In case you don’t know what Night of Joy is…it is a hard ticketed event at The Magic Kingdom where there are concerts by all different kinds of Christian bands through out the evening. Add to that Disney rides and food and you have an awesome event for the whole family.

Friday Night’s Line-up

Castle Forecourt Stage

• 7:40pm  Michael W. Smith and Steven Curtis Chapman
• 9:50pm  MercyMe
• 11:55pm Skillet

Galaxy Stage

• 7:30 p.m. – Audio Adrenaline
• 8:50 p.m. – Audio Adrenaline
• 10:25 p.m. – Mandisa
• 12:10 a.m. – For King and Country

Rockettower Plaza Stage

• 8:15 p.m. – City Harbor
• 9:40 p.m. – We As Human
• 11:20 p.m. – Moriah Peters

We arrived in the park right at 7:00pm…in the rain. My husband wasn’t feeling well and needed some food so he went over to Cosmic Ray’s for dinner while I joined the crowd in front of Cinderella Castle knowing he would join me before concert time. Due to the rain slowing down set up, the Michael W. Smith and Steven Curtis Chapman concert was delayed…quite a bit but the crowd didn’t seem to mind a bit.

Soaking wet #selfie taken while waiting for the concert to begin.

The concert was AMAZING! They performed together and separately. They did a lot of their classic songs including Friends, Dive, I Will Be Here, Alleluia, and Cinderella as well as leading the crowd in a worship set that was just beautiful, especially with the backdrop of Cinderella Castle. The rain finally let up about 2/3 of the way through the concert. The only downside was that despite chants of “put down the umbrellas” most people kept them out throughout the show which made it difficult to see even the large LED screen on the stage.

Michael W Smith-Steven Curtis Chapman Night of Joy 2013

Once the concert ended, I was getting hungry so we headed to Pecos Bills for dinner. Since there were no stages in the Frontierland-Liberty Square-Fantasyland areas of the park these areas were deserted! We walked on to Peter Pan’s Flight and Voyage of the Little Mermaid with no wait. Next we headed to Tomorrowland and walked right on to Buzz Lightyear’s Space Ranger Spin because everyone in Tomorrowland was at the Mandisa concert or watching the video relay of the concert on the screen at the Rockettower Plaza Stage. After the ride we headed over to Rockettower Plaza because I wanted to be in the front row for the Moriah Peters concert. I told you all about that in yesterday’s post Who Should Our Daughters Be Listening To? so you can hop over there to read about that concert. After Moriah’s concert we went to see a bit of her husband’s concert. This is the third time this year I’ve seen For King and Country,my boys even toured with them for two weeks this summer, so we stayed for three songs and then headed back to Cinderella Castle so my husband could catch part of the Skillet concert.

Skillet Night of Joy 2013

We had an awesome time at Night of Joy. I wish we had been able to attend Saturday night because I LOVE TobyMac and Building 429 and I would have enjoyed seeing them in concert. Have you ever been to Night of Joy? What Christian band would you like to hear at Night of Joy 2014? I am so excited because it has already been announced that Hillsong United will be there!

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Disclosure: We were guests of Walt Disney World at this event. We received no monetary compensation. I was not asked to post about this event. All opinions are 100% mine.

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Michael W. Smith narrating the Candlelight Processional

Mario Lopez and the gang shooting the opening of the Disney Parks Christmas Day Parade

The post Wordless Wednesday-Walt Disney World in December appeared first on The Mom Maven.

In the midst of this, on Tuesday I re-started the Couch to 5K (c25k) running program. I am not an athlete, far from it. I am an obese 47 year old who wants to prove to herself-and anyone watching-that by the time I hit 50 I will be the healthiest I’ve been in 25 years. I say I re-started c25k because a year and a half ago i originally started it with a goal fo completing the Halloween 5k at Walt Disney World with a bunch of my friends in October 2010. The diagnosis of anemia and doctor’s orders not to exert myself ended that plan after just a few weeks of training. I am still anemic but my numbers have been more consistent and I have been given the go ahead to start training but with caution that I must listen to my body and rest as needed. My current goal is to complete the Royal Family 5k at Walt Disney World in February.

Tuesday’s training went well. I realized that my pace has improved in the last year and a half because I went further than I had last time I started the program. I didn’t know exactly how far I had gone-I walk/jog around our neighborhood and the C25k told me I was 1/2 way through my 30 minute workout when I thought I should be about 3/4 of the way through so I took another lap! I felt good after the workout, though I crashed later in the afternoon and requires a nap. Wednesday was my crazy 12 hour work day and I don’t plan to train on Wednesday’s because my body barely lasts through the day normally. Thursday I had planned on training but woke up with a migraine that lasted about half the day. Then I went into work and had dinner at the in-laws. When I arrived home I received an email that really upset me-more than I thought it would. I found out that I was not moving on to the final round of the Disney Moms Panel application process. I had really felt relaxed and confident about my chances this year, but I was wrong. Last night-on top of everything else swirling around my life this email was the straw that broke the camels back. I hopped on Twitter and Facebook and had a pity party with other friends who weren’t selected to move forward. I literally sat at my computer and wept for about a half hour before heading to bed at 12:30am!

This morning I got up and as I was tying my sneakers my husband came out of the bedroom and said, “You better stay close to home, there’s rain coming but it should be a light sprinkle.” I said ok and headed out. I always start my walk/run with prayer it is some alone time with God and this morning I told Him in part, “Yesterday is behind me-please forgive me for being so selfish last night. You have blessed me beyond measure and I have so much to be thankful for. Today is a new day and your mercies are new every morning. Thank you Jesus for forgiving me and cleansing me from all unrighteousness.” Then I popped in my earbuds and got to work.

My current workout playlist consists of Desert Song by Hillsong United, Happy Day by Jesus Culture from Your Love Never Fails (CD/DVD),  No Sweeter Name by Kari Jobe, Freedom by Eddie James and How He Loves by Jesus Culture from We Cry Out (CD/DVD).

As I went through my paces and sang these worship songs it started to sprinkle-no big deal. When I hit half way it started raining a bit harder. Freedom came on my iPod and as I turned the corner for the last long stretch home the rain was now coming straight down into my face. I was jogging to the west and the rain was coming from the west. The song hit the bridge “No more shackles, no more chains, no more bondage, I am free!” I was singing and laughing and praising God in the rain when out of the corner of my eye I see my husband pull up and roll down his window-I waved him on home-I had come this far I wasn’t quitting now. Then as How He Loves  started playing I was overwhelmed not only by the love my Abba Daddy has for me-which is amazing but by the love my husband has for me. To trek out in the pouring rain to make sure I was ok and to give me the freedom to continue on my way to push through towards my goal, was just overwhelming. I jogged, I cried, I was soaked through and I had to take my glasses off because I couldn’t see out of them but I made it home.

I was greeted at the door by my 18yo son holding a large towel (his way of saying “I love you mom”). I bawled during my shower (and while writing this post) as I reflected on my many, many blessings. Does it sting that I’m not moving forward with the Disney Moms Panel? Yes. Was it a crazy week at work and at home? yes. Is my God, the Creator of the Universe, still in charge and is He still taking care of me and making sure I have what I need even if it may be something I don’t necessarily be what I want…like HEALING RAIN? Yes!!

Soak in the Healing Rain!

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