the great commission

Maybe this video is why "Live forever" by Drew Holcomb and the Neighbors reminds me of Friday nights in high school. (Don't judge how darn close the camera gets to my face.)

Valley Young Life - with schools from colt helton on Vimeo.

Enjoy!
B

i want you to live forever.

Do you ever hear a song that just stirs something deep inside of you? Something that you can't quite explain, but it wants out; it wants a very real response and it won't be satisfied until it gets one? That is what this song does to me. Every time I hear it.



Laughter is the only thing that'll keep you sane

In this world that's dying more and more every day

Don't let evil get you down

In this madness spinning round and round

I want you to live forever

Underneath the sky so blue

Some people say faith is a childish game

Play on, children, like it's Christmas day

Sing me a song, sing me a melody

Sing out loud, you're a symphony

I want you to live forever

Underneath the sky so blue

I want you to live forever

Underneath the sky so blue

Take courage when the road is long

Don't ever forget you're never alone

I want you to live forever

Underneath the sky so blue

I want you to live forever

Underneath the sky so blue

Oh yeah, I want you to live forever

Underneath the sky so blue

Oh yeah, I want you to live forever

Underneath the sky so blue

I want you to live forever

-'Live forever,' Drew Holcomb and The Neighbors

For some reason, this song makes me think of Friday night football games when I was in high school. The lights, the sounds, the crowds. And it brings me to a place of regret. It makes me sad for the missed opportunities in those years. The chances I missed while I was hiding in my comfortable corner of loneliness and self-consciousness that I didn't even recognize at the time. Gosh, why is hindsight so frustratingly clear? As Young Life leaders, we talk about wanting to be right in the thick of the chaos we call high school- but I did not get that when I was in high school myself. Why did I run away from it?

When I was thinking about it earlier I finally got it. I wasn't ready in high school. Back then I was the one who was lost; I needed someone chasing me. It's hard to believe that high school was over 5 years ago- but those 5 years really were a lifetime in the mere 22 (almost 23) years that I've been on this earth. And more importantly-

"Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation;
the old has gone, the new has come!"
2 Corinthians 5:17

-I am new.

And now I am finally ready to respond. To walk into that place and love like I never could before. With a love that I didn't have before. So, God, help the guilt, regret, and remorse from the past die away with that old me. Don't let it hold me back anymore. Thank you for hope and opportunities in this new life I've been given. They are precious to me.

Hopefully,
B

Continued (take 2)...

March 10th 12:30pm:

My body doesn't know what to think after walking so much yesterday. We covered a ton of ground from 7am to 11pm! Today is a slower one so far- mostly because Erica has to work and the rest of us are on our own in the city. We've parked it in one of Erica's favorite coffee shops for now- 'Random Order.'

I've been taken aback time and time again on this trip by just how much I've changed over the past 2 years. It feels like night and day in my head and in my heart. I did not appreciate these girls or this community nearly enough when I lived in the midst of them and it- but now that we are scattered across the country, and now that I live alone, I have a pretty clear view of the opportunities I had that I missed. But like I said, I am a different person now and this girl has a different heart and perspective than that girl did.

"Yet this I call to mind and therefore I have hope:

Because of the Lord's great love we are not consumed,

for his compassions never fail.

They are new every morning; great is your faithfulness."

Lamentations 3:21-23

To be continued,

B

All in a day's work (2)

3:00pm: After a nice, long (much needed) nap on my part, the four of us headed out to explore the town- mostly the rivers and bridges of Portland.





6:00pm (-ish): We hopped on a bus and headed for the Mt. Tabor neighborhood. Mt. Tabor is an extinct volcano with a fantastic view of the city. Once we got off the bus, Erica admitted that we had actually gotten on the wrong bus and she wasn't completely sure where we were. Oh. Great. But to her credit, she soon got her bearings and we headed for the mountain. When we got to the base Erica announced that if we hurried we could catch the sunset from the top. Um... I had just walked about 30 miles -ok, ok, slight exaggeration- but I was not up for a little jog up the side of a mountain. So while I took off as quickly as my tired little legs could carry me and Caroline hung back with me, Kara and Erica soon disappeared from sight. Oh, yeah, then the rain storm started.
7:30pm: We reached the top of Mt. Tabor (finally catching back up with our other two).



7:33pm: We started our descent (no, but seriously, we stayed at the top for about 3 minutes).
8:15pm: We arrived at the Hawthorne Hophouse.
Erica nannies for a sweet family who owns several restaurants and offered to feed us whatever we wanted for dinner... for free! Incredible. After such a long day and so much walking, it felt wonderful to sit down, order whatever we pleased, spend sweet quality time together, and then have someone else pick up the tab.




The Hophouse was named appropriately for its wide selection of local beers, but as hard as I try (and I did try each of my roommates' selections) I just haven't found an appreciation for beer yet.

10:00pm: We tipped our waitress double and headed for the bus to take us home.
11:30pm: Our weary little bodies found our beds and we crashed hard.
And with that, day one came to a close. What a beautiful day.

"I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full."
John 10:10

"So I commend the enjoyment of life,
because nothing is better for a man under the sun
than to eat and drink and be glad.
Then joy will accompany him in his work
all the days of the life God has given him under the sun."
Ecclesiastes 8:15
(Erica actually wrote that verse in the front a journal she brought me from Italy my junior year of college and it has become one of my favorites.)

To be continued,
B

All in a day's work

Day one in Portland was packed from sunrise to long after sunset. The events of March 10th could have filled up an entire week, but we chose to pile them all into a single day (partnered with jet lag, of course).

6:45am: woke up to Kara bounding off the bed we shared and a gentle shake and soft words from Erica

7:00am: left the house to pick up Ginny and Caroline.

Drove to Multnomah Falls- and got soaked. (For the record, I could not live in a climate as rainy as Portland for many reasons, but one that I did not foresee: the masses of worms. Gross.)

Erica was so excited to take us to 'the gorge;' I had no idea what to expect, but it did not disappoint. Even with the cloud cover it was spectacular.

On the left side of the Columbia River is Washington state and on the right is Oregon.

8:45am (approximately): entered Narnia. Seriously, we started climbing this mountain and the further we got into the forest, the greener it got, the darker it got, and the larger the snow piles were.

Eventually we had to turn around because our little car couldn't make it any further.
10:30am: Ginny treated the rest of us to breakfast at 'Gravy'- it was delicious and so great to have the five of us together around one table.



11:45am: We had to rush Ginny to the airport so she wouldn't miss her flight (although I wouldn't have minded if she had)... the goodbyes started way too soon for me.

To be continued,
B

Continued...

March 9th, 2011 (Portland, Oregon):

There was sun in Portland today. It was unexpected and glorious. I came to Oregon expecting rain and with every intention of embracing the dampness I knew I'd encounter, but today was a gift. Sure it rained some, but when you're standing in front of the biggest waterfall you've ever seen and it's spraying your face anyways, you sort of forget that you usually consider rain a bad thing. 

"Sing to the Lord with thanksgiving; make music to our God on the harp.

He covers the sky with clouds; he supplies the earth with rain and makes grass grow on the hills."

Psalm 147:7-8

"Yet he has not left himself without testimony: 

He has shown kindness by giving you rain from heaven and crops in their seasons; 

he provides you with plenty of food and fills your hearts with joy."

Acts 14:17

I got far more than I bargained for: blue skies with puffy clouds and sunshine and then stars over the city lights after we watched the sun go down from the top of Mt. Tabor. Sweet, huh? What a great first day on the west coast. 

You're the God of this City

You're the King of these people

You're the Lord of this nation

You are

You're the Light in this darkness

You're the Hope to the hopeless

You're the Peace to the restless

You are

There is no one like our God

There is no one like our God

For greater things have yet to come

and greater things are still to be done in this city

Greater things have yet to come 

and greater things are still to be done in this city

-"God of this City," Chris Tomlin

To be continued...

B

To be continued...

I just returned from my trip to the West coast and it feels so good to be home. I basically decided, 'who says I can't have a spring break now that I'm out of college? Psh! And peaced out for a week anyways. I didn't take my computer on my trip, but I had too many adventures and thoughts to not record them at all- so I kept track along the way and I would now love to share some of them with you.

March 8th 11:25pm (thoughts from the air):

I love flying. I love airports and people watching and the hustle and bustle and I love taking off and landing. It's exhilarating. It is one big adventure. I realized earlier that that it's probably all so exciting to me because the rest of my life so often feels run-of-the-mill. Today's adventure was definitely one for the books (or the blogs, I guess).

I made it to the Atlanta airport with plenty of time to spare because the place is seriously enormous! Somehow I made it through check-in and security in like 10 minutes and about a half hour before I was supposed to board, I hear an announcement and look up at the screen to see 'delayed' in red next to my flight. Great. Thankfully I was just coming from a fantastic conference for work and was in a very patient and peaceful place. I chalked it up to part of the experience and quietly took my place in line behind all of the other people who were going to miss their connections because of this delay to wait. When I finally made it to the counter I was rewarded with great news: they were changing my original flight (with a layover in Denver) to a nonstop flight to Portland that would actually arrive before I was scheduled to in the first place. Fantastic!

For some irrational reason, I really enjoy flying alone. It must be something about the adventure, the independence. And one of my favorite things about these adventures is definitely making new friends. I love striking up a conversation when I'm standing in line or meeting my new flight companions once we get settled on the plane. On this most recent trip, though, I have had terrible luck with this. I tried and tried but no one was biting! The lady on the 5 hour flight across the country to Portland sat down and proceeded to put in her headphones immediately. I attempted to share a laugh over the ridiculous size of the tiny pretzels Delta gave us and was rejected. I tried to be friendly and helped when she couldn't figure out how to use her credit card to pay for a movie... Nothing. I tried to engage her by asking about Portland once I found out that's where she was from... Fail.

Why is that? Why are some of us wired to make friends and be engaging while others aren't? Why do some of us readily respond when pursued while others hide from the same efforts? I started to realize in my aggravation that it is not all bad. As I looked around the plane, I was reminded again that God did not only create me and he does not only love me! Shocking, I know. My God loves that bald-headed man in front of me as much as he does the flight attendants who seem put out by their jobs and can't decide between the party in New York or Charleston, SC. He loves the woman beside me who won't give me the time of day the exact same amount that he loves me- no more and no less. But the neat thing is that he created us to be different and he loves us uniquely- exactly where we're at and exactly how we need to be loved.

''Oh Lord, you have searched me and you know me.''

Psalm 139:1

''She gave this name to the Lord who spoke to her: 

'You are the God who sees me,' for she said,

 'I have now seen the One who sees me.'''

Genesis 16:13

To be continued...

B