Thunder Grace the Cover of SI's NBA Preview Issue

Will someone get me a Durant jersey for Christmas?

-Trey

Performance Video

I haven't had a lot of time to blog lately.... I know I know, we're all real busy it's not just me. But finally today I got to do a little casual web surfing and stumbled upon this great parody about cyclists while googling Yakima bike racks... Isn't the web great?



-Trey

Inspiration.

Rockaway Taco, A Selby Film from the selby on Vimeo.

Do what you love. I dare you.

Happy Friday.

Mallory

Dexter McCluster with a great public service announcement about texting and driving.

Lovely Afternoon.

This Saturday I plan on taking baby steps towards my sewing machine. I hope you enjoy your weekend!

Cheers.

Mallory

Friend from the Road

This is an email I received from another transamerican cyclist. We met him in Yellowstone on our first night in the park. We we're cooking dinner when he pulled into camp. We noticed he didn't have much food to eat besides oatmeal so we offered him to join us for spaghetti around the campfire. Steffen was around 25 and was touring from his home state of New York all the way to Washington State. We asked if his family thought he was crazy and he replied, "oh yeah."

Steffen was on the the road to enjoy his last summer before he began medical school. We exchanged information and I had totally forgotten about him until I received his email earlier this week.

Hello friends from the road!

First off, great to meet all of you and thanks for your generosity. People like you made my trip and I am grateful. At every stop along the way, every state, every town, people were welcoming and helpful to me, a total stranger.

The first attached picture is a foggy morning in New York City's Harbor from the southern tip of Manhattan, Battery Park, on the day 1 of my trip, June 14.

I took the "scenic route" from NYC, traveling about 4,000 miles through the northern US and southern Canada. New York, Ontario, Michigan, Wisconsin, Minnesota, South Dakota, Wyoming, Montana, Idaho, Washington. I plodded on through cities old and new, suburbs, small towns, rural villages, the big wheat/corn/soy bean farmlands, smaller produce areas, wine regions, ranch country, frontier country, oil country, mining of every kind, national forests, national parks, the Great Lakes, Land o' Lakes, mountain ranges (that's a BIG plural), a detour to do some proper mountaineering, some high desert, and on and on, and always a stiff headwind out of the west to assure me the trip wouldn't be too easy.

Each place had a unique story to tell and those stories more often than not came when I least expected it. Meeting many of you was a testament to that.


The road going west ended in Port Renfrew, BC, Canada on August 4. The second attached picture's background is the Pacific Ocean from the rugged southwest coast of Vancouver Island. It was a real pain dragging the bike the last hundred yards to the coast but well worth it. I then made my way down to Seattle to spend a few days with old friends, finally taking a plane back east. 7 weeks out, 7 hours back. Next time I might just take the plane both ways... :)

Please pass on my greetings to those in your circles that I met, but don't have email addresses for. If any of you happen to come through my neighborhood in Manhattan, I would certainly extend whatever hospitality I could to you.


Cheers,
Steffen

Day 2 - July 7th 2010

"


I woke up ten minutes to six and took pictures of the river while everyone was sleeping. I love seeing the bikes with all the gear leaning against the giant fir trees. I spent some time in the Word, Psalms 23 took on a whole new life for me. I continue to ask God to reveal himself to me. I pray for wisdom. The rest of the group was up making breakfast around nine. Chris had a broken spoke on his bike and after he replaced the spoke, he realized he had a bigger issue he could not fix. I was thinking to myself how frustrated and angry I would have been had my bike needed repair so early in the trip. On the other hand, Chris never got upset or angry, he simply said, "it looks like I'll be hitching a ride today." God was showing me something here... patience I guess. It's funny, Mallory and I prayed that we would have opportunities to be a light to the rest of the group, but in the instance God was using one of them to teach me something I needed for that day.




The ride on the second day was one of the greatest physical achievements of my life. We climbed over 4000 ft. in 22 miles of riding. I never dreamed I would cross a mountain range on my bicycle, but today I marked the Cascades off my list. Oregon is coming alive as I creep across the landscape on my bike. We climbed for five hours, taking a break every five miles. It was hard but I've been through worse, I feel I have great potential on the bike if I only had an opportunity to compete. The view from the Mckenzie Pass was so breath taking because of the hard work we did to reach the summit. No motorist experienced what we did at the summit that day. I'll never forget the view or what it took to get to the top of that mountain.




It was an easy fifteen miles to the bottom where we stopped in the town of Sisters, Or. for the night. We showered in a park with the water faucet coming from the ground. I took full advantage of this running water because I regretted not bathing in the river the night before. We had a nice dinner in the downtown area and ended up setting our camp up right behind the chamber of commerce on a nice patch of green grass. Hooray for urban camping.

-Trey

Day One

We’re back to continue our blog after a month long hiatus, I hope you can gain perspective of our life on the road. We had the trip of a lifetime and as we begin to process through all that we learned I hope these stories inspire you to live a faith filled existence, one that can only be sustained by the Holy Spirit of God. I’ll start the first of many entries to come with the first day I wrote in the travel journal.

Enjoy!

Day 1 – July 6^th 2010

After weeks of scrambling to prepare, hours of comforting family, and an entire moving-out process, we have finally began what will surely be an amazing journey. I’ve read many inspiring stories about people biking across the country and now I’m living that story. We will go from Eugene Oregon to Tulsa, Oklahoma. Elle, Dez, Chris, Mallory, and myself will be together for the next six to eight weeks. The rest of the group will continue on from Tulsa all the way to Boston, Mass. Mallory and I have not decided if Tulsa will be our final stop with the group; we may continue on to Boston as well. The ride today was beautiful, heading East from Eugene and following along the Mckenzie River for sixty miles until we reached the Mckenzie Bridge, where we set up camp for the night.

That first day seems like a lifetime ago. We had no idea what was in front of us, how we would develop as a group of people, how Mallory and I would come together, how our bodies would adapt to eight hours of biking every day. How our minds would come to terms with the uncertain: life without air conditioning, television, computers, ipods, cell phones, clean clothes, access to showers, time alone, beds and pillows, and our safety. We knew none of these things – and that is exactly why we knew we must embark on this journey. We never planned in our time in Eugene that this is how we would journey back to Oklahoma. However, we had begun to pray that we would have opportunities to live a “faith-filled” life. Because after all - without faith it is impossible to please God.

Having said that, it does not take 35 days of life on the road to live a “faith-filled” life. However, we knew that we would be utterly helpless on this journey without the guiding hand of God. We knew that every single day, every hour, and every minute we would need God to sustain us. When you’re riding a bicycle and all you have is a mere three feet of shoulder while twenty ton trucks whiz by at sixty five miles per hour… you start to pray more frequently then you ever have in your entire life. There would not be days on this trip where we would sit down together while eating dinner and say, “I had an off day today trying to rely completely on the Lord, I just got distracted and didn’t have time to pray or do my devotion in the morning. Tomorrow will be a better day.” That discussion never took place, and we knew the moment we signed up for this trip that the conversation wouldn’t happen. So, as you can see, this trip, while foolish and dangerous and misunderstood by many, was a direct way for God to stretch us continuously without the distraction of everyday life.

- Trey

From Eugene to Boise on the iron horse

One week of riding down and we've gone through one state, a new time zone, and a new perspective on God's creation. The bike allows you to expericene the landscape in ways that you've never imagined. You can feel the climate change after you climb the Mckenzie pass and ride down the other side. You can see the landscape change from lush trees, raging rivers, and high peeks with snow to dry and arid desert. It's real and you do it all with the lungs, heart and legs that God blessed you with. We were made for this and it feels Great! Life changes a bit when you must rely on God for all the small things we take for granted daily. The place we lay our head for the night, good weather, our next meal, friendly people with good intentions, health bodies, wise minds. We've stepped into the unknown and God is the only one we can trust to lead. Thanks to all who are praying daily for our safe travels, we ask that you also pray for God to reveal himself to us more everyday 0n our journey. The names of our other riding mates are; Elle, Dez, and Chris. Pray for them also. Thank you all for your support, we couldn't do it with out you. Sorry I don't have any pictures to share yet.

Love,

Trey and Mallory

There's a hole in my pocket about his size...

Tonight I am spending my evening alone. I have set the evening aside to reminisce about the good ol' days. Tomorrow is father's day and I can't help but wish that mine was going to be different. I keep praying that God will invite me up for a magical breakfast with Him and my dad. If not in the morning then maybe in my dreams. I encourage you to OVER do it tomorrow and celebrate the men in your lives. Shower them with more kisses and compliments than they ever thought they could receive in a day! Happy Father's day to all the Fathers, step-fathers, grandpas, uncles, foster fathers, soon to be fathers, or any men that have chosen to make a difference in the lives of others! We salute YOU!

The Eugene Weekly (a free local paper) had this to say about the market where I work. The article was listed in one of their, "Best of Eugene" issues

Best guilt-free quick mart

With its yin-yang collision of unrepentant 7-11 crap and dogmatic health foody-ism, the New Frontier Market on 8th and Van Buren brilliantly caters to the very worst and very best in our collective nature, as conspicuous and conscientious consumers, respectively. Where else can you grab, all in one five-minute stroll, a pack of cigarettes, a four-dollar bottle of wine and a frozen Frisbee of Totina’s pizza, along with some organically grown local produce, an aromatic stick of Nag Champa and a bottle of enhanced acidophilus milk? Dr. Bronner’s and Dr. Pepper, Karl Marx and Adam Smith, all frolicking within arm’s reach: It’s the American Dream made manifest, an earthly realm of guilt-free bargain hunting where flax seed oil and Necco wafers live in perfect symbiosis and happy harmony. New Frontier Market, 1101 W. 8th Ave.; 345-7401.




We had this posted in a little corner of our store and I saw it for the first time last night while working. I thought it was a fairly accurate description, although I had to come home and do some google searches on about half of the things their talking about.

Not that this is valuable information to anyone....

-Trey

Train: days 1-5

I'll run down the train ride that Mallory, Clint, and myself set out on a few weeks ago. It literally took us Monday through Friday to get from OKC to Eugene on the Train. We departed OKC at 8:20 am and arrived in San Antonio at 9:00 pm. We had a layover in San Antonio until 4:00am that morning, so the three of us set out to explore the Riverwalk. We had a great time eating some authentic Mexican food (we don't have any in the northwest) and then spent a few hours sitting at a picnic table near the train talking about life, god, and politics. We climbed back on the train around two in the morning. While we were sleeping the train departed for Arizona, however, we did not make it that far. Around 7:00 am the conductor came over the loud speaker and said the tracks ahead were damaged from a storm the night before and that the train would be heading back to San Antonio. I was in a sleepy daze during this time and didn't bother asking questions. Sure enough the next time I woke up I was in the exact same spot as the night before.


We were told the train would be delayed 8-10 hours and if we wished we could board a bus that would go non-stop (except for food & fuel) to L.A. That's only a 24 hour bus ride! The three of us debated and decided not to waste an entire day waiting on the train so we climbed on the nice bus. However after the bus filled to the brim with overweight, cranky, weary travelers (some with small crying children) we made a better decision and put our stuff back on the train and set our for eight hours of exploring southern Texas.



Here is a great photo of Mallory posing front and center of the Alamo all alone. Maybe it's normal to stand in front of a national historical site and not have anyone else in the frame but I'm guessing this was a rare opportunity.





So it's now Tuesday afternoon and all all we've accomplished is actually getting further away from our final destination. We boarded the train again and it departed around seven or eight that evening. We got to see some great scenery heading west trough Texas. It's amazing how the climate goes from this lush tropical jungle looking thing, to the desert in a matter of hours. We went to sleep that night and when we woke up..... WE WERE STILL IN TEXAS! What misery! We finally came to New Mexico and only spent of few hours traveling through the southwestern most part of the state. We traveled right along the boarder of Mexico. It was amazing to be so close to a small imaginary line that separated devastating poverty from immense wealth. We made a stop in Tucson Arizona for about a half an hour. The train station in Tucson was top notch. There was a great little market we rummaged through and picked up some grub and other snacks. There was a great pavilion with bars and restaurants and people sitting outside in the sweet weather enjoying drinks and conversations. We were tempted to call it a day and set up a home base in Tucson. However we boarded the train for a another ten hours or so until we finally arrived in L.A. late Wednesday night. Amtrack set us up in the hotel for the night because of the delay in San Antonio. We didn't have much energy but we went out exploring L.A. anyway. We found our way back to the hotel after about an hour or two of walking around the scary dark city. We were all thinking about the real beds calling our name. After three nights sleeping in the upright position using a pillow the size of a paper back book I don't think even a city like Paris could have kept us out all night.



The next morning we grabbed a quick shower, a hot cup of coffee, and tasty bagel and climbed on board the train for the last 28 hours along the beautiful Pacific coast. It's a shame we were so utterly drained from travel that we couldn't really experience the coast the way we wanted. Nevertheless the view from the observation car was like being in a Wes Anderson film. The next morning we woke up we were in moving through southern Oregon. As we approached the mountains the scenery began represent something majestic out of fantasy novel. Sheer beauty I can't even began to explain or a picture could even do the slightest bit of justice.

We spent the next three days doing our best to show Clint the uniqueness that embodies Eugene, Oregon. We rented him a bike (this was necessary as Mallory and I are now car free), fed him as much organic food as he could handle, pounded it into his brain that he must lock his bike up in all situations or it WILL be taken, took him on a few hikes here in town, and took him to one of the art cinemas for a movie. He had the opportunity to meet the folks in our church and also to attend a Lamb Cottage service. We ended up spending more time on the train than in Eugene but we all agreed that one day we'll look back on the entire experience and smile.


-Trey

If this doesn't make you smile a bit, you don't have a pulse

OK Go: This Too Shall Pass



and if you thought that was cool check out this version....

Panaramic View

Mallory and I had the amazing opportunity to watch the first two days of the 2010 Outdoor Track and Field National Championships at Historic Hayward Field. A friend offered us his seats that are 13 rows up on the finish line. This is the equivalent of sitting on the 50 yard line at the Super Bowl. This is the biggest track meet of the year at the most revered facility in the nation. Yesterday we got to watch 1 of 3 athletes representing Oklahoma State University. John Kosgei placed second in the 10,000 meters (6.32 miles) with a time of 28:55.93. We got to talk to the coach from Oklahoma State after the race, it was great to see some familiar faces wearing orange and black.

-Trey & Mallory

I love spending my days falling in love with Trey.

-Mallory

Clean White LOVE.

I hope your weekend is full of train riding, letter scribbling, friend loving, cartwheel doing, bubble blowing, umbrella holding fun. (or whatever gets your heart pumping!)

Happy weekend everyone!

Much love...Mallory

All systems go

We bought Mall0ry's Bike Friday this week. We now have two human-powered machines capable of delivering us from Oregon to Oklahoma in a few months. We are making it official with this post - we're selling our truck and setting off on a bike tour in August down the pacific coast and across the south west of America until we arrive in Oklahoma.

Here are the details for those of you with questions and concerns: As many of you know we are visiting home in less than a week and during that trip we are going to bring an entire truckload of our belonging with us. We're taking almost everything we brought to Oregon back home - clothes, dishes, t.v., stereo, etc. The second part to our plan involves leaving our truck in Oklahoma to be sold. This accomplishes a couple of things; obviously we have taken the truck off our hands and when it sells it will refund the money we spent on our new bicycles. To get back to Oregon we take the train. Now all that is left to do is get by for a few months with the bare minimum. We we pack our bikes to begin our trip and anything that is not necessary will be shipped home in a box and we're free!


View Larger Map

But how long will it take, where will you sleep, how will you eat, how many miles did you say that was on a bike?

We are assuming it will takes us about two months to complete the journey but because we don't have jobs, mortgages, or other responsibilities we don't have a set time table. We will have sleeping bags and a tent packed with us, also we will utilize the "warm showers list" which is a website dedicated to bicycle tourist. People who are apart of the site are all bike tourists themselves and they open up their homes for showers, meals, and possibly beds.

We plan on eating food from supermarkets and a steady dose of snickers and gatorade. The trip is going to be 2,365 miles long and maybe longer if we alter our route to check out some national parks or something.

I know we'll be explaining this a thousand times when we get home but I hope this builds a decent understanding of our goals.

P.S. The bike photo isn't Mallory's actual bike, just the same model.

-Trey

This picture is a "snapshot" of Carson growing up with a brother that was 10 years older than him. He spent a lot of time flying through the air with a big grin on his face, sometimes followed by some crying but never for very long. Somehow he was always ready for another round.

-Trey

Eternity is now in Flight

A guy in the church handed me another book that he says is a "must read". It may be a must read but at four hundred pages it won't be an easy read. It's giving me the business right off the bat - so I know it's going to challenge previously held beliefs. I hope it does, that's just what I need. Here is a few paragraphs

"My hope is to gain a fresh hearing for Jesus, especially among those who believe they already understand him. In his case, quite frankly, presumed familiarity has led to unfamiliarity, unfamiliarity has led to contempt, and contempt has led to a profound ignorance."

I had to bust out the dictionary (dictionary.com) to help me understand that a little better so I'll hook you up with some free definitions.

"My hope is to gain a fresh (new; not previously known) hearing for Jesus, especially among those who believe they already understand him. In his case, quite frankly, presumed (to take for granted, assume, or suppose) familiarity (thorough knowledge or mastery of a thing, subject, etc.) has led to unfamiliarity, unfamiliarity has led to contempt (willful disobedience to or open disrespect), and contempt has led to profound ignorance."

Here is another -

"More than any other single thing, in any case, the practical irrelevance of actual obedience to Christ accounts for the weakened effect of Christianity in the world today, with its increasing tendency to emphasize political and social action as the primary way to serve God."

Growing up in the "Bible belt" was a blessing. However, my claim to Christianity met little, if any, resistance among my peers. Living in one of the most unchurched parts of the country, on the other hand, has opened my eyes to a strong distaste for Christ by many many people. Moreover, many people consider the faith a joke. Literally. I certainly had a hard time with this for a while and on many occasions found myself fuming with all kinds of bitter feelings when I would overhear blatant disregard for the faith. Thankfully I learned that kicking people in the shins is not something God needs me to do in order to defend him, in fact, he doesn't need defending at all, He can not be any more or any less than He already is, regardless of people presumptions about him. Nevertheless, I cant' help but sympathize with the non-believers out here; they are only basing their assumptions on what they have witnessed to be others claims of Christianity. And if Christians don't need to follow, obey, and live by the teachings of Christ in order to "make it" in life, then maybe their right, it sounds like a joke to me too.

Look at this -

"However, actual discipleship or apprenticeship to Jesus is, in our day, no longer thought of as in any way essential to faith in him. It is regarded as a costly option, a spiritual luxury, or possibly even an evasion. Why bother with discipleship, it is widely thought, or, for that matter, with a conversational relationship with God? Let us get on with what we have to do."

And one more -

"This third book, then, presents discipleship to Jesus as the very heart of the gospel. The really good news for humanity is that Jesus is now taking students in the master class of life. The eternal life that begins with confidence in Jesus is a life in his present kingdom, now on earth and available to all. So the message of and about him is specifically a gospel for our life now, not just for dying. It is about living now as his apprentice in kingdom living, not just as a consumer of his merits. Our future, however far we look, is a natural extension of the faith by which we live now and the life in which we now participate. Eternity is now in flight and we with it, like it or not."

A few months ago on a Sunday night when we were studying John, our Pastor said, "when you take that initial step of faith to follow Christ, your eternity begins NOW." When I heard that, I about fell out of my chair. I had never heard anyone say that. I had never thought of my eternity like that. It's a game changing thought, it doesn't make life easier, but it changes things for sure. For to long I liked the idea of buying into Jesus for the whole eternal life in heaven thing. But let's face it, I wasn't pursuing anything that had to do with Christ. That's crazy, because this idea says to me - even though I'm alive physically if I'm separated from God by my own Choice, my eternity begins now... without God.

The book is

The Divine Conspiracy: Discovering Our Hidden Life in God

Dallas Willard

Oklahoma here we come.

-Trey

Relevant Magazine

I discovered a magazine that I'm sure many of you are already familiar with, It's called Relevant. The sub-title is - God. Life. Progressive Culture. I've been checking them out at the library recently when the musical artist on the front cover strikes my interest. They've had The Kings of Leon, Wilco, and Jack White on the front just to name a few. I dig it so much because I'm into that music, but when I start reading the articles they are just so, well..... relevant. Its also nice to flip through a magazine and not see scantly-clothed women right next to the article I'm trying to enjoy. I could ramble on about the magazine for days but instead I'll leave you with something that knocked me on my rear-end. Here's the link... Gluttony

If you wish to finish the article I'm going to type the rest out. That link only has the first half (I'm sure for copyright issues) so here is the rest.

* Again, the following is the remainder of the article that can be read by clicking the Gluttony link above.

Fragrance
Every building associated with my wedding has been gutted or leveled. The church where we were married is now a daycare. The city removed our reception hall and built an ice rink in its place. The university we attended bought my wife's home and made it a parking lot. Everything about our world that day has been torn down and replaced with something else. It's a telling picture of what happens in marriage. When we marry, we enter a new life. Our old life was meaningful and valuable, but it gets taken apart and united with another. The two truly do become one. My moods become her moods, my dreams become her dreams, my keys become her keys. Marriage is a total union. When we unite with our beloved, we become something fundamentally different.

The Scriptures use marriage as a picture of our relationship to God. Jesus referred to himself as a bridegroom, and His ministry is likened to a wedding feast filled with new wine, where no one fasts. One of the Bible's last images is of a wedding where the faithful have made themselves ready and are united to God forever in the age to come.

When Jesus said the kingdom of heaven is at hand, we should read this as, "The wedding has commenced." Empty humanity is being fundamentally reconnected with God. People from all over the world are entering the chapel halls, and all four Gospel writers tell a similar story to show what the wedding looks like.

Three days before Jesus' death, a young woman named Mary pulled our her only treasure and broke it at his feet. The jar filled with very expensive perfume had been her mother's. It was the last thing she had to remember her by. It may have been her grandmother's, perhaps even her great-grandmother's. The jar was her ancestry, and she had probably hoped to give it to a daughter of her own.

More than anything else, the jar was her future. It held the precious perfume, representing Mary's ability to gain a husband. Without the jar, she would have to live with her brother for the rest of her years. Without it, she would become an object of mockery at gatherings. Her lack of a husband would ring loudly in her mind as she entered the synagogue or observed celebrations and holidays alone. Without the jar and its contents, no one would see her as beautiful. No one would desire her. We might say that in the jar were Mary's identity, her status and all her hopes of being united to a good man.

The house was full when Mary entered. Her brother Lazarus, was reclining at the table with Jesus. The disciples sat with one another, excited about the festival and the impending revolution. Mary approached Jesus, and as she looked into His eyes, she broke the jar, pouring the precious perfume over his head. The party hushed as the room filled with the exquisite fragrance. Mary then let down her hair - shaming herself, her brother and her family - and began wiping Jesus' feet with the oils. Everyone watched. No one approved.

One man spoke for all, calling the act a waste. But Jesus silenced them. "Leave her alone. She has done a beautiful thing to me. She has prepared my body for burial." His words pierced the gathering - not because of the rebuke but because everyone believed Jesus would soon take the throne of Israel.

But Mary seemed to know what everyone else did not. The man who had done so much for her would soon die, and her knowledge made the gift even more profound. By breaking the jar, Mary wrote our her future as one consisting of a life of poverty, scorn, and loneliness. She chose to die for the sake of the soon-to-be-dead man before her. But the jar, which represented her future union with a good man, fulfilled its true purpose. In dying to herself, Mary was united to Christ.

Christ means "anointed one," and it was in this act of total self-giving love that the anointing took place. Mary's anointing of Jesus was not done by mere holy oils; the anointing of Jesus was done with an object fully representing the whole life of one who loved Jesus

The picture is one of Jesus and His church. This picture is one of the life of heaven - humanity united to God.

When Jesus said, "Blessed are those who are persecuted because of righteousness, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven," this is the image He had in mind. Whereas the gluttonous unite themselves to what will ultimately kill them, the persecuted, having been united to Christ, give up even what they need for the sake of their beloved. Those who are persecuted are blessed with union with God for they experience the hardship of a lover.



Eden was union with god, but Adam and Eve sought divorce. Through the cross, Jesus restored Eden's beauty and initiated anew proposal to everyone to be wed again.

Pride longs for applause, but gluttony needs to be a diva. Envy covets what other have, but gluttony counts every insignificant detail. It is not enough to be slothful; gluttony abandons virtue in excess. Gluttony is salt when the greedy taste their spoils. One million dollars isn't enough; it must be 10 million. Five-year-old wine isn't good enough; it must be 15 years old. Lust wants another woman; gluttony wants them all. Wrath wants revenge; gluttony wants the infliction of it to be creatively painful. At its most demonic, gluttony amplifies the other sins, enhancing their self-destructive power.

The question of gluttony and the persecuted is a question of marriage. What am I united to? What will I give everything for? The glutton's answer comes through addictive behaviors. Though we may say our first love is for God or for a set of human beings, our actions tell the real story. The glutton sells her soul for another hit, another car, another round of trivial pleasures, a forbidden fruit. The persecuted, on the other hand, gives even what she needs for the sake of her lover.

In 1 Corinthians 13, Paul ends his brilliant painting of love with this: "For now we see only a reflection as in a mirror; then we shall see face to face. now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I am fully known. And now these three remain: faith , hope, and love. But the greatest of these is love" (TNIV).

The love Paul described is the love shared between Jesus and his church.

We live in the time of trials, where we may be and often are forsaken by those we care about. We may loose friends and what we need for the sake of Jesus, but we also hear a distantly familiar voice: Do you believe? Do you commit? Do you unite? And soon, like the blind who see the face of their beloved for the first time, we will enter life where we are united with God forever.

-Jeff Cook is the author of Seven: The Deadly Sins of the Beatitudes
He teaches philosophy at the University of Northern Colorado

I'll follow up in a later blog about the impact the article the had on me and maybe I'll hear a little bit from some of you out there... in blog reader world - or something like that.

-Trey

My New Wheels

So I bought my Bike Friday tonight, I'm excited to say the least. This bad boy is going to bring me home from Oregon. I just need to find Mallory one now.

-Trey

Disclaimer: I am NOT pregnant

A Harvest Story.

I started reading in Matthew on my way to Oklahoma in February and I came across a passage called the Harvest Story. In this passage Jesus is telling a story about a farmer and explaining to the people that when the seed is spread it can't land on the road because the birds will eat it, it can't land in the weeds because they will strangle it but it has to be intentionally spread on the good earth so that it can produce a HARVEST beyond their wildest dreams. As strange as it seems at that moment God told me that Trey and I will one day have a precious little girl and that we are to name her Harvest. It sounds crazy...I know but I can't wait to meet her...I know that she will be something special.

-Mallory

Authors Note

IF YOU WATCHED a movie about a guy who wanted a Volvo and worked for years to get it, you wouldn't cry at the end when he drove off the lot, testing the windshield wipers. You wouldn't tell your friends you saw a beautiful movie or go home and put a record on to think about the story you'd seen. The truth is, you wouldn't remember that movie a week later, except you'd feel robbed and want your money back. Nobody cries at the end of a movie about a guy who wants a Volvo.

But we spend years actually living those stories, and expect our lives to feel meaningful. The truth is, if what we choose to do with our lives won't make a story meaningful, it won't make a life meaningful either. Here's what I mean by that...

-Donald Miller
A Million Miles In A Thousand Years

Our first Hayward Field Track Meet

Saturday Mallory and I went to the University of Oregon's first home track meet of the 2010 season.

Although we've been to the track several times and have even ran on the track it was very surreal to attend a real track meet at the historic venue.

The Ducks men and women teams took first over top rank Texas A&M in front of 5,312 fans.

We're looking forward to the NCAA National Championships that will be held at Hayward Field as well in a few months. We'll most likely have a chance to cheer on the OSU Cowboys too.

Pecan sticky buns

Mallory's made from scratch pecan sticky buns.

Could you even second guess our coffee house business when you see things like this?

Introducing Mr. Arnold...

Check out the newest addition to our future business. Mallory found this 80 year old milk shake blender at an antique store in downtown Eugene. They don't make things like this anymore, it weighs about 45lbs and still runs like a top after all those years. One day you'll see this baby in action.



-Trey

I have a 7 a.m. apointment tomorrow

I got a call tonight from the owner of One Cup, he asked if I would like to come in tomorrow morning and help him roast beans. I told him I'd have to check my schedule first... turns out I'm free. I couldn't be more blessed. Under normal circumstances I don't get that phone call. However, I truly believe God's had his hands all over it.

Let me give you 7 degrees of my One Cup phone call:

1) Mallory and I move to Oregon in search of coffee experience.
2) After a few months of church hopping, Mallory engages in conversation with a guy during running group because he has a cut under his eye.
3) Turns out Drew (guy from running group) moved to Eugene as a church plant from Indiana and Invites us to his "house church".
4) Mallory and I become apart of Awakening Church.
5) Awaking Church came to Eugene to serve. However, upon arrival they did not have a specific mission from God. They soon learned is would be to serve the people on the fringes of society in the most unchuched county in America.
6) The Church is connected with Pastor David, A.K.A the street pastor through a local food bank. David came to Eugene with a church plant that ended up disbursing 15 years ago. However, David continued to serve the homeless of Eugene by feeding people out of the back of his truck and later starting a service at the Lamb Cottage (I emailed many of you about this service) where our church is a major contributor each week.
7) David's Daughter and Son-in-law own One Cup Cafe.

Mallory and I felt peace when I quit my job over a week ago and although I currently do not have "job offer" we are certain God is looking out for us and knows the desire of our heart.

-Trey

Mallory is a puzzler

It's midnight and just look at my wife; cute as can be working hard on a thousand piece puzzle. She's been at it for over a week and she's drawing near the completion and all I've done is move the thing from the middle of the table to the end as to create some more space.

Those are her new savage eye glasses by the way.

-Trey

Picture of the Day

-A rainbow stretches over Dorena Lake east of Cottage Grove, one of several area reservoirs where water levels have risen due to recent storms.

This was on the Register Guard (Eugene Newspaper) website as the "picture of the day." Anybody want to come visit Oregon?

-Trey

The Flip Side

I went to the library today to check out a book by the President of the Sierra Club, Michael Bruce, titled Coming Clean: Breaking America's Addiction to Oil and Coal. As I pulled the book off the shelf I noticed the title of the book sitting directly next to it. Gusher of Lies: The Dangerous Delusions of "Energy Independence" by Robert Bryce.

Some of you may know that I have advocated plans by people like Boone Pickens who stress energy independence as Americas most obvious solution to the economy, terrorism, and global warming. I'm interested to understand this mans argument that says those energy independence plans are "hog wash".




p.s. If you listen closely to the video when he starts naming cities around the world where you can find the price of a barrel of oil you'll notice he mentions Cushing... He's talking about Cushing, Oklahoma! Cushing is a major hub in oil supply connecting the Gulf Coast suppliers with northern consumers. Cushing is famous as a price settlement point for West Texas Intermediate on the New York Mercantile Exchange (NYMEX) and has been cited as the most significant trading hub for crude oil in North America. I pulled that from Wikipedia but it was something I actually learned in school.

-Trey

Day Three Unemployment

The beginning of the week has been full of a lot of adult business. Bank, post office, doctor visit, car mechanics, Fed Ex, and the grocery store. Now that I'm on day three of unemployment, I can start the real job search. This job search is the best kind because there are no resumes, no interviews, and no suit and tie. My goal here is to go into One Cup (where I hope to be hired) and just spend time reading and drinking coffee. I've already had two encounters with the owner and he now knows my name. This is crucial, people rarely hire you in this town if they don't know you. Here is their myspace page where you can check out some photos.

In other news, my best friend Clint Pitcock just booked at flight home from Oregon. Why does he have a one way ticket from Oregon to Oklahoma you ask? Well, When Mallory and I visit in May he is going to ride the train with us back to Oregon. The dude is a champion, I gave him some dates and that same day he booked a flight. Sounds like true freedom to me. Clint has been living a servants life for the past nine months at Teen Challenge, being an example to young men who need direction. He's not doing it for the money (I don't think he gets paid), not for fame (most of his old friends don't even know where he is), and not for success (at least not by the world's standards). He's there serving because God would have him doing nothing less.

Here is an off-the-subject excerpt from The Knowledge of the Holy by A.W. Tozar

Science observes how the power of God operate, discovers a regular pattern somewhere and fixes it as a "law." The uniformity of God's activities in His creation enables the scientist to to predict the course of natural phenomena. The trustworthiness of God's behavior in His world is the foundation of all scientific truth. Upon it the scientists rests his faith and from there he goes on to achieve great and useful things in such fields as those of navigation, chemistry, agriculture, and the medical arts.

Religion, on the other hand, goes back of nature to God. It is concerned not with the footprints of God along the paths of creation, but with the One who treads those paths. Religion is interested primarily in the One who is the source of all things, the master of every phenomenon.

-Trey

Story of Bottled Water

I've been waiting for a few months for the new "Story of Stuff" video to come out. It's call the Story of Bottled Water and while it's not quite as powerful as the Story of Stuff it's just as fascinating. I'll post the a few other videos as well.






The Story of Cap & Trade



and in case you haven't see then Story of Stuff in a while



-Trey

Spring Butterflies

Mallory spent her day off yesterday cutting out sixty five little butterflies. It was time well spent because she pasted them to the living room wall and it looks like a photo right out of a magazine.

Happy Wednesday,

- Trey

Sounds like dude was right on

If you want to make enemies, try to change something. ~Woodrow Wilson

Health Reform Perspective

Whatever your opinion is on Health Care Reform - let's not forget how blessed we are in this country. So many others are not nearly as fortunate and while the new legislation may have a negative impact on you in monetary form, at least we can all rest easy that if disaster struck and you or a loved one was injured, you wouldn't be making decisions about having to amputate a broken leg or an arm for lack of medical infrastructure.

-Trey

And God saw that it was good

When man turns his back on the creator's plan, he provokes a disorder which has inevitable repercussions on the rest of the created order. If man is not at peace with God, then the earth itself cannot be at peace: "Therefore the land mourns and all who dwell in it languish, and also the beasts of the field and the birds of the air and even the fish of the sea are taken away" (Hos 4:3)

The profound sense that the earth is "suffering" is also shared by those who do not profess our faith in God. Indeed, the increasing devastation of the world of nature is apparent to all. It results from the behavior of people who show a callous disregard for the hidden, yet perceivable requirements of the order and harmony which govern nature itself.

People are asking anxiously if it is still possible to remedy the damage which has been done. Clearly, an adequate solution cannot be found merely in a better management or a more rational use of the earth's resources, as important as these may be. Rather, we must go to the source of the problem and face in its entirety that profound moral crisis of which the destruction of the environment is only one troubling aspect.

Certain elements of today's ecological crisis reveal its moral character. First among these is the indiscriminate application of advances in science and technology. many recent discoveries have brought undeniable benefits to humanity. Indeed, they demonstrate the nobility of the human vocation to participate responsibility in God's creative action in the world. Unfortunately, it is now clear that the application of these discoveries in the fields of industry and agriculture have produced harmful long-term effects. This has led to the painful realization that we cannot interfere in one area of the ecosystem without paying due attention both to the consequences of such interference in other areas and to the well being of future generations.

The gradual depletion of the ozone layer and the related "greenhouse effect" has now reached crisis proportions as a consequence of industrial growth, massive urban concentrations and, vastly increased energy needs. Industrial waste, the burning of fossil fuels, unrestricted deforestation, the use of certain types of herbicides, coolants and propellants: all of these are known to harm the atmosphere and environment. The resulting meteorological and atmospheric changes range from damage to health to the possible future submersion of low-lying lands.

While in some cases the damage already done may well be irreversible, in many other cases it can still be halted. It is necessary, however, that the entire human community - individuals, States and international bodies - take seriously the responsibilities that is theirs.

The most profound and serious indication of the moral implication underlying the ecological problem is the lack of respect for life evident in many of the patterns of environmental pollution. Often, the interests of production prevail over concern for the dignity of workers, while economic interests take priority over the good of individuals and even entire peoples. In these cases, pollution or environments destruction is the result of an unnatural and reductionist vision which at times leads to a genuine contempt for man.

On another level, delicate ecological balances are upset by the uncontrolled destruction of animal and plant life or by a reckless exploitation of natural resources. It should be pointed out that all of this, even if carried out in the name of progress and well being, is ultimately to mankind's disadvantage.

Respect for life, and above all for the dignity of the human person, is the ultimate guiding norm for any sound economic, industrial, or scientific progress.


-Pope John Paul II

January 1, 1990, Vatican City

It's hard to believe that speech was given when I was only 5 years old and the story is unchanged today. I guess you could take the positions that we have been warned about the consequences of human interference with the environment for the last several decades and nothing has happened yet, so why believe a word these "liberal scientists" say now. But that would make you like the person who says, "I've smoked my whole life and I haven' t had a single major health issue ever." The science is proven that cigarette smoke is unhealthy and the science is also proven that man made carbon emissions have done irreversible damage to the atmosphere and overall stability of the planet. Just because the climate change issue has been morphed into a partisan issue (which it's not) doesn't mean you must challenge the science behind it (without doing your own real research) because the majority of the those who backup the climate change science may not share your faith in God.

I find it interesting when snow falls in the mid-west during the early spring months that climate change deniers come out of the woodwork with their Facebook posts like, "global warming huh? That must explain all this snow we're getting in March" I get it, snow and the phrase global warming don't fit inside some peoples simple mind so they use it as an excuse to use as many resources as they want because it's their right and so on. But let's not ignore all the (un)natural disasters that are happening all around the world every month.

I'll simply suggest that we all consider our individual impact on God's creation. Let's examine what we consume everyday out of sheer habit and see if there is anywhere we can simply consume less. I think you'll find it freeing. Every dollar we spend is like casting a vote, change happens a lot quicker when we vote with our money then when we watch the "talking heads" on the television tell us how to live and think.

I know this fight isn't for everyone but please don't write it off for the wrong reasons. I promise, when you start to take a real look at the issue you'll find there are a lot more "right" reasons to care for the creation.

"Enter through the narrow gate. For wide is the gate and broad is the road that leads to destruction, and many enter through it. But small is the gate and narrow the road that leads to life, and only a few find it."

-Mathew 7:13

We (Christians) don't do things differently from the world because it's cool or fun to be different, but because we're called to. I read somewhere that during Jesus' ministry he never used a mode of transportation other than walking except for once.... the day he road a donkey into Jerusalem while the crowds shouted, "Hosanna in the highest!" A far cry from how a typical king in that day would have rolled into town.

- Trey

Oktapodi

Currently Listenling to

Led Zeppelin
Led Zeppelin II

Every man lives by faith, the nonbeliever as well as the saint

Every man lives by faith, the nonbeliever as well as the saint; the one by faith in natural laws and the other by faith in God. Every man throughout his entire life constantly accepts without understanding, The most learned sage can be reduced to silence with one simple question, "What?" The answer to that question lies forever in the abyss of unknowing beyond any man's ability to discover. "God understandeth the way thereof, and he knoweth the place thereof ," but mortal man never.

Thomas Carlyle, following Plato, pictures a man, a deep pagan thinker, who had grown to maturity in some hidden cave and is brought out suddenly to see the sun rise. "What would his wonder be," exclaims Carlyle, "his rapt astonishment at the sight we daily witness with indifference! With the free, open sense of a child, yet with the ripe faculty of a man, his whole heart would be kindled by that sight... This green flowery rock built earth, the tress, the mountains, rivers, many-sounding seas; that great deep sea of azure that swims overhead; the winds sweeping through it; the black cloud fashioning itself together, now pouring out fire, now hail and rain; what is it? Ay, what? At bottom we do not yet know; we can never know at all."

How different are we who have grown used to it, who have become jaded with a satiety of wonder. "It is not by our superior insight that we escape the difficulty," says Carlyle, "it is by our superior levity, our inattention, our want of insight. It is by not thinking that we cease to wonder at it... We call that fire of the black thundercloud 'electricity,' and lecture learnedly about it, Whence comes it? Whither goes it? Science has done much for us; but it is a poor science that would hide from us the great deep sacred infinitude of Nescience, whither we can never penetrate, on which all science and sciences, is still a miracle; wonderful, inscrutable, magical and more, to whosoever will think of it."

These penetrating, almost prophetic, words were written more than a century ago (a century and a half now), but not all the breath-taking advances of science and technology since that time have invalidated one word or rendered obsolete as much as one period or comma. Still we do not know. We save face by repeating frivolously the proper jargon of science. We harness the mighty energy that rushes through our world ; we subject it to fingertip control in our cars and our kitchens; we make it work for us like Aladdin's jinn, but still we do not know what it is. Secularism, materialism, and the intrusive presence of things have put out the light in our souls, and turned us into a generation of zombies. We cover our deep ignorance with words, but we are ashamed to wonder, we are afraid to whisper "mystery"

-A.W. Tozar



I'm putting my two weeks notice in at work today. I don't have any jobs lined out but Mallory and I can get by on one income until something comes up. I may have the opportunity to volunteer at a local coffee house that roasts their own beans, it would be such an awsome experience! I will also be able to give more of my time in other ways to people in need. Pray that we walk in faith in this situation. We didn't take much time over analyzing the whole thing, we just felt peace about it.

-Trey

Monroe Steet Cafe

Mallory and I went to an "open mic night" at a neighborhood cafe last night. It was quite the experience. It's a tiny place, it was packed, and people just kept coming in. We saw some great acts; spoken word, poetry by guys and gals, old men, middle aged women, we heard a song that sounded strait out of a bar in Ireland, songs from people who look too shy to talk but brought the house down, and one guy played a hand made drum from Switzerland called a hang drum (pronounced hung). It was one of our coolest and most unique experiences in Oregon so far.

I leave you with a paragraph from The Forgotten God:

No matter where you live and what your days look like, you have the choice each day to depend on yourself, to live safely, and to try to control your life. Or you can live as you were created to live - as a temple of the Holy Spirit of God, as a person dependent on Him, desperate for God the Spirit to show up and make a difference. When you begin living a life characterized by walking with the Spirit, that is when people will begin to look not to you but to our Father in heaven and give him the praise. - Chan

-Trey

Finally, someone with a challenge

Mat's first shirt

Mat (my sisters b/f) started a T-shirt company out of his house and this is the first shirt they put together for a paying customer.

If you have any t-shirt needs get in touch with me and I'll set you up with Mat.

-Trey