UPDATES:
DEPARTURE INFO
Since my last posts on training camp, we have officially found out when we’re leaving:
- Saturday Morning, 9/11 – fly Dayton to LA
- Saturday-Monday, 9/11-13 – hang out in LA with my dad, freak out
- Monday Evening, 9/13 – fly LA to PHILIPPINES!!
So…still trying to figure out what any type of going-away festivities might look like, but Friday 9/10 will be my last day in Ohio for the next 11 months. RIDICULOUS. I’ll keep you posted.
SUPPORT
As of this moment, I have just about $8000 remaining to raise for this journey. I know many of you have already given generously, and I’m incredibly grateful and blessed by that, you are AMAZING. Just so you know, I need to fully funded by 6 months into the race (February). Of course, I’d love to reach that before then, so feel free to give if that money just so happens to be burning a hole in your pocket.
You can give online at http://bit.ly/SupportTimsWR or talk to me about other options. It’s worth noting that 5% is removed when giving online with a credit card for transaction costs, so sending in a check is the best option to ensure all 100% of your gift is going where we want it to go. Let me know if you have questions.
The reality of how soon I will be leaving the country is slowly starting to set in, so I’m definitely starting to get glimpses of this sense of urgency for support raising and all my other preparations. I will be trying to make the most of these next 3 weeks (!!!) in contacting people and getting together with people, as it may be the last time to speak verbally for 11 months (CRAZY).
RITAS FUNDRAISER
I’m running a fundraiser night at the Kettering Rita’s (3371 East Stroop Road, Kettering, OH 45440, across Stroop from the Greene) on Wednesday, September 1st, from 7-10pm. I will be getting a portion of the proceeds, so come on out and bring your friends! I’ll definitely be missing their nice cool Italian ice over what’s looking to be a year-long summer on the WR.
TIM’S LIBRARY
I’m lending out some of my possessions for the next year (explanation below). Right now, I’ve got books and movies. Check ’em out at:
No real sense in them collecting dust on my shelf for a year. Donations certainly welcome, but not expected.
NOT UPDATES:
That was a lot of updates. Hope you feel nice and updated. Let me know if you don’t, I’ll see what I can do.
So, if you didn’t know, going on the WR means that my life will be effectively compacted into a backpack. Believe it or not, I own more things than can fit into a backpack. Try to contain your shock. As I consider all that is being left behind and what can be done away with, I’ve given much thought to the nature of these possessions I’ve stored up.
buy furniture. You tell yourself, this is the last sofa I will ever need
in my life. Buy the sofa, then for a couple years you’re satisfied that
no matter what goes wrong, at least you’ve got your sofa issue handled.
Then the right set of dishes. Then the perfect bed. The drapes. The
rug.
Then you’re trapped in your lovely nest,
and the things you used to
own,
now they own you.” – Fight Club, Ch5
Some pretty powerful words from Tyler Durden. Of course, his theology probably isn’t always in the right places, but he certainly hints at some significant realities. Now, since I’ll take any opportunity to relate the early Church and Fight Club…
“Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy, and where thieves break in and steal. But
store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where moth and rust do not
destroy, and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.
All the believers were one
in heart and mind. No one claimed that any of his possessions was his
own, but they shared everything they had.
-Acts 4:32
I got keys to a house that’s on loan
I got keys to a car with rust and chrome
I got keys to things I’ll never own
’cause I know this world it ain’t my home
-“This World Ain’t My Home” – Marc Scibilia
(listen to on his MySpace and buy here – $5 well spent)
Living in light of leaving on the WR has given me an awesome glimpse of what it looks like to live in light of the eternal reality. There is a Kingdom waiting, and the stacks of stuff in this lovely nest of mine won’t be worth a whole lot. In light of the Kingdom, the early believers had possessions without being possessive. It’s wild for me to look at these stacks of books and DVDs (and everything else) I’ve stored up, considering ways that they may be vying for my identity and keeping my heart pinned to this world. Not that it’s bad to own them, but trying to abandon this thought that they are my own. I want a loose grip on the physical things of the earth, so I can take hold fully of the eternal promises that await.
At church today they showed a video of Zac Smith. Zac expresses a clearer view of the eternal reality than I can imagine, and is an incredible example of life by faith and trust in a God that is bigger than our worldly struggles. May require tissues.
