Greg Adkins

July 18th, 2009.

As I write this here in East Tennessee at 11:00 in the morning, on the other side of the world the clock has rolled over and a new day has begun in Taiwan.   It is July the 18th and at some point today my daughter Claire will turn two years old.   

I was born on October 30th, 1974 a little after 7:00 in the morning.   I know this because for years my mom would call me early in the morning on my birthday every year and give me the old "do you know what I was doing at this time 27 years ago???" line.   I never knew what to say...   "Um... I give up.  Were you screaming and cussing out dad?"    

Smart alec answers aside, I always appreciated my mom's early morning calls on my birthday... it told me how much she loved me and that not only was the day of my birth worth celebrating but even the moment of my birth was worth remembering.   Sure, it's a small thing but a large collection of small things is how a person comes to know that they are loved.   

I will probably never know the exact moment of Claire's birth.   I'll never know if it was morning, afternoon, or evening... if the sky was sunny or clouded... who witnessed her emergence into this world... what her first moments with her birth mother were like... these things will remain a mystery to me.   Adoption is a wonderful thing with a lot to celebrate but there is plenty to mourn as well.   When our daughter comes home it will be easy to focus on all that we have gained... but let us not forget all we have lost. 

Claire has now lived two years of her life being bounced around between orphanages and a foster home.   As far as she can tell, she has no mother and no father... just caregivers who randomly seem to come and go.  Hopefully they are kind to her.  I wonder if she loves them... I wonder if they love her.   I wonder when she spoke her first word and what it was.   Did anyone even hear?   Did anyone care?   When she took her first steps, did anyone even notice?

I'm thinking of all of the treasured moments of Connor's first two years of life... first words, first laughs, learning to crawl and then walk,  his first time going down a slide, and his first time dipping his toes in the ocean.   I cherish every one of those memories.    I know that a lifetime of memories with Claire are ahead of us as well and I know that there is so much joy to come but that future joy for now is tinged with the sadness of all that we have lost.

Even as I sit here now and think about these things, I have to remember that for as much as I have lost, Claire will have lost even more.   As our plane lifts off from Taiwan to journey over the ocean and back home to Tennessee, our little girl will be saying goodbye to every single thing she has ever known.   Her friends... her caregivers... her bed... her favorite foods... her language... her homeland...  gone.   

I don't know what our first days with our new daughter will be like but I do know that she is going to be grieving all that she has lost.   I don't know how she is going to do this... some adopted children rage and lash out while others simply withdraw and go quiet.    Who could blame them?   I am praying even now that we will be equipped to comfort her... to help her through the transition into her new life.   How will we do this.... the words of comfort she would understand can only be spoken in a language we do not know.    God grant us patience, peace, and wisdom.   

So, today my daughter turns two.   I have no idea what this day will hold for her... I like to imagine that her foster family in Taiwan will have a celebration.   Maybe some of her friends from pre-school will come over and there will be cake and ice cream... perhaps they will sing a song to her and she will end up with icing all over her face.   Maybe she will celebrate... or maybe it will be just another day.   Like so many other things, I will probably never know.   

Here in Tennessee, we celebrated Claire's birthday by having a garage sale.   We've spent the last week emptying closets and drawers... shelves and storage tubs.    I've never seen so much stuff in our garage and hopefully all of it will be sold.   All of the money we make today is going towards buying Claire's bedroom furniture.   Connor is sitting at a table selling brownies and drinks with a sign that says "Snacks for my Sissy".    Claire is heavy on all of our minds today but we're keeping busy... moving forward... wading our way through this wait the only way we know how.   We're a little sad but also incredibly hopeful and excited.    We know that next year we will celebrate this day very differently.   It's going to be an incredible party...  we'll have a lot of lost time to make up for.  I can't wait.   

Stickin' it to the Man!

Okay, this is hilarious!   First, read this story.   Then, after you're done with that, come back and watch the following video.   Classic.  

Adoption Fundraiser - Family Songs Sampler

As you may or may not know, our coming adoption is not going to be free. We know that God will provide for us... we know that 100%. Still, things are extremely tight and I figured this would be a simple little adoption fundraiser we could try.

What you see above is an album of original songs I have put together called "Family Songs Sampler". It's a collection of songs from 3 of my albums, plus a couple of early home demos. Just click on the widget above and you can download this entire collection of songs. Noisetrade (the company I'm using to create the widget) gives you the opportunity to either email 5 friends about the music or to make a paypal donation. Any amount is fine... from $1 to $25 and all points in between.   To be clear, you can either make a donation or email 5 friends to let them know about the music so if you want the music for free, you can do that.   

Anyway, I'm not super comfortable with the whole fundraising idea but if you're so inclined, please download the music and either make a small donation or help us to spread the word.  Thanks.  

Adoption Frequently Asked Questions - Post Referral Edition

So now that we have received our referral and we know that Claire will be coming home soon, I figured I would take this opportunity to answer a few more of our most frequently asked questions.   You can read the original post here.

When will you bring Claire home?     There's really no way to know an exact answer to that question. Best case scenario would be October and the worst case scenario would be more like February or March.

Why does it take so long?   After receiving our referral on June 18th, we had to sign and date about 7 pages worth of adoption contracts.   Those had to be sent to Kansas (where our agency is) and then to Taiwan.   Taiwan then sent us a bunch of documents that we had to sign and have notarized and then state certified (which required a trip to Nashville) and those documents are currently at the TECO office in Atlanta which is basically the Taiwanese embassy.   Once those documents make their way back to Taiwan we will go into the court system.   We'll have an initial hearing where the judge will be presented all of our documents and a social worker acting on our behalf in Taiwan will request permission for us to adopt.   From there it's a 10 day waiting period for birth parents to sign off on everything.  Then, whenever the judge gets around to it you'll either get a ruling or he'll request more information.   I don't know exactly how the system works but it seems like it can either go really quick or really slow... luck of the draw I guess.   Once the judge grants a ruling, they'll make an appointment for us to take Claire to get a Visa and that will be our travel date... it's usually about 3-4 weeks after the final ruling.  

Where is Claire right now?    Claire is in a foster home in Taiwan.   She was in an orphanage until April but at that point she moved to foster care.   We're excited about this as it means she is more than likely receiving more attention and care.  She's even attending preschool! 

How were you matched with Claire?   Was it random?  Did you choose her?  Claire's birth mother decided to place Claire for international adoption in late April and then in mid May, they presented her with several potential families and the birth mother chose us.   She has requested that we send her 20 pictures and a short video every year for 15 years which we think is great.   She will send cards every year on Claire's birthday and at Chinese New Year. 

Will we be able to communicate with Claire while we wait?   Unfortunately, no.   Due to cultural and language barriers, waiting families usually don't communicate with foster families which I can understand.   The good news is that we will be able to send  her care packages if we like... we're working on getting the first one together now and we're hoping to send it out soon so it will get to her around the time of her birthday (she'll be 2 on July 18th).  

What is Claire's name right now?  Hsiang-Ting Hung but everyone calls her Mei-Mei. 

Will she be able to speak English?  We don't know for sure but almost certainly the answer will be no.   Obviously this will be challenging at first but based on everything we've read, she should be able to pick up English at an astonishing rate due to her age. 

Won't she be so excited to come home to her forever family?   I'll post more in depth on this topic later but in short, probably not at first.   Claire has grown up around Taiwanese people (mostly women)... and now she's going to be put in the hands of 2 strangers who don't speak her language, who smell funny to her, who don't know how to make her favorite foods, and who look unusual.   Most likely, she'll spend a few days freaking completely out!   Think about what your child would have done if at 2 and a half years old you sent them to live in Taiwan with strangers... it's going to be an adjustment for sure!   There are lots of tricky things to think of here... attachment issues and things like that and I'll probably post more about it later.   I'm reading some books on it and trying to educate myself and once I feel like I know a little more I'll write a bit about it.  

She's so cute!  I bet you can't wait to get her home!    You're right!  She's adorable and no, we cannot wait to bring her home!   These next few months will be excruciating... we have a lot to do though... a room to paint and a nursery to put together so hopefully those things will keep us busy as we wait.

Love is the Thing

The Kids

Our Little Princess!

We were so fortunate to receive several more recent pictures of our daughter Claire this morning.   I believe these pictures were taken around the time she was 22 months old (she's 23 months old right now).   We already love her so much... with each new picture we receive our hearts melt just a little bit more.   She got her hair cut short and it's so stinking cute!   Check these out! 

How on earth are we going to wait 7 months to bring this little angel home?   Seriously folks... the waiting before was hard... this is going to be almost unbearable.   Knowing our daughter is growing up without us... there's just no way for that not to be gut wrenching.   We're so thankful to have all of these pictures though... many families who adopt internationally only get one or two pictures and we have well over 20 right now, plus some video.    Our adoption agency has been absolutely unbelievably awesome.  

Our First Video of Claire

Claire is the little girl in the burgundy dress with white sleeves.   

On The Day That You Were Born

One of the first thoughts I had when we received Claire's referral was to wonder what I was doing with myself on the day that she was born.    Thanks to the facts that I hardly ever delete old email and I also keep a fairly detailed calendar, I think I can put together almost my entire day.

July 18th, 2007

I woke up in Asheville, NC on a futon in Chris Rosser's studio.   It was day 3 of the recording of "Chase the Western Sky", an album I recorded that summer and we had worked late the day before.   Rather than drive back to Knoxville only to turn around and drive back to Asheville the next day, Chris offered to let me stay in the studio that night.   I think I drove to a movie theater that night to watch the fifth Harry Potter movie.   Anyway, on the morning of the 18th,  I slept until around 9:00, sent a few emails, grabbed a quick shower, and we began recording around 10:00 that morning.   Before lunch we recorded the acoustic guitar parts for the songs "Old Radio", "The End of You and Me", and "Old Shoes".   

On our way out to lunch that day we stopped at a little music shop in Asheville to purchase a set of 12-string acoustic guitar strings that I needed for a guitar part we were going to record after lunch.   I think we ate at a Jersey Mike's sub shop.

After lunch (and this is the cool part), I restrung my guitar and we recorded the acoustic guitar part and scratch vocals (kind of like a rough draft) for this song: 

Because my first record and now this new record had several songs about Connor, I wanted to have a song for this record that would be for Claire.   I took a stab at writing some but nothing ever came of it at that point... we had just decided for sure to adopt and the feelings and emotions were a little too new for me to write about at that time.   I had always loved this Julie Miller song and had thought a lot about including one cover song on the record so I decided this would be the perfect song, especially since this record had a more folksy and acoustic sound.  

Here are the lyrics:  

You've been taken by the wind

You have known the kiss of sorrow

Doors that would not let you in

Outcast and a stranger

You have come by way of sorrow

You have come by way of tears

But you'll reach your destiny

Meant to find you all these years

Meant to find you all these years

You have drunk a bitter wine

With none to be your comfort

You who once were left behind

Will be welcomed at love's table

You have come by way of sorrow

You have taken a long way home

But the love that led to you

You will someday come to know

You will one day come to know

All the nights that joy has slept

Will awake to days of laughter

Gone the tears that you have wept

You'll dance in freedom ever after

You have come by way of sorrow

You've come over a stony ground

But when love calls out your name

You will lay your burden down

You will lay your burden down

After we recorded this song, we put down a couple more acoustic guitar parts and that was it for the day.   I loaded up the car and drove back home to Knoxville.   I know it isn't anything earth shaking but I really love that this is what I was working on the day my daughter was born on the other side of the world. 

Sunday setlist - June 21st

OPENER "Respect" - Aretha Franklin "Real Men of Jesus" WORSHIP SET "All because of Jesus" - Steve Fee "Revelation Song" - Kari Jobe "Cannons" - Phil Wickham CLOSER "Overflow" - Chris Tomlin

REFERRAL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Jessica and I are so excited to introduce to the world Claire Elizabeth Adkins.  She was born on July 18th, 2007 in Taiwan and hopefully will be coming home to us around Christmas time (maybe sooner, maybe a bit later). 

We received our referral Thursday morning totally out of the blue.  Our daughter's name is Hsiang-Ting Chung but everyone calls her Mei-Mei.   We were expecting an infant but God had other plans and we couldn't be more thrilled... we never wanted our children to be 6 years apart and now they won't be... Connor and Claire are almost exactly 3 and a half years apart in age.   Perfect.  

We were NOT expecting a referral this soon... we had been told the wait would be 18-24 months and we were aware of several families who had waited 30 months plus so we had kind of accepted the idea that we would be waiting 2 years at least.   As it turns out, we waited 14 months and 1 week.   Praise God! 

I'll tell the whole story of her referral and a little bit more about her later when I can collect my thoughts better than I can right now... we're still freaking out a bit right now.    Needless to say when we saw her pictures we instantly fell in love and we just cannot wait to bring her home!   More to come! 

The Others (part three)

(This is the third in a series of posts I am calling "The Others".   You can read part one here and then part two here.  I strongly encourage your feedback and comments on this series for reasons that will become more clear soon.)

Part three.

I was almost sure that Shawn's bumper sticker had something to do with the TV Show "Lost".   I didn't want to ask about it at risk of sounding like a nerd... I enjoy Lost but I don't want to be one of those guys who talks about it all the time with my own well thought out theories on time travel and which character is supposed to represent Jesus and so on.   (I'm not saying I don't have theories... I just don't want to talk about them all the time.)

I really can't even remember how it came up now that I think about it but I guess I asked Shawn about the sticker.  The sticker was simply one word in white text on a black background.  "Others", it said.    Shawn told me it had been given to him by a rather eccentric man in his church.  He believed the word "Others" was the most powerful word a church could use... he wanted everyone to have that bumper sticker.   He had them printed up on his own and gave Shawn one.   I don't remember why I didn't press the conversation further but I was jet-lagged from my flight to Seattle and getting ready for a concert in a few hours and the conversation drifted elsewhere and didn't return.

A few hours later, now listening to the preacher at Shawn's church, having just led worship 3500 miles from home, I was reminded of the sticker once again.    These were the words the pastor spoke and if this isn't word for word, it's pretty close... it's burned in my memory:  "You want to be happy in your life?   We all want that don't we?   You know what the secret  is don't you?   Well if you don't know it, I'll tell you.   It's the others.    When you live your life for the others, you'll find happiness you didn't even know was there.   You'll find meaning and fulfillment.   It really is one of the secrets of life."

Sometimes the simplest, most obvious things hit you the hardest.    I'm not sure what it is about this simple statement that triggered something in me but almost immediately I zoned out from his sermon (sorry John if you're reading this!) and I thought back over my life.   I remembered mission trips from my youth group days and I thought about how even now nearly 20 years later I can remember almost every detail of some of those trips.   I remembered chopping onions in a Washington DC soup kitchen with Daniel Wilkins... I remembered singing silly songs to elementary school kids in Queens with Casey Galbraith and Mendi Smith... I remembered picking up a crying woman on the side of the road in Hershey, Pennsylvania with Mark Nelson and Dave Curry.   More recently,  I remembered singing Christmas carols in the county jail with my friends from West Towne Christian Church... I remembered serving dinner at Volunteers of America with my youth group kids at Lighthouse Christian...  I remembered how it felt to completely pour yourself out to the point of exhaustion for the others.   Those are the times in my life I've felt closest to Jesus, almost without exception.    

Then I thought about my spiritual journey over the more recent years.   I thought back to that night watching Invisible Children...I thought of all my frustrations not knowing how to really shake myself out of my overly comfortable life... I thought of the legacy I was already leaving for my family...    I looked back.    In the existential rear-view mirror of my life, I looked for the others...  I looked long and hard.... and for the most part all I saw was my own two eyes staring back at me.

"Wait a second Greg.... you're a pastor.... you work at a church for crying out loud... what do you mean you don't do anything for others?    You lead the church in worship every week... that's something, right?   You're being too hard on yourself man... lighten up.  Aren't you adopting a kid for crying out loud?  That's more than a lot of people can say... you're being ridiculous!"

Anyone who would say that... all I can say is, I wish it was only you I had to answer to on this!    Sure I've been a pastor for a good long while now and sure, in the day to day of that, do lots of things for people.   I won't deny that, but I know what I see when I look in the mirror and that is someone who is more selfish than not.... who lives for himself first most of the time.... who for every day I do something for somebody else there are 2 or 3 where I try to coast by doing as little as possible for anybody... who would rather join your facebook group to help starving children than join your hand to go help you feed actual starving children.   Oh how I wish I only had you who don't really know me that well to answer to!

But the reality is, I answer to a God who quite obviously, from even a simple reading of scripture, cares deeply about social justice issues in this world.   Jesus says it over and over and over again... feed the poor... visit the prisoner... rescue the orphans.... visit the widows.... love one another... if someone is hungry, give him food.... if someone is naked, give them clothes... if someone is beaten down, pick them up.   When you do these things for one another, you do them for me... when you don't do them for each other, you don't do them for me.... or in the words of Keith Green "Jesus came to your door... you left him out on the street."   Jesus says these things over and over again.    It is impossible to miss.  Jesus' words don't just suggest action on our part... they demand it.

(to be continued...)

Sunday Setlist - June 14th, 2009

OPENER

"The Way it Is" - Bruce Hornsby and the Range

WORSHIP SET

"I Will Go" - Starfield

"Glory to God" - Steve Fee / Vicky Beeching

"How Great is our God" - Tomlin

"All to You" - Lincoln Brewster

CLOSER

"Changed" - Aaron Niequist

The Others (part 2)

(This is the second in a series of posts I am calling "The Others". I strongly encourage your feedback and comments on this series for reasons that will become more clear later on.)

Part two.

Five years ago I asked for a tangible way to help out a social justice organization and was told I should wear a t-shirt and hand out bumper stickers.   I suspect that today if I wanted to get involved in a lot of things I would be told the best way to help would be to tweet about it, join the facebook group, or again, to wear a t-shirt.

But now, here's the ugly truth.

If I had been offered a tangible way to help, I probably wouldn't have done it.   I didn't really want to help.   I didn't really want to get my hands dirty.   I don't have enough hours in my day as it is... by the time I work, spend time with my family, do the things that need doing around the house and maybe have a little time to relax, I just don't have much extra time to give.

I mean hey, don't get me wrong... I think I'm like about 99% of everybody else.   I want these problems to go away.   My heart is moved when I hear about the horrible injustice in the world and I genuinely wish things were different.    I wish the world weren't broken...  I just want someone else to fix it.    I'll wear the t-shirt and write a check... but surely somebody else can do the work.   Sure, a couple of times a year I might be able to spare a Saturday morning for one thing or another... or maybe an afternoon every once in a great while, but in general, I'm just too busy with my own life to get too involved.   I barely have time to do all of the things I need to do for myself and my family as it is... Jessica and I both work full time... Connor has soccer or gymnastics or some kid he barely knows has a birthday party... there are errands to run, things to fix, a house to clean, bills to mail, and groceries to buy.   It'd be nice to spend some time with my wife in there somewhere.   By the time I get done with all of the things I need to get done, I'm TIRED!   Let the young and single people with no kids save the world!

Anybody with me?   Let's be honest.... what I've just described puts me in the company of almost every Average-Joe-Churchgoer in the country.   See if this sounds familiar:

Somebody comes to your church and gets up on stage and tells you about an issue... a plight... a problem.   Maybe that person is going to do something to help in some small way.    What does the church do 99% of the time?    We listen... we applaud... we opens our wallets... we take up a love offering... we say God bless and good luck.... we say come back later with a powerpoint presentation to let us know how it went.   We feel pretty good knowing that in some small way, we're doing the work too.   And in a small way, we are.    And there's nothing wrong with that... that's not what I'm saying.

What I AM saying is that I've reached a point in my life where I don't think this is good enough for me anymore.  I have looked into my own heart and found that to write the check is usually just a copout... a way to stay safe and comfortable... a way to avoid having to actually do much of anything.     This has not been good for my spiritual life these past few years...  I've become far too familiar with a feeling of nagging guilt and restlessness.    There is a constant tension.... in one ear the dreams and plans I have made for myself mixed with the constant clamor of my routine and my to do lists...  and in the other ear the distant echoes of Jesus admonishing us to not forget the poor, widows, and orphans... the words of John Piper saying "don't waste your life"....

And so I've wrestled.... I've gone back and forth... I've had good days and bad days... good years and bad years....  and yet it so often feels like I'm just spinning wheels... fiddling while Rome is burning down... playing sonatas on the deck of the sinking Titanic.

A couple of discussion questions... 

• Am I being too hard on myself? 
• Is working full time and then trying to be a great husband and dad a good enough reason not too be more involved in other things?   After all, only I can be Jessica's husband and Connor's father... no one else on earth can do those jobs.   Or, is that just another lame excuse?   

The Others (part 1)

(This is the first in a series of posts I am calling "The Others".  I strongly encourage your feedback and comments on this series for reasons that will become more clear later on.)

Part one.  

Where to begin.   I guess in a way this all started on a Wednesday night about five years ago.   I was involved with the weekly planning and production of a Wednesday night worship service at a church here in Knoxville.  A group of students from the local Bible college who regularly attended this worship service had recently become very passionate about an organization called Invisible Children.   I didn't know much about it but I had noticed a lot of people wearing their t-shirts recently so when they asked if they could show an Invisible children movie for our Wednesday night service, I reluctantly said yes.   I checked the website and they seemed to be on the up and up and I figured what the heck...  it gave me a week off from planning and they seemed very excited about it.   That's what you call a win/win.

I didn't know much about Invisible Children, but as the movie came on I remember being shocked and moved... something significant stirred inside me.   How can these kinds of things happen in the world?   Why isn't anybody doing anything about this?   I wish I could help.   Somebody needs to do something.

About a week later I ran into someone wearing one of the aforementioned t-shirts and I told him that I had just seen the film and was wondering what sort of tangible things I could do to help.   He told me that he was actually going to work for Invisible Children to help spread awareness.   That sounded good... I asked what that meant.    He said that they would be going around to college campuses and churches showing the movie, selling DVDs, t-shirts, and organizing events (like global night commutes) and things like that all in the name of raising awareness.   I again asked what I could do to help and he suggested that I do all that I could to raise awareness... tell others about it, check the website and wear a t-shirt... he even gave me a couple of extra DVDs to give away.    "It's all about raising awareness man." he said.   

The frustration I felt in that moment I  am still feeling today.   I remember walking away thinking "I'm already aware... if everybody in the entire country was aware, it wouldn't change a thing... awareness is fine but I want to do something!".    (more on this later.)   And so it has continued.... I am aware of a great number of problems in this world... the situation in Darfur, homelessness, hunger, the need for clean water, environmental problems, the plight of the Dalit in India, and the list goes on.   I have watched short films online about these needs... heard lots of hip, young, and excited guys talk about these things at conferences like Catalyst, I've joined facebook groups, followed twitter feeds, forwarded emails, and talked about these issues and causes amongst pastors and friends.  I'm drinking fair trade shade grown coffee right this very second.    I know about problems around the world and I know about problems around the block.   Awareness for me is not really a problem anymore... I'm aware of far more than I could possibly do anything about.    The issue is not awareness... the issue is action.   

In the years since then, I've blamed my growing frustration on people like the guy who wanted me to spread awareness about Invisible Children.   I wanted a way to act and all he could tell me was to help him hand out t-shirts to upper middle class college kids.... that felt so empty to me.   I even did some research into Invisible Children at the time (looking for answers) and found out that a pretty staggering amount of their budget went to spreading awareness in the US... printing up all that stuff, buying tricked out tour busses to drive around the country spreading more awareness... it was a disheartening number (and I should mention that this was 5 years ago and hopefully that has changed).   The number of dollars spent on spreading the word far exceeded the number of dollars spent actually doing anything about it.

For a long time, it's been pretty easy for me to sit back growing increasingly frustrated at those who would spread the word about the problems in the world but never offer a tangible way to help out (other than write a check that probably went mostly to buy more t-shirts and bumper stickers).   I've become increasingly more cynical about how hip and cool it is to care about a cause these days.   Everywhere I look somebody is supporting Blood Water mission in their CD notes or joining the Save Darfur Facebook group.   T-shirts abound.... based solely on outward appearance and online chatter, we sure do look like we care a lot more than we used to.    Scratch a bit beneath the surface of this though, and I fear that things are just like they always were... very few people doing anything about the problems of this world.    I might be right about that and I might be wrong, but that has been my observation and the response it created in me was for me to become somewhat aloof and cynical.    I'm certainly not proud of that response, but it's the truth and as we all well know, the truth is often ugly.

So here I am now, sitting on an airplane somewhere over middle America and it hits me.   It not only hits me, it hits me hard... and not in the face but right in the gut.    A real sucker punch.   It finally occurs to me that there's a great big gigantic hole right in the middle of my thought process here.   I really don't want to even think about it and I REALLY don't want to blog about it but most of the time the only way to kill the darkness is to turn on all the lights.    This is my attempt at doing that.   

to be continued... 

***Disclaimer (I mean this in no way to be a criticism of Invisible Children.   I know a good bit more about their organization now and believe they are doing good work.   I simply use them to illustrate how I began to think about these things 5 years ago.   I would encourage you to check out their website at www.invisiblechildren.com.)

Seattle Wrap Up

The very first Starbucks.   As I stood here taking the picture, I could almost feel myself getting poorer.

Gasworks park in Seattle... taken from a boat on Lake Union.   

The troll who lives under the Freemont bridge.   Rumor has it that he's grumpy.  

We really enjoyed a visit to Mars Hill Church on Sunday morning.   We had the opportunity to hear Mark Driscoll speak which was really enjoyable as well.   If it wasn't for the sign, you would think this was a warehouse.  

Taken in a park in Vancouver, Canada.   

Jessica is very, very scared of purple starfish.

On the Horizon...

On the plane ride home from Seattle yesterday I wrote a series of blog posts that you will see here starting (hopefully) tomorrow.   I'm excited about blogging for the first time in a long, long while... 

more to come.  

Trip to Seattle - #1

It's 7:00 am on Saturday morning here in Olympia, WA as I write this... my body has stayed on eastern time which means early to bed and very, very, ridiculously early to rise.   We're staying in the home of a surgeon who is a member of the church I am leading worship and playing a concert at tonight.   It may very well be one of the nicest homes I have ever been inside... our view out the basement window looks out over the Puget sound with the mountains in the distance.   It's pretty fantastic!  

Our trip so far has been really great!   I had some drama early on... the day I woke up to leave (Thursday) I knew something in my throat wasn't right and by the time we had arrived in Seattle, my voice was almost completely gone.   Seeing as how the whole reason I came out here was to play a couple of shows, as you can imagine I was completely freaking out!   I spent all day Thursday after we got here doing every throat trick I know... hot tea and honey, zinc drops, original lay's potato chips, steam, you name it... it got a little better but singing wasn't an option.   When I got up Friday morning I knew I had to do something drastic or singing just wasn't going to happen.   So, I had a doctor friend of mine call me in some steroids... if you have lost your voice and need it back within 12 hours, this pretty much the only way.   I took the entire day's dose (supposed to be spread out over 12 hours) all at once and wouldn't you know it... by show time, I was about 80%.    I also now have massive biceps and some serious roid rage!   

As far as sightseeing goes, we've pretty much done the standard Seattle tourist stuff so far.   We spent some time in the Pike Place Market... I love to watch those guys throw fish.   I could probably stand and watch that all day... I saw them drop one for the first time which according to them is pretty rare but I'm not sure I buy that.   It was like a 50 pound salmon they were throwing... I would have dropped it too!   Jessica really loves the fresh produce and especially the fresh flowers that are all over the market (at crazy prices).   It's always a little sad though because we can't really buy any because we have nowhere to put them.  

Jessica led me to a tourist spot that was very near and dear to her heart... the original Starbucks.   Those of you who know Jessica well don't need me to tell you the importance of this... let's just say I think I saw her eyes tear up a bit as she gazed upon this most sacred and holy ground.   I strangely felt my wallet getting lighter.   

We had big plans Thursday night... space needle... dessert at Cheesecake factory... alas, we laid down for a short break in the hotel room (at 6:30) and the next thing we knew it was the next day!   When you get a night in a very comfy hotel bed with no kids you realize you were a lot more tired than you thought.   

After 14 hours of sleep we were good to go on Friday!   After I ran down my steroids, we went back down to the market for an amazing breakfast overlooking the water and then we took a really fun tour of Seattle called "ride the ducks".   It's a tour bus that turns into a boat.   We drove all around Seattle for about an hour and then drove straight into Lake Union for some amazing views of downtown from the water.   Highlight for me: up close views of the Mariner's and Seahawk's new stadiums... very impressive and incredible views.   Highlight for Jessica: the Sleepless in Seattle houseboat.   

We had to leave Seattle around 2:00 to head down to Olympia for the house concert I was playing Friday night.   A 1 hour drive turned into about a 2 and a half hour drive... partly because I went 15 miles in the wrong direction on the interstate but mostly because Seattle traffic on a Friday afternoon is INSANE.   Maybe worse than Atlanta.   Not saying it is but man, it was close... but the fact that I was driving a really sweet Toyota Yaris rental car made up for it.  Okay, not really.   I will say that Jessica was not impressed with my joke about our car... "Do you know who would really like this car?"  "No, who?"   "Pirates.   YARRRRRRRRRRRis!"    Yeah, it wasn't funny the first time either. 

Eventually we made it to Olympia and managed to have a really fun house concert.   I decided to do something I had never tried before... I setup my laptop and did a webcast of the concert with a live chat room.   I think between 20 and 30 different people stopped in to watch, listen, and chat.   We had an intimate gathering of 12 or 13 there in the living room and I played for a little over an hour.   I love house concerts... they really are a lot of fun and it's nice to be able to interact with the audience a little differently than you would in a church or club show.    

We have kind of a down day here in Olympia.  We don't have to be anywhere until lunchtime and then we're going to lunch with some folks from the church who brought me out here.   After that I'm not sure what we'll do but sound check is at 4:30... should be a low key day.   Tomorrow morning we're going to Mars Hill Church where we're hoping to hear Mark Driscoll preach.   

Our internet has been spotty... I'm not paying $15 a day for it at the hotel so this might be the only post of the trip... thanks for checking in!  We'll be home late Tuesday night, ready to spend some time with our little man!  

New City Sessions Episode 3

Here is the third installment of the old New City Sessions radio program I used to do with Kenny Woodhull.   For more on the history, see my previous post where I talk about it.

This episode features a really diverse setlist including a couple of really cool live performances we recorded at the cafe.   Enjoy. 

TRACK LISTING

1. Matthew Perryman Jones - Homage for the Suffering (live at New City)
2. Randall Goodgame - County Drifter
3. Jim Webber - My Foundation
4. Crooked Deep Down - Derek Webb (live at New City)
5. Springtime Indiana - Sandra McCracken (live at New City)
6. Scott Krippayne - Learning how to Love
7. Michael Card - He was Heard
8. Emmylou Harris - Red Dirt Girl
9. Waterdeep - 18 Bulletholes
10. Jim Spiegel - Soul
11. Pedro the Lion - Slow and Steady Wins the Race
12. Andrew Peterson - No More Faith (live at New City)
13. Cat Stevens - Father and Son

Sorry...

Sorry for the lack of posts lately.   I'm struggling with what I think a lot of bloggers are struggling with right now and that is the fact that when you twitter regularly, it seems to leave you with a little less to say in a blog forum.  

I do have a few posts in the works and I hope to get to them soon.   I've got some new Reason click track files for some songs, a couple of videos, and also another episode of New City Sessions I'm going to post here pretty soon... just bear with me.   June is a busy month and I'll be out of town 2 of the 4 weeks along with a week of VBS but somewhere in there, I'll find some time to get this blog current.   That's the plan anyway.  

This is How it is Done.

I found this story by sportswriter Rick Reilly this morning.... you may have already read it as it happened back in November but it is truly amazing.  

If the church could figure out how to make all of our evangelism look like this, we wouldn't need signs or websites or marketing... we wouldn't be able to keep all the people away. 

Read the story right here.

I'm on to something...

I think I've figured out a way to make worship totally cool and relevant!   Check it out!   Mark my words, within the next year, somebody will put out a worship record that sounds like this... you can say you heard it here first! 

Sunday Setlist - May 17th, 2009

OPENER
"Your Love Never Fails" - Chris Quilala

WORSHIP SET
"Cannons" - Phil Wickham
"On Our Side" - Chris Tomlin
"Pass me Not oh Gentle Savior" - Lyle Lovett arrangement
"All the Earth will sing Your Praises" - Paul Baloche

CLOSER
"Amazed" - Lincoln Brewster

Connor's 2 Favorite You Tube Videos...

Upcoming Shows

It's been awhile since I've played any shows... I played in North Carolina about 8 months ago and since then, I've been on a pretty serious hiatus.   I'd like to play a show somewhere here in Knoxville in the next few months but with the demise of New City, there just isn't really a venue that fits anymore.   I'd love to hear any ideas...

So Knoxville will have to wait, but I do have a couple of out of town shows coming up soon and if any of you reading this are nearby, I would love to have you come out.   The shows are:

Friday, June 5th - Olympia, Washington - house concert
Saturday, June 6th - Olympia, Washington - Calvary Chapel Olympia - leading worship & concert to follow.

Olympia is about 45 minutes from Seattle and I'm so excited about these shows.   I know the odds of any of you reading this being in that area are pretty slim but if by chance you're up that way, seriously... come on out.   The Saturday night church show is free and I hear there will be some pretty amazing desserts.  

Also, after the shows on Friday and Saturday, I'm going to have a chance to visit Mars Hill church in Seattle... looking forward to the chance to hear Mark Driscoll in person and to experience Mars Hill first hand.    I've been observing their church from afar for a long time and have long been impressed with their approach to worship and music... they were innovating before innovating was cool.   Okay, that makes no sense... innovating has always been cool.

Any of you who have spent lots of time in Seattle, I'd love any suggestions on things to do and see... Jessica and I aren't flying home until Tuesday so we'll have a whole day to do something in that area... we're thinking of driving up to Vancouver just to do it.   Anyone who has done that have any thoughts?   Is it worth the trip?