-climactic. Boy was I wrong. The first half of the concert was time for solo songs. They sang:

Andy O - If I Had Wings, Early in the Morning Andy P - The Queen of Iowa, Let There Be Light Andy G - Holy Flakes, Freedom Derek - A New Law, Lover Jill - I feel horrible about this, but I can’t remember which songs she sang. One of ’em was “so new I haven’t learned the guitar part yet”, so Andy G played it for her. Sandra - Where I’m From, and I don’t remember the other one

During one of the car trips, Jill noted that one of the things she thought was so cool about this tour was hearing how even though they had many of the same musical influences, each of their songwriting styles is still distinct and plays out just a bit differently. That was quite clear at the concert, hearing these songs. I’ll write more about them later, too.

So let me wrap this post up. After the show was over, I helped load stuff up, picked up the bus driver from his day’s sleep at the hotel, and somewhere in there managed to get almost everybody to sign a concert poster which now hangs on my cube wall at work, right next to the Share the Well tour poster that I got signed at a concert last year. They will continue to bring back memories of great days and concerts.

ok, so I'm a little bit excited...

Tomorrow the Andrew Peterson Behold the Lamb Christmas tour is hitting Cedar Rapids! I couldn’t believe it when I first heard about it months ago, and I’m still a bit in awe of the fact that Andrew Peterson, Derek Webb, Sandra McCracken, Andrew Osenga, Jill Phillips, and some others will all be in concert on stage less than 3 miles from my house. (Only 1 block away from the previous place we lived!)

In addition to just going to the concert, I’ve volunteered to help out for the day. I’m showing up at 10 AM when the truck shows up, and then will be the “runner” for the day. This will include taking all the aforementioned musical types to their hotel, to the house where they’re eating dinner, etc. I think it’ll be pretty cool.

I’m also looking forward to just getting to meet some of them; I’ve met the Andys before (Peterson and Osenga), but haven’t met Derek or Sandra. I hope it’ll be as cool as I think it will be…. if not, at least I’ll get to see the concert, and that’ll be great in itself. I’ll try to post some pictures or something next week.

I got accepted.

Well, so I still haven’t received the official “you’re invited for an interview” letter from the FAA. However, I got a phone call yesterday from them, wanting to schedule my DER interview. It’s gonna be in Wichita on December 13th at 9:00 AM.

I guess I should start studying up for the interview. I don’t know how much they’re gonna expect me to know, and how much it’s just a chance to have them get a feel for me. Hopefully more of the latter than the former. :-)

Things aren't right

I’ve been reading several different books recently, and a discussion with Becky last night brought a bunch of them together in a way that helped clarify my thoughts a bit. Hopefully I can bring some of that clarity into this post.

As a person who grew up within the church and has been a believer for as long as I can remember, one of the things that’s been most difficult for me to understand is this: why would a non-believer be motivated to become a Christian? What’s the appeal? Now, you Calvinists out there will tell me that God has ordained it and its irresistible. I don’t want to get into that argument. I don’t disagree with you… much. But I’ve just never understood the appeal of the message to non-believers who are living basic, normal lives.

Last night Becky and I were talking over the passage from Acts that had been part of our reading for the day. (I don’t want that to sound too much like we’ve got it all together - we’re trying once again to get daily devotions started, and it’s tough, as always.) Becky’s comment on Peter’s sermon in Acts 2 was that it sounded wild, far-out, hard-to-believe… why would anybody be attracted to that story? It is a good question. Why would anybody be attracted to the story of a man who claimed to come from God, be God himself, who died, purportedly rose from the dead, etc? Qui bono? Who benefits?

That got me started thinking through some of the C. S. Lewis I’ve been reading lately. Actually, I’m reading The Question of God: C.S. Lewis and Sigmund Freud Debate God, Love, Sex, and the Meaning of Life by Armand M. Nicholi Jr. This Harvard professor compares and contrasts the lives and teachings of C. S. Lewis and Sigmund Freud. It’s a good book, especially for those seekers who want to reason through the issues. Mostly it whets my appetite to go back and read Lewis again, Mere Christianity, The Abolition of Man, God in the Dock… good stuff. Anyway, back to my thought process.

Readers of Mere Christianity will remember that Lewis’ starting point for reasoning that there is a God is an argument from conscience; he argues that each of us has an inborn moral compass that understands that there is a moral standard. Right along with that is the fact that each of us transgresses that moral standard on a regular basis, which causes us problems with our fellow man and internal guilt.

So what’s the appeal of the gospel message? I’m starting to think that I’d start it off like this: “Things aren’t right.” I think that’s a place we can all agree on to start. Things aren’t right in the world, and things aren’t right with me personally. This causes pain, grief, guilt, death. Now let’s look at the grand sweep of the redemptive story that runs from Genesis to Revelation. God creates everything. Man corrupts it. Things aren’t right. Now here’s the beauty of the message: the whole rest of the story is about God’s work to make things right again. That is the message of the gospel.

Once we understand that, then we can get into details. Sin requires a sacrifice. Jesus once for all became that sacrifice in our place, and then conquered death by rising from the dead. One day He will establish a perfect kingdom, one where sin is done away with and things are right.

Now that’s a story I can get excited about. And I can understand why that story would resonate with the unbelieving world. We all understand things aren’t right. May God allow those unbelievers around us to to understand that He holds the solution to the problem.

the blessings of a holiday

This holiday weekend we have left Iowa and headed to Wisconsin to visit my family. Thanksgiving with family is a great time; we have all of our traditional things to eat, games that we play, stories that get (re)told, time spent together. It is a blessing.

Last year when we came for Thanksgiving, Laura was just a 4-month-old baby. Now she’s walking, talking, and generally the center of all our attention. Amazing.

The rest of the family is doing well, too. Ryan generally works long hours and is very busy, which means that when he comes home he sleeps a lot. It’s good for him. He’s so darn funny, too… he keeps us in stitches most of the time. Last night as we were playing cards he made some slightly off-color comment; then he excused himself by noting that he has roomed with guys for the past several years, and, he said “we don’t just push the envelope - the envelope is opened, soiled, and returned to sender!” OK, maybe it’s not so funny in print, but last night we about had to stop our card game we were laughing so hard.

Aaron is the only one that isn’t here; he’s still in Panama working with YWAM. We miss him a lot. He called yesterday for about an hour so we all got to talk to him. He’ll be back home for Christmas - hooray! It also sounds like he’s planning on moving back to the States come next summer. It would be great to have him closer again.

We’re about to head in to Madison to do some shopping. I know, we’re crazy, but we all start to go a bit stir-crazy after being here at the house for a day and a half, so it’s time to go out. Andrew had to work this morning at the lumberyard, but he’ll meet us there once he gets off around noon. I doubt we’ll even buy that much - maybe a new shirt, or a CD, or something in that vein. Mostly it’s the chance to be out and around as a family. Holidays like this remind me that my family is the biggest blessing of all.

I've moved...

If you are reading this post, you’re reading it from my new web address: www.thehubbs.net/chris/. This is the beginning of an effort to pull all of my siblings’ blogs together into one family site. Hopefully one day soon there will be not only a /chris, but a /ryan, /aaron, /andrew, and /rebecca as well.

Geof Morris, my web host, has done a lovely job at moving the House of Cakeboy over to its new location and doing all the magic of redirection. Still, it would behoove my readers to update their links and subscriptions to use my new address.

Happy blogging! Now I’ve got to get out and do some yard work.

Chris

I got accepted... I think...

I got a letter from the FAA today inviting me to the DER seminar down in Wichita in January. Strangely enough, I still haven’t received a letter from them telling me that I’ve been accepted to come for an interview to become a DER. I’m hoping maybe that’ll come yet this week some time. Exciting times! Now I’ll have to get my books out and study some more for the interview. Gotta learn the alphabet soup that is our federal aviation regulations. :-)

it's basketball time...

My first basketball league of the season starts tonight. I’m really looking forward to it. I know my shooting touch will be rusty; I haven’t handled a basketball in months. But it will be good to get out there and run. I’m the captain of a team in the rec center league this year. I tried to just get on a team at the last minute; the league coordinator sent me the names of several other people with the same plight and so we formed a team. I haven’t met any of them. We haven’t practiced. But tonight, at 5:55 CST, we will step onto the court and play our first game. Good times.