I just finished some shows this week in Kansas, Ohio, and Indiana!! You were all so amazing!! Thank you!!!! Your love and support bring tears to my eyes.
The message I’m posting today is from 2022, after we had just started my new show at Shipshewana, Indiana, where I performed yesterday. I had to go back because I needed some fried chicken from the Blue Gate, go shopping at the cutest shops, and I definitely needed some Amish Crack donuts, and yes…I ate sooo many!!🤭😋🍩
I’ve added some new numbers since last year’s show, and many are thanks to you. The album I speak of in the #SundayMessage debuted at #1 on the Billboard chart. That truly was an “Unexpected” surprise. Thank you all so so much!!!
Before I post this message, I just wanted to say thank you again to everyone who attended… You are so full of love and kindness!💖 I hope you had as much fun as I did. I love you all very much and hope you have the most beautiful Sunday ever.🥰❤️👈
Marie’s Sunday Message
May 22, 2022
This weekend, I had a show in Shipshewana, Indiana (the cutest Amish town ever, with the BEST ‘Amish Crack’ Donuts!). It was so fun exploring the town with Darla, my manager, and Bonnie Story, my choreographer, as our buggy driver, Ezra, drove us around to see the countryside and also introduced us to a few of the locals. I even took time to go to a couple of fabric stores. I admire the Amish; their way of life, devotion, and belief in God are truly inspiring. I find joy in all our Christian beliefs because we all love our Savior, Jesus Christ, regardless of our denominational differences.
This was the beginning of a new show for me. I usually do a big symphonic concert with a full orchestra, but this was just my band, who, by the way, are absolutely phenomenal! My show features some of the music from my new album, “Unexpected,” but I’ve also added some of my other hits throughout my six decades in music. Once again, You were a fantastic audience… five standing ovations! Thank you so very, very much!!!! My whole crew couldn’t stop talking about you all! Thank you for your love and kindness!!!
People have asked me why I stopped performing in Vegas. Well, 11 years of performing five days a week is a lot!😂 Not that I didn’t enjoy every minute with you, I did!!! And truly, it would be easier for me to stay there, but I have felt prompted to come out on the road to see YOU in your hometowns. It’s getting increasingly expensive to travel, and with hotel costs, etc., I felt you didn’t need those extra costs. I will come to you! 👍 I believe we need to remember some of our good and happy times and make new ones. We need to hear, more than ever, the message of hope and love that music provides. We need all the good memories we can make!🥰
I’m very prayerful about what I do now, including what shows I choose, because, at this point, it’s all about finding more balance in my life. I need more time with my wonderful husband, children, and grand-babies. I have felt very strongly about the areas I will perform in and designed my show for you to feel love and joy.
Because I grew up performing on the road, it’s been so much fun to see the country again, and I know I wouldn’t be able to do what I enjoy if it weren’t for you. Like the line in my song, “Unexpected Song,” “Your smiles have really thrown me.” I can’t express enough my joy in seeing you enjoy yourselves as I perform for you. It’s a family feeling of sorts for me. I have seen some of you in the audience for years and years now, and some of you are brand new to my music, too, but you do feel like family to me. The most amazing thing happened after the show last night. In the 70s, I had a group of ladies who called themselves my “Fab 5,” Now I have a younger generation that has chosen to call themselves the “Fab 5! 😂Well, they were all there. Incredibly, all my Fabs got to be together this weekend! 🤭 It truly shows how music and loving friendships have transcended six decades of music.
In the New Testament, Peter says, “Above all, love each other deeply, because love covers over a multitude of sins. Offer hospitality to one another without grumbling. You should use whatever gift you have received to serve others, as faithful stewards of God’s grace in its various forms.” (1 Peter 4: 8-10)
I don’t believe in accidents. The good and bad, God has a plan for us. I also believe that God brings us together for a reason. We are made through God’s love and made to share that love.
John also says, “My commandment is this: Love each other as I have loved you. Greater love has no one than this: to lay down one’s life for one’s friends” (John 15: 12-13).
God really does bring people and experiences into our lives at the perfect time. At my show this weekend, I had the pleasure of hanging with my besties the day before the show and then finishing up the trip and hearing stories from a few of my fans about how they met their besties. They told me they all became friends because of their mutual interest in my music, and now they all travel together to shows! Seeing them together and the bonds they have formed touched my heart. So this Sunday, let’s all remember those wonderful people in our own lives. We may not see each other regularly, but when we do, we enjoy the unique gift of documenting our lives together!!! I hope you all have a wonderful Sunday, and always remember I love you all, my dear friends!!!!