All good things must come to an end...

It comes and goes so fast year after year. At the end of the week, the blink-and-you'll-miss it feeling that the festival can't really be over comes about once again. And so here we are...But what a day it was! Alive'08 definitely went out with a bang (literally...but more on that later).

Though I had to miss it, a friend of mine told me that the morning worship with Joel Auge was one of the best worship sessions she's ever experienced. I'm sure any of you who are reading this that were there would agree with her. My day began with the "Share It" portion of the week's seminars with Joe Savage. Soon after I found myself walking the park one last time, soaking up the sun, walking the beach, checking out the vending tent, and visiting some friends' campsites. The weather once again was wonderful.

I loved having the daytime concerts in the amphitheater this year, because it helped me not to miss any music. There was great music both there and in the Woods Stage throughout the entire afternoon, and I was able to catch a few songs in each. Worth Dying For even taped a YouTube video of the crowd that I may or may not be in. I also checked out some more of the Alive's Got Talent auditions. I hear it's shaping up to be quite a competition tonight.

Soon it was time for the main stage concerts. I was looking forward to seeing everyone. Disciple rocked the amphitheater out as usual, and then our host of the week, John Reuben, was able to show off his skill and perform a set. And because nature likes to throw us curveballs, a small thunderstorm passed through, but it was nothing we Alive goers can't handle! (One the "bangs" I was talking about earlier). But the quick storm actually made the air feel fresher and gave us the most beauitul sunset sky we've had all week.

Sixpence None the Richer, a band that I had kind of grown up listening to, reunited to share a few songs with Alive, and before I knew it, I saw a firetruck on hand backstage. I thought about it for a second. Skillet was coming up next. There was a firetruck on hand backstage. That can only mean one thing: Something awesome is about to happen.

Sure enough, Skillet brought not only the rock, but flames (the other "bang" I was talking about) and other pyrotechnic goodness. And it was entertaining, to say the least. The crowd went absolutely nuts, and they put on a great show. The pyro and hard rock was just the perfect compliment to probably my number one highlight of the week: Chris Tomlin & Louie Giglio's incredible time of worship and teaching.

Always, in my opinion, one of the world's greatest lead worshipers, Chris Tomlin closed out the festival with a terrific, meaningful time of worship, and Louie Giglio spoke words in a way that will stay with me (and the rest of us) for years to come. He shared the story of a girl who completely changed her life around, thanks to her roommate who met her where she was at and loved on her. He told us about amazing things that are happening all around the world for God's Kingdom. It kind of helped us remember that we are a part of something so much bigger than this little hillside of people. It reminded us that the entire world is coming alive, not just this festival. I agree with our festival director, Bill, who said afterwards that this was his favorite ending to Alive. It was a perfect way to close out such a great week.

And if this year was any indication, Alive'09 will be here before we know it!

See you there!