Dusty knows some great people. The couple we have been staying with for the last few days are good friends with Dusty and they will actually be coming to Africa with us for the wedding. I could rave about them for hours, but instead I will say they absolutely rock and move on.
We arrived back at Impact, and the Lord is continuing to bless our time here. They have decided to announce as one of their projects trying to raise enough money to cover an oven project or about $3000. Just one day has gone by and we already have $500. Whether or not we make it to our mark, this place has been an incredible blessing.
Plus the weather is beautiful today. What’s not to like?
Sunday, July 4, 2010
June 21 (tom)
This morning I had breakfast in Florence, Alabama, and found myself sitting at a table surrounded by ten Christian missionaries (I use the word to varying degrees for each of them). This is a place in my life I never could have imagined just three years ago. Somehow, though, I now belong here. I am currently an intern touring around the country trying to raise money for a missions non-profit organization with which I will be travelling to Africa next month to build some ovens for starving people and love them.
WHAT. Sometimes God leads you even when you are determined not to follow.
Tonight though, we hosted our big concert at the Shoals Theatre. “Big” though is a relative term. The theatre was not very full. We ended up doing okay for ourselves. We raised enough money to at least cover our costs, but that is what this tour is about. We are still a sprouting organization and sometimes we have to make some leaps. Our organization isn’t influential enough to pack a theatre with only newspaper and radio advertizing. One day we hope to be, but for now it’s good to see where we are and it’s even better to keep striving to be more.
WHAT. Sometimes God leads you even when you are determined not to follow.
Tonight though, we hosted our big concert at the Shoals Theatre. “Big” though is a relative term. The theatre was not very full. We ended up doing okay for ourselves. We raised enough money to at least cover our costs, but that is what this tour is about. We are still a sprouting organization and sometimes we have to make some leaps. Our organization isn’t influential enough to pack a theatre with only newspaper and radio advertizing. One day we hope to be, but for now it’s good to see where we are and it’s even better to keep striving to be more.
Sunday, June 27, 2010
June 27th - Katie
Sometimes, things are easier for my to explain in verse. Most of my journal entries look something like this... this is just what I was feeling on the way to Tennessee, and it explains my feelings towards this trip better than a paragraph of facts ever could.
I cracked an azure eye open from sleep,
because my dreams were in the room.
They whispered vitals that I had abandoned
In a rush at railway stations,
In quiet sadness on windowsills,
Or simply in the crazy hurricane that left me
spinning, evaluating
This new reflection that I now bare.
My dreams woke me, and reminded me of what I wanted.
To cry out in towering rooms where
My voice echoes to
Spark the obsidian in people’s hearts and eyes
I wanted to be the one to drudge up
The battle cry that has settled to the
Bottom
Of
The
River
Not a call to blood-let, but a call to let blood
Run within the veins that have been stonewalled
In sleep and complacency,
To wage and win the war within ourselves instead of drowning it out.
I once thought I would tip the lantern
That set the world on fire.
I didn’t realize I was a candle, needing to race to light the others
Before I exhaled out
In darkness.
I clasped hands with she who was like me and swore to
Never never
I’m terrified of tasting that promise in my mouth
As I walk into
Meaningless
…Simply because it was easier.
I heard this call to something greater,
As I sat with
Bleached out eyes
Cracks in my skin
So tired of fighting the wind could have blown me away
And here I am,
Feeling iron in my fingers again and
Every time I inhale, I feel
Life
Like a stream,
Run over deep scars,
Secrets at the bottom of my rapids,
healing as they burn closed.
I don’t know how the world has changed since I left it…
But the air tastes of peaches here,
The nights are warm,
And my sun-kissed skin has forgotten
The cold kiss of metal.
I’m not exhaling light because I’ve
Found Something.
I’m breathing deep
Because He
Gave me the strength
To Look.
I cracked an azure eye open from sleep,
because my dreams were in the room.
They whispered vitals that I had abandoned
In a rush at railway stations,
In quiet sadness on windowsills,
Or simply in the crazy hurricane that left me
spinning, evaluating
This new reflection that I now bare.
My dreams woke me, and reminded me of what I wanted.
To cry out in towering rooms where
My voice echoes to
Spark the obsidian in people’s hearts and eyes
I wanted to be the one to drudge up
The battle cry that has settled to the
Bottom
Of
The
River
Not a call to blood-let, but a call to let blood
Run within the veins that have been stonewalled
In sleep and complacency,
To wage and win the war within ourselves instead of drowning it out.
I once thought I would tip the lantern
That set the world on fire.
I didn’t realize I was a candle, needing to race to light the others
Before I exhaled out
In darkness.
I clasped hands with she who was like me and swore to
Never never
I’m terrified of tasting that promise in my mouth
As I walk into
Meaningless
…Simply because it was easier.
I heard this call to something greater,
As I sat with
Bleached out eyes
Cracks in my skin
So tired of fighting the wind could have blown me away
And here I am,
Feeling iron in my fingers again and
Every time I inhale, I feel
Life
Like a stream,
Run over deep scars,
Secrets at the bottom of my rapids,
healing as they burn closed.
I don’t know how the world has changed since I left it…
But the air tastes of peaches here,
The nights are warm,
And my sun-kissed skin has forgotten
The cold kiss of metal.
I’m not exhaling light because I’ve
Found Something.
I’m breathing deep
Because He
Gave me the strength
To Look.
Monday, June 21, 2010
June 20 (tom)
Hello Alabama, the final state of our trip. Both Cross Point COC and Sherod Avenue COC were great. It really has been cool getting to know a lot of Dusty’s friends and see what solid roots he has.
It’s weird that we are already three weeks into the tour, and that we are almost ready to start heading home. Of course we still have lots more to do (come to our concert tomorrow night at the Shoals Community Theatre!), but it’s nearly time to wrap it up. With how skewed time has felt to me over the last few weeks I’d like to close simply by saying I have a song on my mind, and it is one that has always been a very meaningful one to me. “Hanging By A Moment” – Lifehouse.
Also, Happy Father’s Day, Dad. I love you.
It’s weird that we are already three weeks into the tour, and that we are almost ready to start heading home. Of course we still have lots more to do (come to our concert tomorrow night at the Shoals Community Theatre!), but it’s nearly time to wrap it up. With how skewed time has felt to me over the last few weeks I’d like to close simply by saying I have a song on my mind, and it is one that has always been a very meaningful one to me. “Hanging By A Moment” – Lifehouse.
Also, Happy Father’s Day, Dad. I love you.
June 19 (tom)
Our last day in Nashville before we move down to Florence, Alabama, for a few days brought some much needed support. Today, we were actually able to show our video to about 2000 screaming 13 year olds and tell them about our mission. It really is amazing how far some youthful passion can go. They raised $4500 for flood relief in Nashville and still found enough generosity in their hearts to donate to our cause as well. The enthusiasm was a joy to see and I can’t wait to get back and see what kind of response we get from the Sr. High kids.
June 18 (tom)
God is Good. Our arrival at Impact at Lipscomb University in Nashville, Tennessee for one of the highlights of our tour was glorious. The program they are running there is incredibly enthusiastic, and I would say we couldn’t be more excited to be there, except we all saw how amped all the middle schoolers were to be there…
Given our age, we could not be more excited to be there.
Given our age, we could not be more excited to be there.
June 17 (tom)
As I look back at this I see how disjointed my thoughts are day to day. I was preparing to write about how solid I felt like our performance was last night, and just looking back to yesterday’s entry is almost laughable. This trip is so odd. We go from one day to the next and while there is routine to each day, every minute seems so separate and independent from the last. If I didn’t have such a rigid calendar outlined for our activities and travel plans for every single day of the trip, there is no way I would be able to say how long we had been on the road.
I can tell you though, that we spoke to a small group in Paragould, Arkansas, tonight. The people were fantastic, open minded, and very typically southern. Offering us all the fried food, cheesecake, queso, and hearty Southern cholesterol we could ask for, there is no doubt they kept our stomachs full. It’s funny. I’ve never been to the South before, but everything is just like I thought it would be.
I can tell you though, that we spoke to a small group in Paragould, Arkansas, tonight. The people were fantastic, open minded, and very typically southern. Offering us all the fried food, cheesecake, queso, and hearty Southern cholesterol we could ask for, there is no doubt they kept our stomachs full. It’s funny. I’ve never been to the South before, but everything is just like I thought it would be.
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