And then………… March 10, 2007

I do not even know where to begin so I guess I will just start with where I last left off.  What a whirlwind the last two weeks have been!  I will hit the highlights and if you need more details just give me a call because there is so much more to what I am about to type that there is not room for on this blog!  I will begin with the first leg of my whirlwind tour of the southeastern corridor of the United States.

I agreed to go and spend some time in Nashville to celebrate Greg’s birthday by going to a Family Force 5 concert in Nashvegas at some skatepark/teen club.  In case you have never heard of Family Force 5, I would highly encourage you to check them out!  They are nuts and their music is nuts and to see them live is one of the greatest things I have ever witnessed!  Well, the night of the concert Greg thinks we have plenty of time to eat and hang out before the show so we head to a local favorite and enjoy some burgers and fries.  After a while, we head on over to the venue just in time to hear the lead singer-Soul Glow Activator- say, “You guys got time for one more tonight?”  Well, that was that.  We heard one final song before they headed off stage and the group Disciple took over.  Now, I don’t know if you are familiar with the group Disciple but all I can really say about them is YIKES!  I am pretty sure I prayed the sinner’s prayer with everyone else in the room and then cheered as the lead singer screamed-”You mess with my country and you mess with me!”  I am not really sure if you are aware of the types of folks who go to their shows but let’s just say, the crowd was cheering but probably only because he was screaming.  I don’t think too many people in the room were concerned with war or countries or patriotism or anything like that.  They basically just wanted to get in the mosh pit and bang their heads around. All was not lost however.  We got to meet Family Force 5 at the end of the show and they signed my shoe.  I am pretty sure that I will marry the drummer-his name is Crouton and he is HOTT!!!!  Anyways, after that we headed home, somewhat disappointed but you know, I lived.  The next day Greg talked me into staying and going to a taping of a Family Force 5 video-or what we thought was a video.  We stood outside a studio in Franklin for hours-literally.  Finally around 8:00pm they opened the doors for us to head inside and stand around some more.  When we finally got into the room where the taping was happening, we found out that we were the studio audience for a show in the Gospel Network called Front Row Live.  What are the odds?  It was so fun and good to see a whole concert, finally.  I must say that I would go and see these guys every week if they were performing around here.  I loved their music before but seeing them live took it up a few notches for me!  I encourage you all to check them out.  They have a new album coming out next week.  Anyways, since it too so long to get into this taping it was too late for me to head back to Mobile.  I spent another night in Nashville and then got up the next morning at 6 am.  I got back to my apartment around 12:45 pm and took a shower, unpacked, washed my clothes, and packed again and headed over to join the rest of the team that went to Chicago.  I was a driver for the trip so I got behind the wheel again and headed to the Windy City.  It was a crazy drive and we drove through the night.  We only stopped when we had to and arrived around 10:00 am Friday morning.  We immediately went to the missionary’s house, got a brief introduction to the city and the work that is being done there, grabbed some lunch and headed to a Mosque.  We toured and met with an Imam who answered questions and gave us a brief history of Islam.  We spent much of this time in prayer (as we were listening, we were to be praying) and then we headed over to a Hindu temple. It was unbelievable and there is not enough space or time for me to tell of all the things we saw there.  Both places were heartbreaking and very dark.  Finally, after 39 hours, I went to sleep.  I would just like to say that it was the best sleep I have ever had in my life!  We slept at a local church and had one shower for all 30 of us.  It was incredible that it worked!  Not a single complaint from anyone on the team!  The next day we headed to a part of town called Little India.  It was very interesting.  There are millions of Hindus and Muslims living in the metro area of Chicago.  For those of you who know me,  you should already know this was very interesting to me.  I spoke with a man who works in that part of the city about my passions and where I feel the Lord is leading.  He was very encouraging.  There is so much to say about this part of our journey but I will move on.  We went out to the shore of Lake Michigan, which looks a lot like a beach, and spent some time in prayer.  This is where A.W. Tozer spent hours and hours praying for the city of Chicago.  It was freezing but totally worth it.  Later we chilled out and prepared for Sunday.  In the morning on Sunday we helped out with an Ethiopian church plant and provided activities for the children and participated in their services.  It was amazing to hear and see them worship.  Later, we went back to the missionary’s house and prepared a festival for people in the neighborhood.  The statistics of who is living in and moving to the Chicago area is amazing.  If you are interested in knowing more about that, call me.  It is too much for here.  We hosted a Purim festival (celebrating how God saved the Jews through Esther) and told the story of Esther and had food and games.  There were some interesting people who came and it was a good time for all.  Please call me about Joe-he was a guy I had an incredible conversation with.  It is certainly too much and too long to put here but well worth hearing.  On Monday we spent some time at the largest community college in the U.S.  We were basically just prayerwalking and engaging people in conversation and getting the word out about Campus Ministries.  We did the same thing on Wednesday and if you would like to know more just ask.  We all learned some valuable lessons on prayer and prayer walking.  On Tuesday we had a free day and were basically tourists.  We took the train into town and visited the Miracle Mile.  We went to Navy Pier and had deep dish Chicago style pizza.  It was all really good and fun and then we headed back to chill out for a while.  We left on Wednesday afternoon around 3 pm and then got back to Mobile around 9 am on Thursday.  It was quite an adventure and I would love to talk about it with you if you have the time.  At any rate, there are about one hundred and seventy five things I could tell you about the last two weeks but this is enough for now.  Peace out