WARNING: A FRIEND TOLD ME TO PUT THIS WARNING UP. THIS IS A VERY LONG POST, AND YOU MAY WANT TO PRINT IT OUT, AND USE IT AS BATHROOM READING, OR WHILE YOU ARE WAITING AT THE DOCTORS OFFICE. ENJOY!
As I woke up this morning at 6:30, I heard the birds waking up shortly before the sun was about to rise. It was the first night I got to spend the night back in my “bed” in almost two weeks. It was so nice to be back, and be in a familiar place, and it helped me sleep better because it was familiar. But I woke, reluctantly, rolled out of bed and went and ate some breakfast. As I ate, I could only reflect on the last week and a half, and all that God had done in my life. It was almost so much, that I could barely keep up with everything He was teaching me.
Last week, I had the opportunity to go to Florida with some friends for spring break. I was worried about my financial situation with my trip coming up and bills having to be paid until then, but I felt a peace from God saying its ok to go. So I packed a bag and went. I had my reservations, but the week turned out to be amazing.
Aunt Mel, the incredible woman who let us stay at her house in Florida, is one of the greatest blessings God has brought in to my life. She took such good care of me, and all of us, that the financial burden I was worried about was relieved, and all I had to do was focus on others, relax, and spend a week reflecting on where I am in life and where my relationship with the Lord is. I couldn’t have asked for a more relaxing week. My biggest worry the whole week was whether or not I had enough sun screen on so I wouldn’t get fried. We spent the majority of every day on the beach, relaxed and swam.
Wednesday, some guys came to visit for a little while and went to the beach with us. Although I hadn’t met any of them before, we quickly struck up conversations and enjoyed each others conversations. We played volleyball, soccer, and they shared there run in with the law on their way down to visit. It was an awesome day that turned out to be spent with some great guys, and the day, unfortunately, went by faster than I would have liked.
Wednesday also brought another unexpected turn for the worse. I have been having knee problems for a while. My IT band in my left knee is basically raw and inflamed because of all the running I have been doing the last six months. It can be an annoying pain, but Wednesday, it became much worse. While I was in the ocean, a big wave hit me, and for whatever reason it affected my knee drastically. It was so bad I could barely walk. To be honest, I was extremely frustrated because my dad, my friend Pete and I have been training for a marathon, and I already was way behind on my training because of my knee. This was just another huge setback with the marathon less than 3 weeks away. I didnt know what to do, but I am determined to get ready for this marathon however I can.
Thursday morning I got a text from my best friend Pete, saying he had an interview in Florida, and wanted to know if I would like to ride along with him and keep him company. My immediate reaction was that I wanted to get back and be home and just be able to get back in my routine. I closed and opened that text about 50 times that day, about to type a response, but couldn’t make a decision. I finally prayed and thought and decided that home and routine were dumb, and I could stretch a few more days with the coolest guy I’ve met and ride along. I texted him back and told him I was in.
Friday I woke up and felt like sitting around inside all day. It was hard to find any motivation to do anything. I decided to go against what I wanted again and went to the beach with friends. It turns out it was a great decision, because I had a great time and great conversations with great friends. Friday night we had a bonfire, and bonfires happen to be my favorite thing in the entire world! There is just something about them that makes great conversation and bring people closer together. We all sat and talked and I saw the people around the fire through a lens that only God can give someone. I saw them as beloved people of Christ, who gave His everything for them and loved them with the strongest love there is. One of my favorite stories is Romeo and Juliet. The love that is displayed in the poetry is written so well that it almost reaches in your chest and pulls your heart out. Donald Miller in his book Searching for God Knows What, explains how he believed Shakespeare used this poetry to try to understand the very beginning of Christ’s love for us as humans. He said its as close as most anyone could get, and I agree completely! As we talked, I kind of spaced out for a little while thinking about Christ and his love for us. I looked up and watched the stars and just stood in amazement of it all. The moon shown so bright that we could see through the trees and the yard behind us, and the stars were lit up like beautiful lightening bugs all around us. I thought back to a day in junior high, when me and an amazing friend of mine, Patrick, sat outside in the middle of winter for “one of the biggest meteor showers in over 100 years.” That night, while freezing our butts off, Patrick and I counted over 1,000 shooting stars. We even saw some shooting stars called Bolides, which is shooting star that shoots across the sky and explodes. They were so bright that night that when they exploded, they lit up the sky like it was day.
So as I sat at the bonfire and looked at the stars I thought to myself: “When I observe Your heavens, the work of your fingers, the moon and the stars which You set in place, what is man that You remember him, the son of man that You look after him?” I saw the universe, I saw those people sitting around the fire with me in that moment as close as I can come to seeing them as Christ sees them. I thought how big the universe is, how we are just specks on this world, but God “made us a little less than God, and crowned him with glory and honor.” I began wondering what the purpose of it all was.
Skipping ahead to Sunday, we all packed up and began to say heartbreaking goodbye’s to Aunt Mel, one of the most gracious women I have ever met. One car packed up and headed out, and Pete and I sat there waving goodbye as we got ready to head even further south. I sat there with my heart sinking further and further in to my stomach, realizing the quietness of only two people remaining. Pete and I packed up, hugged Aunt Mel and hit the road. To say I was in a mood was a bit of an understatement. I prayed “Lord, take this feeling and turn it in to happiness.” He did, almost immediately. Pete and I traveled, and navigated our way, sometimes just guessing the way, to our hotel. We checked in and God began an incredible weekend just then.
It started out hilariously. Pete and I are trying simplicity, and because of this, Pete packed all of our food for the 4 day weekend so we could save money. Pete opened his carrots, unrefrigerated carrots, and bit in to one and said, ” I dont think these are good anymore,” with a slightly disgusted face. He threw the nasty smelling carrots in to our trash can so we could smell them for the remainder of our time there, and asked if I wanted a baked potato. I said sure, and we each picked one up and ate. Pete took one bite out of his, and made a disgusted noise. I looked over and there was white puss hanging out of Petes mouth and out of the middle of his potato. I thought this was hilarious, but I dont think Pete saw as much humor as I did. It was a rough start to the weekend for him, but my potato was great, so I didnt see anything wrong with the trip so far.
That evening, Pete and I set out to explore the town he might be living in if the Lord wants him to have this job. I am a huge NASCAR fan, and the race was on, so I kind of wanted to sit there and watch it, because I loved it, and the thought of walking around a town sounded as good as taking a bite out of a potato filled with puss(if that was the case, Pete knew the feeling, but I wasnt sure I wanted to). I decided to pack up my cahones, be a man, and be a good friend. And I am glad I did. This town, which I refer to as Water Stone(not the actual name), was the coolest town I had ever seen! I was like a fat kid going crazy in a candy store, pushing little old ladies out of the way to get to the sour patch kids and the reeses peanut butter cups. This town was so me! It has three bike shops, a running store, and a triathlon store all within two blocks of each other. The roads were made of brick, which is my favorite, and they had SEPARATE roads JUST for cyclists. Luckily there werent any little old ladies around, cause I went crazy. I got all hyper, and giggled a lot and Pete and I thought of how awesome this town was. But Pete, being the guy he is, slowed us down and helped me remember our calling in life, and whether we were forgetting our roles in God’s story for us. God has called us to church planting in New England, and I think if I wasnt careful, this town could have gotten in the way of that vision. I am glad Pete was there to keep our feet on the ground, and remember that a town was just a town, and our calling is much more important.
The next morning we got up and headed back the Water Stone for Pete’s interview. On the way, Pete dropped me off in one of my favorite places, a bookstore. I had the plan of reading Love Wins by Rob Bell to see what all the hype was, but was sad to realize they were all sold out. I looked around for a while, and being a guy who loves him some Donald Miller, I picked up one of his books. I went over to the coffee bar and got a coffee and sat down and began reading. The book was A Million Miles in a Thousand Years. As usual, Mr. Miller did an incredible job! The book is about how life is a story, and God wants us to get up from behind the television and make the most incredible story we can. I read the whole book while I was waiting. I read through it, and cried, and cried, and…cried. I read about Donald Miller’s encounters with people who lived through tremendously hard times, but saw a better story and decided to live it. I sat there and thanked God for my life and all the blessings He has given to me. I thanked Him for pushing me to go on spring break, to go to the beach when I didn’t want to, to go to southern Florida when I just wanted to go home. I thanked Him for making me do this, to live a better story than sitting behind a tv(which i would have done at home) and impact peoples lives, and live a better story for His glory.
Pete got back from his interview, and I asked him about it and he said it went well, and that he was excited about the opportunity. He actually wouldnt stop talking about it. At one point, while eating lunch, he asked me a question, and I answered, then we sat for a second. Breaking the silence, I asked Pete what he thought, about the question, but he said “sorry, I was listening to what you said, but as soon as you stopped talking I went back to thinking about the interview.” THAT is how excited he was. But as we were ready to leave, Pete offered to buy me the book as an early birthday present, and I am very grateful he did. So we left the store, and as we were leaving, my dad said he would buy me new running shoes, because he said if I thought it might help my knee, get whatever I needed. So we headed to the store and I picked up some great new shoes, and hopefully they will help with me knee!
As we traveled back home, I read Donald Miller’s book aloud as Pete drove( I STRONGLY recommend this book!!!). We read the whole thing on the way home. We thought of our lives as stories, and discussed how we could be living better ones. We cried as we read the impact good stories had on people, and the heartbreaking tales of those living stories for the glory of Christ, even if it meant going through pain and suffering. We sat in our hotel room Monday night, and thought about our roles in God’s story, and all that we wanted to accomplish. I have always wanted to write a book, and Pete and I talked about it seriously for a little bit. Pete asked if I wrote down memories I wanted to include in my book. I told him I journal everything I want to include in my book. And as Pete laid on his bed in just his underwear, in what looked like one of those old 7 up truck driver model poses asked me, “Evan, do you think you will remember laying here like this, and include it in your book?” I gave him a strange look, grabbed my journal, scribbled some words, and said “Its a good possibility, Pete. The chances look good.”
Tuesday, we made the rest of our way home. On our way, we stopped in Greensboro, NC to stop at the apple store. My computer has had a dead battery for almost a year now, so I can never unplug it when I want to use it. I didnt have the money to spend, but i thought if I was going to take it on my trip, I would most definitely need the battery, so we went. I prayed “Lord I dont have the money for this, but I think its a good thing to do.” So I went ahead and walked in to the store. I told them my problem and they said they would run a diagnostic test to see if it actually was the battery. It was, and they said it was a cheap $150 dollar fix. I said cheap fix my butt crack, but said ok. I asked them how long a battery normally lasts, and mine was past what he said was normal, so I knew I was due a new one. The guy went out on the floor, and grabbed the last battery of the shelf and went to install it for me. He said, “Its the last one in the entire store, so we made out lucky on this one.” But that was just the beginning. I took out my wallet to pay money that I didnt have, and he handed me my computer and said, “Forget about it man, its on the house.” I said, “huh?” He told me to just take it and have a good afternoon. I sat there stunned. I think I might have drooled a little bit, but I whipped my chin and headed out. I walked out of the store and thought, “Who am I, God? How you provide!”
As I sit here at my computer, the sun now up and people in full swing of their days, I think to myself how blessed beyond measure I am, that I dont deserve the slightest bit of it. As I sip on my coffee, I understand who I am. I know my meaning. God has created me to live a story, one that will not be comfortable, not always easy. I am to get up from where I sit and create “inciting incidents” that create a better story, and bring people in to a story that is better than one that we can live on our owns. Life is like a movie. It is a story. A good story is a character who overcomes conflict to get something better, and while there will always be conflict in this life, its my honor to share my story with others, so when the final scene arrives in our so called movie, the scene is a wedding. A wedding with the Lord and Savior of everything. The Master Story Teller will be there, celebrating and dancing and singing about the best ending to any story anyone could be a part of. Who am I?
