Harmonies of voices and instruments filled the theatre, flowing through us and rising up to the ceiling. The piano, acoustic guitar, and violin became powerful communicators as strongly as the aching lyrics that completed each song.

Last night Steve and I saw The Swell Season in concert in Louisville. This is the Oscar-winning duo

I've talked about before

, Glen Hansard from Ireland and Marketa Irglova from the Czech Republic (so talented and only 20 years old!). Glen sings for the Irish band The Frames (who also joined them in concert), and both he and Marketa starred in the movie

Once

. (It's another flick I highly recommend if you're into great music. The quality soundtrack is terrific.)

Wow! Can I say it again? Wow! First off, we sat in the FRONT ROW! I'm talking the front, front row. In this theatre (yes, I like spelling it that way!), they'd covered over the orchestra pit and put down three additional rows of chairs from the normal front row right up to the stage. Our knees practically touched the stage as we sat there. We were almost dead center. Funny that we didn't have to pull any strings to get such seats. Steve just happened to go online a few minutes before the advertised time that the tickets were to go on sale. These were the seats he was given when he placed the order. We got some amazing pics. I'm posting one here, and Steve's posting the rest on his blog (beitcarr.com).

Here are some other concert highlights:

The coolest moment of the night may have been the very beginning. Glen came out alone with his guitar (one he played all night and has played so hard that it has holes in it) and sat down on his knees at the very front edge of the stage, away from all microphones. He then sang "Say It To Me Now," belting out the words, his voice echoing throughout the room.

Another highlight: Steve and I both got to interact a little with these artists. Glen was funny in between songs and was telling some odd stories and metaphors for their songs. As he talked, he'd look down to his right, often making direct eye-contact with Steve. Steve made good nonverbal reactions as a good listener should! :) I smiled once during the concert at Marketa (she sat at the piano most of the night) and then at the end as we stood to applaud, I waved and said good job to her and she said thanks in reply.

I enjoyed seeing Glen and Marketa interact (see photo). He was fun and silly at times and chatted like he was just hanging out with the audience in a living room; she was shy and introverted (making her performance in the movie even more remarkable). They'd whisper between songs, deciding what to play next. She'd look at him each song for timing -- even songs they've played probably hundreds of times together, such as their famous "Falling Slowly." We'd just heard on a news story about them that they'd fallen in love as they'd played together and made the movie together. That knowledge made it even more sweet to watch them.

Such skill was present. Their playing and singing and songwriting was impressive. You could see their passion for music in every move they made. My appreciation for such musical talent and passion has grown over the years, and it was amazing to watch last night.

I am now home. Hard to believe the surprise week I had. It's good to be in familiar surroundings. Although it was nice to have people bring things to me (like pain pills!) at the push of a button, the hospital food wasn't anything to write home about; plus I had to drag around a little contraption everywhere I walked, and don't get me started on the fashion statement I made with the lovely gowns and my pj pants each day! :)

But here's one thing I did come to realize: recently, I'd been thinking about some things. I'd kind of made a mental list.

• I wanted to write some deeper things on my blog, not just updates on goings and comings of my week or Kaelyn's latest fad.

• I wanted to spend quality time with Carol, who I hadn't seen in a while.

• I wanted to not be so stressed.

• I wanted a little rest, a little "me" time.

• I wanted to draw closer to God and spend more time in prayer.

• I wanted to see my parents and parents-in-law sometime this month before Christmas.

• I wanted extra sleep.

Now I didn't exactly pray, "Dear God, please cause my lung to spontaneously deflate and put me in the hospital for five days." But I guess that did do the trick and complete the checklist on all of the above.

Who knew? I'll begin my next wish list with caution . . .

I had my own church service tonight since I was stuck here. I participated from 6:30 to 7:30 to keep time with my Echo Church brothers and sisters only a few miles away. I was with you guys in spirit!

It was a nice time. I contemplated the importance of being able to breathe in and out without pain. I recalled when I first heard Steve teach about God's name "Yahweh." We don't know the exact vowels from the Hebrew (we just guess at A and E) because they weren't written. What we do know is that it was supposed to be pronounced as a breathing in and a breathing out. "Yah" breathes in; "weh" breathes out. Try it. Every breath has God's name on it.

I guess that was my "sermon time" in my service tonight. (Good thing I've heard many a sermon by Steve so that something sticks in the memory! :) I love my preacher!) I then listened to some worship tunes on my new iPod Nano that I've yet to blog about but that was given to me by my wonderful husband at just the right time for my hospital visit. It was so uplifting. (I even took a praise walk, jamming down the hall and did a little dance when no one was looking! I felt God surrounding me.)

I also found the Passion Hymns collection and heard new words for the first time. Such as "Take My Life." The song describes different parts of the body and how to offer up those parts for God's use. I decided to add lungs as an addendum to the song tonight. I figure God gave me these breaths in my lungs. He has me right here, right now for a purpose. And each moment in life is there for a purpose. So I should be at peace, no matter the type of moment. If I am tempted to be frustrated in a moment or impatient to move on to the next moment, I hope I remember tonight's worship service and recall that each breath is here for a purpose, and I can choose to use it for God's glory or not.

And it looks like He's got a few more breaths in store for me. Breaths that I can use. Breaths that may take hard work to get through, but breaths that can empower my hands to reach out and my ears to listen and my feet to go and my eyes to see and my mouth to say words that need to be said.

My breaths are with me at work when things seem mundane or even stressful. But my breaths are empowering me to do that work for a reason.

My breaths are with me so I can take notice of strangers or friends who have needs. My breaths can be used to shine out God's love to them, if I remember to use those breaths for that purpose.

My breaths are with me as a mom who is fixing food and changing diapers and picking up toys. And those things may seem unending. But my breaths are there for me to raise Kaelyn for a reason. They are also there to smell the top of her little freshly washed hair before she falls asleep at night.

My breaths are with me as a wife even when I am impatient with my husband because he may not notice where to find things in the house. And as a minister's wife -- when I may need to use my breaths to be patient when others need Steve's time, to clean my house so that we can have people over, to encourage Steve if he is having a rough day. But my breaths are also there to allow me to stand by his side and hold his hand and see the church that God has built and know that I get to be a part of it!

My breaths are not just for me but for every person God has placed in my life, in my path, in my moments.

My breaths are for God -- created by Him, loaned to me, designed to praise Him.

Yah - weh.