Day 189

where to start..

after a morning of doing music and starting to record for the video production at church, about twelve friends from both here and montana came over for lunch. to our house. my house. tim, our fourth roommate and friend who's been mentioned in much earlier surf trip posts, arrived today too. how sweet is that.

about a dozen of us all chipped in and made a community lunch and as people chopped tomatoes and others cooked pasta and asked where pots and knives were kept, i remembered that one place of young people living in wisconsin that i've mentioned before and realized that this is it. it's all here. we have an awesome thing going. then we played a rather large game of croquet that stretched across and around the narrow yard.

two large meals in one day are kind of rare these days, but tonight was the church dinner parties so we were in luck. there's a list of willing hosts and hungry attenders and then we're all assigned a place to go in order to meet people and eat. one of the guys from church asked a bit about my story and then began a response that immediately pricked my ears.

''you're here for a reason''

back at 'the turn of the century,' the church was praying for a younger and diverse crowd of people to come to town and grow in the congregation. these past couple years have seen such an increase. the pastor is youthful and insightful and the services are laid back and yet filled with honest and authentic people. we're here and things are happening.

even today at church this morning, a friend came up and gave a ''grandpa hi five'' and while she slapped skin, she said ''i was blessed and now you are too'' and deposited some food money in my palm. out of the blue. in a time of need. without many words being said.

we have an awesome thing going.