Day 162

this morning, as far behind as it now seems, started unsurely. we checked out of the best western before eleven a.m.
that stay in itself was a massive blessing made possible by a friend's parents' frequent flyer miles.

adam and i soon realized halfway through the parking lot that we were not going to get far with all our luggage. we spotted a stray shopping cart across the way (it was the only one that didn't require a deposit to unlock) and like the two bums that we really hadn't tried to become, we loaded our luggage into this cart and headed to church.

that's right. church. during earlier stays in vancouver with kirk from camp, i met his dad kent anderson, a professor at trinity western, and he'd told me that one of his former students was now the pastor of fernie fellowship baptist church. he also said that i could drop his name if it meant establishing connection. we were now headed to this church, pushing the cart and pulling rolling bags across the highway.

the pastor was out of town, unfortunately, but i immediately liked the vibe and 'being' of this church. unlike portland's imago dei, which was cool and inspiring in an equally spiritual and trendy way, this atmosphere didn't hold any pretenses of guest vs stranger cool point deficiencies and seeing that we were bringing all our belongings to church we were kindly greeted, accepted, and allowed to put our stuff with the coats. young guys led the music for the service and we ended up sitting in the crowd of younger people in the front right. the sermon by a guest speaker was solid and i knew i'd found a place i loved when one of the introduction men, probably one of the pastors, told stories about his recent hitchhiking adventures to different churches and places and shared the amazing ways that God had been hooking him up through relationships of his past. he hitches to meet people and pays them for gas instead of driving by himself. sweet.

the church needed a part time janitor. i talked to the lady who'd made the announcement after the service and ended up getting the job. this comes at a huge time because i still need to find some work.

we met a bunch of the people sitting around us and became familiarized and accepted. among these people was jeremy, who'd played guitar on stage for worship, and he invited us to stay at his house until we moved into ours. this is huge. after leaving the hotel earlier with no real place to stay, we were homeless no more. from there everything fell together. i talked to the guy who'd led worship and he said they needed someone to play piano. i'm going to practice with them on wednesday.

some of the other guys at this house are amazing musicians. jeremy, who plays mandolin and fiddle as well as guitar, sat around with me and another stellar guitarist ian and we played blues and jammed bluegrass for part of the afternoon and evening. we really bonded and we reckon we'll start pulling gigs soon in town. a group totaling eleven met up in jeremy's driveway and we walked through the neighborhood to the park and played eighteen holes of frisbee golf.


large gold leaves were thick on the ground and crisp air flowed down from the huge mountains that surround every horizon of this town. even from inside the church the peaks reached and split the skyline. as we rode longboards to the supermarket to create some sort of cheap menu to cook for dinner i noticed that the air keeps getting noticeably cooler. dusk is sudden and the cold dark is deep once the sun disappears behind the towering peaks.

i read a book once, through painted deserts, and experienced a mix of inspiration and jealously at the exciting path that unfolded for don miller. i wanted that. as i turned pages and fed imagination and perspective, i knew that i couldn't settle for the average life, but i had no way of positively pursuing any of this. i don't have any control.

still, day by day, plans and people and blessings and opportunities are being presented and humbly received and i'm starting to see that this story isn't like what i'd thought i'd read about before.

this story is real, it's happening this moment. life is now. be.

and the best part is that i fully believe that if any of it should not never have happened, it already wouldn't have.

Day 59

the number of days is starting to get up there. for the first real time in semi-adult life, i can say that i really like my job and life combination and everything. i'm not going to go into a melodramatic monologue or anything, but i'm glad to be able to say that at least once while still being able to realize the same ideas and philosophies of past pursuit.

exactly a year ago today, i was at an airport and had begun a long flight to australia. i've been in touch with a handful of the seventeen team members lately and its been good to remember and be remembered. hey guys.

this day of camp has been going well although it's only half over. this is the earliest post ever. it was 'wide-eyed and liquified' in the morning so i got the camera housing again and played in the water and went down the huge slip-n-slide with the kids. the juniors don't slide as fast as junior highers, but their enthusiasm is unmatched. the afternoon was spent at the beach getting the remaining shots we need to be able to start to edit the week's dvd.

after deciding to stop by the lodge to drop some stuff off in my room, i ran into the head paramedic, tim. he had just come back from town and had made good on an incredible promise. i went to my room and unwrapped the dairy queen cheeseburger and had a mini thanksgiving atop my bedside cajon. i've saved the second burger for later tonight. camp food is okay but gets old when you're eating the same thing with 300 plus other people.

one of the counselors had a package sent in from her mom. included was the book 'into the wild' which she lent to me while she finishes her week counseling. this reunion of tangible text and the smell of full pages has been sorely missed. i agreed to share any inspiring quotes from the book or from any other searches.


"whoever waits for time to pass loses time" sicilian proverb

"he not busy being born is busy dying" bob dylan

"life is either a daring adventure or nothing" helen keller

"you feel like life is always leading up to something, but it isn't. i mean life is just life. it's all happening right now, and we aren't going to be any more complete a month from now than we are now. i only say this because i am trying to appreciate everything tonight. i will be leaving soon, and i want to feel this, really understand that it is happening because God breathed some spark into some mud that became us, and He did it for a reason, and i want to feel that reason, not some false explaination." --don miller "through painted deserts"