Witnessing Hope

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rOIAwyWrXcI&feature=plcp

Kenz&Darin

Engagement Party

 Love is a splendid thing isn’t it?  When you look into the eyes of someone and somehow you know that you wouldn’t want to spend the rest of your life without this person beside you.  It’s smiles and laughter but also fear because you don’t ever want to loose what you have found.

I walked through the door and felt the warm air surround me. I could hear the loving chatter and the aroma from the kitchen was intoxicating.  I was greeted by the soon to be bride. She led me to the back room where I could put down my equipment, after which she introduced my to the family and of the soon to be groom.

Karolyn and Dan started dating there senior year of high school and have been together ever since, five years, and next November the will exchange vows. Tonight was there engagement party, full of wine and appetizers. Everyone was dressed in formal entire and the fine china was placed on the well-decorated tables. 

They first served their guests vegan soups with rich taste.  After the soup was eaten the introduced the wedding party and gave them T-Shirts that had there wedding title written across the front, best man, maid of honor, and so forth. Next on the agenda was the main course, which was vastly similar to a Thanksgiving feast. 

The night seemed to flow freely after the desert was served. There was laughter, games, and posed soon-to-be-family portraits, the night was as planned and joyous.

Esterlyn

“I will not fear
I will not hide Your love, your love
All of my life
I can not deny your life

And everything comes alive
In my life as we lift You higher
Let Your freedom arise
In our lives as we lift You up
Sing it out
Freedom is here

Your freedom is here
Freedom is here
Your freedom is here”

The song came to an amazing finish and the crowd went wild in approval over Esterlyn’s hit Christian Single Freedom is here.

Coming from Boise, Idaho Esterlyn is a Christian worship/independent rock band that came to Turning Point Open Bible Church for a private concert for the youth group. 

The four handsome band members include Luke Caldwell (vocals and guitar), Tommy Torrez (guitar, keyboard, and vocals), Shawn Myers (bass), and Ryan Tomlinson (drums). In 2006 they signed to Rooster Records where they have recorded their first three albums Lamps (2008), and Mending the Meaning Acoustic EP (2009), and Call Out (2010). Mending the Meaning actually entered the top ten on Itunes! There first hit “We All Need”, has been played on major outlets such as fuse TV, JCTV, 1 Cubed, TVU, The Zone, and MTV’s Latino America. They have toured with Kutless, Disciple, Stellar Kart, and Thousand Foot Krutch (TFK).  Needless to say they are a talented group of musicians.

But back to the night of the private concert, I was tapping my filled moneybag to the beat of the drums in the other room. I was selling tickets at a mere five dollars for those who wanted to see Esterlyn live.

Luke Caldwell

After a while I was released of my duties and rushed to grab my camera so the real fun could began.  Because I was staff I had access to whatever angle I wanted. So I found myself hovering around the stage like a manic fan.  I watched as they sung with passion and true joy. You could tell by the way Luke swayed with his guitar and closed his eyes that this was his passion. He sung because he had a personal relationship with Jesus Christ and he wanted the world to know where he came from. The crowd smiled and listened to the power of his lyrics and began to raise their arms in praise.

Half way through their set, Tommy stopped to talk about his life. The crowd clung to the words coming out of his mouth.  Tommy talked about how he always had a plan for his life and this old girlfriend of his who he was going to marry but it didn’t work out. He said he never thought he would be doing music but he let God change his heart and his life.

Once Tommy was done speaking the band sung a few more songs and then concluded by talking about their merchandise that was for sale. The crowd applauded and screamed as they walked off stage.

Tommy Torrez

As the room emptied and they came back in to pack up. Their wives came in with there kids and it was adorable to see that there wives traveled with them and how excited they where to be with their family’s. I was staking chairs and cleaning garbage during this team and even though the members of the band seemed tired they were full of smiles and kind words.

It truly was a great experience to see a band live, yet see how they were after the concert, and they were genuine, and that is what matters, at lease to me. 

FX Link

The room was empty black chairs and a creative looking stage but loud children’s music was playing to the unfilled room. It was a quarter after six and two boys entered the room and walked up on the stage there they began to practice a simple comic skit that would later be used in the midweek children’s church production. 

Around six thirty kids began to check in and made themselves at home with playground balls and hula-hoops. The laughter and all around craziness of a child’s joy was enough to bring warmth to your heart.  The two boys who had been practicing the skit began to play with the kids or rather the kids began to pull at their shirt tales begging them to pay attention to them.

Around seven o’clock the shorter on the two boys, who had a black foe hawk and may have been Hispanic, gathered all the kids to have their seat.  All the giggling kids ran to the seats and after a few minutes settled down. The Hispanic boy, Tim, told the kids it was time dance and sing, so he asked the kids if they wanted to volunteer to be on stage to help him show the kids the dance moves. The kids’ hands shot up in the air and he picked four people to help him, three girls and one boy, and for the second song he choose three boys and one girl. Tim, the leader, had a big grin on his face exaggerating his movements to excite the kids. The kids laughed and so did he it was obvious that he enjoyed working with kids and his job. It only took me a few seconds before I caught the joy fever and had a smile plastered to my face.

After the kids had sung two songs and danced, Tim had them settle back down and sit in their chairs. At that point he went behind stage and the taller boy, David, went on stage and greeted the kids. Every month they teach the kids a certain virtue and try to instill that value in the kids. This month the virtue was gratitude. David explained what gratitude meant, he said that it was letting others know you see how they’ve helped you. Right after David finished explaining the virtue Tim came out from behind the stage wearing a white karate robe.  And the skit that David and Tim had practice earlier was now in motion. It was about how Tim wanted to take revenge on his coffee barista because he didn’t leave room in the cup to add sugar so he was practicing karate to get back at him. During the skit Tim ever pretended to break a concrete block (which the kids thought was hilarious). But during the skit David reminded Tim that the barista made his coffee everyday and that he never messed up before, he also asked Tim of he was thankful anytime before when the barista made his coffee. In the end Tim remembered that he should be thankful for all the times before when the barista didn’t mess up his coffee and forgiving for the one time he messed up.

After the comic skit the children watched a movie about gratitude and then broke off into small groups to discuss the meaning of being thankful and forgiving.

It was fun to be able to watch this event and see what churches and teaching children today. And what do you know? I too was reminded to be thankful and forgiving.

Halloween with Great Grams

She had spent all day preparing for the trick or treaters and her great granddaughter to come over for dinner.  She put the candy in the bowl counting twelve suckers and twelve boxes of milk duds for exactly twenty-four trick or treaters to come knocking on her door. She cut celery and spread peanut butter on the celery sticks; she also cut up carrots, made her great granddaughter extra cheesy macaroni with fun noodles, and even took the time to bake some lemon bars. It was a wonderfully great effort for a woman in her eighties.

She is my great grandmother, Ardyce LaBrie, she has lived in the house right off of Mission Road since she moved to Spokane from North Dakota many years back. I have so many memories of sitting in her living room as a young child, a living room that has ceased to change.

My great grams gave me a phone call the week before Halloween inviting me for dinner and I offered to help her pass out the treats to the neighborhood kids.

My mother told me that as far back as she could remember my great grandmother loved to have trick-or-treaters come knocking on her door. Seeing all the cute little kids dressed up in their funky costumes and counting how many T&Ters she would have.

After we ate the very special dinner we sat in the living room catching up on life, comparing churches, and reliving old memories. My great grams and I would see the kids through the giant portrait window coming down the street in packs or with there parents and then we would here they famous doorbell ring. Grams would smile and say someone was at the door and I would hand out the candy. One of the neighborhood boys, who happens to be my professors son, takes out my great grandmother’s trash and when he came to the door with his sister she was so excited to see them. It is amazing to see how much joy a kids could bring. Seeing my great grams smile only brought joy to my heart as well. 

Without much candy to give we had to close up shop early but that was fine because it gave us more time to chat without interruption.

Halloween is supposed to be goblins and mischief but for me it was just a humbling time exchanging conversation with the women who is the reason I exist. 

Questions In The Cafeteria

Have you ever seen a movie where the main character is sitting in some crowded place for an extended period of time and while the main character stays stationary the people surrounding him are constantly moving and interchanging?  The filming is done in some sort of time-lapse trance and it is usually when the character is dealing with something.

I hope that makes since and that you can get a visual in your mind because today that character was myself.

I sat in the back left corner of my colleges’ school cafeteria on a ugly purple couch. I watched people walk in and walk out, some alone, others in groups, some franticly scarfing there food, others calmly doing there studies, it was interesting to sit there for a few hours just watching the come and go of it all.

When I walked in and sat down with my coffee I had no intention of photographing what I saw but with my ear buds blaring in my ears I escaped into the depths in my mind and I watched the people and there lives and my hands took over and I was capturing what was there in front of me.

Where is the story in this? Why is this important? If you’re taking the time to ask those questions why don’t you ask yourself why it isn’t important?

I became overcome with thought, the realization that life was happening and it wasn’t stopping, not for me not or for anyone was intense an feeling. It wasn’t stopping for the mother who wanted to further her education to perhaps better enhance her children’s future. It wasn’t stopping for the coffee maker that has worked in the cafeteria for countless months. It wasn’t stopping for the boy and girl sharing the first of many cups of coffee together. Life was around me and the difference in us all was undoubtedly there.

 

It was crazy to think we all inhabited the same room but at the same time we were just bodies filling up a room.

What connected us?

I imagined myself fading into the couch and I wondered if I disappeared if any head would turn. Would the almost couple beside me stop laughing or would the young boy in front on me look up from his text?  I also wondered the same thing about a girl wearing a cute brown jacket to my left if she faded into her bench would I have looked up and noticed?

In life weather we are munching on an apple under a tree or in a cafeteria do we ever take the time to step outside our minds and look at the world around us. I wondered about all the lives around me and I pondered at what made them tick or laugh. Could it be like a child in a sandbox who offers a shovel to the child beside them and suddenly they’re playmates for life… Could I go up to the girl in the cute brown jacket and ask to join her in this culture? Is friendship that simple as the sandbox effect when we grow older?

I walked out of the cafeteria looked over at the girl and thought about commenting on her outfit but in the end, a creature of habit, I simply walked out and carried about my business.  

Maybe next time…

If she has a next time…