Many years ago my family attended a family retreat at Camp Rockmont called Homeward Bound. As I remember it, several families went together and decided to host this Christian camp for families one weekend every fall.  Homeward Bound  was one of the top highlights of growing up Reid.  (Except for the sleeping arrangements.  This mama didn’t like that cabins were separated by sex, so girls stayed with mothers and boys stayed with dads. I think our girls were eight, ten and twelve the first year we went. Clearly Will had an unfair advantage!  You could also camp and stay together as a family.  I tried that one year too.  From then on I stayed in town at a not too nice but nicer than camping hotel with another mother friend who wasn’t the camping type.)

The first several years we went, the music and worship was led by a young man named Aaron Keyes (www.aaronkeyes.com).  He was newly married to Megan and each year after that they seemed to arrive with another baby son.  The Keyes currently live outside of Atlanta and Aaron serves  as Worship Pastor at Grace Fellowship Church. According to his website,  “Aaron and his band travel nationally & internationally, leading worship and training leaders. In 2007, the Keyes launched their worship school, with four students coming to live in their basement and on their tour bus for six months of “real, gritty shared-life and on-the-job discipleship.” Since then, many worship pastors from around the world have come through their home, gone through their training, and become part of the broader family, now called 10,000 Fathers.

All that to say, in 2012 my daughter Frances had the opportunity to attend the first track of 10,000 Fathers down in Pawley’s Island, SC.  I think she was one of, if not the youngest person attending.  As  a mom, I’d tell you it changed her life.  Frances went on to Anderson University, Anderson SC and is one semester away from finishing her Bachelors of Music with a concentration in Worship Leadership.  She has completed all three tracks of the 10,000 Fathers Worship School.

SO, imagine my excitement when she forwarded me the YouTube video at the top of this post that is the first release off of the new album from 10,000 Fathers Worship School, “Volume One: Invitation” releasing on May 5, 2015. The song is beautiful, but the faces of the people in the room as they worship brought me to tears. And if you look closely there’s a beautiful redhead worshiping to the right of the bass player that belongs to me. “Come in. Come in. Our hearts are open.”