she's gone country.

I'm geeking out excited about going to the garth brooks concert in nashville tonight!


he hasn't played nashville in many years, but for the past week has been packing out bridgestone arena night after night, doing a series of concerts to benefit those affected by the nashville flood that happened this past may.


I'm not a huge fan of country music, but did get into it a bit in college, hanging out with my girlfriends from good ol' white county, georgia. I have very fond memories of riding in sarah's red jeep cherokee with the windows down blasting dixie chicks "cowboy take me away"!


and then there was the time they drug me to a kenny chesney and leeann womack concert in towns county. I remember kenny riding out on stage on his tractor "she thinks my tractor's sexy"... yeah.


good memories.


but my fondest country music memories are of garth.


I lived in el paso texas for a summer in 2001 when I was interning with a house building ministry called casas por cristo working to build homes across the border in juarez, mexico. I was listening to a lot of country music that summer.


I mean, it was texas. it had to be done. 


it was the closest to cowgirl I would ever be.


so somehow I ended up with garth brooks double live CD. 2 discs of his best songs performed live. I remember laying upstairs in a mexican church, snuggled in my dirty sleeping bag, ear buds in, trying to drown out the sounds of the lively youth group around me (great leader, eh?), listening to great tunes like "the dance", "to make you feel my love", and "some of God's greatest gifts are unanswered prayers".

I don't know why that moment sticks out in my mind so vividly. I'm really into song lyrics, and since all garth's songs were new to me, I think I was struck by his lovely and profound lyrics. a lot about heartache, about which I knew nothing at that time of my life...

I can see myself now, age 20, on the royal blue cot, in my north face bag, loving some garth.

and another sweet garth memory... I remember at a winter formal in college we were all dressed up, looking sparkly, having an amazing night. "standing outside the fire" came on and my group of friends, guys and girls, all huddled together a made a huge circle, arms around one another, singing and laughing and dancing to the song. I remember thinking to myself that this moment is really good, and it will never happen again...

and how lucky I am.

"life is not tried it is merely survived if you're standing outside the fire"