Light in the Dark

There can be hope that, even in the darkest times (and usually even moreso), God is at work.

We have seen that this weekend. Laura's younger sister, Bekah, was in a terrible auto accident Saturday evening. Her car went off the road and in an attempt to correct this, she overcompensated and the car flipped. She suffered multiple broken bones (in the face, her ribs, and her arm),and her lungs were badly injured. She was airlifted from St. Simons/Brunswick to Savannah for their trauma unit's help.

We were in Athens, visiting my brother and his wife, when we heard the news. We left there and arrived in Savannah around 3 am. Laura went to the ER and I took the kids' to Laura's aunt's house.

We have been in and out of the hospital. The doctors tried to perform some surgery for a dissected aortic valve early Sunday morning. They stopped when Bekah's lungs weren't strong enough to handle it. She actually died and was revived with the shock paddles. When she was brought back to the ICU area, she once again flatlined but was brought back to life.

She is now on life support and her lungs are gaining strength. Her brain suffered some bruising, but no damage that can be detected. Her liver and spleen have stopped bleeding.

There has been a massive amount of prayer going up to the throne of God on Bekah's behalf. It is an amazing miracle so far to see her life sustained.

Please continue praying if you are reading this. We pray for her continued healing and for the glory of God Almighty to show through in Bekah's life. The Spirit of Jesus is mighty to save.

Henry: Walker in Training

Here is yet another video clip (can you tell this is kinda fun?) of our other superstar, Henry Taylor. He's up-and-coming and, by the looks of these moves, will not grow up in the shadows of his older sister.

Zoe as a cartoon character

My best friend and I had a ridiculous language we spoke with in junior high. Zoe has absorbed this native tongue and is in the fetal stages of speaking it fluently. A bit of silliness between Dad and daughter.

Live Music: History

I was thinking about being a music lover..... and how many of my good friends (and fellow bloggers) are, as well. Thinking back on the concerts I've seen in the past, I was amazed at how many shows I've been to. I've decided to try and give a comprehensive list of who I've seen and where, in no particular chronological order. Here goes.... I might have to come back and update this post as I remember shows:

U2 - Georgia Dome (w/Public Enemy & B.A.D.II) , Death Valley (Clemson University; w/ Rage Against the Machine), Phillips Arena (2x, once w/ Institute)
MuteMath - JackRabbit Slims, 40 Watt (w/ The Working Title), The Loft, Variety Playhouse
Travis - The Tabernacle
Radiohead - The Masquerade
Afghan Whigs - Bowery Ballroom, Masquerade
The Sundays (w/ Luna) - Variety Playhouse
Sebadoh - 40 Watt
Yo La Tengo - Variety Playhouse, 40 Watt
Luna - 40 Watt
Third Day - Lakewood (I mean, HiFi Buys...)
The Cure - Lakewood
Coldplay - The Tabernacle
Catherine Wheel - Cotton Club
Moby - Bowery Ballroom
Blur - Roseland Ballroom
Jars of Clay - somewhere in NYC (can't remember), The Roxy
Massive Attack - The Roxy
Portishead - The Roxy
Joseph Arthur - Smith's Olde Bar
POD - some festival in Tennessee
Curve - The Masquerade
Delirious? - The Roxy
doves - The Roxy
Everyone - Trinity Vineyard Church
Amy Grant (1st concert ever) - Omni (R.I.P.)
Nirvana - Tallahassee Civic Center
Iona - that same festival in Tennessee
James - The Roxy
REM - some amphitheater in New Jersey
Sonic Youth - Legion Field (Athens)
Live - Legion Field, Athens (Athens)
Ten Shekel Shirt - Atlanta Vineyard, some warehouse in Athens
The Violet Burning - Atlanta Vineyard
Drivin' n' Cryin' - 40 Watt (I helped run the visual hoopla that looped on screens in the background)
The Flaming Lips - 40 Watt
Sting/Natalie Merchant - Lakewood
Brian Setzer Orchestra - Chastain Park Amphitheater
Weezer - Athens (Classic Center)
Cowboy Junkies - Georgia Theater
Luxury - some little place that used to be in Atlanta ("lizard"-something??)
Jets to Brazil - The Earl
DJ Logic - Georgia Theater

Real Life certainly stranger than fiction...

Although I didn't personally witness this event, it takes the cake for surrealist piece of the day:

Giant Lego man found in Dutch sea
Tue Aug 7, 2007 4:56PM BST

AMSTERDAM (Reuters) - A giant, smiling Lego man was fished out of the sea in the Dutch resort of Zandvoort on Tuesday.
Workers at a drinks stall rescued the 2.5-metre (8-foot) tall model with a yellow head and blue torso.
"We saw something bobbing about in the sea and we decided to take it out of the water," said a stall worker. "It was a life-sized Lego toy."

A woman nearby added: "I saw the Lego toy floating towards the beach from the direction of England."
The toy was later placed in front of the drinks stall.

Classic Real-life Comedy

I was in line at Publix the other night. Grabbing some chicken tenders at their deli, I needed to pay for the poultry and get back to work. The kid in the checkout was helping the customer in front of me, and in the back of my mind, I'm sure I noticed the sweet track of music playing over the speaker system in the grocery: Seal's "Kiss From a Rose." What I then noticed was that as he was transitioning from ringing up the previous customer to ringing up my meal, he was mouthing words, while looking down. I thought, "what is he saying?" and "who is he talking to?" Then, to my horror and delight, I put 2 and 2 together. This young buck had Seal in his soul. The part of the song that he was so synched up to was (courtesy of www.lyricsmania.com):

"My power, my pleasure, my pain!!"

I moved to type the info into the debit card reader and my inner smile was lit up. Not only did the kid have a thin, gold chain around his neck, but I believe he had no clue that I saw his hidden drama. Was he up on a stage in his mind, wowing the crowd? Who knows. But I witnessed the awesomeness of that moment and it made me smile. It had a surreal, Napoleon Dynamite-feel to it. And knowing how those in-store music systems work, I'm sure at least 5-6 more fortunate customers had the odd pleasure of seeing the same thing.....probably that same day.