I'm a big fan of the beach

I arrived in Florida and now I’m back in Charlotte. I went to St. Augustine for a vacation/my sisters wedding. It was all because Terri (my sister) was getting married, but I did enjoy having a week long vacation in a city that I hadn’t been in just over three years. I realized how much I miss the beach. I spent my first couple of days on the beach with my family. I tackled the waves with my niece and nephew and I felt like I couldn’t get enough of it, the water the sun the sand and just being there with my family was almost incredible. Even as it was getting dark, and I knew I wouldn’t be able to see anything with in the next twenty minutes, I felt like I could have stayed out there all night, but I probably would have gotten hungry after a while.

I realized after a few days that a lot can change in three years. My day and I went to see a Bourne Ultimatum and we got in free because the person in the box office was a guy that went to the St. Augustine Corps while we lived there and if hadn’t said anything to me I would have no clue who he was he looked so different and to top it off one of the other guys that also went to the corps was one of the associate managers. These were guys who were like fifteen and fourteen when I left and now they were adults and looked totally different. I guess change really is inevitable…especially after three years.

The wedding, on the other hand, went on without a single issue and it was absolutely beautiful. The entire ceremony was awesome and the reception was even better where my seven- (almost eight) year-old nephew (Anders) stole the show. Everybody loved watching him dance and run around and act crazy and to top it all off I lifted him up in the air for the garter toss and he made an amazing one-handed catch, then he had to put it on the leg of the girl the caught the bouquet and he wasn’t a bit shy about it. After that he busted some more moves on the dance floor and everyone loved him. Then we all sent my sister and her husband off to there honeymoon. Then I went back to Gainesville (the heart of gator nation) spent a few more days relaxing and then got on the bus and ended up back here in Charlotte. Praise The Lord.

Oh, where is my hair bru...summer???

I know where my hairbrush is, but has anyone seen the rest of my summer? Seriously I feel like I missed half of it. It’s has been going by so fast I feel like I can’t soak enough of it in. I have been spending a lot more time inside than outside this summer because of work and all that jazz but still it’s almost gone. The last few days have been ridiculously hot and it probably will be for the next month, but it seems like just yesterday I was pulling out my coat and freezing my butt off while I waited for the bus. Leo is already back from his summer assignment and Jesse will be back in six days and Matt will be heading back to Vancouver. The last if summer camps have come and gone and TMI and TYI have just finished. I feel like it has gone by way too fast. Maybe I need a beach. I need to squeeze every last ounce of summer and sun out these next month and a half…wow when I write it like that it seems like I have so much left, that’s why it seems so short it’s not over yet. I think this heat is getting to me. Oh it just started raining, that’s good. I guess I’ll have to get a good summer fix when I go down to Florida for my sisters wedding. For those of you I haven’t told yet that know my sister yes, she is getting married in just a few weeks. That’ll be fun. It’ll be nice to go back to St. Augustine and see some friends that I haven’t seen in a few years, but I’m not excited about taking the bus there or back. I think if the bus trip is worst part of that week it should be well worth it.

For those of you who are fans of Starbucks (even if you aren’t) next time you go consider ordering a PTL (Passion Tea Lemonade) (there’s no coffee in it for those of you that don’t like coffee). PTL is the marking we use for that drink. It makes me laugh every time someone orders that or I see it on a cup because even though I know I need to make that drink Praise The Lord is the first thing that pops into my head. Jesus is being praised at Starbucks and some people don’t even know it. PTL!!!

Thoughts provoked by Tutu

I have been reading No Future Without Forgiveness by Desmond Tutu. It Chronicles Tutu’s involvement with the Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC) set up to heal the wounds of South Africa after the disbanding of it’s apartheid government. He goes through a number of stories of army personnel and police officers wanting to be forgiven for things they have done. They admit to the things they’ve done just asking for forgiveness from the families of the men and women they killed. Tutu talks about the ability to forgive and he is amazed time and time again when men and women can forgive other men and women for the crimes they’ve committed. The families didn’t want justice to be carried out by having these people put to death and didn’t want to get even they wanted closure and healing, then it made me realize that forgiveness really is justice. It brought to mind Isaiah 58:12 “Those from among you will rebuild the ancient ruins; you will raise up the age-old foundations; and you will be called the repairer of the breach, the restorer of the streets in which to dwell.” When I see repairer of the breach (standing in the gap) I think of fixing things from the way they are to the way they should be which is how I see justice. Forgiveness sets right a wrong; it repairs the breach that has been created between people that should never have been there.

Excerpt form No Future With out Forgiveness:
“There may indeed have been moments when God may have regretted creating us. But I am certain there have been many more times when God has looked and seen all these wonderful people who have shone in the dark night of evil and torture and abuses and suffering; shone as they have demonstrated their nobility of spirit, their magnanimity as they have been ready to forgive, and so they have dispelled the murkiness, and fresh air has blown into that situation to transfigure it. It had filled people with new hope that despair, darkness, anger, and resentment and hatred would not have the last word. There is hope that a new situation could come about when enemies might become friends again, when the dehumanized perpetrator might be helped to recover his lost humanity. This is not a wild irresponsible dream. It has happened and it is happening and there is hope that nightmares will end, hope that seemingly intractable problems will find solutions and that God has some tremendous fellow-workers, some outstanding partners out there.

Each of us has a capacity for great good and that is what makes God say it was well worth the risk to bring us into existence. Extraordinarily, God the omnipotent One depends on us, puny, fragile, vulnerable as we may be, to accomplish God’s purpose for good, for justice, for forgiveness and healing and wholeness. God has no one but us. St. Augustine of Hippo has said, “God without us will not as we without God cannot.”…To offer love and forgiveness is not a sign of mental weakness instead a sign of spiritual strength.” ~~Desmond Tutu Praise the Lord.

More than meets the eye...

I saw the movie Transformers and it was the most amazing movie I have ever seen in my entire life. It was absolutely amazing. It wasn’t all just explosions and special effects. They gave the Transformers personalities, and that made a huge difference rather than just having these huge machines walking around, transforming and fighting each other, they had human like qualities. The one part of the movie that really got me thinking though was during the fight scene, between Optimus Prime and Megatron, when Meagtron said “Your problem Prime is that you always defend the weak” (referring to humans as the weak). At first I thought to myself well, that’s a good thing, and then after it sunk in I said to myself DUH!! Who else would you defend if you didn’t defend the weak? Why defend the strong they really don’t need to be defended they have the advantage? That’s probably what God was thinking to himself when he told us in Isaiah to “ Seek justice. Help the oppressed. Defend the cause of orphans. Fight for the rights of widows.” (Isaiah 1:17 NLT) That’s who we should help we don’t need to defend the wealthy and the people living in upper middle class suburbia. We need to fight for the rights of the people who have no one else the people who feel like the whole world is against them. It doesn’t make sense the other way around. But I like the way Optimus Prime put it “Freedom is the right of all sentient beings.” Praise the Lord.

It's normal to me

The answer to the question posted in my previous blog is The Sandlot. The quote is from the movie The Sandlot.

I can remember a long time ago when my friends (in Florida) would talk about certain neighborhoods in our city that we wouldn’t think of driving into unless we had a real good reason or a weapon, and now I live in one of those neighborhoods and it’s become strange to me that people are scared to come here.

I was having a conversation at work with a couple other baristas about the bus and that led to me telling them, yet again, what I was doing and were I was living because and I, jokingly, mentioned that the bus might actually be safer than where I live. Then when they asked why I told them “well, when you have someone unload a clip less them 100 feet from your house that may seem a little unsafe”. I only mentioned that because it happened a few days prior to this conversation. They look at me with mouths opened wide and I was going about my business until I looked at them and they only responded with, “no way!! That didn’t happen”

I said, “Yeah, it happened just a few days ago.”

Still in shock and disbelief they said, “No way, that’s crazy Travis. You’re seriously hardcore.”

I was surprised that they were shocked by what I said. I sometimes forget that what I’m doing is not normal, and I forget that my perception of things after being on the inside is very different from the perception of people who have been on the outside. I forget that I thought somewhat like that once. I was one of those people that chose not to see the need in the area. I stayed as far away as I could and never thought about going in. Now I’m chillin in the middle of it all and feeling as safe as ever. This is a good time for a TWC plug. Take a chance, take a flight, take a year and see what changes the Holy Spirit makes in you and what he does with that change. Sign up for the 2007 of The War College Incendiary session at www.thewarcollege.com.

Now that I think about it the example I used at Starbucks probably wasn’t the best example to describe where I live. There’s much more to it than that. Then I wonder why people are scared to come here. It seems safe to me.

I'm bakin' like a toasted cheeser out here...

First of all name the movie that my title is from.
It’s summer and it’s hot. We only had our official first day of summer three weeks ago but summer started here long before that. It’s been summer here since…before the last time I blogged. That’s been a while. I just haven’t been in a blogging type of mood for the past…uh…threeish months. Well, I have I just haven’t sat down and decided I was going to until now. Summer has been in full swing for a while and I noticed that there’s not a nice transition from winter to summer here. It totally skips a nice warms spring and goes straight into a hot sticky summer. There are maybe one or two nice days between, but that’s the only relief we get. The same thing happens for winter there’s not a nice transition time; we totally skip autumn and go straight into winter.

Anyway. the kids are all out of school and Jesse and Leo left for their summer placements and Matt Elcome is here from to assist us from Vancouver and has been a huge blessing to us because he knows everything Rob and I don’t about computers and that’s a lot stuff, but more than that he knows how to relate to the kids and has become part of the J.T. hood. So our community house has quickly transitioned into summer hours, so we are on duty from 10:00am to 3:30pm, and some days longer. We learned last summer that setting up a structure and trying to put the kids into that doesn’t work well, so we just open up the community house and let them do there own thing and that works wonderfully. Last night at knee Drill we set up an altar to mark the progress we made since last summer. I had collected a bunch of rocks (mostly chunks of asphalt) and when we put each piece down it was in honor of something that we had accomplished or someone that had been here and helped us. I figured Noah, Abraham, Isaac, Moses, Joshua, Gideon, Samuel, and David all built altars to commemorate things that had happened, victories that had been won, places where God spoke or revealed himself in some way so why can’t we build one to mark victories and accomplishments and provision that God has given us. We didn’t sacrifice and goats or burn any grain but we did build a small altar to give glory to God and thank him for everything he’s given to us. That’s the Animated Inventor at work.

Animated Inventor

I saw this personal DNA assesment and thought it might be fun. Tell me what you think. Does it describe me? I think it contradicts itself as somepoints. Just move the arrow on the different colors and a you can find out what each one means

I reccomend it. If you want to take one of your own click this link and have some fun(I don't even get paid for that plug). My Personal Dna Report

500,250,600 minutes

I'm amazed at how fast a year can go by. It seems like it wasn't really that long ago that I was just getting to know the kids in the neighborhood. I can still remember getting of the plane in Charlotte and being greeted by Heather, Rob, and five other kids from our hood (none of whom live here anymore). I was thinking about this past year a few days ago, and I realized just how much has happened since I've been here; not only in the neighborhood, but in my life as well. There have been kids that have moved out and moved back into the area kids who have left that we still have connections with and new kids that have come in and decided we were cool enough to hang out with. In all of the kids that I've met though I have been able to watch them grow so much which is something that I realized I never had the opportunity to see. Because my parents and I moved a lot I never really stayed in one place long enough to see the kids grow up and mature (except my sister but she doesn't count). I have seen kids go from being shy quiet kids who wouldn't say a word to anyone to being kids that I can't get to stop talking for a minute to ask them what they want to eat. There are other kids who convinced me that being obnoxious was a spiritual gift (I probably did that when I was little too) who I can have real conversations with and not have to stop them from doing something thats going to get them in trouble every two seconds. I love this place. I know that I have grown immensely as well. I have matured, developed, and toned my spiritual gifts since I've been here. I have developed more leadership skills and been able to exercise those skills since TWC has started here; I know that I can take charge of a group and lead them effectively rather than hide in the back ground and wait for someone else to do it. I still have doubt and worries that pop up on occasion but thats the enemy trying to get me to stumble and face plant into the ground but it won't work cause I got mad crazy joy like never before. On top of all that I can make a Quad, grande, five pump, nonfat, with whip, White Mocha like no one else. I can't wait to see what the next year has in store for me, whether it be in this hood or a different one. PRAISE THE LORD!!!!!

The Best Weekend Ever

I know the date on that last post is a little off but that's because I accidentally saved it as a draft rather than posting it on my blog. I don't know how I did that and didn't notice but I realized my mistake a few days ago and just had time to change it today. I just returned from one of the best weekends I have ever had. It started Wednesday (March 28th) when Heather Jesse, Duane, Leo, and I piled in a van and headed to a little town in NC called Sanford, no sons were ever mentioned (does anyone get that joke). We spent the weekend with Capitan Jonathan Gainey and his family which included his wife Capitan Stacy and their children Jonathan, Travis (a great name choice), Thomas and Ella. That Wednesday we got to spend sometime with Thomas and we saw pure add in all its glory coming out of him. He talked and about wanting to see movies and then watching movies then he let some gas out and talked about people that he knows and then some food that he ate and then he went to sleep. It was great, I love that kid...he reminds me of someone I know. Then we stayed up till 12:30ish talking with Johnny about some of the things we was going to be teaching us. He has a wealth of knowledge about Jewish culture and things that they understand that make absolutely no sense to us because we didn't grow up in Jewish culture and he gave us a little preview the day before and left us hungry for more. A craving he satisfied on Thursday

On Thursday (March 29th significance: my birthday) we woke up around 10:00ish talked a bit more and then we went out to lunch to a lovely little restaurant called Mrs. Lacy's. It was very southern and very tasty. Our waitress (Ms. Mary) walked up to our table and spoke with a thick southern accent and gave a good dose of that wonderful southern hospitality. The food was delectable and because someone told them it was my birthday I got dessert for free. Then we went to class which was just as great as Lunch my spirit got a taste of something it hadn't had much of lately. Johnny gave us some insight into the Jewish culture; he gave us the actual meanings of words which gave me different insight on some scripture he talked about the things that Rabbi's, Pharisees and Jesus wore in those days and the significance they held, and the process of going from a student to a disciple and he reiterated that a disciple doesn't just want to know what his Rabbi knows but he wants to be like his Rabbi. Whatever his Rabbi is doing the disciple is right behind him doing the exact same thing and thats what being a disciple of Jesus means. We shouldn't just look at what he did and know about it we need to do what he did; he touched the untouchable and loved people who weren't loved and lived a simple, humble, holy life. That night The Capitan took hold of the grill and we had a party with barbecue chicken and ribs and red velvet cake (wow, I just realized how much I ate there) and I played football with some of the guys outside.

On Friday he taught more on the Jewish culture, but he focused more on the family relationships and marriages and the rituals and the significance of those things (which makes the parable of the ten virgins make so much more sense) and the covenant they made with each other by drinking from a cup. It signified that hey were accepting each others life and they would accept the good with the bad and they would stick by them even when it was hard. Now that I think about it that isn't much different from the vows that are spoken at weddings here in our western culture. Then we went out to lunch (eating again) and we left. Heather, Duane, Leo, and Jesse went home and I went to Camp Walter Johnson for M.A.I.N. Street Ministries and The Divisional Music Festival. I got to hang out with Daniel (DMD) and Christian Simmons for most of the weekend and there always fun to be with. Especially on the drive home; I don't even remember why but we had a blast and I laughed so much. Then I arrived home. Safe back in J.T. Williams hood.

Youth Councils '07

We just returned from the North and South Carolina Youth Councils. Where we danced upon injustice...the army seems to be doing a lot of that these days. TYI, Roots, and various Youth Councils all have had that theme, and it's awesome. Things that are done in secret are being revealed in the light and eyes everywhere are being opened to the truth that injustice is more than someone not going to jail for committing a crime he or she committed. The kids from our neighborhood had the opportunity to attend youth councils for the first time this year and they loved it; we have a number of people who see the injustice in our neighborhood and want to do something about it, but the most amazing thing I saw this weekend was a family that went to the altar and they all came together and started to weep over each other. They saw to disunity and brokenness in the family and they knew that it's not meant to be that way and they made a decision to change it; A few of them rededicated their lives to God and they decided that there had to be a change in their lives first before they saw a change in their family or the community, and I can already see evidence of that in their lives and I can feel it in the community already feel a lot calmer and subdued. I no longer feel like I'm living in a world where ADD is a way a of life, which can be fun but it can start to wear you down real quick. So, now I have an even bigger family than when I first arrived here in Charlotte. I mean we already were a family, but after youth councils it doesn't seem as dysfunctional, which is good. We are being held together with cords of human kindness and with ties of love. Praise the Lord.

O' Canada

I just got back form a long trip to “Beautiful British Columbia,” to quote the license plates. It was beautiful. The smell of urine soaked alleys, needles, clothes, and trash littering the sidewalks, constant rain, elevators that sound like they could drop to the basement at any time, and $1 pizza. For those of you who are completely confused, because we only communicate in the blogosphere, (still a weird word to me) or maybe thats the only way you know of me (no I don't really look like Keith Green...now) I went to Vancouver, Canada for a week. Most of you still are probably confused because in my last few blogs I was talking about Starbucks Pins and being a human shield and fireworks and all that stuff. A few weeks after that everyone at The War College here in Charlotte took a trip up to Vancouver for reading week (spring break...during winter). I got a chance to see some old friends and not so old and make some new friends. I got to see the apartments where the phase two students are staying, and I saw the mountains again and I realized no matter how many pictures I take and no matter how good they are those pictures can't compare with seeing them in person (I'll get some pictures up soon...hopefully) even if they are on the other side of the harbor they're still b-e-a-utiful. On Thursday night we had Knee Drill as usual, and Rob was at the mic again, and it was an amazing time of worship; we were dancing and jumping around and yelling and we had a blast, and a good number of Revolution students weren't there (most of them went home or somewhere outside the DTES for reading week), but we had a blast without them. It was almost like a Death and Glory, Martyr, and Holy session reunion at knee Drill and we topped off the night with a trip to Red Robin (BOTOMLESS FRIES!!!). Nine students from the Martyr session was there at Knee Drill and nine Holy Students and six from Death and Glory.
I became a tour guide for the first two days. I took Leo and Duane around the DTES through China town and showed them the Lizards on a stick, and then we went to the high class part of Vancouver around the high rises and the shopping areas and Starbucks and more Starbucks (there were lots of those) and along the sea wall. We went over to GM place where people were getting ready for the Canucks game, we saw all the parts of the city that are way too expensive for us. The last few night we ate at Ken and Melinda house and Aaron and Cherie house, we hung out with there kids and had fun with them. And I went out for Street Combat after I had dinner at the White House (Aaron White and Cherie White for all you Homeland security people who are reading my blog) only to find out that the start time had been changed from at 9:30 start time to 8:30.
I noticed the look of the DTES had changed a lot too. Buildings were missing (obviously demolished) and new and nicer places were being put in their place to get ready for the 2010 Olympics. So close but still so far away. It looks like they are trying to push all the addicted and homeless as far away from the inner city as possible so that they aren't noticed when the Olympics arrive. They'll try to cover up the problem and pretend it doesn't exist for a few months, but when all the medals are won and handed out and they hype is over with and all the tourists are gone the people will still be there and be in the same situation they were in at the beginning. Some people might call what they are doing (hiding an issue) progress but to quote C. S. Lewis “We all want progress, but if you're on the wrong road, progress means doing an about-turn and walking back to the right road; in that case, the man who turns back soonest is the most progressive”. I just have one question when is it too late to turn back? And What happens if you don't turn back? The consequences can't be good.

Four Pins and Counting

My Starbucks hat pin count is up to four and more are on the way. Over the past two weeks I've gotten three more pins to stick in my hat. It doesn't mean that I get a raise, and I don't get anything special; all it means is that I'm doing a great and that's how we get recognized is by getting pins to put in our hats, and thats exciting for me.

Tonight Leo saved my life or he may have been trying to save his own, but I'd like to think he was saving mine. The four of us (Leo, Jesse, Pooh Bear [yes that's one of our friends here] and I) we sitting at the house playing Scattegories. We heard some noises outside that sounded like gunshots but we also thought they could have been fireworks. Leo and I peeked outside our window, but we didn't see anybody and we hadn't heard anything for a minute or two, so we opened the door and stepped outside we then heard a few more shots coming from the other side of a fence that divides our neighborhood from another one. Leo wanted to go over and have a look, because we know some of the kids that live over there and we wanted to make sure they were okay. All of a sudden we hear about six really loud bangs and a these screeching sounds coming form over the fence and they startled me but Leo grabbed hold of me and pulled me in the house and in front of him and him pulling me back scared me even more that the bangs. We really had nothing to worry about though because it was just a bunch of fireworks. Then after my nerves straightened up again I looked at Leo and said, “are you protecting yourself or saving me?” Jesse and Pooh Bear thought it was hilarious. I on the other hand am not up for becoming a human shield. Ephesians 6 talks about a Shield of Faith not a shield of Travis. Praise the Lord for fireworks, they were actually very nice.

A Christmas journey and then some more

I'm back in the blogosphere. Does anyone know where that term came from the blogosphere? It's a strange term. I realized a few days ago that the last blog that I posted was on a down note about the Christmas season and that's not fun to see over and over again. Here is a quick (I say “quick” now and it could be a lie) update on that things that have happened since I last blogged. I spent Christmas at the Adam's house with Mrs. Shirley Adams, Phil, Nicole, Daniel, Chris, and Baby D. We decided to open our gifts at twelve o'clock rather than wait till morning. That gave us more time to eat breakfast and relax until lunch/dinner. Rather than having a traditional Christmas meal with a turkey or ham and all the side dishes that go with it we went to a Chinese buffet so we made someone else do the cooking for us. I stuffed myself till there was no room left and was still (amazingly enough) full later that night. On Christmas night I began the rest of my journey and I hopped on a bus and headed south for the rest of Christmas. I never thought a bus would be full on Christmas day.

After eighteen hours of almost no sleep I got to open even more Christmas presents and see my parents and there new house and I'm starting to wonder if there is something to the fact that every time I have gone to see them for the past three Christmas' they have been in a different house. I watched a ton of football and ESPN, so I got my sports fix. I also go to see a bunch of friends from camp that I hadn't seen in a long time during the young adult retreat at Camp Keystone. I got my dad's old laptop which isn't set up for wireless Internet and for some reason I can't plug it up to our high-speed at the community house, and the screen freaks out every ten minutes that can get annoying. I spent the last few days of my break in Tampa with the Riefers I go to eat Cheez Its hang out with Gabe and Jaime and Mama Riefer and watch even more football. Then I got on a bus and headed north again. A twenty two hour trip this time (a five hour layover in Jacksonville). I'm still not a fan of the bus. Eventually I ended up back in Charlotte and back at my home Jesse and Leo came back home and we quickly got back to work, but not before seeing the Florida Gators dismantle the Ohio State Buckeyes in the BCS National Championship 41-14. That was a beautiful thing to see...for me.

Shortly after that we hit up ROOTS '07. We had the privileged of hearing Aaron White speak and Graham Kendrick and his band led worship and it was powerful. The theme was dance upon injustice and by the last night everyone was dancing and we tore down the injustice sign and danced on it as a sign of things that were happening in The Salvation Army. I was blessed to be able to stay with the officers in 614 Birmingham and it great hearing about there ministry and spending time with there family. After Roots we headed back home and went back to work again both in the neighborhood and at Starbucks. So here we are there is a lot of other things that are happening but that will come in a later blog. I knew this wouldn't be a short blog, but I did try.

It's beginning to look a lot like...something else

I think about this time last year my blogs included a phrase that I enjoyed using, but I can't here because it's not stupid cold in Charlotte. I'm enjoying it. The last time I blogged Christmas seemed so far away but now it's only...eleven days away. Anyway, I realized something about Christmas this year that I hadn't noticed in the past. I had heard people talk about it, but I either chose not to or wasn't in a situation where I saw it. It's the commercialization of Christmas that I hadn't seen before. I really started to notice it this year. At the mall that Starbucks is in they started playing Christmas music the day after Halloween, I thought that was a little strange then I saw all the people running around like crazy talking about getting gifts and how it's getting so frustrating getting gifts for everyone. Today however, I met someone and in just the few minutes between when I greeted her to when she got her coffee I saw the commercialization as clear as day. She walked up to me and said, “What can you give me that will give me the Christmas Spirit?” I told her what our Holiday drinks were and then her words really sunk into my mind as she decided what she wanted. She decided to try to find the meaning of Christmas in a Venti Nonfat Gingerbread Latte. So she goes around a mall from store to store trying to find “the Christmas Spirit” in the things they have to sell and samples and stuff. BALHHH!! Thats sickening. Has it always been this terrible and I've just missed it the past few years? Even if you aren't a Christian people usually are around family and have friends and that's what Christmas is about for them. It's not about what Starbucks or Macy's or Gap can offer you, but people live in that, and are okay with it. Is it just me or does that life seem to suck. What happens when Christmas is over? New Year is over? Valentine's Day is over? St. Patrick's Day is over? Are people really living from one Holiday to the next finding happiness in those few days and then just surviving until we can get another fix. There's a word to describe that it's called addiction. Have we really turned into a society with a Holiday addiction? Are people really that blind to what is happening to us. I don't like it at all. So I'm thinking we take back Christmas and let people know that finding happiness at Gap and Starbuck's is not okay and should not be normal for anyone.

They Call Me...

...Mr. Pig...Tater Salad. I have had a lot of nick names in my life, especially in the past two years: Travisay, Travisario, Travisty, Big T, T-scriggity, T-ro, and Sancho Gene Mc Spankycakes (ask Jaime about that one). All of the kids here in our neighborhood know my name and sometimes I want to be where everyone knows my name and people are always glad I came...ha ha ha ha did you catch the song (wow I'm funny)...uhh yeah. There are two little girls who don't know my name...well I think they know all our names but they want to call us something else. I used to be just friend. I would go to the community house to get stuff ready and I would here them yell out, “Hi friend” and I would look over and wave at them and they would smile and wave even more because I looked at them. All of our names have changed to these little girls and they're the only ones who have given us this new name (which I think is a good thing). For these two girls our name is Jesus. It doesn't matter whether there talking to Jesse Jaime Leo or I to them our name is Jesus. We've told them numerous times our real name sand said our name isn't Jesus but they seem to be stuck on that. I'm not going to complain that I am showing Jesus to a five and two year old I love it but I have never actually had anyone call me Jesus before, but I think I like it.

I'm not a fan of the bus

I just got back (about twenty hours ago) form my trip to Gainesville, Florida (GO GATORS!!). I spent eleven hours on my trip there and fifteen hours on my trip back, but that because I had a four hour layover in Jacksonville. I didn't know that bus layovers could be as bad as airport layovers. The bus depot wasn't even close to a movie theater or restaurant or anything slightly entertaining so I couldn't even go out and find anything to do unless I had a car...but if had a car I wouldn't have been waiting in Jacksonville for four hours. Throughout the entire four days I think the bus ride was definitely a low point, but thats the price to pay to save money...wow half a sentence that's an oxymoron; that's amazing.

I know I didn't tell anyone in the blogger-sphere about this trip so I will fill all of you in now.
About six weeks ago I got a call from my mom late at night (just so you know late night calls from people are usually never good) to tell me that my grandfather (her dad) has passed away. It was news that I had been expecting for the past few weeks but it still hurt to hear. He had been battling Alzheimer disease for the past four or five years and he really had no clue who I was the last time I saw him; which was rough to deal with, because I loved spending time with him, watching football games or listening to the things he had to say and from his lifetime of experience and all his wisdom and I can't do that anymore. So I went down to Gainesville on Friday for the memorial service and I got a chance to see most of my family; some people I hadn't seen since Christmas but other people I hadn't seen for six or seven years (a lot of stuff happens in that amount of time...babies are born and people move to different states). I was thrilled that we all came together, but I wish it could have been for a different reason. So we had his memorial service and honored him and his life that he dedicated to God. After that we spent time together to love and support each other and I wondered why someone had to die in order for all of us to see each other again. I think my grandfather loved to see that the last thing he did was that he got us to have a family reunion. We should have another one...except we'll keep everyone alive for next time.

PTB in Charlotte 614 style

So apparently noone likes me using another person's blog on my blog, or maybe it was just way too long, so here's my own stuff.

“Some of you will rebuild the deserted ruins of your cities. Then you will be known as a rebuilder of walls and a restorer of homes.” Isaiah 58:12 (NLT)

“And your ancient ruins shall be rebuilt; you shall raise up the foundations of buildings that have laid waste for many generations; and you shall be called Repairer of the Breach, Restorer of Streets to Dwell In.” Isaiah 58:12 (AMP)

Pray The Bible has taken on a much different look here at 614 Charlotte. Usually we have a list of scriptures to speak out and pray through and there's main focus to those scriptures. That can last anywhere from fifteen to forty-five minutes. That is the way I have usually seen PTB done. We walk around a room praying scriptures with one goal: to have break through by praying like Jesus prayed. The past few weeks though PTB has been anything but the usual. There is an abandoned house right next to Rob and Heather's house which is owned by a black fraternity group here in Charlotte called The Omegas. This house was once boarded up (not very well), forgotten about, and empty. Unfortunately, it didn't stay that way. Some of the drug users in our hood needed a place to use during the winter so they could keep warm and other people would conduct their own business in that house. The windows are all broken, it smells, there's mold growing on the wall, there's piles of nasty clothes and needles and trash everywhere, and this is where we had Pray The Bible. We got some gloves, rakes, brooms and eighty billion trash bags (that was just for the inside) and went to work. We cleaned up the clothes the glass the trash and properly disposed of the condoms and needles and took out the carpet. It actually almost looks like it could eventually be a house. It still doesn't smell so great, but that will change too...maybe. We let the owners know what we did and they were thrilled. They said they would get the trash taken away and fix it up and get it ready to be rented. Toady we finished it by picking up all that trash on the outside of the house as a prophetic act of getting rid of all the junk that the enemy has put here. We became restorers of a home, we repaired the breach, we stood in the gap for this house and changed it from the way it was to the way it should be. Praise the Lord.

Gabe's wisdom rather than mine today

Today I am using a blog from one of the greatest guys in the world, my best friend Gabe Riefer. It's an awesome example of mercy and compassion and love, proving once again that love never disappoints and never fails. (Don't ask me why he refers to Mick Jagger as a reverend)

As I make my way home, dejected and alone, contemplating how horribly I hit and how ghastly we played, a dry feeling in the back of my throat begins to grow. Then I feel it; the rumbling of my stomach reminding me how little I have eaten. Up ahead in the distance I see a glowing yellow light. As I grow closer the light begins to take shape, two arches coming together to form the shape of an "M".
Ah yes, McDonald's. Not only can I quench my hunger and thirst, I can also win large sums of money. Say, five million dollars.
I drive in to the parking ot and begin making my way to the drivethru, when out of the corner of my eye I see a man rise and begin walking toward me. I look at him and he stops. I begin to study him: thin, scraggly greasy beard and hair, worn leathery skin, dirty ripped jeans and t-shirt, and a jacket hanging over his fragile body. But it is his eyes that draw my me in. I see in his eyes, pain and hunger. I wave him over and with each step I see his growing hope.
I ask him if there is something I can do for him. All he wants, he tells me in a slurred Southern drawl, is a little spare change, maybe a dollar or two. My heart, now full of compassion for him, begins to speak for me. I tell him I can go through the drivethru and I will get him whatever he wants. Just a burger and some fries. A drink, maybe a Coke or a Sprite? No soda, he replies. He can't drink soda. Makes him sick. I tell him to give me a few moments and I will return to him as soon as I can.
"Go ahead with your order." Okay, a double quarter pounder with cheese, large fries, a Dr Pepper, two double cheese burgers, and two apple pies. "10. 84, drive around to the next window."
I collect the food and drive back over to where my newest dear friend is sitting, shivering in the cool October air. I remove a cheeseburger from the bag and hand him the rest. He looks at me, astounded that a person could even be so kind. I sit with him and eat my cheeseburger, and he begins to tell me his story.
He was born in a small town in Tennessee. His family was never wealthy, had never been wealthy, and, as he said, probably never would be wealthy. He lived there until graduation, when he joined the Army. Fifteen years he spent in the Army, before he was honorable discharged. He then met a woman, fell in love, and got married. They moved to Zephyrhills, Florida, and had lived there nearly seven years when she kicked him out. See, after he left the Army, he didn't know exactly what he was going to do. So while he thought about it, he would drink. The more he thought, the more he drank, until one day he had spent nearly all of the money they had on alcohol. Not knowing what else to do, he began walking until he ended up around Nebraska Avenue and Fowler. He would find places to sleep at night, most of the time behind restaurants or in alleys. He would eat whatever he could find that was edible from dumpsters or garbage cans, and he would ask for spare change. Any change he received went towards a bottle of beer or Jack Daniels. He was a drunk, an alcoholic, and he had no reservations in telling anybody this. Yes, he admitted, drinking had torn his life apart, but he had no idea how to quit or even what to do or how to go about quitting.
He was a man, helpless and hopelessly lost, ashamed of his past but willing to take responsibility for his actions. I told him to walk in the morning down Nebraska to The Salvation Army ARC. There he could have a warm bed to sleep in, a place to wash and shower, and a hot meal. And he could start turning his life around. He shook my hand and thanked me for my kindness. Then with a tear in his eye, which (being a man) he tried to hide, he said, "God bless you."
That hit me hardest of all. God had blessed me that night. He took my desire to win a meaningless prize (albeit five milion dollars), and replaced it with the desire to help a fellow human get his life back on track.
"You can't always get what you want. But if you try sometimes, you might find you get what you need." -The good Reverend Mick Jagger with some words of wisdom.

614 Starbucks... I like the sound of that

Grande, Double, White Mocha, non-fat, extra hot with whip cream. Why anyone orders something non-fat and then puts whip cream is something that I probably won't understand anytime soon. Those are the types of orders I hear all day because I work at Starbucks. I love it too. It's definitely a step up (or five steps up) form working at McDonald's in Bangor, ME. I did have fun working at McDonald's (even though I told everyone I hated it) but I just needed a place where I have a little more interaction with customers and it's not a boring routine type job, I almost ended up going back there if I didn't get hired anywhere else. So, after applying at fifteen different places and doing only two interviews Starbucks became was my last hope. I turned in my application talked to the manager and prayed for the best. Two weeks later I'm doing an interview and loving every minute of it...well it wasn't that exciting but I did think about painting my toenails the day before so I would have this constant smile on my face during the interview. Even if I don't get hired I would still be laughing saying to myself I know something you don't know, but I didn't have any toenail polish. Anyway, one of the best things about working there is the girl I was hired with (Bonnie) said she just became a Christian a few months ago. So right there I've got the beginning of a Starbucks cell group. I made everyone here in Charlotte (by everyone I mean Jesse, Jaime, Rob, and Heather) very excited, because every week I get a pound of Coffee for free. So every week we get to experience a new flavor caffeine buzz. The only person that is not a fan of coffee is my room mate Leo. He doesn't even like the smell, ba ha ha ha. I'll get him conver...I mean addict... I mean acclimated to the taste soon enough. Then he'll be one of us, a true Salvationist. So God has definitely blessed me with one of the best jobs I could ever and it's perfect place for ministry. When I help open the store, when there is a slow point of the day, or even after work, I love it. By the way, for Christmas everyone gets a Starbucks gift card and a Frappacinnoin the mail (because that's all I know how to make right now) the ones going to Canada and Bangor should stay frozen, the ones I send to Florida...well, thats a different story. I'll just say I don't want to be there when you open it up.

I miss you Martyrs

I miss you Martyrs. The Revolution Session of TWC has started up here in Charlotte and when I'm hanging out with them and laughing hysterically (you remember that laugh?) I start to remember all the things we did the first few weeks in Vancouver...before we wanted to kill each other. Everything was gubmnt', we said “of course” after every sentence...some of us still do (Lucy Jane, Linsey). {sigh}The memories. With the new...first TWC session here in Charlotte new memories are being formed and new inside jokes are popping up almost all the time (HOT FORK HOT FORK!!). Leo is my room mate from Arkansas. He actually lived only half an hour away from where I lived when I was in Arkansas. His Junior High football team actually played mine on Thursday night (my team won). He usually carries a knife with him (not hear obviously) and wears sandals with the rebel flag on them which is probably not great attire for this area, but he's working on that. He's great with the kids and is a really active guy like me so I'm not the only one getting beat in basketball by these kids. He's like the little brother I never had and I love him. Jesse is the second TWC student (but she was actually the first one to apply and be accepted and confirm she was coming). She's from Australia and is really awesome to be around, but even more awesome when she opens up and we actually talk about real stuff rather than just trying to make each other laugh. She has no problem connecting with the kids and, she will do whatever she can to make sure they have something for their birthday. She has aheart to make a difference in theses kids lives and that is a beautiful thing. I think I might cry when these guys leave...if they do leave (dramatic music duh duh dun). Jaime Riefer is also here, but most of us know about her, and she's awesome. I love The War College.