Living among a pragmatic populace

New News

2011-11-07T13:13:00.000-08:00

Boyfriend.

quickly speaking from the heart

2011-10-10T14:23:00.000-07:00

Okay.

I've tried to kind of keep people updated on my life via Facebook recently, I just haven't had the time for blogging like I used to. Coffee, ministry and friends have filled up my once open schedule, but I want to speak quickly from my heart for a second because I think what is happening in my life needs to be documented and talked about.

God has been so good to me. I know that God has always loved me. Even before He created me He knew me and loved me. I know that the greatest act of love and kindness from God is when He sent His only Son to die for me, there will never be a greater act of love than the demonstration of love on the cross when Christ reconciled us to God, but I must say that recently I've felt so loved by God.

Coming to the Northwest a year ago I was super open handed with my life. I didn't have a ton of friends, I didn't have a job, the church hadn't started. I basically didn't know what I was doing but I was waiting for God to show up in some way. I had no idea He would show up the way that He has.

What I've learned:

Living an abandon life to God is the only way to experience the abundant life He has to offer.

I can't say I believe in God because of science or because it makes sense in my brain, but I know that I've given God the opportunity to work in my life and provide for weirdly specific things that I've needed and He's provided it. I mean, I know I didn't provide these things. I know that the last year hasn't been about me at all. I've just tried to follow where God has told me to go and wanted so much to obey Him probably more than ever and mostly out of complete fear in not knowing what to do but trust Him. I feel like I kept moving along even though I was completely uncertain and now I'm standing amidst amazing opportunity, friends, relationships... I wish I could be totally vulnerable and state specifics but it would take forevs.

It just needs to be said... we're always amidst the love of God. I feel like I was totally stripped of everything not because God made that happen but because I wanted it. I moved so far away because I knew it would be hard, I knew I would grow in Him and knew that there was great potential for Him to draw me close and I needed that. So I came and it was completely not what I thought and way harder than I had imagined it would be. Now I'm standing here 14 months later a completely different person and amidst a completely new life with completely new people and opportunity and there's no one else who can have the credit other than Him because I knew I had nothing to do with it.

I dunno, I'm just speaking openly.. so. thankful.

Brooke Fraser - Love is Waiting

2011-09-01T16:34:00.000-07:00

I forgot how much I loved Brooke Fraser, and how much I loved this song, until recently.

Four days from now!

2011-08-11T08:38:00.000-07:00

It's my last week of full on practice in the shop before our opening. Monday morning at 6am we'll be unlocking the doors of Sound City Coffee and welcoming in the people of our community. I've never been so excited for something yet so nervous at the same time! Let's just be honest.. I'm a bit scared my abilities aren't up to par at this point. However, I know without a shadow of a doubt we're serving coffee that's a million times better than anything else Tumwater has to offer at this point (no offense Starbucks).

It's a crazy time, but I know that it's going to turn out just fine. God has provided so much for this to happen and so.. ready or not here we come.

The coffee aspect has become soo important to me over time. I do want to share the best product available and I do want to grow in my barista skills, not just because it's really fun for me, but because I want to love my community the best I can. By working hard and providing some great espresso, some nice looking latte art, some amazing local breakfast foods and some pourover coffee, I really think we'll be showing the community that we care for them. That's what it's really all about.

Though I am a bit nervous, my excitement to meet people in the community and actively give as a nonprofit organization trumps all! I think it's going to be so neat to give back and to stand behind the bar and chat people up. With everyday I keep thinking... "I wonder who our regulars will be." It's soooo exciting :)

So.. only four days away! I'll be sure to keep you updated on all the happenings of Sound City Coffee in Tumwater, Washington. Next week is sure to be a wild one!

I can't wait!

2011-07-24T20:56:00.000-07:00

Last month's post said, "Sound City Coffee set to open June 17th". Now, that's laughable.

However, things are progressing quickly! Our opening day will without a doubt be August 15th. So much has happened over the past month: Our tables are complete and looking amazing, our bar construction is done and looking stellar and super original, all equipment is in place and we're brewing and grinding Olympia Coffee Roasting Co. single origin coffees by the cup using various pour over methods! Training has begun with Will Frith of OCR. It has been totally solid spending time with him and chatting about coffee, music, literature and life. He's such a solid dude and becoming a pretty solid friend as well. Basically, the only step left to take before we can serve our community is acquiring our occupancy and other various permits from the city. This Tuesday we will be having appointments to try and get these permits in our hands. August 15th is a perfect time to open not only because by then will we be very confident in our product, but it also allows for time to obtain the permits needed to open.

I'm so super stoked! I can't even begin to tell you! I can't believe that all of this is happening. I can't wait to wake up every day when it's still dark out and go open the shop. I can't wait to serve my community and meet people. I can't wait to serve a solid product and discuss all things coffee with our customers and our roaster. I can't wait for cupping events at our awesome cupping table. I can't wait to actually be good at latte art. I can't wait for my friend Honor to come join me in the shop and help me improve my barista skills. I can't wait to grow as a barista. I can't wait to have a pay check. I can't wait to work with my friends. I can't wait to make some friends. I can't wait to love on the people that walk through the door regardless of whatever walk of life they are on. I literally can. not. wait. It's going to be so, so, sooo fun!

As slow as this whole process has seemed to go at times I am amazed that I am approaching the end of what has been my first year here in Olympia. So much has happened. It's mind boggling. It's crazy to be sitting in the shop and looking at all of our gear, tables and our bar. It's weird to think that there are going to be people sitting in those seats every day that I can chat with and relate to on some sort of level even if it's only coffee. I can remember back to December thinking, "How in the world am I going to make it through this year?" But God sustained me and provided for me, and I'm super thankful for that. I'm super thankful that I didn't decide to go home and that I now know I'm not leaving any time soon. This whole year has been a process of being refined and learning more about God and who He has created me to be. It definitely hasn't been easy and it's still not, but there's also a lot of peace amidst it all.

I'm sure if you flip back through posts I had written in September and October of 2010 you would read something like "It's so strange that I live here and work here". I STILL feel that way and I can't believe I'm STILL here. It's not a bad thing. It's a great thing! I am in total awe of what God has done in just a year and I'm super excited for what He can do in another year, and another year and another year. I'm so super thankful that He let's me be a part of all of it. I get to work in an industry that I love and serve God all the same. It's such a huge blessing.

So that's kinda where I am right now. Baffled by God's goodness. Sound City Church has seen progress as well over the past month! We had our fourth preview service in the coffee shop today! Nearly 40 people attended and we had about 11 first time guests! Russell did an awesome job speaking and I got to play some good music with some good friends for some good people. All in all it went without a hitch. The church also had a few visitors come out in June and July to investigate Sound City Church and decide on whether or not to move out and get involved.

People all over are hearing about Surround the Sound and wanting to help church plants in the Northwest. In June we got a visit from a boy down south, Wil Sanders. Wil had never met Russell, Belinda, me or any of the church planters with Surround the Sound, but heard about the opportunity through a mutual friend of his and Russell's. He took a huge step of faith, came to visit anyway, loved it and is now back home in Mississippi raising support to move in about three weeks! He's a bold guy and is going to be a HUGE asset to our team. It's definitely something to be excited about. I've been praying for so long that God would build a team of young people within our church and I think this is just the beginning of it. I can't wait to have Wil here! I mean, he's pretty great.

It's been so encouraging getting to have people come out and take interest in what's been going on and watching Surround the Sound grow. I keep thinking over and over "What in the world is going to happen in another year!?" :)

Things are moving along quickly here in the great Northwest! Pictures to come soon along with more coffee updates! Totally stoked for August 15th!!

Moving right along..

2011-06-14T11:46:00.001-07:00

Isn't the sound of woodworking music to your ears? Well it has been for me. Sound City Coffee is getting stuff done and moving right along! I've posted a few visuals for you below, and don't forget to follow us on Twitter and Facebook!

This was the night that the wall was painted red. I went over that evening and it finally hit me "Man, I really wanna hang out in there". It felt good.

Bar construction has begun. Can't wait to tack up our black bar and install our live edge pieces.

Early stages of cabinet and bar construction.

This is one of my favorite bar features at Sound City Coffee, a pull out recycling bin.

We found some awesome wood with live edge to make our four seater tables.

This is our buddy bar where we will be holding our cupping events with our roaster, Olympia Coffee Roasting Co.

Live edge for our two seater tables

Pour over bar!

Training day!

This coffee is delicious!! Brazil Cup of Excellence

Learning

2011-05-09T15:33:00.000-07:00

My blog isn't the only thing that is changing around here. The weather is getting somewhat better, which of course changes the mood of things, the space has been painted black and tan and my love and passion for coffee has grown and grown.

I've always been a fan of coffee culture, even in Morgantown, West Virginia where coffee shops are pretty sparse. I've always enjoyed a warm drink and the quietness that comes with enjoying it while reading a book. It wasn't until my move to the Northwest that my blinders had been removed and I could see how that cup of coffee I was drinking back home should be brewed and cared for.

What I've heard most recently, and jokingly I'm sure, is "Mollie, you're a coffee snob" and that's just not true. It's laughable how little I actually know about coffee and amazing how much you can continue to learn and grow while studying it. It's never ending. I met a guy once who said he's been studying coffee for eight years and still doesn't know everything about it (my guess being because the market keeps changing and technology, and farming, continues seeing advancements) The passion and knowledge that these local roasters have is enough to bring me in to buy some coffee from them. I'm not a coffee snob, I just prefer small business, passionate service and a good deal. By purchasing from these local roasters you're definitely getting more for you buck, it's so good! So, my research is ongoing and hopefully that will help Sound City Coffee set the bar high.

Today I bought a legal pad for coffee only. I just finished my first read through of David C. Schomer's "Espresso Coffee" and now I'm going through my second round and this time taking more notes. Heck, I will probably read it a third time.

Let me be transparent here.. since moving to the Northwest from West Virginia there have definitely been times where I've questioned my purpose, but after our meeting with Oliver last week (and knowing that there are coffee professionals in the area who are genuinely excited about our shop) things have started to change a bit and for the better. I'm looking forward to each day that we get to meet with our great roaster. The knowledge that these coffee connoisseurs have is definitely respected in my arena where I'm just learning. Last week Oliver also gave me a list of blogs that he follows so I can keep up and continue to learn.

I tried to explain to him last week that in West Virginia specialty coffee like this doesn't exist, well I mean, outside of Rich Johnson at the Daily Grind (he knows what's up). I'm just now becoming educated. I proceeded to explain to him that the first day I walked into the shop I was impressed when I realized they brewed fresh by the cup, that I could have any choice of coffee I wanted- they had eight choices that day. Rich wasn't kidding me when he told me I was moving to coffee heaven.

Though it is really exciting for me it is also a bit intimidating to be surrounded by so many coffee elitists in the Northwest. I am in the market of finding a coffee mentor in the area. I just need to have a friend to sit with so I can pick their brain. I love reading all these books and blogs, of course, but to have discussion would be great. I'm anticipating this day.

Until then I'll continue to jot down notes in my legal pad.

(Sound City Coffee set to open June 17)

Confirmed!

2011-03-07T22:21:00.001-08:00

So this is awesome...

Tonight we heard back from the bank about our counter offer on the coffee space we're looking to lease and...

it was confirmed.

We now have 41 days to get this space ready for our launch date on the 24th. There is so much to do before the big day arrives: building out the counter, buying furniture, painting and decorating, accounts with our roaster, more equipment and so many things I probably haven't even thought about yet. We've been looking forward to this day for so long that is almost seems unreal to me, but I can't even begin to tell you how exciting this is!

Thanks for all the prayers, well wishes and encouragement over the past few weeks. So ready to meet more locals and make good quality coffee.

Old Town Plaza Continued..

2011-02-28T22:56:00.000-08:00

Thank you friends for following and praying for Sound City! We have received an offer from the bank. The offer was a little bit more than what we had originally asked for, but we responded with another offer in hopes the bank will agree with the terms that Russ has placed before them.

Russ also wondered over to Olympia Coffee Roasters today and chatted with the owner, Oliver, to discuss further plans on starting an account. I can't begin to tell you how EXCITING this is for me. By starting an account with this roaster we'll have ample training with their baristas, and these dudes know what they're doing. My baristaexchange and james hoffman knowledge is about to go hands on and I can't wait. Brew methods, dose/weight, temperature, pressure, milk, coffee, la marzocco, latte art... face to face interaction with the pros. So exciting!!

My passion for coffee that has been developing over the years makes this journey an extremely enjoyable one. It can be easy to dive into coffee and lose vision of why we began Sound City Coffee to begin with. Coffee is all about community and that is the real drive behind our shop. To meet people, to build relationships, to be in the community helping when no one else wants to, loving people who know one else wants to love, supporting people who have no support. I love coffee and I care a lot about it, but it doesn't compare to the feelings I have for this community.

Over the course of this week we are hoping to hear back from the bank about the second offer we gave them and we will be trying to sign the lease as soon as we can. Our launch date remains April 24th. The faster we sign the lease, the faster we can work on the space and the faster we can open up shop. Keep those alarms set for 1:29 and I'll be sure to keep you posted as the week goes on.

Thank you so much for your support!

Old Town Plaza

2011-02-20T20:37:00.001-08:00

As most of you know, Sound City is in the process of starting a coffee shop in Tumwater. I've filled you in on the sweet equipment we've acquired, the specialty coffee industry and our potential space in the Old Town Plaza. Currently the space we are trying to rent is in the bank's possession which is making the process of signing the lease move slower than we'd like.

We sent a proposal nearly three weeks ago to the property manager, who is basically the middle man between us and the bank, and she keeps telling us "It is sitting on their desk for revision. We will get back to you soon."

Our goal is to be able to have the lease signed and be in the space by Easter Sunday (our launch date). The bank is moving fairly slow and I'm pretty anxious to hear back from them. Russ Knight, pastor of Sound City, is going to be contacting them throughout this week trying to get some sort of idea about what they're thinking as far as the lease goes. Russ has picked out some other spaces that are available in Tumwater, but I must admit, our team definitely has our hearts set on this space.

Here are some pictures I took during our last visit:

It's obvious that this space is ready for a coffee shop to move in, and we are MORE than ready to set up! As this week moves along I'm asking my blogging pals to come along side Sound City and pray for this space this week. Of course, if this isn't the space that God has provided for us please pray that He would quickly shut the door so we can move along to other potential spots. I'll be setting an alarm on my phone this week for 1:29 to go along with Philippians 1:29 that says "For you have been given not only the privilege of trusting in Christ but also the privilege of suffering for Him." It's easy to forget that trusting in God alone is such a privilege. I can't wait to see what's gonna happen over the course of the next few weeks.

Thanks for the prayers and support!

Febs

2011-02-17T22:41:00.000-08:00

So February has been awesome so far. I thought it best to send an update in photos this time around..

This is my friend Jess that I used to work with at Forza. She moved here from NC with her husband, Drew, who is in the army. They live in Dupont and are now plugged into Life Church, where I help lead worship and am currently serving until Sound City starts weekly this April. Jess and I spent an afternoon one day painting pottery. This is her with her husband's new popcorn bowl!

We didn't paint these cute mugs but we did use them to enjoy some Batdorf and Bronson=)

You can't really tell, but I made a box (green and brown) and etched birds and branches on the top. Seeing how I'm not ultra crafty, I was happy with the result.

One afternoon I went up to Ballard and had coffee at Aster's Cafe with my friend Zach.

Aster's is cool for various reasons and the fact that they serve up Intelli's Black Cat and various Stumptown blends is one of them.

My friend, Zach.

coffee is amazing, really.

Got a chance to go down to Portland with my friend Melanie to watch a show at The Woods. It was definitely the coolest venue I've ever been to.

My brother came to town recently and we got to go to White Pass and ski for the day.

Definitely saw some fresh powder on the mountain.

When we got back we hit up Dirty Dave's Pizza Parlor and ate dinner and played some Pac Man.

Now THIS is our new espresso machine and our first HUGE purchase for our new coffee shop in Tumwater. We're so excited about it! I can't wait to get it hooked up in our future space and start making drinks.

Here is one of our Mazzer grinders we got for decaf.

And here's our Mazzer for our regular. Hopefully these grinders will be filled with Big Truck espresso provided by Olympia Coffee Roasters. (those guys are awesome)

La Marzocco.

Many Drafts but Few Posts

2011-01-25T13:58:00.000-08:00

Dear Oly Living Followers,

My sincere apologies for my ever so belated post, again. Truth be told I have several drafts saved on my computer that I never return to, finish and post. However, I am thinking about blogging. I do start to write, but after one page in Microsoft Word I forgo the post and instead proceed to the "save as" button. I can't tell you what it is that keeps me from posting what I have written down but my posts have yet again fallen into a very inconsistent pattern. Or maybe we can say that they aren't inconsistent any longer because they have been inconsistent for so long that now inconsistency in my posting is the usual. Either way, it has been more than a few weeks since my last post and catching you up on Olympia Living is crucial.

-First, the church.

We have grown out of Russell's house and are now looking for a space of our own and I do believe we have found it. There is a plaza on Tumwater Blvd and Capital that's occupied by Infernos Pizza, a Teriyaki restaurant and a gym amongst other things. Before Tumwater had built the government buildings that sit across the street from this plaza and before this plaza had any business in it, our potential space was occupied by a Forza Coffee shop. The shop has totally been set up for coffee, so hopefully by the spring/summer time we'll be up and running as the only specialty coffee shop in Tumwater. We'll definitely be using the space for Sunday evenings, but hopefully throughout the week it will be a superb alternative to the Starbucks that's down the street. We have had various meetings with roasters, taken trips to look at equipment, gone to barista competitions and basically dove head first into reading and researching about speciality coffee. As of now we have purchased two Mazzer grinders, an espresso fridge, and a La Marzocco Lenea espresso machine. We are still in the progress of sorting out the lease and we'll still need to purchase our choice of pour over equipment (V60, Chemex) and furniture, but we're really doing this.

-I've lived in the NW for six months.

It's been a real trip, let me tell you. It's amazing to see who I was coming into this move and who I am now. It's crazy to see what God has done in the life of Sound City and the Knights, this coffee shop and my life having now lived here half a year. I'd like to say it's been rainbows and butterflies every step of the way, but it definitely hasn't. The winter time has taken a toll on my morale, but I've learned to push through weird times like those. I'm definitely anticipating July, when the summer time kicks in and the rain subsides.

-My job is going well.

I'm meeting a lot of people in the city of Dupont, but like I said earlier it will be nice to be working in the specialty coffee industry rather than your typical franchised Starbucks, Forza or Cutters Point. It will be nice to work with people to care about coffee and their customers. This will also provide a means for me to work full time 45 plus hours and be able to move into my own apartment (preferably one that is close to the shop so I can bike there each day). But Forza has been good. I've made some great friends and thankfully I'm getting more hours.

-Kennewick and it's Finest citizen.

A few weekends ago I took a much needed trip to Kennewick to visit my friend Tyler. The drive is about four hours long, but it's a pretty drive to say the least. I love this state, it's unfortunate that it's so far from everyone that I love in WV. The weekend was out of this world minus the fact that I broke down, alone, in Benton City. It was horrible, but my car is fixed now and everything turned out okay. I can't even tell you how thankful I am for Tyler. Before I moved I knew that it was going to be so crucial having him live to close to Oly, and now that I live here crucial doesn't even describe it. We both have definitely had to adjust overtime. There's just something about having a friend to help you out along the way. Tyler is awesome, and I'm not just staying that because he follows this blog (lolz).

-Aaron's Grad School

So most of you know, a friend of mine back home has applied to some schools in the Northwest, Univeristy of WA and Western WA University. Both are great schools and we've been praying a lot about it, however, we just heard from UW this week that Aaron didn't get accepted, so we were a bit bummed. He should be hearing back from all the other schools he applied to soon, and I'm praying WWU in Bellingham has got a spot with his name on it.

So there are a few updates for my trusty followers. You're prayers and support have been monumental throughout this journey.

Cortez, Adley and Phyllis

2011-01-03T23:14:00.000-08:00

I had a day off from work this morning, not surprising seeing how Forza has given me seven hours this week, so I had some time to do some serious thinking, and I do mean serious. In recent Olympia news we got a new bird feeder in our “side” yard (we have no backyard), and it has provide some entertainment this afternoon. Not to my surprise, today I noticed several little birds gliding by, making a pit stop at 4708 Durham. I couldn’t help but think, what does our feeder mean for our new feathered friends.

I then closed my eyes (we’ll say for dramatic effect) and began to see things their way, or at least the way I would like them to see things, our feeder in particular. What if, just what if, these fowl recognized our bird feeder as their Wendy’s, T. Bell or McDonalds. What if our bird feeder was their drive through while their morning outing for worms was their gourmet meal from… Olive Garden (because I know nothing about gourmet food and I’m content with saying Olive Garden is gourmet because in my case it is on the pricey side of living).

So what does our feeder mean for them? What kind of food are Leona and I serving to our new guests? I have yet to decide because I have yet to nail down the exact mentality of these visitants.

Perhaps we serve some sort of Mexican cuisine. The sparrow sitting on the ledge outside my window, nibbling away at his meal is Cortez. Taking a break from the reality of his job as SBBP (Spanish Boarder Bird Patrol, obviously) he stops to grab some refried beans, rice and a San Miguel. He works to maintain the peace at the boarders with the French, not because they are French or Spanish birds, but just because it’s their native tongue. Cortez’s stop at our tiny Mexican Bistro is his only quiet escape.

There is also potential that to these birds we serve a variety of organic vegetables, hummus and some equivalent to Stacy’s pita chips. Adley a down on his luck Wren has stopped by as a frequent flyer. He knows that 4708 is a place he can grab a healthy bite to eat, because his health is all he has going for him these days. He stops by, grabs some squash and green pepper and forgoes the chips, but uses his pepper dipping into our mouthwatering hummus. Maybe Adley is seeking some entertainment, therefore he peers through the sliding glass window to catch an episode of Mad Men Season 2, thinking right along with me, that this show is incredible, yet Peter is his favorite character, which I don’t fully understand.

And then of course, maybe it was Phyllis that stopped by this afternoon. Phyllis in her mid 70’s out for a quiet flight looking for a cup of coffee and a muffin, in which in this case we serve. Phyllis has been married for 52 years to her Avifauna Academy sweet heart, Charles. Together they hatched six babies four of which are female and two of which are male. Their sons and daughters have provided several grandbirds for them and each Sunday they all come to Phyllis and Charles nest for lunch. On Monday Phyllis is usually tired, today in particular. Today she needed more time to relax than usual after spending the day prior in the kitchen fixing a rather large meal. Relaxing, a cup of coffee and a muffin was just the way to do it, therefore Phyllis dropped by our place for some R&R.

Well maybe I did have too much time on my hands today, but then again maybe ornithology is something I’ll dive into this year. After all, it is a new year.

Sporadic Updates are Second-Rate

2010-12-08T17:47:00.000-08:00

It has recently come to my attention that it has been quite some time since I’ve posted about the happenings in Olympia, WA, and needless to say things are good and I’ve been rather busy.

In the month of November I got a job. You are now reading the blog of a Forza barista. Forza is a coffee company based in WA and has one location in Denver, I believe. It’s a pretty sweet set up and things are going well so far. I’m meeting a lot of people and getting to spend after hours hanging with some coworkers. Being a barista wasn’t necessarily my plan when I went to college for four years, but according to USA Today the unemployment rate for college graduates is at it’s highest since 1970, lucky class of 2010 eh? However, I think Forza is a great place to work temporarily. They can only give me part time right now, so after my trip home for Christmas I’m hoping I can pick up another job at another coffee shop somewhere else like the Starbucks in Tumwater, Mud Bay on the west side or Oly Coffee Roasters downtown. We’ll see how things go though, one day at a time.

Thanksgiving was fabulous. Prior to I was thinking I would be missing home and wishing I would’ve bought a plane ticket in order to spend the holiday with my family. But Thanksgiving in the Northwest was one of the best Thanksgivings I’ve had yet, no offense friends and family in WV. I was invited to have dinner with some church planters at Kyle and Terry Lewallen’s house. Aaron Dawson, a friend from home, was visiting that week so he got to come along as well. It was a great time of fellowship and bonding with the Surround the Sound team and it’s always great to spend time with Aaron. It was all something to be very thankful for, that’s for sure.

Aaron’s visit was wonderful. Picking him up from the airport was one of the greatest moments in the past four months. I’ve felt so alone over the past three months, being without a job and not in school made it a bit hard to make friends my own age, and it was an indescribable feeling to be amongst my best friend again.

We spent time in Seattle at Pike Place and downtown and also hung around the U-district. Aaron looked at UW as a potential grad school and we did some coffee shop hopping around town so he could get a feel for what he would be in for in case he decided to apply. Obviously he loved it. This place fits him to a tee. We also spent a lot of time in Olympia at the cities various coffee shops and delis reading comics, essays and The Wind Up Bird Chronicle by Haruki Murakami (aloud mind you). It was a wonderful visit, and I was so glad to have him here for the holiday.

In other news, Sound City is growing and we’re now looking to rent a new venue because we are outgrowing Russell’s house. We’re hoping to find a new home for the church by Feb or early March, at the latest. It’s exciting to see the new faces and who has been consistent in attending our monthly meetings. I have yet to get any of my friends to attend. They’re pretty much uninterested, which is totally okay with me by the way. We may have different worldviews, but we agree on most anything related to music, coffee, art and literature, so we enjoy each other’s time.

Thus ends this brief update about my life in the Northwest. Find me on Facebook for more updates that are less sporadic.

Something Worth Blogging About.

2010-11-15T17:14:00.000-08:00

You may now welcome me into the “job club” if you want. I got the call from Forza Coffee Company today and I go in tomorrow for some paper work and to get some training. I know it isn’t within my degree, but that’s okay. It’s something I’ve really been trying to wrap my mind around over the past few weeks. I’ve come to realize that I want nothing more than for my parents to walk around town telling their friends I’ve done something great, something that would make them feel proud, and in my mind making coffee isn’t the job they were hoping for. But then that’s what I’m telling myself and not necessarily what is true. According to them they’re proud of me regardless, what a load off my back.

So I embark on my Forza journey tomorrow.

My friend Tyler came to Oly this weekend for his birthday, and what a weekend it was! It’s always great to have him here, someone who has been in my inner circle of friends for quite sometime and someone I know I can be real with. You just can’t beat those friendships. We spent the majority of our time talking and drinking coffee in various shops such as Mud Bay Coffee Roasters, Wagner’s Café and Bakery and Cutter’s Point. We celebrated at Cascadia over an awesome dinner and “Birthday Questions”, The Clipper where we sang our “go to” karaoke jams “Don’t Stop Believing” by Journey and “Walking in Memphis” by Marc Cohn, and later we ended up at Jakes where we danced to hits like “Single Lady” by Beyonce and “You Can Do It” by Ice Cube with various European techno jams in between until purchasing Tyler a birthday hotdog and calling it a night. I think he had a good time, I know I did and hopefully he can move west very soon and get out of Eastern Washington.

So the weather has been pretty intense lately, it’s been getting dark at 4:45 and it’s been raining basically non-stop, but I’m still enjoying it for some odd reason. I must be made to live here because with each week that passes I love it more and more. A friend from college is flying into SeaTac this Sunday and words can’t describe how excited I am! We’ve been counting down the days since I left in August and the day in nearly here! Only six more days to go!

So there’s a small update from me to you. The Northwest is treating me just fine.

No plans on leaving this place anytime soon

2010-11-09T12:29:00.000-08:00

So now we all know how easy it has been adjusting to the Northwest, and when I say easy I mean the hardest thing ever. I know my blog posts have been lagging and there’s no excuse for that, other than that the rain has kept me from thinking about anything. It’s sad to say, but I can understand why so many Washingtonians would want to end their lives. It’s a bad atmosphere. It will only get worse from here on out, as far as the weather goes. We’ve definitely hit the Winter season in WA. I laughed at how dark it was this morning at 10am.

Anyhow, I continue to remain jobless. It seems like every couple of weeks I get a lead on a great job, I get my hopes up, I send in my resume and I never hear anything back. It’s hard to not take it as “there’s something wrong with me” instead of “God has the job, I just need to find it”. If I’m on your prayer list then please pray for an open door somewhere, and if I’m not on your prayer list then please add me!

A lot happened in the month of October. My sister, brother-in-law and niece came for a five-day visit. It was perfect timing, I was really starting to miss home. We had our second church meeting at Pastor Russell’s house, always encouraging, especially when we see new faces. I started attending Life Church Dupont and since then have been asked to help lead worship until Sound City starts weekly meetings. I had a meeting with State Farm, still waiting to hear back from them, and of course have continually been adjusting more and more to Olympia as each month goes by.

November has also brought about some exciting days. Last week I scored a free ticket to see Ben Gibbard live in Seattle. It definitely ranked high on my list as far as some of the best bands I’ve ever seen. (Thank you Bobby Ball for that ticket!) I also had the opportunity to take a trip to Vancouver this past week to go to the Passion World Tour Conference. Vancouver is an amazing city, one of my favs, and the worship that night was amazing. We also had our third church service with Sound City. We had our regular attenders, but we're hopeful and praying that several unchurched folks will come next month.

Throughout all of these experiences, and my good days and bad days, God has been teaching me a lot. I’ve just recently realized that somewhere over the course of the past four years I have developed some pretty severe worrying and it hasn’t been until I moved here that I’ve realized that it is the core issue to a lot of the problems that I face day in and day out. I heard a sermon preached by Kyle Lewallen at Life Church and he said a lot of significant things that even three weeks later I am still thinking about.

-You can’t serve two masters.

-We are the pinnacle of God’s creation.

-I’m not thinking like a believer.

-One day at a time.

-Prayer is where you redirect your worry.

Duh. So elementary right? Well leave it up to me to have to learn things the hard way. So I’m not going to go in depth about how all of this struck a chord in my mind, but I can say that it has changed my thought process in a lot of ways. At the beginning of Kyle’s message he had us write down what it is we are worried about and by the time I was finished I probably had a list of ten things. I had no idea how bad it was. If you’re a worrier you can click here and give this sermon a listen.

On another positive note, I got to check out Mars Hill Olympia this week. It was awesome! The people were friendly, Driscoll brought a sweet message (as usual) and the congregation consisted of mostly young believers my age. Finally, just what I’ve been looking for. We’ll see how this evolves over time. Maybe I can make some new friends.

So things keep moving right along in Oly. I’m adjusting well and I’m not as homesick as I once was. Now that I’ve been here nearly three months I can’t really imagine being anywhere else. I really love the Northwest, though my parents probably wouldn’t be happy to hear it. I love the culture here. I’m enjoying the rain (as of right now), and I’ve met some amazing people. I think I’ll stick around.

Things to look forward to this month:

-Aaron Dawson is coming for a week long visit in 12 days!

-Sound City outreach with Homeless Backpacks Organization in Oly

-Sound City 4th Monthly Service

-Preparing seeds for my garden

-Spending more time with the Mars Hill Community in Oly

Thanks for reading. Picture updates to follow over the next few days.

I've been gone for two months now

2010-10-11T12:49:00.000-07:00

Time is flying by! It doesn't even seem real that nearly three weeks ago we had our first launch team meeting at Russ's house and this week we'll be having our second. I'm definitely used to the area by now, but still dealing with the absence of friends from home. I miss them. There is a laundry list of reasons why I love living in the Northwest, but that's the one thing that makes it hard. Being away from friends and family is going to be a continual adjustment I'm afraid. However, my sister, brother-in-law and baby niece are coming to visit me this Wednesday. I'm overly excited to say the least.

Other positive news is that I scored an interview this past week. On the 20th I'll be heading up to Dupont, WA, about twenty minutes north of Oly, to the Statefarm building to chat with the AFC of the Pacific Northwest. Finally I feel like I'm getting somewhere! I'm really hoping and praying that Mr. Caldwell can help me get my foot in the door with the company by providing some sort of PR job or receptionist position. He oversees 46 agents in the area so I have a feeling he can help me out in some form or fashion. When Angie comes to visit we're going to hit up some shops and look for some business appropriate clothing. I can't wait to walk into the office with my heals on, all confident.

Throughout the last few weeks I've been seeking out various avenues in which I can serve and help other churches in the area. After hearing that two out of three churches in the Northwest fail, it's the least I can do. Click HERE to watch a video of Bobby Ball, Nathan Rayas and myself leading worship at the Vintage service at Sunbreak Missionary Baptist Church.

The service I attended last night in Dupont was amazing. It was just the encouragement I was needing for the week. The church is called Life Church Dupont and is the first church plant of the Surround the Sound project. They are two years into their ministry in Dupont and God is really providing big for them. They currently are meeting in the coffee shop downtown called Forza, and by the way this place makes awesome coffee, probably one of the better Sumatras I've had in my day.

Anyway, it was great to see how God is working through Pastor Kyle Lewallen, the leadership team at Life Church and the congregation. It's exciting to watch Life Church grow in Dupont and think about how God can use Sound City in Tumwater/Oly. Who knows how things will look as months go by, or even years. So glad I can be a part of it!

This past Wednesday I got to head up to Mount Rainier for the first time. It was an awesome day. The weather was beautiful. It felt so good to be outside in the sun. Standing at the bottom of Rainier at Pardise you can see Mount Adams and Mount St. Helens, pretty cool. It was a great day and here are some pictures to prove it.

Stay tuned trusty followers. Who knows what will happen next!

2010-10-01T15:59:00.000-07:00

Moving to Oly has brought about so many fun new past times for me including: getting coffee at Mud Bay, cold press at Café Vita, seafood at the farmers market, karaoke at The Clipper with deejay Starling and reading The Volcano Weekly. The Volcano Weekly is a newspaper that is distributed throughout cities south of the Puget Sound such Tacoma, Gig Harbor and Olympia. I recently read an article entitled Rise of the New Atheism- Godlessness Takes the Offensive ironically by writer, Christian Carvajal. Anyway, I read some interesting statics in it that I thought might interest you too.

In 2008, a Pew Foundation poll found the percentage of atheists in

America had risen from 3.2 to 4 percent in only a few years, and a

whopping 44 percent of Americans abandoned the denominations

of their childhood. Only the percentage of Catholics (23.9) out-

numbered the percentage of the “unchurched” (16.1). A year later,

almost a full quarter of Americans surveyed by the American

Religious Identification Survey professed no belief in a personal

God.

Washington is hardly the most fervently churchgoing state in the

union. Even in 2001, before the rise of the New Atheism, a full

quarter of Washingtonians polled claimed no religious affiliation

whatsoever, the highest fraction anywhere in the country.

These are some pretty serious statistics I’d say, but also not shocking. Anyway, I love this newspaper. If you’ve got a craving for some liberal writing this will indeed. You can check it out here.

Spending time downtown has been a blast. I met up with my new friend Carrie at Eastside last week. It was so fun getting to talk with her and meet some of her friends. This girl knows everyone in town too, no joke. It’s been awesome getting to chill with her. We have so much in common and some of our backstories are so similar. I feel like we really relate well with each other. We’re meeting up for lunch at The Bread Peddler, a little café downtown, on Thursday. This past Saturday one of my best friends from home, Tyler Parnell, came to visit Olympia and we all went downtown to the Clipper to sing karaoke. Carrie and I sang “What a Girl Wants” by Christina Agulaira and I sang “Private Eyes” by Hall and Oates with Tyler. It was a stellar time. We definitely made some great mems.

Tyler’s visit to Olympia was long anticipated, and I took some time to document our weekend to share with you all.

BBQ Sandwiches and live music at the farmers market

Hanging out downtown along the waterfront

Puget Sound and the capitol building

I tried to snap a shot of Mt. Rainier, but this doesn't do it justice. It was such a beautiful day!

It did my heart good to sit and talk with Tyler in Cafe Vita over coffee and Scrabble

After singing karaoke downtown we got hotdogs from Jakes. In Olympia, people put cream cheese on their hotdogs. Sounds crazy, but it's delicious! :)

Lehua, Carrie, Me, and Tyler

Four Weeks In

2010-09-24T14:00:00.000-07:00

This past Saturday marked the fourth week of my new life here in Oly. It really hasn’t been an easy transition for me, but the good news is that things are looking up. Despite the fact that I remain jobless, I’m meeting more people and getting more acclimated to the area every day. The feeling of knowing where I am going without a GPS is comforting. I really do like this area even though it has been an odd adjustment.

I’m still running around trying to find a job. I’m still applying through careerbuilder, indeed and the state government website, but I haven’t heard anything from anyone. Regardless I’m going to keep at it, even if I have to work at QFC, a grocery store down the street from my house.

As far as building relationships within the community goes, it is a slow process, especially when you don’t have a job and you’re not in school. However, I went downtown to sing karaoke last week and happened to meet some girls who remind me so much of my bff’s back home, Sara and Kristina. They were really cool and we sang some Brittany Spears together, danced and acted like goofs. It was so fun. I’m meeting up with one of the girls, Carrie on Thursday, and I’m so excited! She’s 22, from Seattle and she goes to Evergreen, it’s her last semester. We have a lot in common and I’m so thankful that I have someone my age to hang out with.

I’ve also been spending a lot of time with Lehua and Bobby Ball, a young couple from Sunbreak. They’re totally awesome. It’s been such a blessing getting to hang out with Lehua and process my life out loud with her. She moved to the Northwest from Orange County California a few years back, so she knows a thing or two about how it is adjusting to this area. She told me a few days ago that she was worried about me my first few weeks, like I would give up and go home. After I reassured her that I am here for the long haul she was relieved and proceeded to tell me more about preparing for the rainy season and seasonal depression. Yay.

The rain has started falling more consistently within the past week and people are telling me I won’t be seeing the sun until February! I’m going to have to plan a trip to San Fransisco to see my cousin after Christmas. I don’t know if I’ll be able to stand five months without seeing the sun. Lehua told me that the weather is one reason why so many people here commit suicide in Oly, it’s cloudy and raining as we speak.

I’ve got to be honest, last Friday it started to rain and I put on my pajamas, watched neflix and slept all day. When it’s raining you basically have to force yourself out of the house. Some people in Oly buy lamps to put in their house and when the sun hasn’t been out for months they turn them on and sit under them to get vitamin d, that’s how bad it is.

I’ve gotten to do a lot of fun things in Oly and Seattle though thus far. I attended Bumbershoot my first full weekend. I got to see bands like Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeros, David Bazan, Jamie Lidell, Ra Ra Riot and HEALTH. This past weekend Lehua and I went on 5^th Ave in Seattle and looked around in the stores, which was cool. The northwest is a totally different world when compared to the east coast, it’s unbelievable.

As far as ministry with Sound City goes, it’s rather slow, but we have our first launch team meeting this week which is really exciting! We’re going to have a cookout at Russ’s house and he’s going to talk about our next moves as a group and what is coming up. This meeting has been long anticipated for me. I can’t wait to hang out with everyone.

Until our church gets off the ground, which will take about a year I’m assuming, I’ve been invited to hang with the young adults at Sunbreak. Mark Pruitt, the youth pastor, sent me an awesome facebook message this week saying he wanted me to get involved and do some worship leading, which is cool. I went out to his small group last week for a deep fry party. I guess all that work I did at the gym that week went down the drain when I went there! But it was really fun and a great to spend time with people who are passionate and desperately wanting to see God work and move in the lives of people in the Northwest, plus the deep fried pickles were bangin’.

It has been a crazy journey so far in Washington, and I’m learning a lot about myself and about God. I have found in my walk with Him that every day I am waking up and completely surrendering my life His ministry in the Northwest. I don’t want to waste one minute not doing whatever it is He is calling me to. I’ve never felt more surrendered in my life. It’s a great place to be in but when you are the type or person who likes to have somewhat control over where your life is heading, it can be kind of scary. I feel a lot like Paul did when he wrote his letter to the Philipians

“Indeed, I count everything as loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For his sake I have suffered the loss of all things and count them as rubbish, in order that I may gain Christ and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which comes through faith in Christ, the righteousness from God that depends on faith- that I may know him and the power of his resurrection, and may share his sufferings, becoming like him in his death, that by any means possible I may attain the resurrection from the dead. Not that I have already obtained this or am already perfect, but I press on to make it my own, because Christ Jesus has made me his own.”

I have arrived pt. 2

2010-09-11T21:25:00.000-07:00

First picture of the trip. Goodbye West Virginia.

First gas stop, somewhere in Indiana. The car was seriously loaded up for the 3,000 mile trip out west.

Beware!

Hiking around the Badlands, South Dakota

The Badlands are crumbly

Sunset at the Badlands, South Dakota

Mount Rushmore, Keystone South Dakota

Canyon at Yellowstone National Park, Wyoming

Grand Teton National Park, Wyoming

This waterfall lies somewhere between Kennewick and Olympia, between Tyler's house and my house.

Moving into my new place in the great state of Washington

End of Week One.

2010-08-30T23:22:00.000-07:00

Big apologies goes out to all of you Olympia Living followers, yes, all ten of you, for not posting sooner. This week has been crazy. I got here Saturday night and Sunday morning was totally overwhelming. It felt so strange to wake up here and realize “ok, this is it.” I took Bryan to the airport Monday morning and came home and tried to get settled in a little bit. After a few hours of unpacking and organizing I had nothing to do. Leona, a lady from the local church in Olympia who I’m living with, worked that day so I didn’t see anyone all day long. It was super difficult. After I had unpacked the last of my boxes it was kind of like “ok, now what?”

It has been a long first week to say the least. I’ve really been missing the comforts of home, mainly friends and family. Olympia is such a great place to live, I really love it, but it’s really hard to enjoy when you’re alone. I know, “Rome wasn’t built in a day,” and it’s only the first week, but it’s been hard being without my pals especially when I know the majority of them would really love it out here (please visit).

But I must say there are definite upsides to living in Olympia such as eating local. I can only think of one time that I haven’t eaten local food all week, and that was my first day (at this point I didn’t know any better). The local farmers market is amazing and surprisingly enough, affordable. This week I stocked up on fruits, veggies and some homemade bread, and maybe next week I’ll really splurge and get some jam. I think if I consistently buy from specific venders then eventually they’ll know me, I can only hope.

I’ve really been trying to think of creative ways to make friends in the down town area, but I gotta tell you, it’s not easy. I had the opportunity to go to four coffee shops this past week: Traditions, Café Vita, Batdorf and Bronson and Sizizi’s, all of which were superb. I’ve been tipping the baristas and striking up conversation while they make my drink in hopes that they’ll remember me next time I walk in. I’ve actually had some good conversations with the people in Sizizi’s; they’ve been totally awesome.

Thursday I went to the Catalyst conference with the group involved with Surround the Sound. It was a great time of fellowship and learning. I was told that this would be the day I would meet Mark Driscoll, but sadly enough it fell through. Kyle had the names wrong, the lunch was actually with Andy Stanley and Craig Groechel. I didn’t really know those guys so I passed. It’s all good though, one day I will meet Mark Driscoll, if it’s the last thing I do (haha). Andy Stanley did say one thing though that was rather profound:

“God has equipped you with everything you need to do the ministry in which He has called you to”

Since I’ve been here so many lies have ran through my head, and this statement spoke volumes to me. I’m realizing more and more that I don’t need another person, friend, look, sound or style to connect with the people God wants me to connect with. He is going to use me in the exact state that I currently am, and that’s comforting to know.

After the conference I went down the The Loft on Cherry. I had seen a flyer earlier in the week that said “Vincent Moon film screening featuring music by Eleanor Murray,” I figured I couldn’t go wrong, and I was hoping to make some friends out of it too. Eleanor was amazing, she played some really beautiful songs and then of course Vincent Moon is a total bro and I couldn’t stop smiling because he’s amazingly talented. I talked to a few people here and there, but it wasn’t like I developed some long lasting friendships or anything. Once again, I must remember I just got here a week ago, haha.

Today Sound City Church, that’s right, we officially have a name, had its’ first outreach with the Capital Kids Connection. CKC is an organization in Tumwater that is providing back to school supplies for foster children in the area. We met some locals there and provided some much need assistance organizing and packing backpacks for the kids returning to school this fall. This Tuesday they’re going to be having a big picnic for all the foster kids and their families in the area, so we are excited for the opportunity to help and to do some more networking.

It’s hard to not feel as if I’m living outreach to outreach or church service to church service, it’s pretty lonely all the other times. So I guess you could say the week has progressed rather slowly as I’ve been trying to make friends, learn the area and find a job. But I have to praise God for how He has been providing for my life thus far

1) I have a place to live with a wonderful woman that I totally look up to, Leona Foley. She has been such a blessing to me in the fact that she’s checking in on me, asking me how I’m doing and you can tell she’s totally genuine and concerned. She’s helping me in more ways than just being an encouragement and financial saving. I really feel as if she is someone I can bear my soul to and be completely comfortable around. She already feels like family and it’s only week one.

2) I got a HUGE check in the mail from a supporter back home. I don’t want to name names or anything, but it was amazing. The money is going to help me out so much here in Olympia. When I was talking to him on the phone and he gave me a figure of how much he wanted to give toward the ministry in Olympia I was in shock. I can’t even begin to describe how thankful I am that God has provided this money through this person.

3) I recently have inherited a bike and a desk from some very generous people in the church. I haven’t gotten my hands on the bike yet, but the desk was dropped off this evening and is currently getting put to great use.

4) Zach Murray and Tyler Parnell live close by. It’s a huge comfort to know that when I am feeling totally homesick and I can’t bear it any longer I can hop in my car and drive to see these guys. Zach is currently living in Seattle so it makes it a little bit easier to go see him, but Tyler is only 3.5 hours away, so it’s not too bad. It’s a comfort just knowing that it’s an option.

The Lord is providing and things are panning out. Tyler told me this week, “The first week is over, and that’s great, because the first week is the worst. It can only get better from here,” so I’m anticipating that. I listened to a Driscoll sermon tonight on Luke 9:51-62 and in it he said,

“I would rather be broke, sick and sad with Jesus then rich, healthy and seemingly happy without Him.”

Leave it to Marky D. to bring my focus back onto what is really important and the reason behind why I am here in the first place.

Mark also mentioned putting Jesus before our past (Luke 9:61-62). He said, “Those who look back want to go back.” He mentions how Jesus was always looking forward all the way to the cross and how He plowed His row in a straight line right into Jerusalem where He was crucified. It’s only common since to say, “You can’t go straight and forward while looking back.” You don’t drive your car facing the back window you look out straight and forward in order to drive straight and forward. I have thought a lot about being back home in Morgantown this week and how nice it would be to just go back and sit in Andy and Aarons’ living room with all my friends cutting up and having a good time, but if I live for the past and always try to recreate college, I can’t affectively live for what’s forward in the future. So now, I need to focus on putting my hands to the plow and plowing a straight and narrow path forward. I can’t just keep trying to recapture my college days. If you want, you can go to this link and listen to it.

Now, it’s into week numero dos. I’ll keep you posted.

I have arrived pt. 1

2010-08-27T10:45:00.000-07:00

What a week it has been folks, and after 3,305 miles I have finally arrived.

Sunday evening (the 15th) my brother Bryan and I left Parkersburg. I had quite an emotional goodbye with family and friends, but all those feelings somewhat faded after the first few days and reality began to set in. That evening we drove straight to the Badlands in South Dakota, 20 some hours. My brother wanted to see if he was able to drive the whole way on his own, so he never let me drive, but I was okay with that, and he really did make it. I was shocked. After a long day of hiking and milling around we headed back to camp and Bryan passed out while I proceeded to watch a quite beautiful sunset. It was a great day.
Tuesday we woke up around 6:30 and headed toward Wyoming to Yellowstone with a few stops in between at Mt. Rushmore and Crazy Horse. We found a little diner in Keystone and had breakfast. I found a Minnetonka store so I bought some new moccasins and then we checked out the mountains, pretty cool.
Later that evening we arrived to Yellowstone upon which every campsite was full, so we drove up to Gardiner, Montana and found a room to stay in. The next morning we found an open spot in Norris to camp, and after we put up the tent and paid our fee to the biggest jerk park ranger ever, we drove the loop around Yellowstone. I believe this was the best day of the trip. Old Faithful and the Canyon were on the top of my list as some of the coolest things I’ve ever seen.
Thursday morning we bounced out of Yellowstone and drove to the Grand Tetons. We decided that we would make it to Boise, Idaho by the end of the day so we just drove the scenic route around the park and jumped out to take snap some pictures here and there. Around the Grand Tetons and Boise we saw some pretty sweet towns: Cody and Jackson to name a few.
Boise, Idaho was awesome. There were lots of neat cafes, bookstores, shops, pubs and breweries, and we could hear music playing from the sidewalk as we walked by.
I woke up the next morning pretty excited to make the 4-hour drive into Kennewick, WA to spend time with my good friend from school, Tyler Parnell (I can’t even tell you how great it is to know that he is so close to Olympia). I also got to meet his new puppy, Truman. He is about the cutest little wiener dog you’d ever see. I’m glad Tyler got him to keep him company as he continues to get acclimated to Kennewick.
That night we went out to dinner and sat along the Columbia River and talked and talked and talked. We stayed out pretty late and woke up early the next morning to head to my new place in Olympia. After lunch in Kennewick I said my goodbyes to Tyler and we began our final stretch to Olympia. As if the trip wasn’t already amazing enough, Bryan and I talked basically the whole way there. I would definitely mark it down as one of the best talks we’ve ever had. I know he’s always going to be my brother, but now I definitely feel like he’s always going to be a great friend of mine too. (awwwww).

So that catches you up on my travels. I hope you enjoyed that because I’ve seriously told that story probably 20 times since Sunday, haha. I would have liked to post pictures along with this post, but I left my camera USB chord in Parkersburg, so I’m waiting for my Mom to mail it. We’ll just go ahead and say this is a two part series and the pictures will come soon after.

Zero days and 16 hours to go

2010-08-14T23:00:00.000-07:00

1:37 AM.

Saturday night or Sunday morning, whichever you prefer.

Parkersburg, WV in my green painted bedroom

Currently listening to The Microphones- The Moon

Keeping the best company one could ask for, Mr. Aaron Dawson

Tomorrow is the big day. I’m moving nearly 3,000 miles from home, to a place I’ve visited once, and I’m okay with that. My car is packed, though I’m sure tomorrow afternoon I’ll have to do some rearranging, my poor Honda Fit has no idea what it’s gotten itself into. I’m feeling great outside of the fact that I know tomorrow is going to kill my parents. They’ve both already cried at least once, and in all 22 years of my life I’ve never seen my dad cry, it’s a bigger deal to them than I thought. Dad would prefer if I didn’t leave to begin with and it makes me sad to know that I’m the cause of his unhappiness, but I just can’t stay here any longer, it’s time for a change.

So we’re really down to the wire now, only 16 hours left till my brother and I hit the road. This isn’t going to be an easy transition, but I know it will be good for me in the end. I’m anticipating learning a lot about myself this year and totally ready to dive into new hobbies and learn new trades.

But seriously, let’s not stray from the focus of this gargantuan move that I’m about to make. All I’m sayin’ is that if I didn’t completely believe in the Gospel of Christ and all of the things that the Bible says I wouldn’t be doing this, I mean, I couldn’t do this. I’d probably just chill in Morgantown with my friends. But I do think that what Jesus said, what he preached and how he lived makes a ton of since. So, I hope that somewhere along the line someone I meet can make since of it too, and if they don’t, it’s still going to be a stellar time.

I’ll be sure to keep you posted.

Oh, Haruki Murakami...

2010-08-03T16:53:00.000-07:00

12 days to go.

Currently I’m in Borders in Parkersburg drinking some Seattle’s Best, and guess what, the barista gave me a large coffee on accident, instead of the medium that I ordered. Yay! I would say that this is the highlight of my day, but I would be lying to you because guess what else? Today I finished my first Haruki Murakami book, Sputnik Sweetheart.

Oh. My. Gosh. I love this man.

I owe Aaron Dawson a special thank you for turning me on to his writings and then also Andrew Slater for telling Aaron, and then whoever told Andrew, so on and so forth.

So I ended up coming to Borders this evening to snatch another one of his books, Kafka On The Shore, which is supposedly way better than Sputnik Sweetheart. I’m already through the first few chapters, so far so good.

…

It’s so unreal to me that I’ll be living in Washington in 12 days. Throughout the summer I’ve seen myself go through days where I think, “How can I move so far away from so many people that I love?” But then other days I’m ready for the adventure, and ready to meet more people that I can learn to love just as much, you know, without replacing, or forgetting, my current inner circle of friends. Over the past week though I haven’t thought much about being sad or saying goodbye. It’s strange. Nearly seven days of pure excitement and no uneasy feelings about the big move at all. I guess this means I’m ready!

Now, back to Kafka On The Shore…

My Highly Anticipated Coffee Shops in Washington Pt. 1

2010-07-31T10:49:00.000-07:00

I’ve been home in Parkersburg all summer, which means that I’ve been coffee deprived for the past like 8 weeks. I’m working an 8-5 job Monday through Friday and that leaves no time for me to drive 25 minutes to the only coffee shop in town, Panera, to grab a cup of coffee and relax. It’s pretty miserable. Don’t get me wrong, I love to spend time with my family and I love that I grew up here, but I can’t help but get the feeling that it’s simply not where I belong anymore. I guess I could be wrong though, we’ll see.

Outside of making a pot of coffee in the morning and my few trips to Panera, I have been completely miserable in the coffee world back home. Luckily, my life will soon send me to coffee heaven where I can bask in all of the coffee goodness I can get my hands on.

So I’ve been doing my research for weeks now and wanted to share some of the places I’ll be trying out in Olympia throughout the next few months. (If you’re already in Washington then give me your feedback on these places and if there’s a great place I missed fill me in on that too.) I’m so excited to pack up my backpack with books, my journal and my computer, head down to these local shops and do nothing but read, write, blog, sip on some fine espresso and relax. I’m seriously dreaming about these days to come.

Cutters Point (http://www.cutterspoint.com/)

So this place seems pretty awesome. It’s actually franchised, but from what I’ve gathered it started in Gig Harbor, Washington. They have various shops throughout Washington, California and even in Georgia. They seem to be pretty serious when it comes to hand crafted coffee, but I’m going to have to go and find out for myself. I think I’m more into non-franchised local coffee shops, but could cutters point change my mind? We’ll see.

Olympia Coffee Roasting Company (http://olympiacoffeeroasting.com/)

After reading up about this place, it’s a must see. These people seem to be seriously dedicated to making the perfect cup of coffee, so much that they “obsess” over it, so they say. The owners of this local shop actually travel overseas and buy the coffee face to face with coffee farmers then they bring it back, roast it and when you buy a cup they say it’s never one week old out of the roaster. The website says that we’ll be shocked at how good the coffee tastes. This is going to put my current coffee lifestyle in Parkersburg to shame. I can’t wait.

Black Bear Diner (http://www.blackbeardiner.com/)

For the sake of the name, obviously, I have to see how it measures up to our infamous Black Bear Burritos in Morgantown. Seems to have a bit of a different feel to it than Black Bear back home, but we’ll see. It’s franchised throughout the west coast with emphasis on family and “old fashion” values. Doesn’t seem to be a place where I can catch a good cup of joe, but it would be cool if it had some sort of Morgantown atmosphere to it.

Sizizis (http://www.myspace.com/sizizis)

So, this will be awesome, and even though it isn’t listed first it will be the first place I go. There site says it’s a place where you can get a huge variety of specialty drinks, even though I’ll probably stick to an Americano or French Press. There seems to be some hype over their spiced mocha so I may have to check it out.

Regardless it seems to have an awesome atmosphere; the wood paneling gives off a somewhat vintage feel to the shop. Some upsides include free wifi, live shows and 24-hour service. If I could compare it to any shop back home I would say it defnitly has a Blue Moose feel to it, which is great, but I bet there coffee is a million times better, no offense Blue Moose goers. Definitely can’t wait to check it out and hopefully catch some fun local shows there too.

Dillanos Coffee Roasters (http://www.dillanos.com/?action=qualitystory4&subm=s_qstory&title=qualitystory)

There are a couple of locations in Olympia, and I’m anxious to see what they’re all about, it seems to me they take it pretty serious. Before serving their coffee they put it through extensive aroma, visual and taste testing. They seem to be a very passionate bunch of people and really love what they do. Their site says they want to have fun and make friends, and I’m into that. I seriously need to make some friends in Olympia, that statement in itself is enough to draw me in for now.

Mud Bay Coffee Company (http://www.mudbaycoffeeco.com/Why_It_Matters.html)

What’s cool about this shop is how focused their business is on helping out small farms. They realize how hard the coffee business is, and they focus their attention on buying their beans from farmers who may be suffering financially and need the cash. I think that’s pretty cool. Their site seems to talk more about the farmers than the coffee, so I don’t know what all they have to offer, or what the atmosphere of their shop is like at all for that matter, but I guess we’ll find out.

So, as you can see by the title of this post, it is only Part One of the short "My Highly Anticipated Coffee Shops in Washington" series . Part Two is yet to come, and will consist of feedback on these places from yours truly. Did I love it? Hate it? Mediocre? Well, we'll see, so stay tuned coffee lovers!

Finally, I’d like to leave you with this statement posted by liveolympia:

“Olympia has some of the most unique coffee houses in the Puget Sound area. If you are looking for a unique blend of coffee you will find it in Olympia. You will find a coffee shop or espresso stand on just about every street corner in Olympia. Many coffee houses in Olympia offer free wireless internet. Olympia has many coffee shops that will satisfy any appetite.”

My last 23 days in West Virginia

2010-07-22T22:26:00.000-07:00

So I guess the last post titled 37 days was a joke. I must’ve miscalculated. 23 days left in the great West Virginia hills, then it’s “hello snow capped Mounties!” I’m pretty excited.

I can’t believe I’m leaving my home; it’s crazy. What do I even want to do in my last 23 days as a West Virginian…

Well, I’d like to make some money first of all. Tomorrow I’m having a big garage/bake sale and I’m hoping I can at least get $200. I know that once I make it out to Olympia I have enough money to last me till the end of the year, and I’m hoping that in between now and Christmas I can land a good job with benefits, and hopefully use my PR degree that I spent a squillian dollars on. That reminds me… I’m going to be paying back students loans soon aren’t I? shucks.

Outside of trying to make a few extra bucks I’ve made some fun plans with some friends. This weekend is completely dedicated to my garage sale, so not too much will be going on, but Sunday night one of my best friends from school, John Hupp, is coming to town. I love spending time with John, though we usually don’t do a whole lot outside of laugh and talk. I think that’s when you know you’ve got a good friend. You can just sit around with each other, and that’s entertainment enough. So we’re going to head up to my dads for a couple of days and sit down by the river and relax. I’m really looking forward to it.

Next weekend I’ll be heading to Huntington to play a gig. My friend Meredith is currently raising support to go to Nicaragua, and she’s having a big silent auction/ pool party thing. She asked me to be the live entertainment so I agreed. Some friends from home are heading over too so it should be a good time, but I’ll have to leave pretty late that night to head to Morgantown in order to make it to Stonebridge by the AM to lead worship.

I haven’t been to Stonebridge since I left Morgantown, and I really miss it. I think it’ll be weird for me to not see Pastor Russ there, but I know Jason is holding it down, for sure. I’m really excited to hear him preach again. After church I’ll probably catch lunch with some friends and then maybe head back to Parkersburg. This will make my last trip to Morgantown for quite awhile, so it’s going to be hard, but the time has come to make a change. I guess it might as well be a 3,000-mile kind of change, I mean why not? There’s too much to see and do to just sit around Morgantown forever, no matter how much I love it.

The weekend after my last trip to Morgantown I’m heading to the Big Apple, that’s right, NYC. John’s sister Tracy and her family live there, so he invited me to tag along with him while he goes to visit. I couldn’t turn him down.

Then we reach my very last weekend, the 13-15. (I just had to pause and take a deep breath there for a second. Nervous? Stressed? Yeah, a little.) Who knows how I’ll spend these last few days, probably with my family. I know I’m getting a haircut, but that doesn’t mean much. The fifteenth, that’s a Sunday, my church in Parkersburg is having a commissioning service for me. The pastor wants me to get up in front of everyone so they can pray for me and send me out onto the mission field. I think it will be pretty cool. I’ll probably cry, my family will probably cry, but it’s what I know I’m supposed to do. As time goes by I feel more and more content in my decision to pack up and move to the Northwest.

Yet everyone seems to think that this is a very easy transition for me, and I just want to make it clear that this is one of the hardest things I’ve ever done. I mean who in their right minds could say that moving 3,000 miles away is no biggie? It’s huge. Sure, it’s really exciting, extremely exciting, but saying goodbye and moving on from where you grew up and the places and people you feel comfortable with is not easy. I don’t even know one street name in Olympia. It’s definitely not comfortable or familiar to me, yet.

But here’s what I think. I don’t think that we’re not necessarily called to live these ultra comfy lifestyles as some Christians may preach. If you read through the Bible you’ll see that Jesus, and his inner circle of bros, didn’t have easy, comfortable lifestyles. Jesus obviously had it the worst, but was mocked at, spit at, laughed at and crucified all the while knowing He was God, and wanted so much to save the ones that hated Him. Peter was crucified upside down. Paul was chased out of cities, stoned, put in prison numerous times and then killed for his faith. There are more examples other than these guys, but when you look at how they lived their lives, it doesn’t really seem so easy. But they loved Jesus and their passion and dedication to Him spurred them on to do uncomfortable things, and I think that’s where I am. It’s scary, but I wouldn’t want to be in anyone else’s hands, but the Lords. I know He’s taking care of me and looking out for me through this transition.

I’ve had people ask me recently “How do you know that it’s God’s will? I don’t know, and I don’t feel like it’s the right thing for you to do.” Well, the thing is, is that we’re never going to know 100% what it is God has in store for our futures (other than the fact that as Christians, we have been promised eternity with Christ in a really super awesome sweet heaven). If we knew 100% then we wouldn’t be taking steps of faith. It’s like Jesus calling Peter out of the boat and onto the water. We must take those steps of faith and learn to trust God. So, that’s what I am currently trying to do. Trust God and take a step of faith. I guess we’ll see how it all pans out. The days are going to fly by.

37 days.

2010-07-17T17:19:00.000-07:00

I think it’s time that I started to count down till the big move: 37 days.

Time has really flown by this summer. Watching Lyla has been one of the greatest joys in my life, and as time goes by I am realizing more and more how much I’m going to miss watching her grow and getting to spend so much time with her.

Only 37 days to go and I’m not even half way to my support goal. It’s totally stressful. I played a worship set and spoke at Lubeck Community Baptist Church in June and got most of the money that I currently have. I’ve had a really hard time getting people to respond to my support letters that I’ve sent out, and it’s pretty discouraging.

Luckily, today I got two contacts of pastors in the Parkersburg area that may be able to help me out, so I’m really praying hard that our conversations will go well this week, and they can help me financially this fall. I also talked to a friend in Parkersburg who knows of a church in Huntington that may let me come and speak the first of August, so that’s good. I only have four Sundays left so I don’t know how I will fit all of this in, but God is going to work it out and in the mean time I’m trying hard not to stress.

On a happier note… I found out recently that I get to have lunch with Pastor Mark Driscoll in Washington toward the end of August. If you don’t know Mark Driscoll, you should. I first heard him speak my junior year of college with two of my best friends, Jordan Stone and Sara Matheny. The talk was called Enjoy Your Life and it was all about loving the Lord and enjoying His creation. It changed my view on God a lot, and made me love Him even more. It really showed me that God is totally not distant from us, that He loves spending time with us and that He has created this whole world out of love and wants nothing more than for us to enjoy it.

Anyway, I got hooked on listening to Mark’s sermons and have been listening to him ever since. He’s is one of the biggest mentors in my life, even though we’ve never met. I look up to him a ton and I can’t believe I’m going to get to meet him. It’s super exciting! I’m probably going to go off telling him how great I think he is and thank him so much for living such a busy and hectic life so people can hear of Jesus. I’m sure I’ll sound like an idiot, but I don’t even care. I’m going to meet Mark Driscoll!!!! AHHH!!! =) haha.

Speaking of great things… I had a fabulous weekend. I got to spend time in Parkersburg with a few of my best friends from college, Sarah Johnson (Sij) and Sarah Yopp. We ended up saying our goodbyes to Sij, which was sad, but I’ll see meet up with her in December. She is moving to Orlando to work with Campus Crusade for Christ and the Jesus Film, and I’m sure the next time I see her we’re going to have so many cool stories about what God has been doing all over the country and throughout the world.

After Sij left I couldn’t sit around cause I would just cry, so I cleaned my moms entire house. (lawlz) I worked from 1-8. I went through all my stuff to prepare for a garage sale this weekend. I found some fun things from freshman year, like pictures and what not, and it was pretty sad. I can’t believe that it’s all over, it’s just now hitting me I think. So I packed up a bunch of boxes and stored them in my closet. Whenever I go to move all I have to do is pack my clothes and I’ll be set. I can’t believe it. It hardly seems real to me. Nonetheless it’s an exciting time and I’m ready to explore the Northwest. I can’t wait to see those beautiful mountains!

With You

2010-07-16T19:33:00.000-07:00

I wanted to share a song with you that I wrote about a month ago. It's mostly about this current stage in my life and trusting God to provide the things I need to live next year in Washington. I'm realizing now that it's going to be a harder transition than I had anticipated, but it is going to be a sweet adventure, and I'll welcome the hard times when they come.. it helps build character. So here's my latest tune. I hope you enjoy it

Paul, a true bro.

2010-06-19T13:27:00.000-07:00

Here’s something that I found not only encouraging but also super sweet amidst my season of support raising.

You know, don’t you, that it’s always been taken for granted that those who work in the Temple live off the proceeds of the Temple, and that those who offer sacrifices at the altar eat their meals from what has been sacrificed? Along the same lines, the Master directed that those who spread the Message be supported by those who believe the Message. Still, I want it to be clear that I’ve never gotten anything out of this for myself, and that I’m not writing now to get something. I’d rather die than give anyone ammunition to discredit me or impugn my motives. If I proclaim the Message it’s not to get something out of it for myself. I’m compelled to do it, and doomed if I don’t! If this was my own idea of just another way to make a living, I’d expect some pay. But since it’s not my idea but something solemnly entrusted to me, why would I expect to get paid? So am I getting anything out of it? Yes, as a matter of fact: the pleasure of proclaiming the Message at no cost to you. You don’t even have to pay my expenses!

Even though I am free of the demands and expectations of everyone, I have voluntarily become a servant to any and all in order to reach a wide range of people: religious, nonreligious, meticulous moralists, loose-living immoralists, the defeated, the demoralized- whoever. I didn’t take on their way of life. I kept my bearings in Christ- but I entered their world and tried to experience things from their point of view. I’ve become just about every sort of servant there is in any attempts to lead those I meet into a God-saved life. I did all this because of the Message. I didn’t just want to talk about it; I want to be in on it!

1 Corinthians 9: 13-23 (The Message)

I’ve been reading out of the NIV for quite awhile and I must say it’s always nice to switch up the translation. I love how this passage is translated here in the Message. I’ve had quite an experience since my homecoming to Parkersburg trying to raise money to share the Gospel in Washington. A lot of people don’t feel like it’s Biblical, so there’s my proof. I wish I had a little bit more background at what Paul was going through during this time when he wrote this because when I read it I get the feeling he’s a bit frustrated with his finances as well. (more feedback and comments here please)

I also love the second part of the text where Paul says he’s entered into the worlds of others trying to see things through their point of view. I mean, to me, that seems to be pretty crucial, and sometimes we miss doing that entirely. Sometimes we just jump right in and say “believe is Jesus, trust Jesus, love Jesus!” instead of meeting people where they’re at, we get so hyped up on them making this huge decision that we’ve completely forgotten how important it is to meet people where they are, and enter their world instead of dragging them into ours.

I don’t know, I’m just rambling here. Regardless, this passage is pretty stellar. So to those out there who are raising support and going into the mission field, be encouraged! You’re probably feeling just like Paul did and he was the greatest missionary ever, so you must be doing something right.

uhh.. Christianese?

2010-06-17T16:28:00.000-07:00

So it’s been a while since my last post. Home is good, the big support show turned out really well. I’m at about 16% right now, but regardless I’m going to Washington with or without support, even if it means that I’m destined for homelessness.

This afternoon I went back to read through some of my posts and I’ve come to realize that I do sound quite “churched” which is super unfortunate. Isn’t it all this “Christianese” language what drives people away? What have I been thinking? This is obviously something I need to do some serious work on, especially if I meet some “Greeners” that I invite to follow this journey that I’m about to embark on.

Did you know that the first thing that drove me to want to move to the Northwest wasn’t that it was a highly “un-churched” area, but that we just share a lot of common ground. From what I understand the past five to ten years the music scene has blown up. More recently bands such as Sunny Day Real Estate, Modest Mouse, The Postal Service, Death Cab for Cutie, Band of Horse and Fleet Foxes have emerged from Seattle and various Northwest cities.

I think several of you would agree, the Northwest has a pretty good feel to it. It’s a fairly mellow place to be, but it doesn’t have to be. I’m sure there are tons of extreme sportests getting there fare share of the more intense side of the Northwest, but walking around downtown Olympia makes me feel calm, maybe it’s because of the amazing view, or maybe just because the people some ultra laid back, I’m not sure.

These reasons are only part of the big scheme of things. Sure it’s a pretty “un-churched” area and yeah, I want to tell people about my experiences with God and dive into intellectual conversations with them, but more than anything I want to love people. I just want to be an awesome friend and serve in the community wherever I can. I want people to see that they’re not being judged, just because they practice other beliefs or don’t practice any belief at all. Try to make up for all those times so many Christians have bashed people or judged others who believed differently.

The suicide rate in Washington is one of the highest in the country. I think some people there have fallen onto hard times, and I just want hang with them, hike with them and get a beer with them and talk about life.

I think we can all agree that according to the Bible Jesus loved and he loved to love. All I want to do is befriend people, help people and love people. The complete opposite of all that I’ve aimed to do in Washington would be for people to feel as if I think they suck because they aren’t Christians. If people felt this way I know I would have completely missed the mark.

So if any of you aren’t into the idea of Christianity (or Jesus, rather) and you get the feeling that I’m speaking in this “Christianese” language than hook me up with your feedback, it is beyond welcomed.

Fifteen things I want to accomplish my first year in Olympia

2010-06-02T12:21:00.001-07:00

1). Make at least five solid friends who are nonbelievers (perhaps some “Greeners”) that I can chill with downtown, hopefully hit up shows with and also hang with at Brotherhood Lounge

2). Get a job downtown and learn more about preparing the perfect Americano

3). Find a roommate and an apartment downtown

4). Play some open mics and find some band mates

5). Go backpacking

6). Take a trip to Portland

7). Meet Mark Driscoll and/or Donald Miller (two bros God has definitely used to change my life)

8). Get plugged in at Reality Church, downtown Olympia, so I can learn more about the scene in Olympia and how I can serve the community.

9). Catch some sweet shows in Seattle

10). Be a regular shopper at the farmers market and whole foods store

11). Drive some awesome scenic routes such as the Lewis and Clark Trail and the Cascade Loop

12). Definitely visit some state parks and enjoy the outdoors

13). Whale Watching!

14). Begin to travel mostly by bike. If I can save enough money I'd like to buy a Velorbis Scrap Deluxe, modified a bit, but similar to this one here.

15). Work on my skiing skills so I might keep up with Kyle Lewallen and Russ Knight next time we hit the slopes

Romans 15:20

2010-06-02T06:49:00.000-07:00

It’s been ten days since I’ve moved home to Parkersburg and four of those days I was in North Carolina celebrating a friends’ birthday. Parkersburg has been pretty mediocre outside of landing one of the greatest jobs ever, babysitting my 3-month-old niece, Lyla. She’s precious and watching over her has been such a great experience. It’s been nice being able to grow/practice in the area of motherhood (though I don’t plan on being a mother for quite some time). My time with Lyla is more important to me than I had imagined it would be. I work 8AM to 5PM and around 7PM every night I start missing her, it’s insane. It’s going to be hard for me to leave her come August, but I just know there are people who are deeply hurting and in desperate need of love in Washington as well, and I plan on going so God can provide that through me.

It’s been hard to adopt to a schedule so far this summer. Lyla isn’t quite on a schedule yet, because she’s so little, so it’s been hard for me to have one too. I’ve been working on my support letter (currently on the third revision) and I’ve addressed a few envelopes. Over the weekend I was inspired and really plan on getting a lot of support letters sent out by the end of the week.

There are been three recent, and awesome, developments since I last posted.

1). I found my sending church, Lubeck Community Baptist Church. Being my sending church basically means that they are taking on the responsibility to send me my paycheck each month. I’ll be raising the support this summer and before I leave I’ll give LCBC the money and they’ll write me the checks at the beginning of every month. It works well for potential supports because they can write the money off their taxes and it helps me because then I won’t have all the money in my account (I would for sure feel overwhelmed if I did).

2). The pastor at LCBC, Mark Houser, has planned a support concert for me. He’s giving me a Sunday night (June 13^th , 6pm) to talk about Washington as much as I want and to play some music. I’m pretty excited and I invite you to pray with me as the day approaches. Pray that I can speak with clarity about what next year will look like for me and for the hearts of the listeners. That they will clearly see the picture I’ve painted for Olympia and decide to support me monthly of $50 - $100.

3). One of my best friends from school got a job in Kennewick, Washington! It’s about 4 hours away from Olympia, but it sure beats the heck out of being 33 hours away. This is a huge blessing to me because now I know that when I get homesick (or he gets homesick) we can meet each other half way to chat and to feel like we’re back home again. I can’t even begin to tell you how excited I am for him and for his job working with senior citizens. He has such a great heart and I know he’s going to do awesome things there.

My four days in North Carolina this past weekend were unbelievably refreshing. Even though I had only been home for a week it was already beginning to wear me down. It’s tough to leave a tight knit community of believers that spur you on in your faith and return to a somewhat spiritually dead climate. It was good to kick back with fellow believers my age and have a drink and talk about how great God is and all the great things He is doing in our lives.

I’m currently reading a book about church planting called, “Church in the Making” by Ben Arment. This bro is awesome and pretty smart when it comes to starting a church. The second or third chapter is all about cultivation and he makes a point saying cultivation is biblical and from there goes on to site Romans 15:20

“My aim is to evangelize where Christ has not been named, in order that I will not be building on someone else’s foundation.”

-Apostle Paul

I leave you with this because it has been resonating in my heart all weekend long and it just helped remind me that I am so thankful for the calling God has placed on my life. I’m so thankful for Jesus and that He has given me a purpose: to love. I love to love and I hate that people don’t feel loved. I hate that there is such darkness within the Northwest. Maybe there are several North-westerners who believe such darkness doesn’t even exist, but then again, if you’ve been sitting the dark all of your life you don’t really know what light looks like.

I urge you to evangelize where no one is evangelizing. Seriously, just think what it would be like if we all really loved our neighbors more than we loved ourselves, the Northwest, the East Coast, the U.S. and the world, for that matter, would look so different. It would be awesome.

About The Blogger

2010-05-20T13:26:00.000-07:00

Yesterday I gave a some-what brief description on what this blog is all about, and today I thought it as wise to introduce you to it’s author. If you’re reading this you probably already know me, but just in case someday I get some sweet Olympia natives following (which would be awesome) I’ll give you a little background. If you get bored just stop reading, seriously, other posts will provide better material, I promise.

So, I grew up in Parkersburg, WV. It’s one of the larger cities in the state consisting of about 60,000 people. Parkersburg is a great place to raise a family but in my opinion isn’t too economically healthy. I get the feeling that Parkersburgians (we’ll call them) just get by with what they need and nothing more; they work their tales off for the things they do have.

I was born into a typical American family: father, mother, sister, brother and cute little puppy. We attended Bethel Baptist Church most of my life. We’d go to church Sunday morning, Sunday night, and Wednesday night. If there was an opportunity to be in church the Burdette family was taking it. So I guess you could say it really blew my mind when my parents split when I was 15. I guess all those times that we were attending church it had become more about a routine instead of the content and the growth. (Caution: this is easy to fall in to)

My freshman year of high school was a dark time for me. My sister was attending West Virginia Wesleyan College and my brother was a senior in high school, always with his friends. Dad had a new girlfriend and worked a lot so I didn’t see him much and Mom cried, a lot. I spent several nights staying up till the early hours of the morning talking with Mom about the divorce. I woke up a lot in the middle of the night hearing her cry from her bedroom. It was at this point I quit following the Lord.

Mom and I had switched churches after the divorce and started attending Lubeck Community Baptist. I was going for no other reason other than to make her happy and so she wouldn’t have to go alone. Not long after we started attending this new church did I start doing drugs and drinking alcohol. These substances became a coping mechanism for me and in the mean time I found new friends to hang out with, one girl in particular, who was going through the same thing I was.

Each day after school we’d hang out and talk smack about our parents and smoke weed and be angry. We couldn’t help but feel that we were being cheated out of what we felt we really deserved, a normal family. Every day it seemed like we had new stories about a blow-up between our parents and who we thought was at fault.

Senior year approached and plans for college began to be confirmed. Columbia College Chicago was my destination with plans on studying Music Business. I visited the school, found a place to live, got some scholarships and I was set. Not longer after my visit to Columbia did my Grandpa, who had formerly been diagnosed with lung cancer, pass away and my sister got engaged. I slowly saw my college fund and my dreams of a life in Chicago dwindle away to nothing.

In August 2006 I decided I needed to get out of Parkersburg somehow, so I applied for West Virginia University. I got accepted and moved not long after. I had never been to Morgantown, but I heard the party scene was wild so I was into it. When my mom had finally dropped me off and headed back home it finally hit me I was on my own, and it felt weird. I didn’t have any friends around, I didn’t know the town or the campus and I had no car! Lame!

There was one night in particular, the second week of school that had brought me to my lowest of lows. A car full of guys had previously tried to pull me into their car, and it had scared me pretty bad. I pulled away from them and ran home. Upon arriving back in my dorm I got sick. It was an awful night and I remember right then crying out to the Lord and just being shocked that I had let my life get so messed up. I asked God to fix it and give me direction, that from there on out my life was in His hands and I was done fighting Him over the way I thought things should’ve worked out for me.

Later the next week I got plugged into a Bible study with Campus Crusade for Christ. It was then that the Gospel of Jesus really started to make since and I saw how applicable it was to my everyday life. After attending Bible study I started to make a lot of friends and things started looking up. Second semester I went on a trip to Maracaibo Venezuela where I got to share my story, and how I came to know the Gospel, for the first time. I would later make three trips total to Maracaibo throughout my college career and each time God would show me more of who He really was.

People are always asking me “How do you know God exists?” and let’s face it, a simple “faith” answer is never going to suffice for these folks.

All I know is, is that you will never know if it works until you try. It’s like looking at a dating relationship. You see someone and you begin learning about their great attributes and begin thinking I bet we would make a great couple. Well, you aren’t going to know for sure if it'll work until you date them, right?

I think for me it was all about surrender. I never fully surrendered my life to Christ until college and I always viewed Him as being so distant and judgmental, but it’s just not the case. I believe that God is like the chillest of chill. He is never looking down on any of us saying, “Well you could’ve done better,” or “I wish you would’ve done it this way,” or “Why didn’t you do this?” I believe He is just happy that we decided to follow Him and that we’re trying to love Him the way He deserves.

I’m following Christ because all the things that I had previously been looking for, He is. American culture tends to look down on Christians, and I don’t blame them at all. I believe Christianity is the number one cause of atheism in American, and for that I apologize, but lets face it, no one is perfect. All we can do as Christians is seek God and try to do what we think is right.

I would never say to anyone, “Hey, you need to be a Christian!” or try to convert someone. All I can say is that this is what I’ve been through and this is how I’ve decided to handle it. We’re all going to come in contact with some sort of struggle throughout our lives, but it’s how we react that shapes us into the people we’re meant to be.

So there’s a little bit about me.

Stay tuned folks!

About This Blog

2010-05-19T15:23:00.000-07:00

A while back one of my best friends, Sara Matheny, had the brilliant idea to start blogging. She was reading several blogs about cooking, decorating and being a mom so she decided to start her own, and in the process encouraged me to do so also..

Therefore begins my blogging career.

First off, you should know what you're getting into I suppose, that is, if you so decide to follow or check in on my posts. The title of the blog might have already given away what the content will consist of, but I guess that's what titles are supposed to do and I guess that means my title is good, so I'll go ahead and give the credit to it's creator Aaron Dawson, thanks.

So now, if you're still reading, you're probably wanting a more in-depth description, and as I continue to post you'll see I'm all about in-depth descriptions, therefore, I'm starting from the beginning.

My junior year of college (nearly two years ago, pretty in depth am I right?) I started listening to a lot of Mark Driscoll sermons. Mark is a pastor at Mars Hill Church in Seattle, Washington. Prior to my time spent listening to Driscoll (and all his great insight on Christian faith and some hilarious jokes) my heart was set on moving to Maracaibo, Venezuela the summer after I graduated. Yet, the more I listened to Mark and heard him talk about the spiritual darkness that existed in Washington, my heart began to break for the Northwest. Something you should know about me is I long to be an advent of change. I think Gaundi put it best when he said,

"Be the change that you want to see in the world."

I feel as if American culture has taken a turn for the worst. The hedonistic lifestyles that we lead, meaning do whatever feels good, is so bizarre to me, so I decided that, as Christians, we need to stick around and help others, add to society and hopefully in the process build believers so we can send them out to foreign countries like Venezuela.

Well anyways, about a year ago I was talking with God and told Him,

"Hey, if you want me to go to the Northwest You know I'll go, but I know You won't send me there because it's pretty far away and I don't know anyone who lives there, but if You think it's a wise decision I'll go."

I kept feeling the need to tell God I'd go and as I did my desire to move grew stronger and doors began to open for me. About three months after I had told God I'd move my pastor at my local church in Morgantown, WV said he was moving to Olympia, Washington to plant a church and that he wanted me to be on his team!

A few other things happened after this, but I'll just go ahead and tell you, I'm going this August.

My plan, as a new blogger, is to keep readers informed about my day to day at work and in ministry in Olympia. I want to try and keep my posts as short as possible, but also have some sort of documentation to look back on overtime to see what God has done through me, in the church plant and in Olympia. Hopefully you’ll keep up and be able to watch God move as well because tomorrow starts day one.