I missed writing about Cornerstone… I promise I will do that soon.
Ok… Keeping my promise… My good friend Jesse and I took off early Friday morning (7/8) and drove to Illinois. It was a great 5 hr.drive – sunny, warm and good music. We finally found our way through the Illinois countryside to the Cornerstone Farm. My first thought was oh gosh, look at all this dirt. And it was everywhere. Dust coated every car and tent parked and pitched along the roadsides. Since we got there toward the end of the week, we ended up camping way out in a cow pasture, which wasn’t so bad except for the lack of shade.
There were thousands of people everywhere. I heard someone say 40,000 and I would believe that. There were big tents filled with concerts scattered throughout the grounds. You could go to about any genre of music that fit your fancy. I enjoyed seeing Over The Rhine acoustic and plugged in. Madison Green was an interesting mix of instruments and the had a kind of Rusted Root sound. Really cool stuff. On the main stage, we saw POD which put on a great show complete with pyrotechnics and beach balls. Earthsuit rocked, they were definetly one of my favorites that weekend. Third Day always gives a great concert and some awesome worship time. We also had the opportunity to sit on the beach at midnight and watch fireworks and then have a worship time with Glenn Kaiser.
Performing for the first time since 1991, Stryper was the final act on the main stage. It was pretty cool. I was never a big fan, but it was interesting all the same to remember their stuff that I had heard in junior high/high school.
Speaking of high school… I was sitting there at the Over the Rhine concert and saw this guy walking by. He looked vaguely familiar. I had been in contact with my high school friend,Jason Handrich, via IM and he said he might be at Cornerstone. So when I saw this guy, I said to myself, “that has to be him.” Then I saw Chip and Marcie sitting next to him and since they haven’t changed much at all in 10 years, I knew it was him for sure. It was so good to renew ties with them. We had such a great time catching up and talking about changes and what God has been doing in our lives. They invited us to come shower at their house on Sunday on our way back home. So we did and ended up staying until after 3 since they offered a wonderful lunch. It was awesome. Jason is married to April and has two children, Noah and Zion. I really enjoyed the chance to “get to know” them again. Jesse’s comment (about them) was “I think that is how the family of God should be like.” because of their friendliness and hospitality. I agree with him.