One of the graduating students from our church’s youth group and his brother successful pulled off a rock & roll show, complete with covers from Guns & Roses, Lynard Skynard, and even the Police, right in the conservative town of Hudsonville, Mi. It didn’t even matter that there wasn’t anyone there to sing, seeing that their band doesn’t have a lead vocalist yet. To be honest with you, I think this is exactly how they’d prefer it. Both seem to be old souls that only appreciate musicians that perform at a certain level, which I might add we see very little of today. Matt, the older brother, plays lead guitar. He’s one of the quietest people I’ve ever met, but not this night. He came decked out in a sweet top hat, aviators, and a leather bomber jacket with no undershirt. I can’t believe I didn’t get a better picture of this! He seemed in his element as he moved quickly from one fret to another. Sam, the younger of the two, is really talented as well. He’s a great bassist, but he can also play the drums and lead guitar. These brothers are probably more talented than many of the musicians you hear on the radio today. I wasn’t sure if I was going to enjoy listening to some high schoolers play rock & roll music without a vocalist, but I went to support them and their cause. Actually, I ended up having a really good time.
Oh, the cause. Yeah, that’s the reason for this post. While Matt and Sam may be great budding musicians, they also have some of the best hearts of any students I’ve met. Matt is leaving to serve at an orphanage in the Ukraine in a couple of days and wanted to raise some money that he could personally hand over to them. Matt will spend the rest of his summer helping out at a surf camp in Florida for inner-city kids, going some other place to serve that I can’t recall, and then he’ll use his free time to help his parents in their garden. Sam was selected for an internship I help run with some of our high school students. Sam’s going to be spending the summer with me, our youth director Laura, and some other students serving the community while learning more about Jesus. This is the same program Matt went through last summer and I’m excited to journey with Sam as I did with Matt. Yup, a student giving up their summer to hang out with me!
I love both of these guys and I’m excited to see where God leads them this summer and in years to come. These two serve as a good reminder that it doesn’t matter what age you are, how much money you have, but just that you’re willing to answer God’s call to use your gifts and talents when called upon. I ran into Matt the day after the concert and I told him that they did a great job and that I was pleasantly surprised. The first words that came bursting from his mouth were, “Can you believe that we raised over $200 for the orphanage?!” These are the people I get to work with, and they encourage me to love Jesus more than I do today.
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