It hit 100 degrees today, a good reminder that I'm actually home in Phoenix.
It's hard to believe I've been here a week already.
On the flight from orange county to phoenix, I watched the landscape changing miles beneath me as I headed east.
I've made the trip countless times, and sometimes I wonder how different my life looks every time I do.
Change seems to come subtly. Sometimes it's easy to spot, but more often it slowly infiltrates who we are.
But from the moment I stepped into the Phoenix airport, jumped in the car, and headed home, I began to feel a part of me returning.
Maybe it's the familiar streets, the good friends, the old memories.
Much like humanity owes its substance to the earth, I feel ingrained with the desert here.
This state has been a part of me. It has watched me grow, learn, fail, win.
It's always a humbling experience, reconnecting with where I come from.
No matter how much happens out there, no matter what changes,
I will always have this place to come to.
Even in this desert my thirst for belonging is quenched.
It is home.
Saturday, May 31, 2008
Friday, May 23, 2008
these days
Just finished the recording of a new song, called 'these days.' It's sounding alright, I am anxious to hear the mixed version.
Tonight my friend Jamie tracked the electric guitars, and Michael sang harmonies.
These two things kept us busy till about 2:30 am.
It's now close to 3, and I can barely keep my eyes open.
Wow, so much to do tomorrow too.
Anyways, here's to good friends, who offer their time to make your songs and dreams come alive. Thanks Mitch, Matt, Michael, Jamie. I love you guys.
sleep....
Tonight my friend Jamie tracked the electric guitars, and Michael sang harmonies.
These two things kept us busy till about 2:30 am.
It's now close to 3, and I can barely keep my eyes open.
Wow, so much to do tomorrow too.
Anyways, here's to good friends, who offer their time to make your songs and dreams come alive. Thanks Mitch, Matt, Michael, Jamie. I love you guys.
sleep....
Saturday, May 17, 2008
old school
Your eyes are burning with an honesty
that makes my heart afraid.
Of the ignorance that blinds you
from the hatred you engage.
You used to be the one who let things go,
you accepted second place.
But I don't recognize you now,
something within you has changed.
that makes my heart afraid.
Of the ignorance that blinds you
from the hatred you engage.
You used to be the one who let things go,
you accepted second place.
But I don't recognize you now,
something within you has changed.
Tuesday, May 13, 2008
why
Why
It's the question we all ask. We long to know why.
But it's on nights like these that I honestly wonder if the answer would satisfy us.
Maybe we already hold the answer in our hands,
perhaps the answers rest within His.
I'm weary of asking why.
Of waiting for something that has already dawned within my heart.
"Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more important than food, and the body more important than clothes? Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they? Who of you by worrying can add a single hour to his life?
Matthew 6:25-27
It's the question we all ask. We long to know why.
But it's on nights like these that I honestly wonder if the answer would satisfy us.
Maybe we already hold the answer in our hands,
perhaps the answers rest within His.
I'm weary of asking why.
Of waiting for something that has already dawned within my heart.
"Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more important than food, and the body more important than clothes? Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they? Who of you by worrying can add a single hour to his life?
Matthew 6:25-27
Monday, May 5, 2008
learning together
One of my favorite bands of all time, cool hand luke, is sadly very much unknown. I got to see them play a year ago during one of their rare appearances in california. Not only was the music incredible, but I was impressed with frontman Mark Nicks. He started talking about why the band plays music, and it ended up being a ten-minute description of how Christ has impacted the band and his life. But it wasn't one of those cheesy, rehearsed speeches you're likely to hear at a MercyMe or Casting Crowns shows. This was raw, profound but unpolished, real. You could feel Nicks searching for each word as he went, and despite the differing beliefs of the crowd, a respectful silence settled over the music festival as he shared.
I recently checked out the lyrics for a cool hand luke song called 'friendly jas.' To put it lightly, I was blown away. I have always liked the song, but reading the lyrics made me appreciate more the honesty and realness the make cool hand luke one of my favorite bands. I haven't found another song that better describes a part of my life.
The song talks about friendship. There is a naivity in being young, the truth is that we simply can't yet understand how hard, wonderful, and trying life will be. We haven't experienced it. But that's the beauty of friendship; the fact that you grow together. In a sense, we will never fully grasp this life, we will fail to wrap our minds around this existence. There are too many unexpected trials, countless unforseen joys, and we'll never have enough wisdom to perfectly navigate through life. But Christians have a tremendous priveledge, a right to release everything, to throw up our hands, and trust Him to help us.
It's amazing that He gives us friends, who live through the process alongside us, who make the same mistakes, who hold us up when we can't stand.
So here's the song. It has so much meaning for me, and depicts perfectly one of my most treasured friendships from junior high and high school.
"It was a blessed day--The day that I met you
Though at the time I didn’t have a clue
As iron sharpens iron so does one man another
And that’s what God intended us to do (Psalm 27:17)
Flowers fall and seasons change (Isaiah 40:8)
And you know how we treat the rain
In times of drought we pray it comes
And when it falls we turn and run
The moon is new, you’ve left your seat (I Samuel 20:18)
The time has come to go in peace (I Samuel 20:42)
With my own hand the bow was strung
The arrow shot now falls beyond (I Samuel 20:36)
I thank my God for every (Philippians 1:3)
Memory of you
The lessons learned andThe way the Spirit moved
I remember hearing “church is more than just a building”
I remember when we proved it
That day, I could have stared at the ocean forever
With a song for every grain beneath my feet
We were so young and brilliantly naïve
To the joy and the pain and the days that we would see
Everything has changed
But our hope remains the same
I want you to know that I’ll be here
Through a hundred years of rain
Together we run into what we do not know
Trusting our God who made tomorrow"
I recently checked out the lyrics for a cool hand luke song called 'friendly jas.' To put it lightly, I was blown away. I have always liked the song, but reading the lyrics made me appreciate more the honesty and realness the make cool hand luke one of my favorite bands. I haven't found another song that better describes a part of my life.
The song talks about friendship. There is a naivity in being young, the truth is that we simply can't yet understand how hard, wonderful, and trying life will be. We haven't experienced it. But that's the beauty of friendship; the fact that you grow together. In a sense, we will never fully grasp this life, we will fail to wrap our minds around this existence. There are too many unexpected trials, countless unforseen joys, and we'll never have enough wisdom to perfectly navigate through life. But Christians have a tremendous priveledge, a right to release everything, to throw up our hands, and trust Him to help us.
It's amazing that He gives us friends, who live through the process alongside us, who make the same mistakes, who hold us up when we can't stand.
So here's the song. It has so much meaning for me, and depicts perfectly one of my most treasured friendships from junior high and high school.
"It was a blessed day--The day that I met you
Though at the time I didn’t have a clue
As iron sharpens iron so does one man another
And that’s what God intended us to do (Psalm 27:17)
Flowers fall and seasons change (Isaiah 40:8)
And you know how we treat the rain
In times of drought we pray it comes
And when it falls we turn and run
The moon is new, you’ve left your seat (I Samuel 20:18)
The time has come to go in peace (I Samuel 20:42)
With my own hand the bow was strung
The arrow shot now falls beyond (I Samuel 20:36)
I thank my God for every (Philippians 1:3)
Memory of you
The lessons learned andThe way the Spirit moved
I remember hearing “church is more than just a building”
I remember when we proved it
That day, I could have stared at the ocean forever
With a song for every grain beneath my feet
We were so young and brilliantly naïve
To the joy and the pain and the days that we would see
Everything has changed
But our hope remains the same
I want you to know that I’ll be here
Through a hundred years of rain
Together we run into what we do not know
Trusting our God who made tomorrow"
Saturday, May 3, 2008
Today I got to play music with my friend mike. We played through some songs we wrote together for an outdoor party at Biola. We got through our five song unrehearsed set without too much trouble. It was sweet to be literally surrounded by good friends on all sides.
Doing what I love with people I love. Saturdays don't get much better.
A friend from high school contacted me today. I haven't talked to her since graduation, or maybe a few weeks after. But she asked me what was happening in my life, and suddenly the chaos that I've called life for the past three years attempted to find description within my reply email. It's wierd, but we so quickly forget how intensely this life affects us. We carry our triumphs, our tears, our hurts with us all the time, but it wasn't till I was asked to fill in the gaps from the last few years that I realized how much there is to tell.
Anyone feel the same way?
Doing what I love with people I love. Saturdays don't get much better.
A friend from high school contacted me today. I haven't talked to her since graduation, or maybe a few weeks after. But she asked me what was happening in my life, and suddenly the chaos that I've called life for the past three years attempted to find description within my reply email. It's wierd, but we so quickly forget how intensely this life affects us. We carry our triumphs, our tears, our hurts with us all the time, but it wasn't till I was asked to fill in the gaps from the last few years that I realized how much there is to tell.
Anyone feel the same way?
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