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