All Things New

Last night, I had a great opportunity to meet my good buddy Greg Lareveitzear and his two kids, Andrew and SaraJane, for Steven Curtis Chapman’s “All Things New” concert at HiFi Buys Amphitheater in Atlanta. It was a great time! We arrived at the venue and went first of all to a meet and greet with Chris Tomlin and TobyMac, who serenaded SaraJane with “Gone.” Greg asked him if he was going to do “Yo Ho Ho” which is a song off an old Christmas rap music tape we used to listen to. After the show, we headed back again to meet up with Steven, who told me “I saw you in the crowd and thought ‘I know that guy!’” We had some great seats – some of the best I’ve ever had.

It was nice to spend time with Greg and his kids. The last time I spent that much time with the kids, they were babies and toddlers. I remember very distinctly the day Andrew’s older brother, Benjamin, was born. I wonder if I still have the bubble gum cigar somewhere.

Greg and I go way back; I was fifteen when he started coming to our church. Now I was fifteen and since I’m sure he doesn’t want everyone to know how old he was, I won’t say how old he was . . . but he wasn’t fifteen. We became good friends and he actually allowed me behind the wheel of car and taught me how to drive. At the time, he was also a pilot and took me up in a small plane and let me take the controls (I said he was a good friend but I didn’t say he was the sharpest tool in the shed). I talked him into flying through a cloud, which is a no-no (since you don’t know if a mountain top is on the other side), but it sure was fun. He also showed me how quickly the pounds drop when you run and he was very dedicated to helping me, even on the nights when I tried to back out.

On top of all that and most importantly, Greg was(and still is) an inspiration because he had a passion for Jesus that was very evident. Especially during the teenage years, it’s so cool to have people who invest their timeand energy into making a positive impact upon your life. I’ll always remember that and hopefully have been able to share that with others.