Ridgecrest Music Week 2014 Day One

It's amazing to have seen the Ridgecrest campus change so much over the past ten years.  The lobby where I am sitting here typing this just a few years ago wasn't even here, but was a classroom off of the cafeteria. The preschool building this year is undergoing a major renovation, and Ginny's classes are at the distant Royal Gorge.  We are staying in Rhododendron this year, a first for our family.  Our room is very strange.  We have one tiny two foot window at ceiling level with the AC unit right under it.  The bathroom is fantastically remodeled, though. Very nice. 

It's great to see my kids go into automatic mode when coming here now.  Even Ginny sort of knows the routine of what this place is and I think both kids are starting to sense the true spirit of what this place represents for me.  Nathan was even really engaged with the worship music tonight in the opening concert.  

Today there was really just two main events, the Lillenas Reading session, and the evening feature with Mike Speck.  The Lillenas session had one really good anthem "I Need No Other Argument," a Cliff Duren arrangement that was my favorite.  There was a pretty decent Christmas book "Sing the Glory" from Marty Hamby that showed some potential. 

Now, I have to admit, I have never been a Mike Speck fan.  Mind you, I've always respected his work, but it just didn't trip my trigger in the past, so to speak.  Well, tonight he lead in a concert of worship that was fantastic.  It was so perfectly balanced and blended with old and new songs than spanned multiple, and I mean multiple, generations.  We had everything from the old hymn "Haven of Rest" to today's "Ten Thousand Reasons".  We had Michael W. Smith, we had Rich Mullins, we had 90s charismatic renewal music, Brooklyn Tab-esque things, Southern gospel.  And they all worked together and everyone left encouraged.  I should mention most of the things from his concert were from his new choral collection Everlasting Praise 4, which I may have to look at again later.  Specks stuff tends to be a bit tough for the smaller choir though.  

Tuesday and Wednesday look like two full days, so it's off to bed for now.