The Real Thing

Tim and I got to experience our first U2 concert on Monday, along with 56 000 of our closest friends.  A massive crowd--I'm not sure I've ever seen that many people in one place, let alone that many people in one place singing the same song.  And, they're the same songs that I've sung countless times on my own as I hit rewind over and over (and more recently, hit repeat).  It's a small taste of heaven. 

The concert was somewhat redemptive for us, and a reminder of the ways that Grace is given.  The tickets for the concert were from last year.  In Fall of 2009, Tim had purchased U2 tickets for me as a surprise birthday present--the concert was scheduled for July 3.  News reports in Spring 2010 carried stories of cancelled/postponed U2 concerts because Bono was having back problems.  As the Spring wore on, we realized that our concert would be postponed as well.  Initially this was disappointing because we really wanted to go!  Shortly after, though, we were in hospital with Caleb.  I will not forget the moment that I realized how things had worked out, in this case, for our good.  We were standing in the OR waiting room with Caleb, ready for his port surgery, June 24.  I looked across the waiting room and saw an old Coca-cola pop machine--remember the line "The Real Thing"?  That always makes me think of the U2 line "even better than the real thing", and as is usual for me, I sang the line out loud.  At that moment I realized that we wouldn't have been able to use our tickets for this concert even if it had gone ahead as planned, because our lives were currently upside-down.  Because of Bono's back problems, we'd be able to go to the concert, whenever it would be (which ended up July 11 of this year--Happy Anniversary, Dad & Linda!). 

It may seem insignificant to some, but to me, as a well, BIG fan, for my first U2 concert, I'm so thankful that things worked out so that we could go.  Think of it how you will, but I experience that as another bit of Grace.  I may be misquoting here, but Philip Yancey talks about "Grace Notes," the notes in a piece of music that add flourish to whatever is played--God works elements of Grace, like these Grace Notes, into our lives.  This is one of those Grace Notes--maybe just fortuitous timing, maybe just luck, but I'm quite sure that there's design in this experience.
 

And the SkyDome is pretty cool too--I guess it's the building formerly known as the SkyDome.  Rogers' Centre.  Here is one section of the roof, as they were opening it up early in the evening.

And here's the guy who's pushing it open:

And the picture that caught our kids attention:

"Forklifts?!  They had forklifts there?!!"

This week

We had soccer last night, and Caleb and Nella are on the same team.  It's steroids week, and at the end of the soccer evening I asked Caleb what was his favourite part of soccer.  He replied, "The sitting off the field and taking a break part."  I set him up for that one!  

Aside from that comment, the kids are having a great time playing soccer.  Another favourite activity, more so than soccer, is bike riding.  Caleb has mastered hills now, he told me today, and he just got a kick-stand for his bike.  He couldn't be happier!  Tonight we rode through Gage Park, while neighbourhood kids played baseball and their parents sat in the shade and watched.  One of those parents is from a family who we connected with last summer, whose child had ALL when he was 18 months.  (He's now 12).  "How are you?" she called out to us as we wheeled past.  "Good, really good!" I managed to shout back.  A short exchange that meant far more than anyone sitting nearby could have known!

Caleb had a lumbar puncture on Tuesday of this week.  We had a mix-up in our schedule, so we ended up going to clinic twice this week because they forgot to tell us about the lumbar puncture.  LP's are only done on Tuesdays.  Oh well.  It meant both Tim and I got to go with Caleb this week.  LP's aren't a nice experience no matter what, although we do get a little accustomed to it.  This week reminded me though, that there really is no normal.  LP's are a sedated procedure, and Caleb has typically woken up just fine from sedation.  This week he had a really hard time waking up, it was a little frightening, because it was different.  He was groggier than usual, his eyes were blood shot, and it took him quite some time to get his wits about him enough to stand up and walk.  Not usual for him.  Once he was awake enough to leave, he wanted to ride his scooter.  He rode his scooter up to the hospital, but he couldn't manage riding it back.  He ended up sitting on the sidewalk and saying "I don't feel very well."  He was sick for some of the rest of the day. 

We know that this kind of experience can happen sometimes.  For some it happens every time.  By supper time Caleb felt much better, although he looked pale.  We're glad he pulled out of it okay, but it was just not a nice time.  A reminder that chemo drugs and all of these procedures really do have an impact on his little body.  He's so tough, though.  By Wednesday morning you'd never know what went on the day before. 

By Wednesday night he was out on the soccer pitch, playing and wrestling with his buddy Jonathan.  Oh, and kicking the ball a little bit.  Thank God for healing.

Can I say it enough?  Carpe Diem.