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Needless to say, it's a little tough sitting here in front of the ol' workstation this lovely Monday morning. What a full weekend in the 'nati.

First of all, thank you to everyone that was there this weekend for your hospitality and the way you welcomed Jackson into the every aspect of what went on. He had a blast and it absolutely wore him out. Second, I went this weekend mainly to reconnect with some old friends and get a chance to pray for Palmer. What I didn't expect was that both of those hopes would be so over-fulfilled.

First Palmer. What started out as a subdued time of reflection and taking the Lord's Supper turned into a passionate, kingdom-infused, all-out war on the enemies that are trying to destroy Palmer's body with cancer. A few words highlighted the time: subversive hope, desperation (the good kind), and thankfulness. A cool story - I had something happen that has only happened about 5 times in my life. An overwhelming awareness of God's compassion and sorrow came over me as I knelt down to lay hands on Palmer. Later, as the weeping subsided, I had a word in tongues that carried with it the sense of doing violence to the enemy that would kill our brother. I do not know what I said word-for-word (I never do), but a few people later perfectly interpreted (again, not word-for-word, but in spirit) what was said by those unknown words. Many other prophesies and prayers were offered for both Palmer and Amy. He later mentioned to me that he could physically feel an intense heat coming from hands being laid on him. And who says the emerging / simple church is not experiencing the presence of God's Spirit? He was there, big time.

Did healing occur? I think so. I'm never one to persume, but I feel that much damage was done to the plans of the evil one. Most of all, it was just so envigorating to be with all of those people - new friends, old friends - participating in something so near to the heart of God. Doing the stuff. With a bible in one hand and a microbrew in the other. Golly I love this.

Well, this week is Thanksgiving. Mark and Ali and their kids are meeting us at Mom and Dad's house tomorrow night. Should be a rich time. I'm filled with thankfulness today.

u2

Here's how it went down:

The traffic was horrible on the way down, but we got there in time. Missed the opening act, but who cares?

The seats were killer. The way the light curtains were set up (which were up for most of the songs anyway), we had a clear shot of the stage - a great stadium perspective.

First half of the concert was like a 100 yard dash. It was so freaking loud. On The Electric Co., Edge went out on the ellipse and just went off. During I Still Haven't Found, Bono did his "Now we're having church" thing. He said, "This isn't Monday night, it's Saturday night or Sunday Morning." Pretty cool. They weren't lying on the U2tours review, the crowd singing was extremely loud. Nuts.

Then they did Beautiful Day. And on and on. Original of the Species - Bono's "favorite song from the new album". Sunday Bloody Sunday rocked. And of course, Streets.

But my favorite of the night was The Fly - the second song in the encore. Amber and I moved down to the second row in our section for the encore. The Fly just exploded. Got to be one of my favorite U2 songs. I was a little disappointed they didn't play Yahweh, but Bad was a nice ending. Everyone was singing.

U2 has been playing together for 25 years. At one point in the show, I realized that I was singing along to a song that I was singing during a school dance in the 8th grade (With or Without You). This generation's Beatles.

Next Week...

...is going to be fun. On Monday night, we go to Miami to see the this relatively unknown band. It should be a pretty decent show from what I hear:) Then, Friday morning Jackson and I will hop in a plane bound for the 'Nati. It's time to reconnect with some old buddies that I haven't talked to in a while - Creech, Rains, Palmer, Marshall, & the like. Jackson is all hyped up to go on a trip with Daddy and I'm milking his enthusiasm for all its worth. It's amazing what you can get a 4 year old to do (or not do) by reminding him that only big boys go on trips with Daddy.

Then, of course, the following week is Thanksgiving and Mark and Alison (my brother and sister-in-law) are coming down from Minnesota to my parent's place for the week. Good times await.

By the way, if you've been in a hole and only read a few blogs here and there like I do, make sure you check out Scot McKnight. Cool guy.