Together for the Diet Dew

While we were at T4G in Louisville, we tried to think of what we could do for our pastor, since he was unable to make it.

Now, let me premise this by saying that he LOVES his Diet Mountain Dew. I'm not sure how much he drinks a day, but let me say this: he should probably own stock in it.

John came up with the idea to get pictures taken with as many speakers as possible...holding a Diet Mt Dew bottle. It may have been his idea...but it took my courage to actually go up to some theological greats, to ask them to do this!

My first opportunity came Wednesday morning. John had run back to our hotel to get something. I was standing near the front, within a few feet of Al Mohler. A few minutes later...John Piper walked right by me. Without even thinking twice, I said "Excuse me...could you do me a favor? You see, my pastor couldn't make it, and since he loves Diet Mt Dew, we thought it would be fun to get pictures of as many speakers as possible holding the bottle."

He laughed and readily agreed. He even made sure that you could read the words on the bottle. This is what I call being culturally relevant...wouldn't you say?
Now, I mentioned that Al Mohler was closeby...when I had my chance, I asked him the same thing. He looked at me, smiled (I swear he is the most intimidating man EVER!) and said "Sure...just tell your pastor that I don't drink this stuff!"

Doesn't he look like it is almost painful to hold the bottle? (we later found out he drinks Diet Pepsi...so it isn't like he thinks the stuff is poison!)
For lunch, we ate at the Spaghetti Factory...and who did we see? The great Tim Challies! I figured, heck, let's get a shot of him too!
That evening, after the speakers, we were in the bookstore. Thabiti Anyabwile and his wife entered and were nice enough to get a picture taken! He was sooo nice and was happy to do me the favor.

Doesn't he look like a real advertisement?
We decided to go back into the auditorium to see who was hanging around. Ligon Duncan was very excited to be a part of this. He was just kind of giggly over the whole thing, lol. He even struck quite the pose...like he does this all the time!
CJ Mahaney was next up. We knew he'd be game for the shot. His only advice was this: "You tell your pastor that if he is going to drink Mountain Dew...then go all the way and get rid of the Diet!"
The last person hanging around was Bob Kauflin. As you can see from his facial expression, it had been a long day, lol. He was happy to do it for us and gave us some great advice on worship in church.
And here is what I put together for Reggie:

When I think about it...I wonder how I managed to get the courage to actually ask people to do this! If I had really thought about it beforehand, I probably would have chickened out.

I will probably be forever known as the 'woman who made me pose with a Diet Mt Dew bottle"...at least now I have a conversation starter for the next conference..."Remember me? I took a picture of you with a soda bottle at T4G!"

Edited to add: I wasn't able to get MacArthur, Dever, or Sproul...they were like the untouchables of the conference, lol.