Cathy's Tribute
There is a time for everything...
What a journey for this band... from humble beginnings in Ft. Wayne Indiana to the Gospel Music Hall of Fame... this band will leave its indelible mark on music history forever!As a child growing up in a very musical Christian family, I had heard every kind of Gospel music there was to hear. My mother loved the classic quartets, and my brothers were into "Jesus Music"... and I liked anything in between. I will never forget the time that I heard "Why Should the Father Bother" at the young age of 4. There was something about the words, music or the harmonies that remained with me from that moment. I did not know the band was Petra at the time... but I knew I liked it.
Years later I remember listening to a local Christian station (back in the day when they actually bothered to play Petra) hearing "He Came He Saw He Conquered" thinking... "This is Christian music??" ...hey, I was Baptist:). That following year my older brother invited me to come with his youth group to see a video shoot at "The Old Lady on Brady". He did not explain that it was LOUD! So at first I was a little intimidated by the guitars and drums... but hey, after hearing the 5th take of "All Fired up"... it wasn't that bad! Needless to say by the end of the "On Fire!" Video shoot I know all the songs by heart! Fom that moment on... I was a fan.
Holding Back Tears...
This is where it might get tough... so bear with me:)...I remember actually getting to meet the band when my father catered for "Backstage Pass". It was like a dream come true. Here I was just a measley little fan who orchestrated this fancy meal for the band that had been my inspiration... kinda surreal. It was all such a freak thing... there I was at my parents' restaurant, booking my dad for a catering just because I said the word Petra to this guy who looked vaguely familiar AND... who happened to be the producer of many Christain videos at the time! Whew! All I can say is that when we met them that night I was so impressed with their heart for others. You could see the true love of Christ in their eyes. It was such an honor to be able to help them in such a small way. They will never know how that affected me later on. Beacuse of their witness and testimony I was inspired to sing in churches in my area and have been heavily involved in my own church singing specials and writing my own music. Funny how God works... and that ain't even the half of it.
Many years had gone by and I was now in my 20's. I had been through some pretty traumatic things... an extremely bad marriage... and some other things. I just felt tired... I was ready to give up! Then... one night I was watching an infomercial... of course... it was about 2 am! I was at a friend's house and I was sitting there looking at the TV mindlessly, and then I saw Petra, and they were talking about how this song helped this young man in his deperate situation. I was like "hmm... interesting." They proceeded to play the song "No Doubt"... I was bawling right there! I had been really distressed with my life and I knew that song had a special purpose for me at that time.
Here it was... the end of 1998. I was going along, seemingly doing better... but not really. I got on the net to look up Petra... just to see what was going on... I had no idea. So there I saw this website... Michael Jones and A Guide to Petra. WOW... a whole site dedicted to this band! So I look around the site... thinking, boy, whoever did this site really has the info! Needless to say I was impressed. I could not believe that there was someone who loved Petra just as much as I did. I proceeded to post a message about how I had a chance to meet and feed the band... I felt like other Petra fans might want to know what that was all like... I really did not care if the moderator knew! :) So then I got an email back from this Michael Jones guy. I was thinking... hmmm... I hope there is not a problem with my post... well, there were a few spelling mishaps... like the word "Schlitt"... OOPS! That's one you'd better get right, if ya know what I mean! ;) So I'm thinking, wow, this guy is really cool! I take a peek at his personal website... which had all kids of interesting info about how he was from Louisiana and went to ORU! He lived HERE... and the people he worked with dined at my parents' restaurant!! And the rest is history... we began talking on the phone and we realized we clicked!!! Now we have been married 6 years and we have a son, Mikey, who is now a Pethead... and John's best friend (John, you did not get away with that one!;) ) He has had the unique chance to meet them and hang with them.
MJ and I have had the awesome privilege to work on the Guide to Petra together and because of that have now been able to be apart of John Schlitt's official website... and thanks to Sue D., I have also had opportuinities to book John for Radio interviews as well. God is so good! And to think that all of this started because of a young man's dream to have a Christian rock band! WOW!
To Everything Turn Turn Turn...
Now the final chapter is ending for a band that has seen many successes and many trials. Here is a band that has been so pivotal in CCM and its popularity... yet has been unrecognized for its accomplishments by that very industry. With that said, they have made great strides in Christian music, and mainstream too. They have given new and old fans something to look back on and reflect on musically and lyrically. As the newly converted member of the band Korn said, regarding Petra, "they are the original gangsta's"... which means... Thanks! I know that Petra does not want to be remembered for the Grammys, Doves or other accolades... They want to be remembered for the ministry in which millions of lives have been touched and eternally changed! These shoes will be hard to fill. Petra, maybe when we get to Heaven you will see your just reward and will be able to see all the people that now have an eternal home thanks to your faithfulness and dedication to take the Gospel to the all the earth! WOW! Thanks! We love you guys!!!
