SAVED! :)

SO HERE IT IS. :) finally i have the leisure of time to actually sit and write the things I've been wanting to say since going home from the Saved Festival :)

Saved Festival is An annual God-centered festival where people from all over the world will travel far and wide to witness the great gathering of united Filipino believers in Jesus Christ! 

from the official Saved Festival page :)

The participating musicians of the so-called festival was Gary V *the only artist i actually know*, Quest, Jodi King, Sideshow, Parachute, Martin Smith of Delirious, Starfield and Citipointe... YUP IT REALLY WAS A FESTIVAL :) 

even though days have passed since the festival, believe it or not, as i am typing now, i still have this excitement, joy, love. 

SO, when I received an SMS from a churchmate, ate jez, who BTW recently passed the LET and is now a licensed teacher :P, inviting people to go to the festival i don't know why but i just said yes without thinking it over. Knowing myself, i never do that! well except when in the mall and i'm really depressed, well ANYWAY THANK GOD i said yes to that! So given that I didn't know the performers, except for Gary V, one must be really living in a cave or in the mountains if he didn't know Gary V, i wasn't excited. I mean there was no anticipation and to admit it, my expectations were low. I know I will have a good time, but i didn't expect it to be this great :D

As the show was about to start they have placed a 5-minute countdown on the screen. AND IT WAS ONLY on that moment that i was able to feel the excitement. Silly me, i was even thinking of "how much more if I am actually on a Jonas Brothers concert, ngayon pa nga lang na hindi ko sila kilala ganito na ko kaexcited pano pa kaya" LITTLE DID I KNOW, i was in for a treat :)

Everything started out with this song... Let Go by the Abandon 

You're part of a grand design, Bigger than what you had in mind, But you’ll never know, you’ll never know
Until you let it go

 I didn't want to include this part but i just have to. Recently, our family has been blessed GREATLY and things are somewhat crazy today. I am stuck on something I don't know. Something that i have to decide on because it will really affect my entire being. And I believe this is what the Lord is telling me. "LET GO and LET HIM" and so I will :)

GOING BACK :) Gary V was the first to perform and he said this words that opened my mind to something bigger... He said that when he performs and he utters "Praise the Lord" or things like that he starts to get weird faces but when he said that to us, on that night, he didn't get the faces and he knows that that is exactly what's on our hearts as well... IN RELATION. I realized that... Saved festival*and of course other events with the same theme* is the only concert where the artist and the audience are singing, celebrating about the same thing. that maybe i would be super hyped on a Jonas Brothers concert but I will never get the exact emotions they are feeling. And as Quest, reiterated it many times, everybody on that event were equals. Their celebration was ours as well. That fact alone is really refreshing. I really enjoyed everybody else's performance specially, Jodi King's, Parachute's, Starfield's and Quest's. who am i kidding? I ENJOYED THE WHOLE THING. To those who think that Christian gatherings or whatever are boring and so "corny" YOU ARE SO WRONG. That night was like the other nights i went to clubs and places like that ONLY BETTER because i was dancing and having fun for a RIGHT reason. IT WAS A PARTY! and as Quest sang it...

No need for booze, we get drunk with love No strobes or spotlights, we shining now No curfew this is forever and ever So we can sing, jump, dance whenever

AND ANOTHER THING that blew my mind was that the bands were actually SO GREAT. They have the potential to be the other bands, the well known, rich and everybody-loves-them-kind-of-band, they could have been great! but they chose to be GREATER as they chose to sing for God and not for men alone. So again to those who think that singing in church is a fall back or a not-good-enough-talent THINK AGAIN. :)

Saved Festival did a lot of good things in me. I am currently reading "Authentic beauty"  by Leslie Ludy and timingly I was in the chapter of how to "take out the trash" in your life. That includes every impurity and for me that includes listening to compromising songs... But thanks again to Saved! PROBLEM SOLVED! This week I am planning to really wash out my playlist with songs that don't glorify God and the like and replace them with legit GOOD songs :)

So there! Told you i have lots of things to share. :)) I didn't even tell the story of Pastor David's amazing testimony, of how the vocalist of the Parachute band had taken me off somewhere, of how Jodi King entertained me with her amazing personality, of how Martin Smith wowed me that night, of how Quest made me believe that there are still worth it Filipino musicians of how Joyce and TJ unnecessarily brought me home later that night and how thankful I am to have them with me in this experience along with ate Jez :)

PHOTO DUMP! i can't bring my SLR so photos were taken using iTouch.. therefore low quality :( *ATE DIGI CAM PLEASE :)*

Instagram before leaving the house!

say hi to Joyce!

me, joyce, TJ :)

joyce, Tj, Ate Jez :)  *edited using Photostudio

another PLUS SIDE of the festival, UNLIKE other concerts, you don't need the VIP seats to get the complete experience you could be on the very top of the coliseum yet feel the exact emotions as the ones down below :>

LAST! : SAVED! is not a one time event. and i'm not even talking about the festival next year but being SAVED in general is not a one time thing. It's experiencing God's love everyday, in every moment of our lives. So make sure you're enjoying yours! :)

SUPER LAST: the reason I enjoyed starfield :)) Tim doing the "hockey mom" dance :))