The Ichthus Awards...

Pictures will be up soon, but I wanted to go ahead and do this. Rather than writing an actual review of the festival, I thought it would be fun to give out my own made-up rewards for various parts of the festival. Here goes:

Best Performance - Haste the Day [Great stage presence, heavy music, front row position, wild moshing, etc. The end of Ichthus (literally and figuratively) for me].

Most Unexpected, Honorable Performance - Sanctus Real [These guys REALLY surprised me. Very magnetic performance, even if I didn't know all the songs...]

Best Worship Time - Newsboys [I thought it would suck and I wouldn't have fun, but it was actually quite enjoyable. The lead singer is kinda flamboyant, but I enjoyed it.]

Funniest Show - The Showdown [These guys were full-on metal, but the lead singer was an absolute riot on stage. Awesome show and humor...great mix.]

Best Part of Ichthus - John and Ashley [I hadn't seen either of them in quite a while, so it was great to get together for some quality time.]

Worst Part of Ichthus - 30-Minute Storm [I hate to be cliché since everyone is talking about this (even though it was rather lame). Ruined the mood, destroyed property, scared people, etc. Not fun at all.]

"Haunting Memory" - The Girl at Deep End [I met this really cool girl at Deep End stage on Saturday and was going to talk to her more (maybe hit it up) but she left so I couldn't. Oh, well - praise God for the "moment" we did have :)]

Funny Part - The Horns [As I was walking in and people were checking wrist-locks I held up the horns and this guy gave me a high five, then acted all weird about it. IT'S NOT EVIL, FRIEND!]

Big Lessons - 1. Become VERY involved in God's Word (VERY much a struggle recently), 2. Become part of a Christian community (sometimes hard when you are still new in a church), 3. Become undignified for The Lord (who cares what other people think?).

Poignant Moment - MOST [This was borderline horribly depressing. The movie they showed (with the symbolism of God choosing to give His Son's life for ours) made me feel very sad. I can't put into words the entire range of emotions/thoughts I have on it, so I'll just end there...)]

Merchandise Purchased - Staple (C.D.), The Showdown (C.D.), and the obligatory Ichthus festival tee.

I can't think of any more awards right now, but understand that the above in no way shows how awesome being at Ichthus was this year. Even though I am still getting those "surreal (out of place)" feelings, I feel so great to be where I am now and to be part of this new life, community, and atmosphere. With God's help (and thankfully school ending...so hopefully the time to actually work on things) I hope to move past some of the issues/problems in my spiritual life right now - but I would not trade anything for the experiences I have had over the past six months...and I don't want to even think what my life would be like without Jesus - presently or in the near and distant future. Thank you so much, God!