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 153

good news. but first,

i was working outside today on the hill and doing as much as i can in these last few days before taking off. i leave washington on monday for vancouver where i'll meet up and stay with friends from back home for a couple days.

while outside today, i took a short break to sit on a big rock i'd dug up to rest and take perspective. lazy wakes lapped against the shore a short ways down the hill. even before leaving in may, i had such a strong and inexplainable presence that i wouldn't be coming straight back. there were no details, plans, or even ideas. just a feeling.

the silence and peace of the still water mirrored the fading tree line on the other side. this whole experience, especially the post-summer developments, have been an incredible realization of the opinions and evaluations and hopes of life i'd been forming over the past three years. i'd left home for the beginning of this trip one day after the end of baseball and finals and, had i done so, i would have returned two weeks into a new semester. all this running. chasing.

time had been telling me where to go, what to do, and how long i had to do it. time to graduate high school. time to pick a college. time to pick a degree, then a career, then a job. then you're stuck.

where is the transition in this? where is the understanding of meaning and reason and purpose and appreciating the elements of a life worth living?

i sat on this little boulder with thoughts like these zipping along like thoughts tend to do. they're fast, but traceable. one thing led to this, the next to that, and now i'm here. goals were so much easier to identify for the future. motivation is stronger and more real than ever before because, for once, it's coming through personal terms. i looked up from the dirt and met eyes with a huge bald eagle as he cruised at eye level only fifteen feet in front of me before continuing his flight and disappearing in the trees to the right.

so, the good news. i called a guy in fernie today who might be able to give me some work for the winter. he was surprisingly chill and helpful and we ended up yarning about work situations in fernie and winters and international stuff. i guessed from his accent that he was from new zealand- i've had good practice at this drawl identifying from the summer. one of the nice things about our house, i'm starting to see, is that it's located near the very center of a town which is only about a mile wide, so that's gonna be awesome knowing that most employment will be within a miles walk. rocky mountain ski-town. he said to call him again once i get into town and we can meet to see what can be worked out. if nothing else, he's given me a couple insights on the goings on of job finding there. everything, step by step, is going well.