now launching – beccahowell.com

I haven’t spent much time writing about the web design I’ve been doing over the past few months. But, I thought I would be appropriate to highlight a new design I just launched because it was put together for a good friend and former co-worker, Becca Howell. Becca does wedding, portrait, and artistic photography. Her work is awesome and you can see it featured on this brand new site.

http://www.beccahowell.com

Coldplay’s new single, “Violet Hill”, for free

"Violet Hill", the first single from the long-awaited fourth studio album from Coldplay, is now available for free download at www.coldplay.com. The album comes out June 17 in the US. I’m pretty excited. I know how I’m going to kick off the first week of my summer – sit indoors with my headphones on!

I’m still deciding whether or not I will listen to the song before the whole album is released, but I’ve got it at least. It’s also being released as a limited edition 7" vinyl record in this month’s NME magazine, which I’ve got coming in the mail. Maybe I’ll listen to the vinyl…who knows. I’m kinda wanting to just wait and savor it all when it’s released.

Check it out and let me know what you think. www.coldplay.com

hayesville – PM

i’ve had a hard time articulating the last portion of our days in hayesville, north carolina. even now, about 3 weeks after returning from our trip, i still struggle to understand what happens when a group of 15 people are placed together by God to contribute to his Kingdom. and it boggles my mind how those perfect strangers can be so open with each other, so vulnerable, so willing to share themselves and learn about each other, about each other’s struggles and faith. i’m amazed at by the times we spent, around a living room, around a dinner table, around a bon fire, in the evenings of our trip.

below is my third and final "story" post on north carolina. i hope these have articulated the trip. it’s been a pleasure sharing stories with people about God’s work in the lives of students over spring break, both here and in person. i hope to share a copy of our trip’s video on the blog sometime this week, so stay tuned. thanks!
seth

*******

we sat on couches, curled up in sweat pants and hoodies. some made coffee or drank juice. others sipped nalgene water bottles, re-hydrating from the warmth of the day and the hard work. i picked up my guitar and sang a few songs from a loosely bound pack of worship songs, songs we all know from our tuesday night gatherings at the INN. some how, as we begin to enter into our evening time of worship, debrief, and sharing, God meets us, calms us, joins us in our work. we join him in his work. we join each other as one body.

we open our bibles to ephesians. this week, we’ve talked through the whole book, looking at statements about all the has been done "through Christ" and "in Christ". we reflect on the blessing of God, through Christ, that we see each day. we discuss what it means to be members of the body, members of a building, much like the buildings we work on, pieces of a whole community, vital to each other’s survival and accountable to taking care of each other as faithful brothers and sisters. we grow into a better understanding of each other.

a single voice speaks. going around the room, one at a time, over the course of the week, we share our stories. however it comes out, we articulate what our faith looks like, where we’ve come from, who God has placed in our lives that has shaped us. i share about the journey i am on, a journey of deeply rooted faith coming from my parents and family who loved me growing up. i share about hard times in high school, about going to college, about meeting stacy, about being married. i share about the journey i’m still on, a journey filled with hope and doubt, faith and challenge, a continuing journey. we listen to each other. we laugh with each other, we cry and hold each other’s hands when the stories are too hard for words to tell. we are vulnerable and open with one another, trusting in God’s love that binds this group together.

the warmth of the fire is almost too much for me as i stand outside on the final night of our trip. the laughter of the group fills the crisp north carolina air. gathered around the fire, we talk about going home, about how we can continue the conversation over coffee or around similar bon fires indicative of spring quarter. i get amazing music recommendations from an expert, while the rest of the guys stoke the fire a little more than i’d like them to. i chuckle and shake my head at their exuberance. God has brought us together for one last night. the bonds and friendship he is forming may or may not continue to develop, but one thing is for sure: this trip will be remembered. through pictures, journals, blogs, and the stories we will tell, this good work will live on and be a blessing not only to our team and the people we served with, but to many, many others. and so the question of how and why we are brought together fades into the happy understanding that for tonight, we share the warmth of a fire and that tomorrow, we will be called to share the things we’ve learned to bless our world.

********

hayesville – Work

it’s sad that i have a hard time remembering when i put on work gloves, knelt down on hard dirt, or used a shovel. but something about the hard, red earth of north carolina brings me right back into the groove. the days of hating to be out pulling weeds or working the earth are over. i don’t whine like i did when i was a kid. i’m excited to get to work.

the wesley meadows job site is beautiful, wrapped with the sparse woods of these foothills, nestled up in a small "cove" (the southern version of a valley or gully). a creek trickles slowly along the bottom of the development, finally flowing again after months of deep drought. the earth is dry but holds promise for the new home owners. they talk of gardens, organic vegetables, sunflowers, and the new beginnings being planted in their lives. we scratch the ground with picks, shovels, hoes, and slowly begin to see why they love this place. it becomes ours as well.

i crouch under the deck of a newly finished home, picking out large rocks from the sandy soil of the upper lots. i banter back and forth with a couple of students. we laugh, talk about movies, and inch closer and closer together, drawn into stronger friendships through our tasks. how God chooses to put us together, who He chooses to build into a team like this, always fascinates me, because of the clear design and intentionality with which we are all chosen to be here. we grow to become a family, a crew of workers who delight in the task at hand and the company in which we complete it.

crowded outside of our minivans, sitting on the warm concrete, we laugh, sing, and devour our sack lunches. someone jumps up and rushes to turn up the radio full blast when they hear a song they love. dancing ensues. smiles grow wider. we’re taking a southern work day – a couple hours of hard morning work, an extended lunch break, basking in the beaming sun, followed by a couple more hours of scraping the ground before the heat becomes too much. it sure beats the snow and rain they’re having back home.

lunch finishes. we wander back to the houses we’ve been landscaping. the home owners meet us at their doorsteps with offers of sweet tea, stories of their lives, and special requests for this or that small project. our group grows beyond the bellingham crowd. we now have a hayesville, north carolina family.

as the day draws to a close, i look across the "cove" to see a team of 14 individuals from so many different places, so many different stories, and i see God’s unity. they push wheel-barrows back and forth in coordinated rhythms. they
sing and dance in youthful excitement as they pick up sticks, drive the
rototiller, and weed flower beds. these are God’s people, working together to build something bigger than just houses. this is community.

something remarkable happened that day.

hayesville – AM

****
This post is the first of 3 posts describing our recent trip to Hayesville, NC, for an INN mission trip. I’ve taken a little creative license, as a burgeoning writer, to expand, develop, and combine elements of the days into a memoir-esque narrative. Enjoy.
****

the morning air is crisp. there’s a freshness of spring that i breathe in, something is clearly changing in the breeze, something opening up, thawing out, shaking it’s wings clean of winter and becoming new. i look across the hillside of the appalachians and see the misty air rise up through the valleys, across the lakes, over the rolling hills in the distance. north carolina is waking up.

i’m up before the rest of the mission team. i find the coffee grounds in the top shelf above the stove, hidden for safe keeping. i fill the filter, pour the water, press the button, and a little more joy begins to fill the sun soaked room. nothing can wake up a sore body, tired from a previous day’s work, than spring sunshine and a fresh pot of coffee.

something rustles in one of the bedrooms. they’re starting to wake. bleary-eyed, two or three students slowly walk into the kitchen, murmuring something about 6:30 being too early to start breakfast. i smile. we start the bacon, pull the cold cereal out from the cupboard, pour juice. cold-cuts, cheap bread, sticky jars of jam and peanut butter, are set out for lunches. apples and oranges are sliced. i hear alarm clocks, showers, and hair dryers. dirty work pants are dawned. gloves, hats, sunscreen. we’re ready for another day of work.

by 8:00, everyone has rushed out the door, thrown on their cold work boots and shoes, laced up, and walked swiftly to the hinton center offices. we meet bill, clarissa, charles, bill, and darren, who all smile widely at our energetic crew, hopeful of the work we’ll accomplish today. we crack jokes, pretend we have southern accents, and find out what we’ll be doing this day. we shiver a bit with that fresh spring air still being warmed by the new morning sun.

the cars load up. the stereos come on. maps are checked, directions confirmed. we’re off.

Spring Break Mission Trip – Hayesville, NC

I haven’t talked about it a whole lot on my blog, due to the busyness of the quarter, but tomorrow I depart with 14 other INN people to North Carolina for one of our Spring Break Mission Trips!

We’ll be spending a week in Hayesville, NC, working with the Hinton Rural Life Center, helping out with a couple of different housing projects they have going there. The Hinton Center serves families in rural North Carolina by offering affordable housing projects. We will be working on a variety of things during the week, from clearing land, digging ditches, helping put together foundations, and even helping people move into some of their newly finished homes.

I am co-leading the team, with Becca, one of the interns. We are taking 13 students, from freshmen to "super"-seniors. They are a great group and are very excited for the trip. Finals are over and they are all packing this evening to meet at the airport tomorrow morning to depart.

Last year I had the opportunity to "live-blog" from the heart of Vancouver, BC. I have decided to leave my laptop at home this year (a huge decision for me), but I will be taking my trusty moleskin journal and doing my best to write about the experience. Then, when I get back, I’ll post some of those reflections here, so I can share the stories of the trip. We’ll also be taking video of the trip and with any luck, I’ll be able to post some of that here too.

Please pray for our safety this week, as we travel, work hard, and spend time in a new part of the country. Please pray that our team continues to grow close, for the opportunities we all have learn about each other this week, for the chance for God’s work to be done in us as we serve others. Mission trips are often very significant experiences for me and for students, so please remember us this week as you respond to the joy of Easter and the hope of the new Spring.

Thanks for all your support. I look forward to sharing this trip with you all.

grass clippings

people started cutting their lawns this week
fresh grass clippings, scattering the sidewalk, stick to my soles
i smell spring.

a moment or two away from it all
a chance to remember the joys of warm sun, fresh wind, bright reflections in storefront windows
remembering what it’s like to finally thaw out after hibernation

pushing up, through the ground, stepping out, moving forward
something guides my path as i pace the crowded streets
no destination in mind, simply solitude and solace, a respite

maybe it’s the pulse of the headphones, pumping sound like a heart pumping blood
bass bleeding out the cold air, treble welcoming the bright sun
a song directs me out of the darkness of winter, propelled ahead

one foot ahead of the other, grass clippings becoming one with the cement beneath me
the scent drifts up, reminding my heart of warmer days, songs of summer
i hear it coming.

Sgt. Pepper’s and the White Album

    

I’m currently sitting on the floor of my living room, plugged into my CD player, listening to the opening tracks of "The Beatles" (aka the White Album). It’s a very good experience, let me tell you.

I’ve had a slight fascination with the Beatles for quite some time, but I’ve never really spent much time engaging their music. I just know they influence so much of what I listen to (British rock, American indie rock) that at some point, I have to give them some attention. So here it is. Yesterday I picked up two albums, "Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band" and the "White Album".

So far, I think I’ve listened through "Sgt. Pepper’s" 3 times in the last 24 hours. Twice with the iPod and the Bose headphones and once through my parent’s old Koss K-6 stereo headphones with the CD in my old Panasonic disc man. Now, we’re on to disc 1 of the "White Album", back to the Bose headphones, still sticking with the CD, because I haven’t ripped it onto the computer. And, as Ob-La-Di, Ob-La-Da comes on, I’m very happy with this moment.

There’s so much influence and history bottled up in these songs. The way our musical culture has been shaped by artists of this period is so hard to ignore. While I listen to old albums like this, I like to sit and read up on their history on good ‘ol Wikipedia. Where’d they record this? What techniques were special to this recording? It’s interesting that the "Sgt. Pepper’s" album is seen as one of the last "united" efforts by the four members of the band, before the real strife began, which is much more characteristic of the "White Album" recordings.

Some of my curiosity with the Beatles at this point is coming from my recent viewing of "Across the Universe", a great new musical that came out last year. Stacy and I watched this a couple weeks ago and loved it and since then I’ve been on this fascinated kick with the Beatles. Up to this point, I’ve really only had interactions with their music in the same way many of us have – over the cheap elevator speakers (so sad), on the radio, in the background. I haven’t really spent much concentrated time just listening to their work. One exception, and a very memorable one for me, was when I bought the "1’s" album at the Times Square Virgin Records store in New York City, senior year of high school. We were there for a choir performance over Martin Luther King weekend. Riding around in that tour bus, staring out the window, seeing the city for the first time, with this same CD player I sit here with tonight, listening to the spanning #1 hits of the Beatles, driving past John Lennon’s house, it sticks with me.

I’m excited for more memories to be formed with this music. Anyone else there have a Beatles album that sticks out to them? An experience they remember about hearing their music? I know some parents, in-laws, maybe even grandparents who read this blog might remember their impact a little more vividly. I’d love to hear your stories.

** Update: I went back to the Koss headphones for disc 2 of the "White Album" just for kicks.

A day off, a cup of coffee, a moment

So, we had a day off yesterday. Just closed the office and took a day for a break. It had been a long week, a long couple weeks really, so a day to breathe was very welcome. I scheduled a dental appointment in Shoreline and decided to take a long day in the big city (Seattle), alone, just driving around, spending some time in my favorite coffee shop, just being quiet, being with me. Being contemplative. Being.

***********************************
A day off.
I’m giving myself a few hours to breathe.
No meetings. No planning. No computer.
A book. Strong coffee. A good place. Alone.

I’m sitting in my favorite Seattle coffee shop.
El Diablo Coffee
Rich Cuban coffee, spicy Cuban music
Angels, demons, and the like stop in for their fix
Some stay to paint the walls with their divine comedy
Others pass, moving out of the fire to the cold streets
Maybe back to the church across the way
Maybe back to the cemetery

I pause at a place between heaven and hell
No resolution here, just a holding place

The rich foam, sweet espresso, pure sugar, melting together
Take me to another time
I can hear Oscar calling, screaming for his people
That call for liberation
From oppression, repression, aggression
Maybe liberation from this depression?
Another sip, I remember that voice of the voiceless

This is good.
I need another cup.
***********************************

I stumbled upon El Diablo Coffee a few years back, when Stacy was taking
a test at SPU and I needed a place to study for my history thesis paper
on Oscar Romero and liberation theology. For some reason, every time I’ve been there since has been memorable and significant in some way. Yesterday was no different.

It’s Christmastime – Incarnation

Just before Christmas, I wrote about how a friend of mine, Corbin Watkins, was getting ready to release his first Christmas album, Incarnation. It’s been a couple of crazy months and now, Christmas is finally here. And the album we should all be listening to around the tree is here as well. It’s been really great to hear Corban as he’s been putting all the pieces together from this whole album/creative process and it’s great to have it all come together in this whole as it is.

The album is called "Incarnation" and it comes in two parts, each representing a "side" (Side Fa and Side La) of what will hopefully become an LP record of the album.

And, it’s free. You can download it right this very instant and find yourself in the Christmas season all over again. Check out corbinw.com for more info or download both sides below. Enjoy!

Thanks Corban.