college station (part 2 of ??)

So far, exactly 21 days into my epic self-actualizating journey, I've made it 2.75 hours South of Dallas. At this rate I won't see Canada for another 231 days or so.

For those of you who've had more than two or three conversations with me, it should come as no surprise that I paid the Hendrick fam a visit during my stay. They've changed locations and their kids have grown up a little, but a lot of things about this family hasn't changed. The kids are obviously still adorable, Heather's still writing long blogs that are read by approximately 2% of all Americans, and Aaron's still fixing things and being handy (like a spiral stairwell, stay tuned for more on that. Another constant with the fam is that they still love me after a year of absence. They love me enough to tell me things that they know I won't necessarily enjoy hearing.

They lovingly brought up their concern that in my quest for vision, it would be foolish to do it out on my own, disconnected from a loving body of believers. Community. It's kind of a theme in these parts. They encouraged me to rethink how I was going about this trip.

I did. In my seeking Father and thinking about my current situation, I realized that this trip went from being an idea, something I'd told a handful of people about, to a reality, something I was actually doing. I said from the get go on my trip that if Father told me to stay and hang out in any given city, if He had work for me there, that I'd do it. Well I never thought it'd be the second stop on my trip but it turns out it is. Crazy huh?

So I'll be hanging out here in the Station (Bryan, actually) for the next _____ weeks/months/whatever. I'm going to pour in to the Body that I was growing in a year and half ago, and I'm going to let that Body pour in to me. I'm going to continue to seek Father for vision and direction for my life while I'm here, but I'll be doing it in the context of service to the Church and, again, community. After that, who knows? Well God does, and I'm confident that by the time I'm supposed to leave, He'll have thrown me a bone and I'll go chasing it.

I've been all over the map in my head in coming to this decision, and if you'd like to hear more details (they'll probably bore you unless you think too much like I tend to) then feel free to give me a call. I'd write it out but then the post would be long and only 5 people would read it as opposed to the 10 that will since it's this length. So, what do ya think?

Waco, TX

The first stop of many on my current journey was all of an hour and half due south of Dallas. Many people only know Waco as the city where Baylor University is and the place that 35 and Highway 6 meet. Though that comes close to summing up the entirety of the city, there is in fact a little more to be known of Waco. You won't learn about these things in this blog, but there is more to be known. What you'll learn here is things I've experienced during my stay.


I've split my nights sleeping on the couches and floors of Jessie Epperson Harris, my college roommate (that's right, he's got a blog now) and Sam Binkley, my best friend from high school. That picture of Jessie isn't current, but I couldn't resist. Believe it or not, he actually looks cooler than that now. I know, it's a tough cookie to swallow. Sam is the one on the far right of the couch on which I've been sleeping.

Last time you heard from me was my first full day in Waco. I've done some neat things since then. Arguably the most eventful of which was my visit to Homestead Heritage. Many people visit this place to eat of their tasty, home-grown food or to visit their shops where visitors can buy homemade pots, furniture, blacksmith stuff. I, however, went to visit with people who live in community. Basically, these people live outside of Waco in the country and they live communally. They grow their own food, have church, school, and life together. It's the kind of thing that most people would look at and say, "that's weird" or "they're a cult" but I'd beg to differ. I think they're cool. Here's a pic of their mill, which was powered by a water wheel that is slightly visible out the window in the back. The flo. Pretty cool.

Another noteworthy happening that has occurred since my arrival in Waco is the birth of new friendships. I've been privileged to meet a handful of people who have really encouraged me and with whom I'd hang out more if I actually lived in this town. Among these fine people are Niki Fullbright and Natalie Adeleye. They are two separate people but from what I've observed they function as one entity. I've been given the opportunity of hanging out with them two or three times during the past week, and each time I leave thinking about how truly enjoyable the fellowship was. It was to these new but faithful friends I turned when searching for a place to watch the So You Think You Can Dance finale. So thank you friends. I've enjoyed you much more than you've enjoyed me, I promise.

So that more or less sums up the highlights of my Waco time. The only thing I could speak on that I didn't would be all the time I've been able to spend with Father while here. He's been showing me some good things and I'm confident He'll continue to do so. When all these things start coming together and making coherent thoughts, rest assured, I'll share them. Until then, thanks for reading and Waco, thanks a lot for being so hospitable. You're not a bad city.

Next stop: College Station, TX!

olives part 3?

I think this is the third installment of my "olives" series, but I wasn't entirely sure, hence the question mark. While I'm prefacing the post, just a reminder, I've now entered in to code-mode in my blogging, and you should too. That way I won't get kicked out of China any time soon after I get there.

Right around the time I was refreshed in College Station, I had also made my mind up that I would no longer be going to the club I'd been going to. You recall, the one that I made mention of in olives part one and all the club's minions came out to post comments on the blog they'd never previously read? You know? You good on what club is? LHBC is one if you're still confused. Good? Great.

Also around that time Father had put a small handful of people in my life in very random and essentially non-eventful ways, and each of these humans were pointing me to the same place: Highland Park Presb Club. Well this was an easy club for me to reject right off the bat simply because of it's location. I'm not a big fan of HP. Haven't been ever since high school when I competed against their gymnastics team and realized that their men's coach was a jerk.

Nevertheless, I bit the bullet and visited. While listening to the announcement portion of the meeting, I learned that they had a 40 Hour Haying event coming up. (Oh, not sure about "haying?"... change the "h" to a "pr"... and that was your last hint). I figured that any club that was willing to let their visionary young people set up a tent in the front yard of a HP neighborhood was okay with me. I went ahead and signed up for a time slot for the tent. I showed up and suffice it to say, I had a good time hanging out with Father. He's a good Dad, and He likes it when we hang out with him. The tent pictured above is the tent of which I'm speaking, in case you were curious.

So say all that to say, I now find myself regularly attending and getting involved in a club at which I never in my life thought I'd be. Not a big HP fan, and not a big denom...tion fan, but that's where Father's lead me. He is, quite certainly, one of the weirdest dudes I know. But He's good, and He's got good plans for us, so even when he tells us to do weird stuff (or at least what we think at the time to be weird), if He's telling us to do it, we can trust He knows what He's doing... because He does.

refreshments

Before I dive in to this post, I'd like to remind you that speaking in code has begun. Thus, things will come across less naturally than you're used to, but I believe in you. You'll get it.

This past weekend Father blessed me with a trip to College Station, TX where I took part in some serious refreshments. I'm not talking about vending machine refreshments (though Chicken E was delightful), I'm talking about the kind of refreshments that you can't see. The kind of refreshments that would fall under the old adage "the best things in life are free." Who wouldn't want free refreshments?

If you've been reading my blog at all in the past 8 months then you are probably more aware than you ever wanted to be that I'm less than satisfied with my current living situation. Not roommate issues, and not I-hate-my-job issues; I'm good in those areas. It's the community here in Dallas that is so pathetic. That being the case, it probably comes as no surprise to anyone that I felt it necessary to visit the town that offered me the most beautiful, fruitful, and by the Book community that I've ever experienced.

It is such a blessed feeling to walk in to a house or a c and have the people inside those structures genuinely happy to see you. To have relationships so deep that people sincerely miss you; that they are filled with joy to the point of physically showing their affection with hugs. People from ages 3 to 70-something doing that... there just aren't words. Add to that mix the fact that these people are all like-minded and spur me on to know my JC better... Why did I ever leave a place like that? (I know Heather claims she asked me that before I left, but I beg to differ).

So thank you Father for caring for your dumb kid enough to give him people like that. Thank you Hendrick's, Duty's, Smith's, Couch's, EJ, Kevin Hicks, Kelly Nall, Chuck, T-Black, T-Kunk, B-Pat, Joe, Julie Anna, Kate, and everyone else that made my weekend so dang special. I'm sure most of you will never read this post, and I'm certain that none of you know how special you are to me, and that I blame on public schooling for failing to teach me how to adequately express my strong feelings in words. I don't deserve people like you.

The Thanksgiving Hun-derd!

I decided that for this year's Thanksgiving post that I'd do something a little different -- not that there have necessarily been any Thanksgiving posts in the past. I've decided to list one hundred people for which I am thankful. These names will be in no particular order, so if your name is the first one, the last one, or the middle-est one, that doesn't mean anything, other than that you made the list. I've also decided to break them up in four sets of 25, so it will be less overwhelming to read and easier for me to count. Go!

Mom, Dad, L.O., Granny, Aunt Sherry, Uncle Stan, Cousin Misty, Jon Tettleton, Mikey Mills, Colby Ivey, Jessie Harris, Grant Usry, T-Bomb Abbey, French Logan, John Banks, Jonny Williams, PG, Nate Dog, Matt Graham, Jimmy Needham, Cody Kimmel, Sam Binkley, Justin Smith, Aaron Hendrick, Heather Hendrick,

Anson Hendrick, Hayden Hendrick, Ashton Hendrick, My boy Danny, Chris Gaines, Butch Smith, Michelle Smith, Allen Duty, Kendra Duty, Brooke Brandon, Hayley Haralson, Claire Borne, Jessica Schmale, Sarah Vierling, Lauren Helton, Brice Helton, Stephanie Logan, Rachel Schmale, Lauren Rouse, Mallory Maxwell, Jordan Coulter, Kristin Good, Lauren McDaniel, Katie Domenech, Laura Nutter,

Brandone Rogers, Beethel Rogers, Mohawk Chad, Bill Magee, Ila Magee, Thomas Supercinski, Rachel Supercinski, Faith Fuqua, Ryan Couch, Jenny Couch, Lynn Brannon, Laura Brannan, Danie Magee, Katherine Carelock, Drew Lewis, Travis Black, Tyler Kunkel, Steve Miller, Andrew Rios, Blaine Grace, Brad Smith, Haley Smith, Breeto Wells,Rachel Gillman, Charles Roitsch,

Click!, Daniel Darnell, EJ Rathburn, Lamar Stockton, Topher Stockton, Trent Dowd, Tommy Clements, Brad Stroup, Rob Bethman, Taniesha Bethman, Chris Pletcher, Molly Allen, Megan McKenty, Melissa McKenty, Marc Morrow, PEEPS, Luke Friesen, Lisa Merryman, Lauren Drewry, Julie Anna Aboussie, Joshua Langston, Joe Baker, Joey Rigney, Jason Dunn, Jenna Fenoglio

Well that's it. I could have kept going (maybe not a whole lot longer, it's safe to say at least 10 people got left off), but one hundred's one hundred... sorry. One pretty big person who didn't make the list (but in a stroke of irony, did, in face, make, the list) is Jesus. I thank Him for giving me 100+ people for whom to be thankful. Amen and amen. And a hand-squeeze.

I'm so hungry!

They say you don't know what you got til it's gone (I believe it was Amy Grant, and later the Counting Crows). I think that's true a lot of times, but not all of the time.

When I was in College Station, I was fully aware of what I had. I had more close friends than I could do justice, and I had a church family that probably loved me more than I loved them, and I loved them a whole stinkin' lot. Most, if not all of my readers fall into one or both of said categories, which makes me think you'll take some interest in this post. If not, just scroll down to the bottom for the cutesy picture (but if you are going to read it, save the picture for the end, for that is how I've created this post to work... kinda like Chose Your Own Adventure books).

I realized in a very punch-in-the-face kind of way this morning, that I am so dang hungry for a community of believers that will let me do life with them. The thing I had in College Station: deeply honest friendships with people of all ages (literally zero to however old Bill Magee is), is not just a luxury in life but I truly believe it is a necessity. When I left College Station, there was no question in my mind as to what all I was leaving.

Which brings me to how my hunger punched me in the face this morning. This was my fifth week of visiting churches to find one that I can plug into with everything the Lord's given me, and I realized that I hate this process. I really hate going to churches where you know nothing (other than what their websites say) about how this church runs. You don't know the motives of the church leadership, or membership for that matter. You don't know what the church places value on, or how they spend their money (same thing really). It doesn't help that I'm one of the most critical people currently living, but really, I never thought this would be so hard (and I knew it would be hard).

Say all that to say that the Christian life is not an easy one, even when the necessary community of believers is physically present. When you are without that community... it's not that tight. I hope you Living Hope readers realize how dang blessed you are to be a part of that beautiful body.

I don't want you to leave this post feeling sorry for me or anything, I'm just letting the world (all ten readers) know where I'm at these days. I'm looking for a church and wishing that churches met every other day so I could speed up the seeking process. I guess if I drove by a church with a sign like this one, I'd probably start writing my tithe checks to them. Until then, the tithe pot keeps getting bigger... not big, just bigger.

this is so HARD!

I was afraid I had forgotten how to cry. Over the past month there has been so much talk about the day when everyone was going to leave, and we would all be forced to say goodbye. Many tears have been shed over the past few weeks, but none of them were mine. It wasn't that everyone leaving (including myself) didn't spark the same emotions in me as it did everyone else, I just never cried about it. And I hated it. I wanted to cry so badly.

Well all my concerns about forgetting how to cry were smashed today as I watched six girls who I love dearly leave the house where we fell in love. I sat outside with their parents while they were saying their final goodbyes in the house, and when they came out, the tears started flowing. Not mine though, everyone else's. We all hugged one another and told each other that we'd meet again in a month at Lauren's wedding. As comforting as that reunion will be, today still proved to be extremely emotional. After many hugs, tears, and a few photographs, everyone drove out of the driveway in a line leaving Mikey and I to load up the girls gift to us (leftover food). When Mikey drove off with the food I walked back to my car and just lost it.

I went back to the porch where I sat when the girls were still inside, only this time I was the only person within a 50 yard radius, and I was crying like a junior high girl who just saw her first boyfriend kissing another, more popular girl. I just sat on that porch for at least 15 minutes crying and praying, thanking God for putting those beautiful girls in my life. Every time I thought I was done, I would look up and start all over again. It was such a sweet time in the Lord, and at the same time it was so hard. I finally pulled myself together enough to drive home and the song playing in my car as I drove out of that driveway for the last time was "If You Say Go." Upon realizing that this song was on, I laughed at God through my tears for being so clever. The line that stuck out to me, and that I will forever associate with that moment was, "Your ways are higher than our ways, and the plans that you have made are good and true." What a blessing.

Girls, I love you all way more than you think I do, and I'm sorry I can't convey that message strongly enough. I love you.

how blessed is D.O.?

well let me tell you. FYI, today marks the one week anniversary of my being back in these United States.

It's also the Lord's day, which means I had the great opportunity to go to the Lord's house and worship Him with fellow believers. I actually also went to the service last night because a friend, Click, wanted to go (Click is my friends name, it's not a link... you can click it, but it won't do anything). In the time I spent at church so far this weekend (3 services), I've had 5 or 6 different people come up and tell me that they missed me and that it's good to have me back, and they said it in the absolute most sincere way. About 4 families asked me to come over for dinner and tell them about my trip. I got to hug my pastor Butch and as we held each other he said, "it's so good to have you back." Also, many many people told me how they have been praying for me while I was gone. I was seriously just in awe of how amazing the Body of Christ is when it is working the way it was created to. I got to tell people about my trip, listen to them talk about their summers, and just be blown away by how unworthy I am to know these people, both young and old.

After the 11:00 service I went to lunch at, of course, Wendy's. The blessings continued to pour out from the heavens as I walked in and half the staff erupted with excitement on seeing me. They said they had been talking about me the other day, and they missed me. Then one of the new staff members asked me where I went to church and where it was! The staff always sounds interested in going to church, but they've yet to come... I truly believe that some of them are going to come in the near future. God's so good to use me to demonstrate His love, though I don't come closing to doing it justice.

And above all, I'm overly blessed to have the Creator of the Universe love me perfectly as He does. Today I thought of the day in the future when I'll be in His presence, and how He too may hold me in His arms and say, sincerely, "it's so good to have you home." Oh man. So tight. Now for a Sunday afternoon nap.