Chris August and the Magical Poncho

(This is another long entry, but it was a great night... so you should definitely read it!)

On Monday, July 25th, Calvary Chapel of Costa Mesa hosted an event called "Vision", a community outreach that was free to the public. They are having the event every Monday night through until the end of August. Thanks to my dear friend, Lizzy, I found out that Chris August (one of my favorite singers) was going to be there on the 25th and we made plans to go. Back in May I dragged Lizzy, Sarah, Ruth and Rachel down to Arizona to see him in concert, so I was thrilled that he was actually performing here in Southern California this time!

A while after Lizzy got off work, we headed south towards Santa Ana. (Side note: Lizzy drove us there, on the freeway. Woo-hoo!) We quickly grabbed a bite to eat and then headed over to the event. We got there a couple hours early, so we sat and talked while we waited... listening to Chris August do his sound check in the background. Once they let us in to get spots on the grass, we sat right up in the front. The concert was great, of course! ;) They showed a video of random people answering the question: "Is there anything that is unforgiveable?" and the pastor shared a message about forgiveness. It was a really good one, definitely something I needed to hear.

After all of that, a crowd gathered at Chris' merchandise booth to meet him, get autographs and take pictures. Since we had met him once before, Lizzy and I just waited for the crowd to lessen so that we could talk to him without him being too rushed. When it was our turn, this is what happened:

Me: Can I could get your autograph and take a picture with you?
Chris: Of course! Let's do this! (starts signing my poster)
Lizzy: It was really cool to see you with the live band this time. The last show we went to was way different.
Me: Yeah, we saw your acoustic show in Arizona.
Chris: Oh yeah? Wait, which one?
Me: The one in Gilbert.
Chris: Oh yeah! Yeah, that was totally different from this one. I came here and they told me a 60-minute set, but I didn't know they had planned for me to play some songs, then play another one later and then another one later. But it was still cool.
Lizzy & Me: Yeah, it was great... (blah blah blah, hahaha)

Chris and I start to get ready to take a picture together:
Lizzy: Okay, ready?
Me: *smiling* Yep!
Lizzy: *takes picture*
Chris: I wasn't ready! Haha, just kidding.

Lizzy gets ready to take a picture with Chris:
Lizzy: *puts her magical poncho blanket on the ground*
Chris: *makes a sarcastic comment about the poncho*
Me & Lizzy are laughing
Me: Okay, ready? One, two, threeeee... slowly... there we go!
Chris: Thanks girls! Don't forget your poncho.
Lizzy: *picks up poncho* Thanks!
Me: Thanks, Chris!

Now, remember, this was all taking place while other girls were waiting to meet him, haha! We start to head to the car. We were almost to the parking lot, when I looked at Lizzy and asked, "Should we go back?? We should go back. We should hang out there for a while." She was immediately down for it! Our excuse? I decided I wanted to buy a t-shirt.

So, we go back to the merch booth and I buy the shirt. We continued to hang out there for a while, just talking and minding our own business. I saw Chris sneaking around behind Lizzy and I whispered to her, "He's coming up behind you..." and then suddenly, he grabbed the poncho out of her hands and took off with it. We laughed and yelled, "Noooooo! The magic poncho!!" He came back over to us and tried it on, so of course I just had to get a picture of that! After talking to us a little while more (while trying so hard to fold the poncho the correct way), another girl approached Chris and asked, "Can you take a picture with my sister? She's, like, your biggest fan." So, once the poncho was folded properly, he left us and went over to her sister. Lizzy and I continued to hang out there, though. Jokingly, I told Lizzy, "Wouldn't it be cool if he came over to us and asked what we were doing afterwards, then invites us to go to Denny's with them or something?" She laughed and agreed that it would be so amazingly awesome if that happened! But... that didn't happen. The band eventually packed up and they left in their mini-van... driving through yellow caution tape that was blocking the driveway. Hahaha!

Happy that we got to talk to him as much as we did, Lizzy and I headed towards the car. We were talking about how they probably were going to get something to eat right now and then our inner 14-year-olds thought of a brilliant plan! What if we just happen to run into them?? We got in the car and drove towards civilization. We pulled into the In-n-Out parking lot... and there we see this white van that looks a lot like the one they were in! So we debated about whether or not we should go inside. We must have debated for about 5 minutes. Finally, we decided we would go in, go straight to the counter and place our order (if they were in there, we weren't going to acknowledge them or anything), get our drinks and then leave. As we walked up to the building, sure enough! We saw them through the window! Eep!

We did exactly what we had planned: went straight to the counter to order. I told Lizzy I would pay for her, she fought me about it for a little bit and then gave in. We placed our order: one regular drink and one chocolate shake. Just as the worker was telling us the total, we felt someone place a hand on our shoulders and say, "Hey girls... I'd like to pay for you." We turn around, totally surprised... and there was Chris, smiling at us! We were both like, "Oh my gosh, hello!" His fellow band members were sitting at the booth, laughing at our reactions. We told him he didn't have to, but he insisted, so we didn't fight him on it (when a guy wants to be a gentleman, you gotta let him!). Since he had already used his card to pay for his meal, we had to wait for the manager's approval for him to swipe it again... so we started talking:

Me: Just so you know, we only got drinks...
Chris: What?! No food?! Not even a burger?? It's In-n-Out!
Lizzy: Well, we already ate earlier.
Chris: Ah, okay... I guess it's not really a big deal for you guys anyway, since you have In-n-Outs in California. There aren't any where we are from.
Me: Oh yeah, that's right... well you just gotta enjoy it now!
Lizzy: You guys have Hardy's, though, right?
Chris: Yeah, you mean Carl's Jr.?
Lizzy: Yeah...
Me: They call it Hardy's over there, right?
Chris: Oh yeah, I guess they do, haha!

Lizzy and I got our drinks, and this other guy came up to Chris and they started talking. He didn't start to ignore us though, which was nice. He would still look over at us and smile occasionally. We weren't sure what to do! Should we stay? Should we leave?? After a little while of awkwardly standing there, I made a motion like we were gonna take off.

Chris: You girls leaving?
Me: Yeah... we probably should, because we have a bit of a drive.
Chris: You live far from here?
Me: Not super far... not as far as from your last show we went to, haha!
Chris: Oh okay, haha!
Lizzy: I don't normally this... I'm really bad at networking... but I'm a photographer, so I just wanted to give you my business card. If you, or anyone you know, is ever looking for a photographer, let me know!
Chris: Awesome! Totally! Thanks! *puts the card right into his wallet*
Lizzy: No, thank you!
Me: So, how long are you guys staying in the area?
Chris: We're just staying at the hotel tonight and then flying back to Nashville in the morning.
Me: Oh okay... well I hope you have a safe flight!
Chris: Thanks! You girls drive safely!
Me: Thanks again for the drinks, seriously.
Chris: Of course! My pleasure. *smiles* You girls take care and we will see you around! Don't get crazy...
Me: *sarcastic* Us?? Crazy?? Never...
Chris: *smiles* Oh okay... see you later girls...
Me & Lizzy: Bye! Thanks!!

And we walked out. Ooooooooooooooooooh my gooooooosh! Lizzy says, "We should've stayed! I feel rude." So I was like, "Dangit!! We blew it! I didn't know what we should do!" She then suggested that we get the poncho and take it to him, as kind of an inside joke. We got it out of the car, headed back towards the building... and I chickened out. Haha!! We instead decided to leave the poncho on their van. I quickly wrote a note that said: "Thank you!! Take care and God bless! Love, Candice and Lizzy" After hanging the poncho on their sideview mirror, and placing the note next to it, we left.

The whole way home, we couldn't stop smiling and laughing... it was such a fun night! We stood out among the crowd enough for Chris to remember us and approach us! God sure made us feel special!

Precious Memories

Well, the time has come. I have decided it’s time for a fresh start. I have convinced myself that I need to get into the habit of writing more often and I decided that my old blog just wouldn’t cut it. That was back when I was a bit younger, in a kind of “emo” stage, for lack of a better term… and it had just been so long since I last used it, that I have forgotten all of my login information anyway. Sooooo, I figured it would be best to start a new one altogether. What better way to kick off my new blog than by beginning with an entry about my first experience at summer camp with Royal Family Kids?

It’s hard to believe that it’s been over a week since we got home from camp. Yet, at the same time, it feels like it’s been forever. I had spent the entire summers of 2009 and 2010 away from home at Trail’s End Camp in Pennsylvania. They invited me back for a third summer, but I told them I couldn’t return because I was ultimately convinced by others not to go back. I soon regretted that decision, for various reasons. It was too late, though… by the time I changed my mind, they would have hired all their staff by then. TEC had kind of become a home away from home, so I was sad that I was going to miss out on the whole camp experience. So, when Sarah first mentioned Royal Family Kids Camp to me, I was immediately interested in volunteering. I thought to myself, “If I can’t be a part of TEC this summer, at least I can have one week at camp… and I wouldn’t even have to leave the state!” Little did I know that this camp experience would be a *totally* different one.

Royal Family Kids is an organization that reaches out to children who are in the foster-care system, who are often times neglected and/or abused. As counselors, we could not know exactly what situation they are in at home, so all we could do is pray for God to work through us to touch the lives of these children during the five days we would be with them. Going into it, I was very excited to have the opportunity to share the love of Christ with children that need it, but I was also nervous that my campers wouldn’t like me. So I tried my best to be prayed-up and prepared for anything. I was also very happy to have Sarah there with me, in the same group!

The day the campers arrived, I could sense the joy and excitement radiating off all of the counselors… it was the big day! There was a bit of confusion between Sarah and me because two of our campers had the same names. So when we first met them, we pretty much stuck together until we could get it figured out. Nevertheless, I loved my campers right off the bat. They were both so sweet; one girl was more quiet and reserved, while the other was outgoing and talkative. We clicked right away, which was extremely encouraging!

The week was full of so many memorable moments and conversations, it would take me forever to write every single detail. So I will try my best to sum it up. The very first day, my girls painted both my face and my nails at the activitiy center... I looked beautiful ;) Throughout the week, there was fishing, horseback riding and BB guns. Craft times during which we did things like decorating hats and making leather bracelets. Swimming pool one day and a water park all to ourselves another day! We celebrated the campers' birthdays on Wednesday... so that meant an entire day to make them all feel special: they got presents, cupcakes and there was even a carnival set up just for them! Plenty of rounds of "Little Sally Walker" or "Announcement" chants. And I mustn't forget love notes galore! More importantly, they had opprotunities to hear about how much God loves them during their Breakfast Club sessions and Chapel time. 

Thursday evening we all watched a slideshow that had been put together with pictures from throughout the week. During the video, I had my girls right by my side... both in tears. That's when it first hit me that my time with my girls was slowly coming to an end. Thinking about it right now is bringing tears to my eyes. I put my arms around them and just tried my best to enjoy that bittersweet moment. After the slideshow, all of the campers and counselors went for a short hike up to a cross that was located on a hill above camp. Up there, we were given a chance to be face to face with our campers to talk with them and pray for them. It was such a wonderful moment we shared up there on that hilltop. One of my girls asked for prayer, while the other remained quiet. I prayed for the two of them, all three of us holding hands... each of us in tears. Knowing that the next day we would have to say good-bye and that I may never see them again, it broke my heart. I did my best to tell them how special they are, how much I love them and how much God loves them. We walked down to our room that night and I was overwhelmed with emotions... but I did my best to keep it under control.

The next day, we had free time and it was a great way to spend some of our last hours with them! We played more "Little Sally Walker" and a few rounds of "Ninja". The camp was full of smiles and laughter... it brought so much joy to my heart. When it came time to send the campers off............. let's just say that there wasn't a dry eye to be seen. The air was full of the sound of cheers and encouragement from the counselors, but also with sobbing from some of the kids. When my girls were called onto the bus, I just had to give them one last hug each... and then I couldn't hold back the tears anymore.

Not only were we there to touch the lives of these kids, but they were also brought into our lives to touch our hearts. God works in such crazy ways. I will always cherish the moments I had at RFKC this summer. I will never forget my girls and I will continue to keep them in my prayers. I may not know exactly what situation they are in... but God does. They are His children and He thinks they are precious. Lord, I pray that You will hold their hands and that they will choose to follow You down the path You have planned for them. For You are good and Your plans for them are good. Amen.

I leave you with two last things:

1. Quote of the week: "This is why I like them girls with that golden hair!"

2. The last love note that one of my campers gave me: "Dear Candice, I love you so much. I'll never forget you. You are in my heart forever. Thank you for the notes and bye."