1700 miles in 48 hours...

No internet access for the past 6 days has kept me out of the internet loop. Here is what has been going on...

We went back to St. Louis because they needed help with the VBS for the inner city kids. That was an experience that is difficult to really share with everyone else. It was definitely a you-had-to-be-there thing. From helping the missionaries (they do a job I could never do), to talking with the helpers (teenage boys who have seen worse things then I'll probably ever see), and helping the actual kids (loving and eager), it was an experience that I will keep close to my heart. I am so glad that we found this group and could help.

Since then we have traveled through Nebraska, South Dakota, Wyoming, and Colorado. We got to see Mt. Rushmore and the Rocky Mountains. We found a hotel room in Durango while we wait for the Westlink kids to show up. After sleeping on the tile floor in St. Louis and the van throughout the last 3 days, a real bed will be nice.

Day 17...

Chicago - So far my favorite city in all the United States. It was great to get a small break to do touristy stuff. We didn't do too much true service work here, except for helping Willow Creek get ready for the father's day weekend, helping clean up some throw up at a food court (yikes!), and helping out a few homeless in Chicago.

Indianapolis - Back on track with our service mindset, we spent the day helping Lauren James's church get ready for a VBS. We designed, painted, assembled, and perfected the props for the main stage as well as helped carry in food, water, and chairs for the VBS'ers.


I just got done talking with Clarke...he's one of the good ones. I love talking with people who just make you want to be a better person. If I tag you in this note, it's because you've helped make me a better person.

Back to St. Louis...inner city kids need love too...

From the Poor to the Rich of Christianity....

Right now I am sitting at the cafeteria at Willow Creek Community Church in Chicago, Ill. I'm not sure what I'm more impressed with, the 25,000 people that come here every Sunday, the campus being more like a resort, or the fact that this place has a work-out gym and large cafeteria. It's like a mall mixed with a hospital with a concert hall in the middle. Anyway, this is one extreme that we have encountered in the last 2 days. The other extreme was in St. Louis where we helped out with some inner-city kids at a VBS.

The connection that led me to North City Missions in St. Louis is reminiscent of 6 degrees of Kevin Bacon. I was dating Sara when we went to Oxford together. At Oxford I became friends with Daniel Townsend. On a road trip with Daniel to Atlanta we stopped in St. Louis and met some of his friends. His friend, Alaina Bearden, was a fellow traveler who wowed me with her stories of Israel. I was looking at Daniel's facebook just a few days ago when I saw Alaina's name. I told her we started our trip and needed some help finding a ministry. Her father knows of Matt Chandler from North City Missions. Alaina then gave me his number. So it goes Sara to Daniel to Alaina to Alaina's Dad to Matt Chandler. Weird.

We figured out that the organization in St. Louis needs a lot of help next week. They run a VBS every week for the inner city kids around their church. They are in the heart of a bad part of St. Louis and always need help. Normally they have 3 interns and a week long short term missions trip from CIY or another organization coming in to help them out. Next week, they don't have either. Where 15 people usually are there to help with the program, they only have 4 next week. So Mike and I were quite the saviors for them. Next week we will be going back to St. Louis after we travel through Chicago and Indianapolis to help them with their VBS.

Next stop, Sears Tower, Shedd Aquarium, and Wrigley Field....

Pride and the Weather...

Early this morning I realized that I had no plans of doing any service, whatsoever. So I decided to call up the church that I have attended (Faith EV Free) and see if they have anything for us to do. As it so happens, they did. Pulling weeds.

First of all, pulling weeds is no fun. "My fingers hurt. Well your back is about to hurt, cuz you just pulled landscaping duty." There is a whole new meaning to that line. But what I did think was cool so far, has been the weather. The entire time we were in western Kansas painting, it never rained. We were never delayed, or stalled because of the weather. But as soon as we head to Manhattan and we are to pull weeds, it rains the night before. The ground was PERFECT for pulling weeds. Everything came up without much hassle. I'll let you judge whether is was a coincidence or a blessing.

The other thing that hit me when I was pulling weeds was my own pride. I found out just how ridiculously proud I can be. The pastors at Faith were both so grateful, so I had delusions of grandeur that they would use me in a sermon somehow and I would inspire millions of people to change their lives. I kept playing these scenes out in my head where people started to hear about what I was doing (kind of like Pay it Forward) and then I became famous and wrote a book and never had to work another day in my life. Then I would snap to because my back would start hurting. I hate pride. I have literally had to smack myself in the face twice because I keep playing these ridiculous scenes out in my head. I need to keep remembering why I'm doing this trip. And none of the reasons have anything to do with getting my own name out.

If anyone reading this could do me a favor, I would appreciate it. Post or comment on my facebook things that you have always wanted to do for other random people. Small acts of service that you have always wanted to do, or wish were done for you. I want this trip to stay service oriented. They can be the smallest things, or the biggest things. I'm looking for brainstorming ideas basically. Thanks.

Hello Kansas City. Kansas City here I come....

Phase 1 - check

Tonight is my last night in Lincoln, KS. Eight straight days of 8am-8pm painting is hardly motivation for getting up in the morning, but we did it anyway. Special thanks goes out to Barry and Patrick for helping out. It was hard, but worth it.

The next leg of our trip will involve going to Chicago. If you have any suggestions for things we 'must see' while in Chicago, then leave a comment or something. It's going to take us a while to get there, because this is the 'sleep out a van' or 'search for a place to stay' part of the trip.

"...change can be so constant that you don't even feel the difference until there is one. It can be so slow that you don't know your life is better, or worse, until it is. Or it can just blow you away, make you something different in an instant..." ---------I think I'm in one of those "instant" times.

Day 1 and Day 2, if you really want to know...

As many of you know I am not on somesort of an expedition. I left yesturday with Mike Galyardt as my accomplice and we are hoping to figure out this whole 'life' thing. Actually I'm not sure what will happen, expectation seems to be the enemy on a trip like this. Chance, circumstance, prayer, and coincidence seem to be more of the weapons of choice.

The first day was a matter of packing and cleaning up. Aroung 9p.m. we finally headed out to Lincoln, Kansas where we have a large house awaiting us to be painted. The bright side is a fresh bed, free food, and the chance to be spoiled for a bit. But as I turned into Lincoln I realized I nearly passed the street, so I slammed on my brakes causing our chaotic pile of stuff to fly forward in the van and knocked over the cooler. This spilled all over our electronic devices in the front seat, including my cell phone, which proceeded to not work anymore. The first thing we found out when we got to the house is that my internet was not working anymore either. So the first few minutes of Lincoln Kansas appeared to be a complete frustrating failure. I went up to my room annoyed, and irritated.

But in my room, the magic of journaling became a reality. I started to journal and realized that this kind of situation is exactly what I've been praying for. My prayer is to teach me more faith. Now I don't like putting God's name attached to things, so I"ll just let you be the judge on this one. But I have been praying that God will teach me what it means to have true faith. To totally put my trust in him and believe that things will work out, regardless of my expectation. The very first thing that happens on my trip is that one of my major expectations (communicating with people) does not happen. The realization that everything would work out, hit me like a warm breeze. I then fell peacefully asleep.

The next morning my phone had dried out and began to work. But I did not know that until around lunch time, because I had allowed it to slip from my mind. I was so relaxed about it, that when I remembered it was broken I said, nah, I'll look at it later. At lunchtime I checked it, and it worked beautifully. And just about an hour ago, my cousin Chris fixed my computer problems. He does not even realize that he was doing me an act of service, but he was.

Here's the thing. I did not relax about my worries SO that God would take care of them. I simply let the worries aside in my mind, and it all worked out. Maybe that's my answer to living by faith, but who knows, it's only day 2, I have a lot more to learn.

Oh yeah, all day today was power washing, scraping, brushing, primer-ing, and painting. Sun up to sun down, with a 30 minute break for lunch and a 30 minute break in the afternoon. We ate late. It feels good to get a long days work in. Peace.