Al and His Guitar

Yesterday at the store, an old man, Al, came in with his granddaughter to pick up her flute that we had repaired. He asked if we had any flat-wound guitar strings for his Gibson 225-T. We didn’t have the strings, and as I began to look them up in the catalog, he began to tell me some of his story.

Al had been looking for a guitar when he was a much younger man, and his friend at Ferguson Music gave him a call to let him know he had put back a guitar from a new shipment that he thought he might like. Al went in, tried the guitar, and bought it right then. There was a blind man that tuned the pianos at Ferguson and at a bunch of different places around town. He said the blind man had an incredible ear, and was one of the best piano tuners around. The first thing Al did after he bought the guitar was take it to the blind man for him to adjust the pickups to get the perfect balance. Al said when he got the guitar back, it was magical how good it sounded after the adjustments.

Now, obviously, Al loves this guitar. In fact, he said that just about everyone that’s ever played it has offered to buy it from him. While he didn’t really say it, I could tell that he absolutely loves playing it too. One of my favorite things to do is to listen to people talk about their favorite things. I love the passion that people have, the life that is evident, when they talk about the things they love. Al had that type of passion in his voice. Here’s where Al absolutely broke my heart, but showed me a brilliant picture of what real love looks like.

He proceeded to tell me that he hadn’t played his guitar in a long time. His wife had gotten “the cancer”. She knew she didn’t have a long time left to live, and so she asked him to put his guitar up for a while so that they could spend as much time together as possible. So Al put it up...
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I can’t really explain why, but that was such a clear picture of true love to me. To put aside something that you care deeply about to pursue time with someone that you care even more deeply about. I hope that I can learn something from Al, that its very worth putting yourself aside for a little while to bring yourself as close to someone as possible, to put them ahead of yourself. I think that we can learn something from this about how to live like Christ has called us to live too.

This, my friends, is a new year.

Whether you're calling it 2010, 20 aught 10, 2kx, or 2000 o' 10, it's upon us.

2009 presented a wealth of new opportunity, frustration, joy, heartache, confusion, hope. I can honestly say that I could not have imagined the things that would take place last year, but here are some of the highlights:

-I basically told some friends of mine that I was going to be in their band. They let me in, and we've now recorded the first full-length album in The Red River Connection's storied history. I've been incredibly blessed to have a chance to make music with these guys and live a little bit of real life in the process. So thank you, joshmicahbonniekarenzac for continuing to teach me that the definition of family is so much more than those people that you share genetics with.

-In the last 2 months, it seems like the majority of my friends have gotten engaged. I'm now singing at 6 weddings this year, and I couldn't be more honored to have been asked to do so. Some of their journeys have been a joy, others have been labor, but ultimately I feel blessed to have been a part of each one in some way. I'm excited to see these friends move into a new season of life, knowing that they will live to glorify Christ in their marriages.

-I've learned some life lessons, the hard way of course. A little bit about heartache, and a lot about hope. I've done so with friends old and new, and I thank God for them.

-I fell in love with a new instrument. The dobro has presented challenges far greater than I expected, but has also led to some of my favorite music moments of the last year.

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Yesterday morning, I sat around a table eating breakfast with some of my closest friends. The topic of new years resolutions was unavoidable, so we dove right in. I've learned that one should set goals that are actually attainable (which may sound like common sense, but it's advice rarely taken). Here are a few of mine for this fresh start:

-I want to read on purpose, not just when I feel like it or am obligated to for a class. Reading has led to the hardest questions I've ever been asked, and has also led to simple pleasures that can't be matched by any other thing.

-I want to practice an instrument everyday, on purpose. I tend to get comfortable with where my skill level sits on most instruments, and I don't push myself any further. I want to practice something on purpose everyday, to build that discipline which will lead to better creativity.

-I want to write something everyday. Whether it's a blog post, a journal entry, a haiku, a letter to someone, or a quote that I heard earlier in the day, I want to write something every single day.

-I want to become a better listener. I want to be more empathic. I want to listen so that I can live, so that I can know whats happening with my friends, acquaintances, co-workers, family, and so that I can know whats happening in the world around me. I want to be where I'm at, not somewhere else.

-Taking a page from my friend Karen's book, I want to buy local when possible. Be it clothing, coffee, or carrots, I want to make an effort to support local vendors/farmers/designers/musicians/craftsmen. (btw, check out her recent post here)

-I want to drink more water, and eat more vegetables.

-I want to graduate college.

So there they are. Some tangible goals. What are yours?

Listen to these beautiful words, and find that there is hope for today.

I'm not sure who said this, but this is a phrase I want to hold onto this year:
"If there's breath in your lungs
there's another chance in your bones."

It's the same

I'm in North Bend, Washington right now (just Southeast of Seattle) working with some friends from Trinity and some other friends who were formerly Trinitians. Bobby and Kelli Higgenbotham and Curtis Lilly moved here from good ole Ada, OK to work with Lifepoint Community Church, a church plant in the Snoqualmie Valley.

Let's just say that the work has been hard and rewarding, but the circumstance is everything but what I expected it to be. Being at Falls Creek basically all summer, the high 90's days have gotten old. I expected to come up here to these beautiful mountains (which they most definitely are), and catch a break from the heat for a week.

Au contraire, mon fraire. It seems that we packed the heat in our carry ons, and let it out when we got off of the plane. The weather has literally been record highs for this time of year here, with temps in the upper 90's, and probably triple digits tomorrow, while it has been in the 70's and raining in Oklahoma. This, as you may imagine, is qutie frustrating. Who comes to Washington, in the mountains, and expects 90 degree weather everyday? Not I. And how does it decide to rain at home the week we're gone?

It's been a struggle to keep a good attitude, to be honest. I wanted something completely different than what I've been presented with, but God has been teaching me, the hard way as usual, some very important lessons.

1)My mission/job/call as a Christ follower is the same, regardless of location, circumstance, or expectation. I'm to tell people here about the love of Christ just the same as at home, which the heat so frequently has reminded me. My work is no different here than in Ada, it's just very different people and surroundings.

2)God does not have to get things done the way we may think is best. It's His mission, He calls the shots.

In the midst of this hard/hot/sometimes-frustrating trip, God has continually made Himself known by the things that He has made. Here's a little taste of what we've been working amongst.

http://twitvid.com/CF909

I'm not sure what's going to happen, but I think God might be drawing me to this area of the country. Maybe not the valley, but the Seattle/Tacoma area. It blows my mind and breaks my heart to think that people here are surrounded by such magnificence, and are so opposed to the Gospel.

Pray for the work that's being done here, and for the people who are living here, clueless to the love of Christ.

The Unbelief...

This article by John Piper absolutely confirmed some things for me. Not just in relation to sexual lust, but just toward other things like worry and looking for confirmation in other people. It's fairly long, but definitely worth a read.

I've mentioned this to a lot of people lately, the thought that the times when we forget the simple promises that God has made to us or when we choose to not believe them are the times that our hearts get into trouble. It's definitely something that I wrestle with, and this article was a stern reminder of what's at stake.

from wherever spring arrives

It has been absolutely gorgeous the last couple of days. I have to say that I am welcoming spring wholeheartedly this year. Hopefully the temperature will start to level out and those of us who are sick can finally get well.

The topic of being a godly man has been one of high frequency as of late. I must say that it's a topic that absolutely scares the crap out of me in some aspects and is a great encouragement to me in others. To be a man of God, in most ways, is opposite of what the culture around us defines manliness as. That is frustrating to say the least. I mean, if you look at everything from how to treat those around you to your relationship with your wife and kids, scripture screams in the face of what most men practice today, me included unfortunately.

I guess the key to being who we're called to be is something that I've learned through experience over the last 3 years especially. We can't do it alone, as bad as we want to be macho and tough out this walk with Jesus by our lonesome, we just can't do it. I need men around me to encourage me, rebuke me, teach me, laugh with me, cry with me, and recognize the God who loves us with we. I have been blessed with an amazing group of guys from all over the place that I can live life with, that I know will be there for me whether I need someone to high five, or if I need someone to put that high five to my face and give me a wake up call.

We cannot and must not to this on our own.

the inner ring

C.S. Lewis, as I've said before, is absolutely one of my favorite authors. I think it may be the fact that he can write something like the Chronicles of Narnia, and also pen works like Mere Christianity and The Weight of Glory. I don't know of (though I'm sure there are) any other authors that can or have tackled two markedly different genres of literature so successfully.

I've talked about The Weight of Glory here before, but there is another sermon in that collection that I read the other night called The Inner Ring. In this sermon, Lewis describes this inner ring as the place where we're all trying to arrive, though the inner rings you're shooting for may not be the same as the ones that I am pursuing. This inner ring may be a certain group of people that you want to be friends with, a group of colleagues that you wish to be accepted by, or a board of leadership that you wish to move onto. Whatever they may be, because I believe that we're all striving for multiple inner rings, certain questions arise in our pursuit.

In one section of this sermon, Lewis says this:

"But if all you want is to be in the know, your pleasure will be short lived. The circle cannot have within the charm that it had from outside. By the very act of admitting you it has lost its magic. Once the first novelty has worn off, the members of this circle will be no more interesting than your old friends."

Now, I can say from lots of experience with this that this statement is true. I can name countless times that I have moved into a new inner circle to find that I only wish to be back where I was previously. To me, these words in some sense also describe our relationship to sin. We see this thing that we are pursuing (lust, money, acceptance, things), and when we finally have attained it, we realize that our means of acquiring it were not pure, or that the end result leaves us feeling empty, unfulfilled, or dirty.

In another section Lewis says this:

"A thing may be morally neutral and yet the desire for that thing may be dangerous."

To me, this is probably one of the most simply profound statements that I have ever heard. If I think about it, this is probably the dilemma that I am faced with more than anything. For example, having nice guitar gear is not wrong, but if that desire consumes me, if I do things that I normally wouldn't to acquire that stuff, then this moves that desire to being something that is dangerous. I think we can look at a lot of different areas in our lives and notice that this is the issue we face. It's those things that are not markedly right or wrong, black or white that cause us to stumble more than any other.

If you've read this far, thanks for taking the time.

impressions from the inauguration

I would have to say that the enormity of the crowds left me a bit awestruck. I can’t fathom being in a crowd of 3-4 million people.

As a singer, I sympathized with Aretha. Temps that cold are not conducive to good singing, regardless of talent.

The Invocation was excellent, and when Rick Warren mentioned the name of Jesus, my heart leaped. I’m not trying to over-spiritualize the moment, but after all the previous controversy about praying in Jesus’ name, it pumped me up.

Obama’s speech was eloquent and down-to-earth, which are two things that don’t normally coincide. As a communication studies major, I tend to analyze every speech I hear, and I had to just let myself listen to this one. My favorite line was this:

“To those leaders around the globe who seek to sow conflict, or blame their society’s ills on the West - know that your people will judge you on what you can build, not what you destroy. To those who cling to power through corruption and deceit and the silencing of dissent, know that you are on the wrong side of history; but that we will extend a hand if you are willing to unclench your fist.”

The poem…the poem. Something we talked about in one of my classes last semester was that most writers and poets are not the best candidates to interpret their own work. This was a prime example.

The benediction...lets just leave it at the fact that I was cool with it until "and when white will embrace what is right"...

This is one of those days, like 9.11, that I will never forget. Surely this is one of the greatest days in the history of our young country, whatever side of the aisle you sit on.