Subway. 9:31 p.m. – Lakewood, WA

Hello friends. I hope you’re having a good Monday. This morning we played a few songs at a lovely Methodist church with giant sloping wooden walls and a big stained glass window where the pastor talked about the love language of quality time and how we ought to take time for each other. This evening we ate at Applebee’s and then parked for the night at Walmart, inside of which is a twenty-four hour Subway with one electrical outlet.

The past two weeks we’re a really nice time for me back in Oregon. Eight of Travis’s peoples from his home in Missouri (and Sarah from Indiana) flew ought to see him for whole week. Good people – the kind you feel privileged to share life with, even for a few days. Admittedly, they came out here to see him; but by the time we drove them back to the airport, it felt like I had known these people for much longer than a week.

Before they all arrived, Travis and I took a certain pastor, who shall remain unnamed for the sake of keeping his job, to a Switchfoot concert. It was a grand experience, I even got to eat at Five Guys for the first time. They were playing with Relient K at this small venue in Eugene. Relient K was without their lead singer, which made it kind of fun to watch. They had a bunch of different people trying to fill his shoes..reading lyrics off pieces of paper as they sang and stumbling through their songs – it was refreshing to see the very human side of a band.

I did take a couple videos..they did a nice acoustic version of ‘ Hello Hurricane‘ around one mic, as well as one of my favorites off their new album ‘I Won’t Let You Go‘.

One day we loaded up in the bus, or the Whale as it’s been dubbed, and took a trip to the coast. We stared the journey off right with a Black Rock Coffee pit stop.

We went to Beverly Beach and to an old lighthouse where we worked on long jumping.

We took a trip to a nice hiking spot that Ben showed us. There seemed to constantly be Lord of the Rings theme music playing…and I thought I may have glimpsed an orc at one point.

And another to Silver Creek Falls where you can see maximum waterfalls for minimum walking.

Kevin (the last v.s. guy’s and Travis’s oldest brother) made us his famous pizza one night.

In Luke I found another man with a deep appreciation for good ginger ale. One day him, Austin, and I made a massive haul that kept us in good supply of beverages for almost the whole time. This is the skeletal remains of so much refreshment. Several nights we crowded around my laptop in the living room to watch a movie, with popcorn and said refreshments of course. Second Hand Lions is such a good story.

Today is our fourth day on the road on this trip to Washington. We’re singing a lot of new songs and learning as we go, but it’s been going really well so far. The next two days we don’t have any services.

The people over at the Word Shakers were kind enough to let me post some thoughts about chasing geese  on their site.

Thanks for praying for me; some days I wake up and feel quite prayed for, and I really appreciate that. Earlier tonight I read Tristan’s update about what’s going on with the guys on Edge. It’s so cool to hear about the ways God is faithful and patient enough to keep on teaching us. I’d ask you especially pray I’d be humble and living in a way that I hear what the Father is telling me.

“The secret that we share I cannot tell in full,

But this much I will tell,

What’s lost is nothing to what’s found,

And all the death that ever was,

Set next to life,

Would scarcely fill a cup.”  – Frederick Buechner

Take care friends,

Javen.

Hello my friends. This is my January as described in words and images. I hope it was a good month for you all. It definitely dealt its ups and down to me.

Saturday, a week and a day ago, our youth group loaded up drove a couple hours west towards the coast for the annual retreat. This year the house was actually on a lake instead of the beach. It was a lovely old house – at least a hundred years old with floors that kind of sloped down towards the water. The guys ruled the basement, the girls the upstairs, and we hung out in the middle.

Some of us did take a venture to beach to see the ocean, and a precious few of us braved a voyage across the lake in the small yellow kayaks they had there. But mostly we played games and ate food. Liar’s Dice and Signs  were the weekend favorites. It’s kind of funny how Oregonians view their coast. We were playing Code Names, where you try to come up with a word that pertains to certain other words, and the word was ‘cold’ – and they were thinking of the beach. It’s definitely not the same as the balmy beaches of Florida.

We went to Mo’s on Saturday night. They serve a pretty decent fish taco. I thought I had lost my wallet, but it’s found now.

Me, Ellie, and Travis

And then we came back home. My guitar had her 18th birthday yesterday.

‘There is nothing to writing. All you do is sit down at a typewriter and bleed.’ – Ernest Hemingway                             

A few nights ago Travis and I went to Eugene to see the movie ‘Silence’. I don’t think I’ve ever watched a movie that left me with as many questions or provoked more thought. Maybe I have; I don’t remember when. Someone said of it, “This is not the sort of film you “like” or “don’t like.” It’s a film that you experience and then live with.” I think maybe that’s true..because I’m still not sure if I liked it or not. I think I did – you should probably see it for yourself. I’ll warn you, if you’re a big fan of the ‘yay Jesus’ moments you get in God’s Not Dead and the like, you’ll probably be quite disappointed. Because the bad guys don’t convert to Christianity while dying in the rain – this one isn’t that easy.

On Sunday morning I went with Mike, Debbie, Travis and two other men to the a prison about forty-five minutes from here. The three man worship team and about four other guys came out to chapel. There is nothing quite the same as worshiping with a small group of men in the small room of a prison on a Sunday morning. It was the last time we’ll see their worship leader before he is released back into the free world. He is special guy and an incredible guitar player.

February 16 (I think) we head back out on the road for about two weeks. We’ll be in Washington playing songs.

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I’ve not listened to much of Josh Garrels – but I love this.

A few articles,

Rebecca Reynolds – and of course the song, The Silence of God.

Looking For America: Because Hope Deserves An Anthem, because the cynic is just a dreamer with a broken heart. – Jon Foreman

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Take care my friends,

Javen.

It’s 11:35 p.m. in the living room and there’s a fire burning. This is about my favorite time of day to be alive.

They let me fly home for Christmas on December 20th. The plan was to go home for Christmas, head to Florida for a few days, come back for another week, and then fly back where I came from – and that’s pretty much how it went down. I had a great three weeks.

I flew nonstop into Atlanta Tuesday night and was reunited with my family again. It seems like there’s been a lot of that lately. On the plane ride I watched ‘The BFG‘, which I would highly recommend to anyone who likes a good animated story. The next day the guys told me that we were going camping the following night. We ventured out to our favorite spot: the Cape of Pretty Good Hope. It’s usually an island, but because of the drought it was a peninsula. We had more meats than Arby’s: pork-chops, hotdogs, sausages, bacon, and fresh venison.

On Christmas Eve Grandpa, Grandma, and Esther came over to eat low-country boil and dip stuff in chocolate with us.

After church on Christmas day we went to Grandpa’s house and hung out. There was of course the annual, somewhat painstaking, family photos by the blue barn. We’re not really increasing, but the front row is getting taller.

Luke, Emily, Aleisha, and I drove down to Florida in Aleisha’s car on Tuesday. They’ve got summer on demand down there. It’s a great place to chill for a few days, but I don’t think I’d want to live there. There’s throngs of people, most of whom know each other or are at least there for common events and reasons. I think it makes you feel kind of removed from reality for a few days – maybe like you’re in a Brian Adams song or something. It’s quite the atmosphere: Amish people rollin’ down the streets on rented segways and the rest of us trying to look as cool as they feel. Luke and I stayed with Mike in his grandparents’ house in Pinecraft. Some evenings Ashley, Aleisha, and Emily would come over to bring us food (or steal our food) and play Rook while we listened to our favorite tunes on the old boombox.

The volleyball tournament was on Saturday. I played with Sean and Ashton Overholt and some other people I had never met. It started at 7 a.m. and went until 3 a.m. the next morning.

One evening we went to Lido Beach to watch the sun set. It was gorgeous. After the sun had done its thing, we went to The Salty Dog where Rachelle instructed us to order the fish tacos – they were delicious.

Collin, Lauren, and I headed for home on Sunday morning. We stopped in Atlanta to pick Krista up at the airport; how we got her suitcase to fit in the trunk with all our stuff is still a bit of a mystery. Jumping up and coming crashing down on the lid with all my weight was definitely involved. Somewhere in Georgia we drove under a sign that said there had been fifteen hundred road fatalities this year. With it only being the first day of the year, the state is on pace to lose five percent of its population. It’s a dangerous world we live in. After I got back home I still had about ten days until flew back to Oregon. which was really nice.

It was great to attend a couple school basketball games.

Mom got a record player for Christmas so we there was a lot of Peter, Paul, and Mary and John Denver floating around the living room. That’s a medium of music that should never be forgotten.

It did snow the one day.

I had to bid farewell to my room as next time I’m home we’ll be living elsewhere, at least that’s the plan. On Tuesday the 10th I flew back to Oregon. Right now we’re trying to get the rust spots off the sides of the bus..driving through salted roads is rough for a lot of reasons. We head back out on the road again about the middle of February.

On the plane ride back to Oregon I got to watch the movie Sing Street. If you like Ireland or have a brother or have ever wanted to write songs or be in a rock band, you should probably watch it – it really is excellent.

My friends at The Word Shakers have got a cool project going on where they’re practicing writing as an exercise, and I’d encourage you to check it out.

Take care my friends,

Javen.

It is now without a doubt looking like winter and feeling like Christmas. Both of the local Christmas pageants have been cancelled because of bad weather and icy roads. And it just seems strange to me because the fields are still green, and I seen some of Debbie’s roses still hanging on all the way through November.

Every year Gospel Echoes embarks on the ‘Cookie Projects’. The idea is to get a package of cookies – (there is passionate debate among staff as to which kind is best..I’m leaning towards Chocolate Brownie or Oatmeal Raisin), a Christmas card, and a red address book to as many inmates as possible. The Christmas cards are each colored and inscribed with a short message of hope by someone – kids and adults from all over. The address book is a Gospel Echoes trademark; that’s often how they recognize who we are.

There were twelve of us on this trip which lasted five days. This picture is from when some other volunteers were hanging out for lunch..but that’s the idea – lots of humanity side by side for many miles.

We left on Friday evening and got into bad weather almost right away. We battled to keep chains on the bus wheels, once having to walk down the white interstate looking for where it might have fallen off. We did about 20 mph for a long time..and finally arrived at Walmart about 3 a.m. Good times.

We would usually drive to the city where we were scheduled to go into a prison, and then the next morning or afternoon we’d meet up with the volunteers from the area (or abroad) who were going in with us. After all the cookies and twenty or so of us got checked in, we’d form a sort of line where the inmates would file through to get the things we’d brought for them. The person at the front of the line would shake their hand and greet them, on down they were handed the cookies and such. Often we sang carols while this was happening. For a lot of these guys this is just about all the Christmas they’ll be getting from the outside –  not that Christmas is so much something you give and get as much as it is a celebration of something ancient and true. But still, I doubt if feels much like a celebration when you’re the missing place at the table. It’s a special thing to be able to go find someone and give them back a tiny part of what’s taken from them. They aren’t much different from ‘the rest of us’. In fact they are the rest of us. I read something in a book today I thought seemed apt:

“Gatherers care for orphans because they want to earn a pardon, not because they’re decent. You think they make good teachers? Is that why you take your little treasures to them? You feel safe among thieves and bullies and liars, do you?”

She cocked her head. “Never met nobody who wasn’t a thief or a liar once in a while. The Gatherers are just the folks who got caught.”  – Jeffery Overstreet (Auralia’s Colors)

We had so much fun inside the bus on the way to the next place. There was an excess of rubber bands and mountain dew along the way.

Shoulders are pillows.

There was one church service mixed in on Sunday. There was Sunday school (where they were discussing loneliness and how to help those ‘lonely people’ we know. I wished they all could have heard what Rich said about it..I’ll put it at the bottom if any of you care to), we played some songs, and then we hurried to a prison to meet our check in time. Later that night we came back to pack up the equipment.

Mike at his post – keeping her between the lines

On the left is where we stopped to get water..much to the displeasure of certain lady. She approached Travis and me with a very menacing demeanor; we quickly decided this situation was above our pay grade and went to find Mike.

On the right Mike is using a heat gun to get something in the bowels unfrozen.

Snow.

Lo and behold we finally found a Panda Express to eat at. Ellie had been waiting for this since like Summer tour.

We got back home on Tuesday night about 3:30 a.m. That is as near as I can tell about the deadest part of the night – kind of a cool time to be alive and aware of it. The next day began the dropping of the flies. Pretty much everyone except Debbie got sick, thankfully we were home. She made Travis and me some chicken soup which greatly lifted the morale of our spirits..or something. We also lost power for a while which is always exciting and gives you a chance to use those oil lamps that everyone seems to be saving for the occasion.

One of the volunteers was Glen Showalter (I apologize if that’s not how it’s spelled) – a real nice guy with a real nice jacket. Turns out he is related to my Grandma and knows my uncle Serge.

.

Tomorrow morning (Sunday) we’re taking off about 6:30 for another cookie handout. On Tuesday I’m getting on a plane. I’m coming home.

If you think I just put these things down here in the bottom because I think they’re cool and  I want you to like them too – yeah that pretty much sums it up.

Christmas Bells – Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

    I heard the bells on Christmas Day
Their old, familiar carols play,
And wild and sweet
The words repeat
Of peace on earth, good-will to men!

    And thought how, as the day had come,
The belfries of all Christendom
Had rolled along
The unbroken song
Of peace on earth, good-will to men!

    Till ringing, singing on its way,
The world revolved from night to day,
A voice, a chime,
A chant sublime
Of peace on earth, good-will to men!

    Then from each black, accursed mouth
The cannon thundered in the South,
And with the sound
The carols drowned
Of peace on earth, good-will to men!

    It was as if an earthquake rent
The hearth-stones of a continent,
And made forlorn
The households born
Of peace on earth, good-will to men!

    And in despair I bowed my head;
“There is no peace on earth,” I said;
“For hate is strong,
And mocks the song
Of peace on earth, good-will to men!”

    Then pealed the bells more loud and deep:
“God is not dead, nor doth He sleep;
The Wrong shall fail,
The Right prevail,
With peace on earth, good-will to men.”

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Take care my friends,

Javen.

Hello my friends.

It has been quite a while, I’ll bet you hadn’t noticed. But I cut a deal with myself that I’d update this sucker before I watched a movie. And if you break a deal with yourself, you are the wrong-doer and the wronged. A few things: first, I changed the format of this site’s theme because I didn’t like the other one very much. And yesterday I won an auction on eBay for a used 55-200 mm camera lens, which means you’ll be treated to pictures zoomed up much farther once it arrives.

Wow I just finished and you might wanna get a cup of something hot to sip on before you read. So many pictures. I’ll try to start doing less or posting more.

I got to make a trip home to South Carolina a while back. It started out as a casual  phone conversation with Dillon while I was sitting in a restaurant. There was a concert in his area that we both wanted to see. So I threw out the idea of me flying to him, us taking it in, and then driving back to our hometown. He was easy to convince..so we made it happen. Trips like that are great. And in ten years I might stumble across these pictures and smile. I doubt I’ll wish I had just saved the money and stayed home.

I did a whole bunch of things, lunch at Grandma’s was a highlight for sure.

As soon as I got back to Oregon we hit the road en route to two banquets and a church service. It was a fun couple of days save for the sickness that followed us.

The first banquet was in Twin Falls, Idaho.

The banquet in Albany found me feeling quite miserable. But we made it through.

This is the park in Brownsville that I like to go to. I finally had to retire my faithful blue backpack. It had carried much homework and even traveled to a few other countries, but alas it was worn and torn.

One Sunday afternoon we went for a hike with some friends. There were beautiful hills that made me feel like  I was part of the Fellowship running through Middle Earth.

For two weeks we held down the fort while the owners of this lovely house were in Belize.

During our stay I made friends with the dog, learned how to do a little origami, and waded through a season and a half of Prison Break.

The Willamette Valley from Washburn Heights

I feel a little sorry for those of you living on parched ground. It rains here about every other day at least. Everything is green. I’ve got my plane tickets to come home for Christmas. Until then, thank you for praying for me. I’m doing quite well the last few days. God is good to me, and so are his people.

Javen.

Someday I’d like to have a desk that looks like Einstein’s.

I got to go a concert last week to see Jason Gray, Josh Wilson, and JJ Heller. It was a pretty good show that was held a beautiful dome-shaped church. JJ Heller was my favorite; her and her husband Dave did most of their songs with just her voice and a Gibson. It was really lovely. ‘Who Will Love Me for Me’ was the highlight..so good. Probably the most surprising part of the night was seeing how much Josh Wilson looks like Karlin Bacher.

On Tuesday the long-awaited arrival of Travis Miller from Missouri was accomplished. He drove his red Honda all the way. He plays a Taylor, brought a bunch of snacks, and we like a lot of the same things in life..so he’s a pretty cool hombre thus far.

It’s always a nice thing to see big boxes on my doorstep, and even nicer when they’re addressed to me. My dear mom sent me some essentials. Timely ones too, we leave for a two week tour to Canada tomorrow evening. These will be a great addition to my living quarters. Said living quarters will be much more crowded this time around since Travis’s six foot three frame and earthly possessions will be sharing it with me. It’s alright though. I’ll gladly trade half the space for a bro to go with me. ‘Friendship halves our space and doubles our joy’..or something.

Last night, Wednesday, Travis and I decided to go to a concert in Eugene at five and left at six. Since we were in a hurry and our printer is broken, we decided to buy our tickets at the venue. As I was handing the box office lady at the Hult Center my $21, a kind lady named Heidi came up and offered us her two extra tickets. So we got to watch Steven Curtis Chapman, Mac Powell, and Brandon Heath put on a great show from the $38 seats. It was a really good concert which I don’t have any pictures of it because I think it’s so dumb when you go watch fireworks and half the people just video the whole time. I decided this time I’d just take in the show instead of trying to capture it for later. I think there’s something to be said for that. They were all three fun to watch perform; masters of their craft no doubt. Two of which have been around for quite a while…not sure if Chapman was using in-ear monitoring or hearing aids. My favorite part was Brandon Heath doing his song ‘Paul Brown Petty’, a story about his grandpa. When the most expensive part of a concert is the milkshake afterwords, maybe God broke the printer.

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Today I replaced my guitar’s saddle. Sounds easy enough in theory I suppose. But when you buy a saddle (made out of bone), what they send you is too big and you have to shape it to fit your guitar. So today I spent about two hours sanding bone to match the size of the old saddle. But alas, it fits and plays and does not buzz. Victory.

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Remember to pray for those of us that are far from home.

Ashton – Colorado,

Aleisha – Arizona,

Mahlon’s – Colorado,

Joe’s – Virginia,

Kris – Ohio,

Judd’s – Ireland,

Shawn, Corey, and Tristan bound for Asia,

Dillon – Virginia,

Christi – Africa,

Amber – Jamaica,

Karlin – Africa…unless he’s still on his honeymoon…

Travis – downstairs

(and those I probably couldn’t remember tonight)

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Here’s what I’ve been eating for midnight.

October Sky, Dead Poet’s Society, 

Marigold – Reliant K, Sound Of A Living Heart – JJ Heller, Floodplain – Sara Groves, Paul Brown Petty – Brandon Heath, Won’t Back Down – Tom Petty, On Jordan’s Stormy Banks – Jars of Clay,    If You Feel Too Much – Jamie Tworkowski, The Complete Stories – Flannery O’Conner,

– Javen.

on 9/28/16 at 12:25 a.m. I was thinking about the Townville ‘shooter’ named Jesse.

That all went down about six minutes from my house.

———-

It’s an evil something awful,

That lets you kill your own,

What kind of demon runs inside you,

How many times have you been lied to,

In this hell of a nightmare,

That keeps you waking up alone,

It’s the loneliness of the wilderness,

That wells up inside a man,

When everything he hears spoken,

Kills and leaves him broken,

He shakes his fist at Heaven,

And turns and kills again,

I wanna know,

What was the reason,

How are you sleeping,

At three in the morning,

Where do you stand,

I’m so sorry,

That when you awake,

And rise to meet the day,

You’ll tie your shoelaces,

With blood on your hands,

There’s an anthem of mercy,

That’s calling out to you,

While you’re sitting in the prisons,

Of the darkness where you’re living,

That even a murderer,

Can be made new,

Even kids like me,

Even boys like you,

Murderers and liars,

Can still be made new,

The Rock of Ages retirement village in McMinnville, Oregon hosts an event every year that features lots of live music, hot air balloons, food tents, face painting, bouncy houses, and my favorite, a huge water slide for anyone who wants to get wet. As it turned out that meant me and tons of kids from five to thirteen charging down a soapy black tarp at high speeds for a long time. It was pretty awesome. The Hummlys, which is a band comprised of three siblings, played about half way through the day. They were super good.

The lady on the left (Joanne?) made a comment about my t-shirt..which turned into a long conversation about all kinds of things, including their friendship with the young Mat Kearney. Joanne and Dianne.

One day I went fishing on the Calapooia River which runs right through my hometown of Brownsville. The fishing was good. The catching was not so good. Reminded me of the quote I’ve seen on my calendar for the last four years, “I’ve fished through fishless days that I remember happily without regret.” – Roderick Haig-Brown

About a week ago our youth group headed to the coast after lunch on Sunday. We chilled on the beach, ate supper, watched the sunset, and sang some songs. I also ran into a really nice guy named Greg who was carrying a much nice Nikon than mine. We talked for a while, and he shed some light on that very subject.

In this photo there are four home states represented: South Carolina, Pennsylvania, Oregon, and Missouri. Shania is in town to visit family, and Travis will be joining the Gospel Echoes team and moving in with David and me later in September. There’s obviously a mighty northerly gale whipping at the moment.

Every year at the Gospel Echoes auction some kind people near Salem donate a meal to the highest bidder. Through a series of fortunate events, at least for me, I got to go along. The trip includes a ride to the coast in the tour bus, hanging out in some seaside towns, and of course, a meal with four of them. This year it also included a spontaneous stop to a mostly picked over estate sale. But I did snag an old AM radio for a dollar. The food was incredible, and was served to us by about ten people.

Last night some friends (including Brianna and Alisha Mullett who are in town for a few days)  and I went to the state fair. It featured a free (unless you got VIP) Jeremy Camp and MercyMe concert. They were both pretty good. MercyMe was my favorite. Afterwards we bought some tickets and road a mini roller-coaster. Quite thrilling. And then on the way out to the van this energetic worker of the ‘Rock and Roll’ ride beckoned us to hop on free of charge. A good Mennonite does not simply turn down such generosity. And wow. The thrill. The terror. The screaming. The rush of blood to the head.

Here’s a picture of the cool old barn in the Brownsville park.

Javen.

This is the coolest thing I seen today. So I thought I’d paste it in here. If you have fifteen minutes to be encouraged, click the middle.

‘Be strong, all you people of the land,’ and work. ‘For I am with you,’ declares the Lord Almighty. ‘This is what I covenanted with you when you came out of Egypt. And my Spirit remains among you. Do not fear.’ – Haggai 2:4-5

Summer tour has been wrapped up. My good friends have come and gone. Here’s pictures of it all.

Butte, Montana

We had a day where we got to go hike around the falls in Idaho where the Snake river takes a plummet. I forget where these houses were but they really cracked me up. They apparently live in the same house but everyone gets their own colors and stuff. The one with the different size hedge looks straight out of ‘Picture Perfect’

George: ‘Yeah, and here’s a joke for you: I think your pathetic hedges are a violation of the homeowner’s code. ‘

Vickie: Oh my, illegal shrubs. Whatever will I do?’

We parked at Mike’s parents’ house in Canton, Ohio for part of a day. While there they were kind enough to put my name on the cake along with Michelle’s and Abby’s.

We went to the Bruneau Dunes in Idaho. The picture of Mike on the right does have a story. He’s just beginning a valiant charge down the dune. Little does he know scalding, sun-baked sand awaits his tender phalanges. He was thoroughly singed and soon after reported that he’d, ‘had enough sand dunes for forty years.’

some interesting signs..

Collin and Colson came and hung out for about six days. We  really enjoyed the coast. This is Cannon beach..not where I had intended we go..but it was a cool beach nevertheless. I thought we were headed for the place I’d been earlier..turns out there’s more than one place on the Oregon coast with big pointy rocks.

Javen.

Here’s pictures from our week in Goshen. We had a nice meal in a beautiful old barn and then later in the week was the annual ‘all team sing’.

While in Goshen we stayed with Ron and Julie Martin..they took us swimming..

..and fishing with a friend on Lake Michigan..

That night Everett and Charlotte Martin came over and we ate fish. #fresh

A few more from the road..

Javen.