when sleep isn't practical, coffee will suffice

here it is, the obligatory post-NA recap. It's always difficult to write these things. Partly because I'm still processing everything. Partially-processed thoughts don't translate well to words. But I'll try.

One word description of New Attitude '08: refreshing.

Longer version: Fellowship, worship, messages, small groups...they all combined to make one huge downpour of grace for my thirsty soul. I couldn't soak it up fast enough.
One night, Josh Harris read Isaiah 53 to a 17-member string section. It was breathtaking.
Worship was led by the NA band-led itself by Devon and Bob Kauflin. We learned "Nail My Glory", "All I Have is Christ" and a few other newish songs from the Looked Upon (Lu) album.

The theme this year was "The Word of God." "If the Bible really is God's word, Then we're called to delight in it and obey it." Good stuff, eh? Everything we heard was on this topic. I can't give you a rundown of every message. They all impacted me differently. Some encouraging, some convicting, some bringing truth to bear on my immediate circumstances. (immediate back home i mean) All had points I need to apply which is where the NA slogans come in handy. "Trying to drink from a fire hose" is how they describe trying to absorb and apply it all at once. Instead we should take "one bit of truth" and apply it to "one bit of life" to start with. If you want to know what we heard, visit the NA website. You can put CJ Mahaney, Al Mohler, Mark Dever, John Piper, Eric Simmons and Josh Harris on your ipod here. You can read Justin Buzzard's live blogging of the messages as well. Eventually they'll have some manuscripts up.

Of course we made some crazy memories too. There was never a lack of laughter in our room! {Or suburban} Bacon, egg and pancake breakfasts in our hotel room, late night CVS runs in the rain, giant twizzlers, the "penguin roof" restaurant in downtown Louisville, mini baseball bats... I'm blessed with good friends. Maybe I'll do a top ten highlight post. Probably not.
.end of scattered recap.