We’re not in Texas anymore.

I am back in LA but it almost didn’t happen. The person who was originally going to take me to the airport couldn’t do it so another person offered to take me and said he would pick me up at six. My flight left at seven in the morning but since the Amarillo airport is tiny and only fifteen minutes away you don’t really have to be there that early. So I got up early this morning and was waiting for my ride; 6:05, 6:10, 6:15, 6:20, 6:25, 6:30. I decided that it was time for plan B so I jumped in my car and flew down I-40 to the airport I got there at 6:46 AM parked and ran to the terminal. At security they stole my pocket knife (which I loved as a parent loves a child) and let me through. I ran through the halls in my California sandals and was greeted by name–being that I was the only person left who hadn’t boarded yet. I took my seat on the plane and let the party start.

First I sat next to what I think was a fourteen year old boy, who decided the first thing he should tell me was that he had never flown alone before…I said I hadn’t either (which I actually don’t know if that is true or not). He then proceeded to curl up in his seat and cuddle his huge teddy bear. I thought that’s odd for a teenage boy…but not as odd as when he reached into his backpack and pulled out his baby blanket. That’s when I had no idea who I was sitting next to. He got off at our stop in Albuquerque (no surprise there) and I continued on to Phoenix and then to LA.

Butch is his name.

I was trying to post something last night so I spent a long time getting a photo sequence ready and then when I tried to upload them the server wouldn’t let me, so I got a little frustrated and put my computer into a Jello mold. We had a good thunder storm last night but it was bittersweet. It didn’t start until past midnight and I was already in bed, I desperately wanted to get up and watch it, photograph it, and play in it but when you have to get up at six sleep begins to take priority. I’m sure we’ll have more and hopefully I can get some good lightning shots, I LOVE Midwest thunder. Plus, I hear that we’re pretty close to Tornado Alley which means the danger level associated with thunder storms triples, can it get any better? But I really do love the thunder here (but mostly Chicago) it’s so much more awe inspiring than California’s. I had my first Texan sincerely tell me that he thought California was going to fall away into the Pacific with our next earthquake…which should be the big one people let’s make sure we all have our kits and evacuation plans.

Last night I went out to dinner with some friends (well Mallory’s friends…but I’m pretty sure they love me more). I went to camp with Sarah and Jered and they’re just a lot of fun. Jered and I look a little bit alike so we started a rumor that we were brothers and then when the foreign exchange student thing came up we added that I have been away in Germany preparing for the World Cup and that I was missing this week just to come back for camp. Anyway, it was nice to be able to go out and have fun since most of my free time is spent reading or watching the world cup and wishing I was playing in it.

It’s kind of weird that I am getting to know my way around in the hospitals…and I park in Clergy parking…how weird is that? Mike and I went in today to visit a guy who’s bowel’s exploded and then had a heart attack while he was in the hospital…worse, I don’t think so. He was actually doing pretty well today, earlier in the week he was near death and now the doctors are saying that it’s a miracle that he is recovering the way he is. It is amazing.

I’m excited to be coming home this week, and maybe I’ll get to see the great salt lake as I’m flying home.

Under big skies wearing sweet ties

I have been busy the last couple of nights so I haven't been able to write. Tuesday night I observed the DivorceCare class. I was really excited about it but it wasn't as good as I had hoped. The class follows a curriculum and there are facilitators that I haven't seen around the church so I don't know if they are affiliated with Paramount at all but Mike, my boss, is also there. There were three facilitators and Mike and then probably six people in the class. Two guys didn't say anything the whole night, one lady couldn't stop talking and all the facilitators seemed like they liked to hear themselves talk as well. The one lady was talking about how she had found the week's curriculum to be very negative and all the facilitators immediately jumped in, each expressing how they just wanted to encourage her and make sure that she is was cared for. I was sitting there thinking, "Are we really not going to ask her why she thought the material was negative?" The most basic question and it was never addressed. The facilitators were too comforting and the woman was too hurt to be able to listen. Another guy who was there, Steve, he was the person who probably said the best and most insightful things…and he's a truck driver. The class broke my heart because everyone there looked pretty good but you could just sense that they were either one word away from tears or they were one wall away from isolation.

Yesterday Bob and Margie (my host family/boss) left for a week so Bob could go speak at a camp. And now I am house sitting. I have never seen a man love his dog or his plants more than Bob, and now I am in charge of both, everyday I tell them "Don't die, don't die, don't die." Anyway, since I am alone for the week I was invited over to the Jones' for dinner last night. We had some very good soup and a lot of good conversation. Rich is an elder in the church, Cathey is one of the most Texan women I have met, and Jeffrey, their son, seems like a really great guy. He's 20 and goes to Baylor so we had a good time talking about schools and life afterward and the adventures that we're on or wish that we were.

Today we have some more hospital visits, there's also a funeral at the church but I don't think that Mike and I are going to be involved. Later tonight I am attending the contemporary worship practice. I'm pretty sure I'll be playing during July. I thought and had hoped that I would be able to play the drums but it looks like right now they need a guitar player more so I expect that's what I will be playing.

For now…let's get in trouble.

Monday

Today was my first legitimate day in the office. I arrived at 8:00 AM and spent the morning filling out forms and getting accustomed to the office. I was also introduced to the intern office which doubles as the church’s library…it smells like old. Paramount just sold this building and is constructing a new facility across town so offices are at a premium and interns are loved but still low on the food chain. However, no matter how old smelling our office is I won’t complain because I am writing to you on my brand new tablet pc. At ten I went up to the congregational care staff meeting where we discussed what my summer will look like. Basically I will be on a whirlwind tour of the eight branches of Paramount’s congregational care. I have a lot of books to read probably about ten (not bad for eight weeks), I have meetings with a million pastors, and I will be attending a lot of classes.

I went to lunch with my boss Mike and had some chicken fried steak. The chicken fry takes away from the steak I think, but the steak I had yesterday was good. Wait, what was that, steak two days in a row? I must be in Texas. Kevin, who I ate meat with yesterday actually worked in the beef industry…TEXAS. Mike seems like a great guy, our conversation wasn’t amazing but it was only the second time we had spent time together. After lunch Mike and I visited or drove by every hospital, hospice, or medical center in Amarillo. I went in to Baptist St. Anthony’s Hospital and got my clergy badge and parking pass…SWEET! We visited with a few people (by the way no one in Texas says “talk” you can only say “visit”) it went really well. One older lady had fallen and had stitches and bruises, one had had her leg amputated, another man had a heart attack, and a few were sleeping. It was really good to go along with Mike, it let me just stand back and observe. It was amazing to see how just a couple minutes of conversation and a prayer can mean so much to people.

Well…I should probably start reading my ten books…but maybe I’ll play around on my laptop for a while.

The First Taste

Today I took part in my first pastoral intern of congregational care duty. After church I went with a guy, who also happened to be named Kevin, and visited a few elderly church members in a retirement home. One of the ladies didn't think today was a good day for us to visit, another was out and about, one was sweet but embarrassed of her hair, and the last was tired and fell asleep while we talked. Since it is Paramount's tradition to serve communion every Sunday we also take and serve communion on these visits. I didn't serve anyone communion today but I hadn't really ever thought that I would ever be serving people communion. As I watched and listened to what happened in our visits today I think I became more excited about the opportunities in front of me this summer. I think it will be one of the first times that I am truly going to be outside of my comfort zone, walking down the halls of the nursing home and looking at each picture and face of the person who lives behind the door made me think about how much love and care was needed in this place and each life. I don't think I will have enough within me and I know that I will have to depend a lot on God to give me strength to be strong for those who need strength and to be bold when I am afraid.

I keep forgetting the odd Texas sayings and customs that I want to write about…and I haven't been taking any pictures. I suppose that I need to carry around my camera and maybe a little notebook to capture the unique beauty of Texas. Since I do lack pictures at the moment I decided to post a little video I made of my first day of travel out to Texas. I was hard to condense fourteen hours of travel and one and a half hours of footage into a watchable video, and still maintain the theme of monotony without passing on a feeling of monotony to the viewer. Not to mention I only had basic software to work with…but I think it turned out well. Enjoy.

Back in the saddle

I just got back from Paramount Terrace's seventh and eighth grade camp…I am tired. As you know I got here last Saturday and then left Monday morning to drive right back into the mountains of New Mexico. The camp was a really great experience it was too much different than the camp I had experienced before (except maybe just smaller in scale and production). It was fun to go up not really knowing anyone and not having any real responsibilities because it gave me the freedom to get know any kids that I wanted to and to participate in any role that was needed. Flexibility was the name of the game. I became known as Hanz (because people thought I looked like a foreign exchange student, due to my hip belt/v-neck/and black socks), Andy, and Yao. The kids were pretty similar to the kids I worked with in California, except these ones talked weird. I didn't take my camera to camp, so I will have to try and get some pictures from some of the other interns to show you guys. One of the highlights of the camp was the night we thought we were going to have to evacuate due to a forest fire. We were all in the chapel and we heard the dinner bell ring, and ring, and ring, which of course means…RUN LIKE CRAZY UP THE HILL TO THE DINING HALL BECAUSE WE ARE ABOUT TO BE BURNT ALIVE. As we ran out of the chapel you could smell and see the ash in the air. We got the kids into the dining hall started taking roll and getting the cars ready to go. We couldn't see any flames so we knew we weren't in any immediate danger, we found out that there had been a fire twenty miles away and that the wind had blown the ash into the camp but the fire had already been taken care of. Even though we were fine half of the kids were crying anyway…so we played games with them and they forgot about it in twenty minutes. Everyone went to bed a little wary…but i decided to put in earplugs for the first time.

Now I am back in Amarillo about to finish A Farewell to Arms which I have enjoyed this week. I bought it at this Hippie bookstore in Flagstaff Arizona while I was waiting for my tires to be changed. I started it read it during my spare moments at camp and have really enjoyed it. I really enjoy the simplicity of the writing because even though the words are few Hemingway still gets a lot of meaning from them. It wasn't quite the story I was expecting but it hasn't disappointed me yet. It's strange because even though I have been here a week I have really only been in my normal life here for almost two days. I feel as though I should have a lot more to tell you about what I am doing here…but I haven't done anything yet. But here are some pictures of my bedroom.

Gone Camping.

Today was my first taste of Paramount Terrace, the church I will be spending my summer serving at. It wasn't as different as I might have expected. They told me that it was very traditional but I think that my church in Pasadena might be slightly more traditional in it's morning service, the contemporary services seemed to be very similar. Everyone was really friendly but I met so many people I'm sure I won't remember hardly anyone at all. Tomorrow I leave for camp. So I won't be back for a week. I'll try to write some more tonight but I don't know if I will have internet access.

 Sorry for the lack of a picture, no one hates that more than me…

It’s only just begun…

After two days, two tires, and too much driving without air conditioning…I made it to Texas. The drive really wasn't that bad in retrospect. I thought driving alone for so long might be lonely or at least boring but it wasn't so bad (and it is probably a good thing that no one was with me because there were way too many out of state license plates). I'll write some more tomorrow but I just wanted people to know that I am indeed still alive and actually on my journey and no longer waiting.

One more day…

I finished my bookshelf yesterday but just didn't have the time to take and post the pictures, but I have the time today. It came out looking a lot better than I ever expected it to, not to mention the fun that I had and the memories that I have of making it. The other great thing about these pictures is that you can learn a lot about me, like; what books I read, the color of my wall, whether or not I have an iPod, if I like lemonade, and you could guess two of the instruments I have hanging on my wall. There you go, near eternal intimacy in one photograph.

In other news, while preparing for travel in foreign states and foreign lands I decided I should probably know how to cut my own hair. Accordingly, I got out my hair trimmers and gave myself a hair cut…it is short. Certainly shorter than expected but it'll be okay, besides I'm going to Texas. I also had a little goodbye party with my family and some friends tonight. It was the last time I will see them for a few months and then even when I get back from Texas I'll only be in California for a few days before I leave again. It's strange to think how much will have changed by the time I get back. My niece, who is right now just barely on the verge of walking and talking, will be walking and talking when I get back from London. WALKING and TALKING. My parents said they might move from the house I was raised in before I get back from London, which will be fine but obviously significantly different. My friends will be even more scattered and living in a new season. Add to that the experiences I will be having and the change those experiences will have on my life and who I am, and we have a whole new life.

I'm excited.

Closing Up Shop

During my two weeks of down time at home I decided to finish a bookshelf that I built a year ago. I finished the frame last year so I just had to plug the screw holes with dowel, sand it down, stain it, and then apply the finish. I'm almost done but have decided to do one more coat of finish on it. Sure, maybe I should have been ordering rail passes for Europe, or buying supplies I'll need for living in a foreign country, or even just doing laundry for Texas…but there is something really innate working wood with hand. I'll post some pictures before I leave on Friday of the finished product but for now enjoy these of the process.