portland

so here i am, portland or, the greenest city in the united states, the rose city, the most populated city in oregon, the thirtieth most populated city in the united states, and according to wikipedia, the hub of the american do-it-yourself youth culture. i’m not really sure exactly what that means so i’m just going to move on. i’ve been privy to such local sights as the hawthorne bridge, interstate 84, and the local denny’s. i can’t tell you which hotel i’m staying at but i can tell you that there are two trees involved. here’s a picture of what i’m sure portland is supposed to look like.

for all i’ve ever seen this is a more accurate picture of the portland looks like.

anyway i’ve traveled for 12 hours and 800 miles in order to learn all about what it means to fully rely on God when it comes to, well basically everything. but mostly the area of finances. i’m currently finishing up my last night of ministry partner development. below is a small (oh so very small) example of the notes i’ve been taking all day today on what it looks like to both be bold in asking people to partner with me in what God’s been leading me to but also in trusting that God will provide everything that i need. not always so easy…

so here i am, tired, overwhelmed, broken, but excited. this is my sending out, my commissioning. this is the real deal. i’m a missionary. crazy huh? to be honest… i never really saw this day coming… know what i mean? as a kid i always wanted to be a cop or a fire-fighter (screw being an astronaut, i’ve seen space movies, nothing good ever happens in space) and then as i grew up, a musician, a rock star. and then even later an engineer. i mean that’s what i’ve busted my hump to be over the last five years. but a missionary on a school campus as my full time occupation? never. it just goes to show that you really never know what curve balls you’re going to be thrown. i mean if you talked to me this time last year i would have told you that i’m going to do my internship at boeing, graduate in december, and then probably move to seattle and start living in “the real world” (not the mtv real world, because there’s really nothing real about that but it would be pretty fun to live in a house with all those crazy people right?)

but starting tomorrow it’s time to start job number 3, support raising. i’ve figured out what i need to raise to cover the entire year. yep, I have until Aug 15th to have that pledged to crusade or i’m out. like out out. like no job, no place to go and a 12 month lease to pay. so yeah, i think it’s pretty safe to say that i’m going to need lots, and lots, and lots of prayer over the summer. well i’m bushed and have another morning of “class” tomorrow morning as well as a lovely 12 hour drive back to Bozeman so i’m going to hit the sack. goodnight…

listening to:

mansions - new best friends