Any one who knows me knows that I have a hard time saying goodbye. Recently one of my best friends, Bekah, moved to Vienna, Austria and at her goodbye "party" you'd think I was at a funeral from the look on my face. A few days later my other good friend, Jenni, was with me getting ready to meet Bekah at her parents house to take her to the airport. Jenni made Bekah a mix CD...My tears became uncontrollable as we approached Bekah's house and "Friends" played. Songs that were normally jokes to listen to became sentimental and meaningful.
I had known this girl for 13 years (More than half my life) and it all just seemed too short.
Right before Bekah left at the end of the summer I had a string of other goodbyes. Friends that graduated from college that still lived in Chicago left and others who graduated when I did also left Chicago after living here for 2 or 3 years post graduation- one being my accountability partner. My friend Emily moved back to 'consin to live in Janesville near her sister- it wound up working out for her okay- she 's getting married to a Jansvillian in September. She was the person I could say anything to and it wouldn't shock her- she just listens and cares- good for a laugh that will make you pee your pants too!
Another amazing friend, Chris left for the 10/40 window last August- and even though she lived in Washington, it kills me that I can't call her whenever I want on my cell and it also kills me that when she can call me, we have to use code language on the phone and never say "Missions" or "Jesus" in case a line is tapped. Its like we can't even be ourselves.
I said goodbye to Spokane last November and the people there- its not to say that I won't ever go back, but I was finally able to say goodbye...Does that make sense?
This summer one of my exes who I finally was able to re-establish (Although we weren't really friends before we dated so I don't know all the rules on what to say here) a friendship with moved to Texas and if the other 2 exes move there any time soon, my life will have officially become a country song (All my Exes Live in Texas).
Brian who is one of the "3" to me ( Jesus had his large crowds, his 12 and then his 3 closest friends-Peter ,James and John then his one , John--) had to go home this summer in Kansas City. I miss being able to see him and phone time is limited since our schedules really clash this summer- At least he is coming back in August.
One of our pastors final Sundays was yesterday. He taught my internship program at church, helped me dissect covenental theology, and helped me with the whole missions board process.
Finally, last night I drove all the way out to Wheeling, in Chicago traffic @ 4:45pm to say goodbye to one of my childhood friends. You could say Justin was my first "love" ( if you can love at 13). He and I would write 10 page letters in Junior High back and forth to each other as if paper were going out of style. He wrote so small too- my parents loved it because how often do you really see kids writing a lot? Starting in 7th grade he'd call me every month or so- back in the stone age before cell phones. It cost lots of money to make a call to Moline in 1994. I don't know how it started but he'd call me every Christmas around 9pm for three years straight too. Then Sophomore year we didn't speak too much but after three or four months of silence between us I didn't expect him to call. My family was all sitting around oogling at everyone's brand new gifts and about 9:30 the phone rang. I popped up to grab it thinking it was Jenni or a relative. It was Justin! He said something like, "It just seemed really normal to call you today." We talked for over an hour. When my mom died January of my junior year Justin was one of the first people I called because I'd knew he'd say "That sucks." Instead of the "How are you doing?" automatic response. We all went to college and separated ways until one day my sophomore year I heard through the grapevine that Justin was going to Trinity, less than an hour away. I called the switch board and asked to be transferred to his room. His roommate answered the phone and I asked to speak to Justin. He said he was down in the dining hall and asked to take a message. I responded, " Yes, please make sure to tell him Jamie Stowell called...If you don't give him my last name he may not know who this is because we haven't seen each other in years." His roommate was cool and told me he'd pass on the message.
Apparently his roommate was on his way down to the dining hall and sat down as Justin was finishing up his corn. He said to Justin, " Oh Justin, a Jamie Stowell called for you" Justin spit out his corn and said, "Did you get her number?" His roommate responded positively and Justin left his stuff and ran up stairs. Within five minutes of calling him Justin called me back! We made plans to meet up that week and it was so much fun. We did that one or two more times and then summer hit and we lost contact when he went home again.
I met Justin because of this thing called Bible Quizzing. It's a way for teens to compete over Scripture memory-that's the easiest way to explain it. He was on Moline, I was on Itasca and we also had friends on other teams. Once a month during the school year our churches would meet somewhere and then "Quiz" over the material we learned. This was one of the best parts about growing up- I loved Bible Quizzing- as nerdy as it may sound.
After High schoool you don't really quiz, but you can coach- but most of my friends were gone as I coached a few times in college. After Junior year I switched e-mails and I no longer received the e-mails about Quiz Invitationals- it became out of sight, out of mind.
Then Kari, a good friend from the Wheaton team e-mailed all of us again a couple months ago- Justin, Dave ( another Moline guy) Jenni, Greg, Seth (All from the team I quizzed with in Itasca) as well as a few from her team in Wheaton and asked if everyone wanted to meet up at the next quiz meet, "Quiz Master" (the person who functions as ref and question asker) and then go out to dinner and catch up at Laura's house (Laura was also from the Wheaton team). So, about 4 months ago we did- and it was so much fun. Later I had everyone over at my place for dinner and games and we again had a great time. Just as we are all getting reacquainted Justin handed out directions to his place for a "moving party." He was leaving.
Justin got accepted to a law school out in Nebraska and he and his wife moved yesterday. It was weird saying goodbye again. After all the goodbyes start to culminate it becomes overwhelming. Oddly enough, there has been enough time apart that it didn't make me cry to say goodbye and get that final hug. I thought I'd be a mess of mascara by the end, but I didn't even cry on the way home. However, it was hitting me on the way home that my life will all be a series of goodbyes- some will come sooner than others and in ways you never expected- some goodbyes will seem textbook.
When I get on that plane to Australia I will be saying goodbye to a lot of things. My home- I've lived in Illinois my whole life minus one year. I will be saying goodbye to my family. I will be saying by to familiarity. I will be saying goodbye to friends. I will be saying goodbye to my church. I will be saying goodbye to so much. But I am ready to embrace it- why? Because God has promised so much to his children and he has been so faithful in the past- and seeing how he has been so faithful causes to to put my hope in His faithfulness to me in the future. Life has been an adventure so far.
Every single person listed has shaped me into something different than I would have been had they not been in my life. Goodbyes are hard but every goodbye is worth it for having known how different my life is because of them.
Some say this is good preparation for the mission field. Life will be continuous goodbyes.
Some say this is good preparation for heaven- This world is not my home, just a big waiting room where I can take full advantage of the love, mercy, and grace of God- for when I get there I will see fully who I am to God and who He is. This life is full of faith and hope and love, but as Andrew Peterson says so beautifully- Heaven will only be full of love because the faith and the hope will be realized and no longer necessary. Only love will remain.
WOW.
Monday, June 26, 2006
Wednesday, June 21, 2006
Memories of Spokane- Serious Story # 2
For all you Calvinists out there...
I grew up in an Evangelical free church so doctrine was never pushed- I had no idea there were so many things that Christians disagreed on until I got to my freshman year in High School in an interterm class called Calvinism vs Arminianism. Basically my understanding that came from my parents was neither guy was right and you had to take from both. So what do you think I did as a confused 13 year old hearing doctrine for the first time? I believed everything my parents said. Then came my Systematic Theology class senior year ( 3 years after my calvinism/Arminism class) of High School (If you haven't guessed by now I went to a private Christian school). There I heard all these big words I had heard in that class that seemed as far back as the flood. We had to read about 800 pages in a semester. This was by far the most reading I had ever done for one class and I was still in high school. I accepted the challenge and began to really learn. My teacher, Mr Euler, was a Calvinist to the marrow. Mr Euler (who was the same one I had for that other class) had so many good arguments but something didn't settle well. I knew I cared about what I believed, but I still was going more toward Arminianism- other than the fact that it included the idea that you could lose your salvation- and I knew I didn't believe that- so it left me in this stumped phase.
I wrote my final theology paper with ease- like spreading room temperature butter on soft bread. And then I hit a theological deer on the road to my A. The next thing on my outline? "SOTERIOLOGY." I felt as if I were making a life or death decision- like what I wrote would be the determining factor to who I would be, how I would worship, who I would be friends with, where I would go to college and how I would interact with the world. In a way it's true- your theology affects the way you think, worship and interact with God. My final conclusion was that it had to be a little of both, because otherwise it didn't make "sense".
Fast forward about or 5 months and I'm in Spokane, in Old Testament Survey class. Again, I was confronted with this very important question. It was showing its confrontational head in more than the New Testament and in more than my theology classes.
I went to Brandon and Kenny's apartment quite often and this night I write about was like many others. It was October I believe. Kenny was at work and so there I was with Brandon hanging out and talking. Usual course of the night- Brandon got off work around 6 or 7...I would come over and hang out and talk or go for a drive with him. We'd get back to his place and wait for Kenny to get off work and then decide where to go for a while- usually Sheri's or Denny's until 1 or 2 in the morning.
Brandon grew up Presbyterian, so he heard doctrinal jargon and knew how to speak and talk about it. After my class I felt equipped to hold these deep conversations with him. We had chatted quite frequently. I enjoyed our ( Brandon and my) conversations on theology and he challenged me frequently. He told me often he liked talking to me because most girls at our age didn't care or didn't know how to talk about and usually didn't want to. I always felt so special when Brandon would open up to me about these things. This particular evening, Brandon was reading through Romans when I got to his place and he started up a conversation off the bat. I started to get it. Caedmon's Call was on in the background and the song "Thankful" came on. I said, "I don't know if I like this song." I asked Brandon why this was so hard for me, why I couldn't see it so black and white like he did. He told me, " Jamie, You have to throw off the old man- you have to know that if Christ hasn't done EVERYTHING for you then your faith isn't faith in God, its faith in yourself. Belief is a work- if you were saved by your own faith, then you would be able to be doing a good thing and in reality salvation would be there for you partly because of your belief." I started to tear up. Brandon was not the emotional type so he said "Come here Jamie. I want you to sit here and read through Romans 9-11 as long as it takes. I am so tired so I'm going to go in my room, close the door and go to bed." He paused and then looked me in the eyes as he turned around from walking toward his door, and here is classic Brandon, " Wake me up when you are a Calvinist."
I laughed...he kept walking...I sat there in disbelief of the situation. Blinking my eyes really hard, I stared at his closed bedroom door thinking, "for real?"
So with nothing else to do I looked down, laughed to myself, and started to read Romans 9-11. I read it two times and a rush of things my theology teacher and Brandon said were coming back to me as I hit certain verses. I found myself cross referencing with Romans 3, portions of Isaiah and following passages all over the Bible. By the end of the 3rd time through I believed it. I couldn't deny it anymore. I woke Brandon up and he came out and smiled and hugged me. I had tears running down my face. Kenny walked in at that moment, still in his apron from Perkins and asked what was going on- why are you crying?
Brandon spoke up, " Lets go out and celebrate. Jamie is theologically free." Kenny looked at me, " Romans 9-11?" I smiled and shook my head yes. "Yeah, that's how he got me too," Kenny responded while putting his arm around me.
We wound up at a Perkins different from the one Kenny worked at and talked about God. We had a Bible study and talked about how good God is- to love us and persue us despite our inability, lack of desire or utter depravity to love him back without his gracious hand causing us to do so.
"So I am thankful that I'm incapable of doing any good on my own... So what part can I play in the work of redemption, I can't refuse and I cannot add a thing..."
~ Caedmon's Call
I grew up in an Evangelical free church so doctrine was never pushed- I had no idea there were so many things that Christians disagreed on until I got to my freshman year in High School in an interterm class called Calvinism vs Arminianism. Basically my understanding that came from my parents was neither guy was right and you had to take from both. So what do you think I did as a confused 13 year old hearing doctrine for the first time? I believed everything my parents said. Then came my Systematic Theology class senior year ( 3 years after my calvinism/Arminism class) of High School (If you haven't guessed by now I went to a private Christian school). There I heard all these big words I had heard in that class that seemed as far back as the flood. We had to read about 800 pages in a semester. This was by far the most reading I had ever done for one class and I was still in high school. I accepted the challenge and began to really learn. My teacher, Mr Euler, was a Calvinist to the marrow. Mr Euler (who was the same one I had for that other class) had so many good arguments but something didn't settle well. I knew I cared about what I believed, but I still was going more toward Arminianism- other than the fact that it included the idea that you could lose your salvation- and I knew I didn't believe that- so it left me in this stumped phase.
I wrote my final theology paper with ease- like spreading room temperature butter on soft bread. And then I hit a theological deer on the road to my A. The next thing on my outline? "SOTERIOLOGY." I felt as if I were making a life or death decision- like what I wrote would be the determining factor to who I would be, how I would worship, who I would be friends with, where I would go to college and how I would interact with the world. In a way it's true- your theology affects the way you think, worship and interact with God. My final conclusion was that it had to be a little of both, because otherwise it didn't make "sense".
Fast forward about or 5 months and I'm in Spokane, in Old Testament Survey class. Again, I was confronted with this very important question. It was showing its confrontational head in more than the New Testament and in more than my theology classes.
I went to Brandon and Kenny's apartment quite often and this night I write about was like many others. It was October I believe. Kenny was at work and so there I was with Brandon hanging out and talking. Usual course of the night- Brandon got off work around 6 or 7...I would come over and hang out and talk or go for a drive with him. We'd get back to his place and wait for Kenny to get off work and then decide where to go for a while- usually Sheri's or Denny's until 1 or 2 in the morning.
Brandon grew up Presbyterian, so he heard doctrinal jargon and knew how to speak and talk about it. After my class I felt equipped to hold these deep conversations with him. We had chatted quite frequently. I enjoyed our ( Brandon and my) conversations on theology and he challenged me frequently. He told me often he liked talking to me because most girls at our age didn't care or didn't know how to talk about and usually didn't want to. I always felt so special when Brandon would open up to me about these things. This particular evening, Brandon was reading through Romans when I got to his place and he started up a conversation off the bat. I started to get it. Caedmon's Call was on in the background and the song "Thankful" came on. I said, "I don't know if I like this song." I asked Brandon why this was so hard for me, why I couldn't see it so black and white like he did. He told me, " Jamie, You have to throw off the old man- you have to know that if Christ hasn't done EVERYTHING for you then your faith isn't faith in God, its faith in yourself. Belief is a work- if you were saved by your own faith, then you would be able to be doing a good thing and in reality salvation would be there for you partly because of your belief." I started to tear up. Brandon was not the emotional type so he said "Come here Jamie. I want you to sit here and read through Romans 9-11 as long as it takes. I am so tired so I'm going to go in my room, close the door and go to bed." He paused and then looked me in the eyes as he turned around from walking toward his door, and here is classic Brandon, " Wake me up when you are a Calvinist."
I laughed...he kept walking...I sat there in disbelief of the situation. Blinking my eyes really hard, I stared at his closed bedroom door thinking, "for real?"
So with nothing else to do I looked down, laughed to myself, and started to read Romans 9-11. I read it two times and a rush of things my theology teacher and Brandon said were coming back to me as I hit certain verses. I found myself cross referencing with Romans 3, portions of Isaiah and following passages all over the Bible. By the end of the 3rd time through I believed it. I couldn't deny it anymore. I woke Brandon up and he came out and smiled and hugged me. I had tears running down my face. Kenny walked in at that moment, still in his apron from Perkins and asked what was going on- why are you crying?
Brandon spoke up, " Lets go out and celebrate. Jamie is theologically free." Kenny looked at me, " Romans 9-11?" I smiled and shook my head yes. "Yeah, that's how he got me too," Kenny responded while putting his arm around me.
We wound up at a Perkins different from the one Kenny worked at and talked about God. We had a Bible study and talked about how good God is- to love us and persue us despite our inability, lack of desire or utter depravity to love him back without his gracious hand causing us to do so.
"So I am thankful that I'm incapable of doing any good on my own... So what part can I play in the work of redemption, I can't refuse and I cannot add a thing..."
~ Caedmon's Call
Tuesday, June 13, 2006
Memories of Spokane-Funny Story # 7
Urban legends come in all sizes- this one comes in the size of a box of powder Tide detergent.
Aaron S (I will use his last initial because we also had an Aaron but I can't remember his last initial because we weren't too close, but he lived with Aaron S- so in case the other Aaron comes up in another story we have them separated! ).
Okay- so I was talking to a bunch of people after class one day about random facts. I brought up that I heard that powder Tide glows in the dark. Aaron S confirmed that he heard the same thing. Everyone debated about what must have been in it to make it glow.
So later that day Tara and I were grocery shopping for a Christmas party we were throwing before everyone went on break. We bought a lot of snacks and drinks and a few holiday-esque things to place around the apartment. We also bought, out of mad curiosity,yes, powder Tide.
We eagerly got things ready: brownies, pretzel salad, dips & veggies assorted candies, chips & dip. Then we looked at our shiny new box of tide, actually, it was kind of dusty. So we pulled it out of the Safeway bag and looked down at it as if it were bomb we had to diffuse (only with plenty of time).
Maybe we should just open the box make a thick mixture and go for it. What should we write on the wall.
We searched the recesses of our mind for something good. Then a phrase Aaron S said all the time as a joke came to Tara. " I CAN'T BELIEVE YOU..." She started. I finished, " I don't think you're a Christian!" Aaron said it whenever anyone said or did something pushing the envelope or not "G" rated. It always made everyone laugh as everyone knew he was joking.
So on the front wall of the house when you walk in, Tara and I started writing on the wall with powder Tide mixture. After getting finished with the I CAN'T BELIEVE YOU..." We decided to stop and let it dry to see if it really worked. Yeah, I know- pretty smart- you think we would have tried a very small sample on a piece of newspaper before messing up our walls. Nope- not that smart yet.
So it dried and it turned into something similar you probably made in 5th grade. Remember when you had to do cartography in Social Science- and you had to make a water color map of the US then you had to make that weird mixture of flour and salt and water to make a rough playdough substance to form the mountains in the west.? That what this stuff looked like- but it smelled a LOT better.
This 5th grade substance dried on the wall- now for the ultimate test. We turned of the lights after shining a very powerful flashlight on it. We could barely contain our excitement as we awaited the outcome of our scientific experiment. And when we turned off the lights we realized we were in...complete darkness. "WHAT!!!" We looked at the box as if it were defective. I kicked it like a dead pet to see if it's really dead.
"What should we do now, we have this crap on the wall?" Tara went to get a sponge, a scraper and some warm water. Just as we started our first guest arrived. Oh well.
The whole night everyone who came in asked, "What is that on the wall? What does it say?" So each time we told the story it got shorter as our disappointment in our "experiment" got larger. The party was a success nonetheless. Everyone had a good time and it went well into the night.
Nothing beat what happened the next morning however. No, we didn't find any drunk guests in our closets, but we did have an unexpected lovely stop over from our landlady, Marla. To hear more about Marla you should read Memories from Spokane-Funny Story # 3. She came in and looked at the wall as if she had just witnessed a murder. In squeaky, old lady voice, " Oh dear. Oh my! What in heaven's name is this girls?"
Tara and I tried to play it off as if it was nothing. " Oh, its just a small experiment with Tide. We put it up yesterday and are hoping to take it down today."
She kept asking questions about it to the point of annoyance.
"Why did you put tide on the walls inside the house?" She questioned finally. To which a funny joke popped in my head and it took everything in me to not say it. The joke is, (and you have to say it out loud in order for it to make sense because the eyes alone don't pick it up)Q: Why do Eskimos wash their clothes in tide? A: because it's too told out tide." I did refrain and finally after Tara continued the explanation, Marla finally left, a little upset, but she left. Tara and I washed it off the walls moments after she was gone and there was no trace of anything. The next time Marla came over she looked at the wall as soon as she was in the door and even touched it discretely to see if everything had been taken care of. " I have to hand it to you, it looks like nothing was ever on the wall," she said.
Tara and I looked at each other proudly with a smirk.
There are some people that got it to work - here are a few tips to make your Tide experiment successful:
http://upstagereview.org/CostumesArticles/glow.pdf
And in this one, apparently its liquid Tide that does the trick:
http://www.exo.net/~pauld/activities/fluorescence.html
Well, I guess I learned that you should always check the validity of experiments- but I also learned that Tide on the wall makes a good conversation piece.
Aaron S (I will use his last initial because we also had an Aaron but I can't remember his last initial because we weren't too close, but he lived with Aaron S- so in case the other Aaron comes up in another story we have them separated! ).
Okay- so I was talking to a bunch of people after class one day about random facts. I brought up that I heard that powder Tide glows in the dark. Aaron S confirmed that he heard the same thing. Everyone debated about what must have been in it to make it glow.
So later that day Tara and I were grocery shopping for a Christmas party we were throwing before everyone went on break. We bought a lot of snacks and drinks and a few holiday-esque things to place around the apartment. We also bought, out of mad curiosity,yes, powder Tide.
We eagerly got things ready: brownies, pretzel salad, dips & veggies assorted candies, chips & dip. Then we looked at our shiny new box of tide, actually, it was kind of dusty. So we pulled it out of the Safeway bag and looked down at it as if it were bomb we had to diffuse (only with plenty of time).
Maybe we should just open the box make a thick mixture and go for it. What should we write on the wall.
We searched the recesses of our mind for something good. Then a phrase Aaron S said all the time as a joke came to Tara. " I CAN'T BELIEVE YOU..." She started. I finished, " I don't think you're a Christian!" Aaron said it whenever anyone said or did something pushing the envelope or not "G" rated. It always made everyone laugh as everyone knew he was joking.
So on the front wall of the house when you walk in, Tara and I started writing on the wall with powder Tide mixture. After getting finished with the I CAN'T BELIEVE YOU..." We decided to stop and let it dry to see if it really worked. Yeah, I know- pretty smart- you think we would have tried a very small sample on a piece of newspaper before messing up our walls. Nope- not that smart yet.
So it dried and it turned into something similar you probably made in 5th grade. Remember when you had to do cartography in Social Science- and you had to make a water color map of the US then you had to make that weird mixture of flour and salt and water to make a rough playdough substance to form the mountains in the west.? That what this stuff looked like- but it smelled a LOT better.
This 5th grade substance dried on the wall- now for the ultimate test. We turned of the lights after shining a very powerful flashlight on it. We could barely contain our excitement as we awaited the outcome of our scientific experiment. And when we turned off the lights we realized we were in...complete darkness. "WHAT!!!" We looked at the box as if it were defective. I kicked it like a dead pet to see if it's really dead.
"What should we do now, we have this crap on the wall?" Tara went to get a sponge, a scraper and some warm water. Just as we started our first guest arrived. Oh well.
The whole night everyone who came in asked, "What is that on the wall? What does it say?" So each time we told the story it got shorter as our disappointment in our "experiment" got larger. The party was a success nonetheless. Everyone had a good time and it went well into the night.
Nothing beat what happened the next morning however. No, we didn't find any drunk guests in our closets, but we did have an unexpected lovely stop over from our landlady, Marla. To hear more about Marla you should read Memories from Spokane-Funny Story # 3. She came in and looked at the wall as if she had just witnessed a murder. In squeaky, old lady voice, " Oh dear. Oh my! What in heaven's name is this girls?"
Tara and I tried to play it off as if it was nothing. " Oh, its just a small experiment with Tide. We put it up yesterday and are hoping to take it down today."
She kept asking questions about it to the point of annoyance.
"Why did you put tide on the walls inside the house?" She questioned finally. To which a funny joke popped in my head and it took everything in me to not say it. The joke is, (and you have to say it out loud in order for it to make sense because the eyes alone don't pick it up)Q: Why do Eskimos wash their clothes in tide? A: because it's too told out tide." I did refrain and finally after Tara continued the explanation, Marla finally left, a little upset, but she left. Tara and I washed it off the walls moments after she was gone and there was no trace of anything. The next time Marla came over she looked at the wall as soon as she was in the door and even touched it discretely to see if everything had been taken care of. " I have to hand it to you, it looks like nothing was ever on the wall," she said.
Tara and I looked at each other proudly with a smirk.
There are some people that got it to work - here are a few tips to make your Tide experiment successful:
http://upstagereview.org/CostumesArticles/glow.pdf
And in this one, apparently its liquid Tide that does the trick:
http://www.exo.net/~pauld/activities/fluorescence.html
Well, I guess I learned that you should always check the validity of experiments- but I also learned that Tide on the wall makes a good conversation piece.
Tuesday, June 06, 2006
Good stuff
Andrew Peterson is one of my favorite song writers- he's good for the joyful, good for the sorrowful and good for the weak and strong alike. His writings have impressed me more and more over the years too. I recommend visiting his web site and reading his "journal" and his "writings" section. You won't be able to put it down. For your reading pleasure:
http://www.andrew-peterson.com/news
Derek Webb has touched me in the same way:
www.derekwebb.com Good stuff friends!
http://www.andrew-peterson.com/news
Derek Webb has touched me in the same way:
www.derekwebb.com Good stuff friends!
Memories of Spokane- Serious Story # 1
I woke up as rain was pelting my nose. I slept with the window open again and the rain was coming in. It was the the day before Halloween and the rain that came got increasingly colder as the wind moved winter closer to us.
I dressed warm- my thicker jeans, a sweater and my rain coat. I put on socks and my gym shoes. I love fall. I was really warm, as I continued to get ready, with everything on, so I just put on a long sleeved t and a light rain coat I left in the car in case I needed it.
I got to class just as someone walked in from the office and gave Kenny a slip of paper saying there was something that couldn't fit in his school mail box that was waiting for him in the office. He went down stairs and when he came up he was holding a brand new camera. Kenny had talked about how he was really wanting a camera because of his new interest in photography. His $17.89 camera from Walmart wasn't cutting it. Everyone guessed it was Suzanne that gave it to him because she was the only one in our group that could afford to get anyone a gift that nice. She never admitted that she bought it for him, but we all knew it had to be her- she was always generous with her money.
After class that day I hung back a little... I wanted to see if anyone wanted to do anything. It was a rainy blah day and I didn't feel like going home. I looked around and only a few people I barely knew were still at school, so I headed outside. Then I heard his voice behind me. " Jamie, are you going home?"
" Oh hey Kenny. Well, I kinda don't want to, but it seems everyone has left. What are you up to?"
" Well, I was thinking about going thrift store shopping because tomorrow at work we don't have to wear our uniform if we dress for Halloween."
" I love thrift stores...I didn't know there were any in Spokane."
" Well, come with me! It'll be fun!"
I didn't know Kenny too well at this point, but I did sort of find his confidence in who the Lord was making him contagious. That and he was really nice- to everyone.
" Okay, sure!"
He unlocked the door of his red Nissan pickup truck for me and I hopped in. I leaned over to unlock his door so he could get in without his key. "The door test" I said. "The door test?" He questioned. "Yeah, If a guy opens the door for you you should lean over and unlock his door- its the least you can do for him."
He looked at me and gave me that million dollar Kenny smile I'll remember for years to come. " Okay, I'll have to remember that."
We drove to the Salvation Army first to check out their digs. I asked him, " Did you celebrate Halloween as a kid? "
"Yeah, kinda, I mean we dressed up and went outside to trick or treat."
" What about you?" He said.
" Well, we never did...Never really liked Halloween- but it's a long story."
As Kenny finished looking through a pile trying to find anything to pull off as a "costume" he paused long and looked at me in the eyes with the softest look, " well, I'm kinda sick of sorting through this anyway, you want to go take pictures around Spokane with my new camera? Maybe you can tell me a little about that long story of yours."
I smiled, " Kenny, its pouring outside!"
" Jamie, thats what will make it so fun...dodging raindrops and finding cool shots. Common', let's go get soaked!"
Kenny intruiged me- he barely knew me but was willing to spend his day with me, and wanted to hear about my views on Halloween. As we took shots all over Spokane we got to know each other. He asked me questions that were personal and he seemed comfortable doing so. We laughed a ton and and one point it got cold and windy so Kenny offered me his coat. Who is this guy? Why aren't there more like him? He was full of surprises and I started to grow attached to the idea of having him around and in my life and being my friend. He kept me on my toes and warm in his jacket.
We ducked under awning after awning trying to stay dry and laughed along the way. At one point we were standing next to a Children's Museum and so he said, let's go inside and look around. I thought he was crazy. I don't know if i was just told maturity comes with avoiding those places once you are older or if I was being too uptight, but Kenny helped me unleash a side of me I had trapped since my mom died two years before. I had to grow up that day: January 5, 1998 at 8:05am. My childhood as I knew it was over and so playing silly games had to be put behind me. But Kenny helped me see that it was okay to laugh and have fun, being silly. He climbed in this toy tree thats only for kids and made me go down a slide with him that we almost got stuck on because the two of us together were just too wide for it. I couldn't stop laughing and neither could he. We stayed stuck for a couple of minutes before we finally wiggled out.
After we left the kiddie museum we walked over to the bus station and around the "downtown" ( see funny story # 2) area of Spokane. We walked from covered walking bridge to covered walking bridge.
I started to feel something for Kenny that day, but I didn't want to blow it out of perportion. " Hey Jamie, What are you doing for dinner?"
Wow, we just spent 3 hours together alone and now he's asking me what I want to for dinner. I said I had no plans but I did have to write a paper. He told me, " Well I have to go to work tonight, but maybe you should stop in Perkins and get something to eat. Work on your paper there. Maybe Brandon [Kenny's Roommate] can come too."
I agreed to this boy who had captured my attention.
Brandon and I hung out that night, and Chrissy came too if I remember right. We sat there as Kenny brought us free drinks and we ordered dinner. I had no idea from that day on I'd be eating at Perkins at least twice a week. Brandon also began asking me intriguing questions and Theology came naturally to the conversation for Brandon as he asked me about some of my views.
Just when I thought this was about to be the year " I didn't get into Moody Chicago..." It was turning into one of the most precious, amazing years of my life.
So what became of this boy Kenny and this girl Jamie? In the words of Kenny, " We are...Kenny and Jamie"
I dressed warm- my thicker jeans, a sweater and my rain coat. I put on socks and my gym shoes. I love fall. I was really warm, as I continued to get ready, with everything on, so I just put on a long sleeved t and a light rain coat I left in the car in case I needed it.
I got to class just as someone walked in from the office and gave Kenny a slip of paper saying there was something that couldn't fit in his school mail box that was waiting for him in the office. He went down stairs and when he came up he was holding a brand new camera. Kenny had talked about how he was really wanting a camera because of his new interest in photography. His $17.89 camera from Walmart wasn't cutting it. Everyone guessed it was Suzanne that gave it to him because she was the only one in our group that could afford to get anyone a gift that nice. She never admitted that she bought it for him, but we all knew it had to be her- she was always generous with her money.
After class that day I hung back a little... I wanted to see if anyone wanted to do anything. It was a rainy blah day and I didn't feel like going home. I looked around and only a few people I barely knew were still at school, so I headed outside. Then I heard his voice behind me. " Jamie, are you going home?"
" Oh hey Kenny. Well, I kinda don't want to, but it seems everyone has left. What are you up to?"
" Well, I was thinking about going thrift store shopping because tomorrow at work we don't have to wear our uniform if we dress for Halloween."
" I love thrift stores...I didn't know there were any in Spokane."
" Well, come with me! It'll be fun!"
I didn't know Kenny too well at this point, but I did sort of find his confidence in who the Lord was making him contagious. That and he was really nice- to everyone.
" Okay, sure!"
He unlocked the door of his red Nissan pickup truck for me and I hopped in. I leaned over to unlock his door so he could get in without his key. "The door test" I said. "The door test?" He questioned. "Yeah, If a guy opens the door for you you should lean over and unlock his door- its the least you can do for him."
He looked at me and gave me that million dollar Kenny smile I'll remember for years to come. " Okay, I'll have to remember that."
We drove to the Salvation Army first to check out their digs. I asked him, " Did you celebrate Halloween as a kid? "
"Yeah, kinda, I mean we dressed up and went outside to trick or treat."
" What about you?" He said.
" Well, we never did...Never really liked Halloween- but it's a long story."
As Kenny finished looking through a pile trying to find anything to pull off as a "costume" he paused long and looked at me in the eyes with the softest look, " well, I'm kinda sick of sorting through this anyway, you want to go take pictures around Spokane with my new camera? Maybe you can tell me a little about that long story of yours."
I smiled, " Kenny, its pouring outside!"
" Jamie, thats what will make it so fun...dodging raindrops and finding cool shots. Common', let's go get soaked!"
Kenny intruiged me- he barely knew me but was willing to spend his day with me, and wanted to hear about my views on Halloween. As we took shots all over Spokane we got to know each other. He asked me questions that were personal and he seemed comfortable doing so. We laughed a ton and and one point it got cold and windy so Kenny offered me his coat. Who is this guy? Why aren't there more like him? He was full of surprises and I started to grow attached to the idea of having him around and in my life and being my friend. He kept me on my toes and warm in his jacket.
We ducked under awning after awning trying to stay dry and laughed along the way. At one point we were standing next to a Children's Museum and so he said, let's go inside and look around. I thought he was crazy. I don't know if i was just told maturity comes with avoiding those places once you are older or if I was being too uptight, but Kenny helped me unleash a side of me I had trapped since my mom died two years before. I had to grow up that day: January 5, 1998 at 8:05am. My childhood as I knew it was over and so playing silly games had to be put behind me. But Kenny helped me see that it was okay to laugh and have fun, being silly. He climbed in this toy tree thats only for kids and made me go down a slide with him that we almost got stuck on because the two of us together were just too wide for it. I couldn't stop laughing and neither could he. We stayed stuck for a couple of minutes before we finally wiggled out.
After we left the kiddie museum we walked over to the bus station and around the "downtown" ( see funny story # 2) area of Spokane. We walked from covered walking bridge to covered walking bridge.
I started to feel something for Kenny that day, but I didn't want to blow it out of perportion. " Hey Jamie, What are you doing for dinner?"
Wow, we just spent 3 hours together alone and now he's asking me what I want to for dinner. I said I had no plans but I did have to write a paper. He told me, " Well I have to go to work tonight, but maybe you should stop in Perkins and get something to eat. Work on your paper there. Maybe Brandon [Kenny's Roommate] can come too."
I agreed to this boy who had captured my attention.
Brandon and I hung out that night, and Chrissy came too if I remember right. We sat there as Kenny brought us free drinks and we ordered dinner. I had no idea from that day on I'd be eating at Perkins at least twice a week. Brandon also began asking me intriguing questions and Theology came naturally to the conversation for Brandon as he asked me about some of my views.
Just when I thought this was about to be the year " I didn't get into Moody Chicago..." It was turning into one of the most precious, amazing years of my life.
So what became of this boy Kenny and this girl Jamie? In the words of Kenny, " We are...Kenny and Jamie"
Friday, June 02, 2006
Elizabethtown-the movie
One of the best artsy movies disguised as a chick flick.
I borrowed four movies from my brother last weekend: Pirates of the Caribbean, Oceans 11, The Bourne Identity (I don't know if its Matt Damen or if its really a good movie- but I could watch it a lot).
I put it in thinking it would be a chick flick- you know the kind you can watch while folding clothes, cleaning your apartment, talking on the phone and running a 20 minute errand and then you come home and still know exactly what's going on... Its just too simple- that's what I thought it would be. I put it in for background noise at first- when you live alone sometimes you do that- just to feel like you are safer or have company over. So after I grabbed a couple of things to unpack and decorate my new place, I was drawn into the lives of Drew Baylor and Claire. Drew makes a major financial boo boo at his shoe company and will soon be labeled a failure. On the way home to Kentucky for his Father's funeral, a man he barely knows now, or tried to forget when he left home, a zealous flight attendant tries to make friendly with him despite his obvious disinterest.
But then the real story of the film comes out. Drew needs to deal with his past, he needs to lighten up and learn how to live. Somehow the flight attendant, Claire, comes back into his life and tries to teach him how to do that and how to really enjoy it. You see them talk on the phone while one of the year's best soundtracks plays in the background.
Drew meets Claire for the sunrise half way between the two of them and they build their relationship only how they can be built- talking and time- as much time as you can in a "Chick Flick." You see him finally give himself to another person- learning to let go of his own seriousness and self-pity.
He takes his dead father's ashes on a road trip planned courteously by Claire. This is one of the best parts in the movie (that and the memorial service for his father). He learns to let his father in, and then let him go at symbolic moments. The last two lines are the best in the whole movie and make the story worthwhile. You'll have to watch to find out.
Rating: Even guys who don't like chick flicks (Shmeric- when you come up for their wedding we'll watch Donny Darko and this one :)) will love it.
This one is now in my top 10- LOVE IT.
I borrowed four movies from my brother last weekend: Pirates of the Caribbean, Oceans 11, The Bourne Identity (I don't know if its Matt Damen or if its really a good movie- but I could watch it a lot).
I put it in thinking it would be a chick flick- you know the kind you can watch while folding clothes, cleaning your apartment, talking on the phone and running a 20 minute errand and then you come home and still know exactly what's going on... Its just too simple- that's what I thought it would be. I put it in for background noise at first- when you live alone sometimes you do that- just to feel like you are safer or have company over. So after I grabbed a couple of things to unpack and decorate my new place, I was drawn into the lives of Drew Baylor and Claire. Drew makes a major financial boo boo at his shoe company and will soon be labeled a failure. On the way home to Kentucky for his Father's funeral, a man he barely knows now, or tried to forget when he left home, a zealous flight attendant tries to make friendly with him despite his obvious disinterest.
But then the real story of the film comes out. Drew needs to deal with his past, he needs to lighten up and learn how to live. Somehow the flight attendant, Claire, comes back into his life and tries to teach him how to do that and how to really enjoy it. You see them talk on the phone while one of the year's best soundtracks plays in the background.
Drew meets Claire for the sunrise half way between the two of them and they build their relationship only how they can be built- talking and time- as much time as you can in a "Chick Flick." You see him finally give himself to another person- learning to let go of his own seriousness and self-pity.
He takes his dead father's ashes on a road trip planned courteously by Claire. This is one of the best parts in the movie (that and the memorial service for his father). He learns to let his father in, and then let him go at symbolic moments. The last two lines are the best in the whole movie and make the story worthwhile. You'll have to watch to find out.
Rating: Even guys who don't like chick flicks (Shmeric- when you come up for their wedding we'll watch Donny Darko and this one :)) will love it.
This one is now in my top 10- LOVE IT.
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