the closest spot

I ran to Kroger today on my lunchbreak to pick up a cliff bar for lunch [thank you Katie]. The clouds were threatening rain and I was in a hurry. I spied an open spot near the door and of course, I did what I always do: rejoiced in my good fortune and parked without a second thought. I finished my shopping and headed for the car. It wasn't raining hard yet so I was relieved - Until I realized something. Walking in front of me, struggling to lug her two sacks of groceries and hold her hood up at the same time, was this precious little woman. She wasn't that old, but was sort of feeble - maybe she's been sick or experienced some other type of misfortune in life. I started to feel really bad when I realized as I walked to my car in the second closest space, that she was walking to the end of the lot. The store was pretty busy for a Thursday at noon, and the lot was quite full. And I was just selfish enough to think that because I was in a hurry and not wanting to get wet, I had a right to park in that close spot.

Humbling.

Now I know what you may be thinking, if I hadn't taken that spot, someone else just like me might have. We live in a society that teaches us to circle the mall lot for hours (figuratively), looking for the perfect spot. But the thing is, I have the fortune of being in relatively good health. It doesn't cause me pain to walk an extra 100 yards, and you know - it doesn't inconvenience me that much to do so. I feel awful inside that it might have been because of me that that poor woman had to walk so much farther in the cold windy mist...and I was just a hop skip and a jump from the door.

Think about it. I know I have been.

You don't know me starbucks! (by Trevor)

It is officially my favorite time of the year. If there is weather in heaven it will be Autumn all the time. The leaves will always be a multitude of colors, there will always be football games or highlights on the tube and you will always have the option of the "shorts and a sweatshirt" combo. One more thing that makes this season the best is coffee tastes so much better when it's cold.

Enter Starbucks.

Starbucks has become tradition on a Lubiens' Sunday morning. It also typically makes us late to choir and orchestra run-through, but at least we have our priorities in line. In the last couple months I have started to notice that Starbucks has made a change in their protocol. It was a minor irritant at first but has grown into and proven to always be a very awkward experience.

Starbucks is teaching their employees to be mind readers. And not doing a very good job I might add. Lately when you pull into the drive-thru the barista working the headset will say something along the lines of, "Welcome to Starbucks, this is Kim and Christina. How are you doing today?" First of all, are you Kim or Christina? And secondly, do you want to know who all is in the car with me and how all of us are doing? Of course I will say I'm fine and then ask how they are today. Then comes the crystal ball time.

With the addition of the shakes and energy drinks and taking into account double and triple shots, short, tall, grande, venti, sugar, raw sugar, sweetener, all the flavored syrups, all the sugar free syrups, decaf, skim milk, whole milk, half n' half, iced drinks and all the other additives and subtractitives, the ammount of options could be in the hundreds of thousands. Still, without failure, Kim or Christina will take a hack at guessing my drink of the day.

"How about I make you a grande caramel frappe?"

Seriously?!? You haven't even seen me! I promise you I do not look like a caramel frappe guy. Now that I'm thinking about it, I don't know what kind of a coffee guy I look like. If I had to guess, and if I worked at Starbucks I would have to, I would say I am a venti mocha guy. I'm not, but that is what I think I look like. After seeing some people you could make a good guess as to what kind of drink they like but not by simply hearing their muffled drive-thru voice!

This Sunday was a little different. Jamie stayed home for first service to get ready to sing in a concert later that night. So I made a solo coffee run without my wife. I pulled into the drive-thru and sure enough the guessing game started with me trying to figure out if the man wearing the headset was Daniel or Stephanie. He, who I can safely assume was Daniel, asked if my morning was going well and I told him that it was so far. And then, Daniel took a stab at my drink.

"Can I get you a pumpkin spice latte today?"

Without my wife who is my socially acceptable filter I replied,

"Nope! Guess again!"

Daniel did not want to guess again. Apparently there is one guess per customer limit.

Starbucks, I love you. Without you I would be forced to drive many miles and drink gamble coffee until I found something that tastes close to what you have. You have fallen away from the artistry that is specialty coffee but you are so consistently great. Just one simple question, what's wrong with the good old fashioned "Welcome to Starbucks. What can I get for you?" Please oh please stop pushing your seasonal drinks in a guessing format and just let me order what I want.

tea time

it's fall in a cup and a bright spot in my otherwise -eh- afternoon.

getting picked

Yesterday I (Jamie) recieved an email confirming my acceptance into The Nashville Choir. I already knew I was "in" because they told me so at the end of my audition. I didn't want to tell anyone because I wanted to wait for the confirmation email just to be sure. You know...better to announce it a little late than to have to retract an announcement if something fell through. It feels good to get picked though. Really good. I'm very excited about this opportunity, as it will mean singing all over town, backing various artists, and allowing me to gain valuable experience in performance and maybe even recording.

I found out today that I didn't get picked for the Nashville Symphony Chorus. To be honest, I knew it was a long shot from the start. I haven't sung classically in almost 4 years - and I knew they would know that. I had a great audition though, and am pleased with the effort I put in. Sure, it would have felt great to get picked for this, the most prestigious choir in Nashville, but I feel good knowing that I did my best. So maybe getting picked isn't the only thing that matters afterall. :)

If you'd like to check it out, The Nashville Choir has a website: www.thenashvillechoir.org. Our first performance is backing Michael W. Smith and other artists at his 25th Anniversary Celebration. I'd be fibbing if I said I wasn't a smidge excited...

If I could

Last night we went to a praise service as part of welcome week for Trevecca Nazarene University. I think we went mostly because the service was being held in our brand new Family Life Center at church and we wanted to see how the space would accommodate large services. As the service began, we enjoyed the high energy music and lights, dreaming of a time when we might be able to hold a weekly college service of our own in the new facility. The music stopped, and onto the stage stepped a cute young girl with brown hair. I recognized her from Carrie's dorm and settled into my seat, figuring that this was the testimony that would come before the message and that we would all get to know what powerful things the Lord was doing in this girl's life. She proceeded to tell about how her parents had recently separated and how she didn't know how she could ever handle it. She was so vulnerable and finished with something like, "I don't know how to find God in this situation," and walked off the stage. Instantly I was transported back to being a 13 year old girl, scared and confused about the turns my life was taking, trying to be brave for the others...I cried. And cried. And cried some more. At one point, I had to leave the service. I finally pulled myself together until we were headed home and Trevor asked me if I was okay. I cried again. I cried for my hurt, and I cried for the hurts of all the others around me who were affected by my situation. I cried for the girl who had opened up and shared her heart in the service. Honestly, it felt good to let a little more out. But it made me wonder: how much more is in there? How is it that even when I feel my life is so put together, one little thing can trigger all the hurt I thought I had sorted through?

This morning I still feel a little like that teenager, trying to find my way through my circumstances, but I was reminded of a song. A song that was so precious to me and through which Jesus made Himself real to me in the midst of my trials. I want to share it with you:

When I cannot feel
When my wounds don't heal
Lord I humbly kneel hidden in You
Lord You are my life
So I don't mind to die
Just as long as I'm
Hidden in You

If I could just sit with You awhile
If You could just hold me
Nothing could touch me
Though I'm wounded though I die
If I could just sit with You awhile
I need You to hold me
Moment by moment
'Til forever passes by

I hope it will bring some comfort into your weary soul today.

oh dear

I just realized that I've been walking around the office for a good two hours with my zipper down.

In black pants.

With hot pink underwear.

FANTASTIC!

Envy of The Envy Corps

Hello everyone! This is Trevor. I forced that exclamation mark out because I am at home sick:( It seems like such a contradiction to be sick in the middle of the summer, especially in the south when it is 98 degrees with 90% humidity. The good news is it gave me some time to really dive into a new album I purchased a couple of days ago. I must preface my promotion with a few questions.

Do you like to dance?
Do you like to rock?
Do you like a bit of folk?
Do you like intelligent music that doesn't make you think?

If so, you will love the rock band from good ol' Ames Iowa (not Idaho, common mistake)! The name of my new obsession is "The Envy Corps". Very few times would I proclaim my absolute love for a band after so few listens. Athlete is one such band along with a handful of others. From the very first song "Wires and Wool" to the very last track "Story Problem", the album titled "Dwell" is packed full of hooky guitar, swooping synths, sexy strings, beautiful bells, (getting overboard with the alliteration) and crazy catchy lyrics. If you hear "Rhinemaidens" and don't like it than don't worry about the rest of the album (loser). Enough free publicity, if you get a chance please buy their album and support a very good band. They have a website and a myspace page so you can get a good healthy dose before you buy. On to other things.

My new band just put up a makeshift myspace page with not so professional recordings of three new songs. we are called "Be the General" at www.myspace.com/bethegeneral and we would appreciate your support so much. We are more rocky than the last project and we are still searching for a sound but getting closer with each practice. What I do need help with are some ideas for lyrics. This might sound like a cheap way to get out of writing my own but I just wanted to experiment. I have recently been checking out Kodak's picture of the day and making up a story for each picture. It has been challenging to say the least but very good for me as I progress as a writer. So if any of you have ideas of songs (it can be anything you want) or an amazing picture you could email or describe, I'm just trying to do this sort of pseudo non fiction type writing. Also, please remember that if we had access to a very good studio these songs would sound a bit different and hopefully we can get there sooner than never:)

Well, have a great day. You have to go though it so it might as well be great!

Trevor