Deep in the heart of...

"and to make it your ambition to lead a quiet life and attend to your own business and work with your hands, just as we commanded you, so that you will behave properly toward outsiders and not be in any need." -1 Thessalonians 4:11-12

"Then the LORD God said, 'It is not good for the man to be alone; I will make him a helper suitable for him.'" -Genesis 2:18

Total miles driven: 2887.6 (I need to get an oil change soon)

So I have been home for about 3 days now and I have had some time to reflect on the amazing journey I experienced during those 11 days. That road trip was perhaps the best 11 days of my life, and it is something that I will never forget. In the front seat of my car the entire trip was a box that I filled with random souvenirs. That box is now filled and will always be something I can open up to remember the amazing time I had. I cannot wait to one day open it up and share the experience with my kids. Likewise, I am looking forward to the day when I will have a wife and kids to take on vacation to make even better memories than these.

This trip has proven that it is completely possible to have a great time on your own for an extended period of time, but as I reflect, I must say that my favorite part of the whole trip was hanging out with Leslie at the Cat's Meow on Bourbon Street. This proves that time spent in the company of others is vastly better than time spent alone. I would love to take another road trip in the future, but next time, I will not be going solo.

Things I learned this trip (in no particular order):

-It is almost always best to have the flash of your camera turned off
-Some homeless people are truly grateful when you give them money
-...Some are not
-Former Pope John Paul II endorsed the practice of Voodoo as a form of Christianity
-God can and does answer prayers rather quickly
-Just because you haven't gotten sunburned yet, doesn't mean you won't tomorrow
-I'm not a fan of auto racing
-iO is significantly funnier than The Second City
-If you want to, you can find cocaine on Bourbon Street pretty easily
-There is no Starbucks in Rolla, Missouri
-Sometimes, a tired driver can be mistaken by the police for a drunk driver
-My fear of becoming addicted to cigarettes again from smoking hookah is unfounded
-When you spend almost 11 days on your own, you can meditate on God a whole lot
-My friends listen to a whole variety of music (and most of it is good)
-Indianapolis is pretty boring
-You can go to the top of the Gateway Arch in St. Louis
-It is possible to sing karaoke in front of 50 complete strangers without alcohol
-Unplanned detours are fun
-Some of the best people to talk to are beggars
-When you go on an 11 day solo road trip, people tend to find you pretty interesting
-In the St. Louis area, Panera Bread is called the St. Louis Bread Co.
-Cheap hotels offer free Wi-Fi, expensive hotels make you pay for it
-It's nearly impossible to be a vegetarian in the French Quarter
-Chicago's Subway system is nowhere near as good as London's
-If you dine alone, hostesses will almost always try to convince you to sit at the bar
-Women are more reliable than men
-I couldn't see myself living in any of the cities that I visited
-Fort Worth, Texas is the best city in the world (I already knew that, but this trip reaffirmed it!)

And now for the winners of the Road Trip Mix CD contest:

Tied for Second: Darcy Deupree's Mix #1
Tied for Second: Jennifer Palmer's Mix #1
Tied for Second: Cima Malkhassian's Mix #2

...and the Grand Prize Winner is: Charlie Brooks' Mix #2

Thank you to everyone who gave me CDs, they helped make driving more enjoyable. Everyone who gave me a CD will get a souvenir key chain as a thank you!

So I guess this is it. I had a great time on the road, and I had a great time blogging about my adventures for your enjoyment, I hope you had fun reading them! More than anything though, I hope that God was able to use what He taught me on this road trip to teach all of you something too!

Farewell,
Patrick Murphy

Disturbances

"For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine; but wanting to have their ears tickled, they will accumulate for themselves teachers in accordance to their own desires, and will turn away their ears from the truth and will turn aside to myths." -2 Timothy 4:3-4

"I am amazed that you are so quickly deserting Him who called you by the grace of Christ, for a different gospel; which is really not another; only there are some who are disturbing you and want to distort the gospel of Christ. But even if we, or an angel from heaven, should preach to you a gospel contrary to what we have preached to you, he is to be accursed! As we have said before, so I say again now, if any man is preaching to you a gospel contrary to what you received, he is to be accursed!" -Galatians 1:6-9

New Orleans is a very disturbing city! I am not saying that I dislike New Orleans. On the contrary, I love it (it is one of my favorite parts of the trip). However, New Orleans is a disturbing city nonetheless. There are about 2 strip clubs on every block, Voodoo is regularly practiced, and the city is very much haunted.

This morning, I went to Cafe du Monde for some beignets for breakfast. After that, I took a tour of the Voodoo Museum. I knew a little bit about Voodoo from my previous trip to Haiti in 2006, but I learned a whole bunch more today. What worries me so much is how entwined Voodoo is with Christianity. Many of the "gods" they pray to are based on Catholic saints, and they even have images of Jesus on many of their altars. Many Voodoo practitioners are convinced that they are Christian, and some in the Catholic Church (including former Pope John Paul II) have agreed with them.

I just recently got back from a 2 hour long ghost tour. The tour guide took us to the location of documented hauntings in New Orleans and told us the history of the locations and how they came to be haunted. We didn't go inside any of the places and no one saw anything paranormal, but I was scared to death for the entire two hours. There were tears of horror in my eyes the entire time, because I know that ghosts are real. However, they are not the spirits of the dead, instead they are demons appearing in the form of the deceased. The violent murders associated with these hauntings coupled with the Voodoo practices makes New Orleans a potential hotbed for demonic activity, and it has me scared to death. Thankfully I am protected by the Holy Spirit who dwells within me, so the demons cannot harm me.

Well, I am off to dinner and one last night on Bourbon Street. Tomorrow morning I drive back to Funkytown! This has been the experience of a lifetime, but I am ready to get back home.
-Patrick

The power of prayer

"Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives, and he who seeks finds, and to him who knocks it will be opened." -Matthew 7:7-8

"You do not have because you do not ask. You ask and do not receive, because you ask with wrong motives, so that you may spend it on your pleasures." -James 4:2-3

My first stop this morning was Graceland in Memphis. Let me just say, I didn't actually know what Graceland was until today, all I knew was that it had something to do with Elvis. I get there and it turns out that it was touring Elvis' house. After parking and admissions, I paid $40 for a 30 minute tour... I was hoping to see exhibits or stuff, not his house. Had I had more time, I could have gotten the deluxe pass and seen some exhibits and stuff, but that was $69. Sorry Fran, I know you love Elvis, but Graceland was kinda disappointing to me (Your postcard is in the mail though...)

After Graceland, I took a slight detour to Oxford, Mississippi to have lunch with Chelsea, my future sister-in-law. This was really my first time getting to know her. She is a great woman, and I am so excited that she will be joining our family soon!

The rest of the drive was rather uneventful, except that I passed the 2000 mile mark for my trip. There was one big storm that I drove through, but it wasn't as bad as the ones yesterday on the way to Memphis. One sad note about today's drive: I officially ran out of road trip mixes. So my drive from New Orleans to Fort Worth on Thursday will be repeats of my favorite 7 CDs. The scores have been tabulated and the winners of my competition have been determined, but I will not unveil them until my final blog entry on Thursday. (The suspense is killing you all isn't it!)

Remember how in last night's blog entry I said that Memphis was an audio explosion. Well, New Orleans makes Memphis look pathetic. There is like 10x as much music on Bourbon Street as there was on Beale Street. I could even hear jazz from my hotel room earlier for a few moments! (Since it's almost bedtime, I'm glad I can't hear it anymore...)

Tonight, God reaffirmed to me the simple yet awesome power of prayer. When I pray, my supplications tend to be, relatively speaking, larger supplications. However, tonight at dinner, I had one simple prayer: "God, please let me meet someone to hang out with tonight." I have been content being on my own for the last 8 days, but some company would have been a great break. Well, about 30 minutes later, God answered my prayer. I met Leslie at a karaoke bar called the Cat's Meow. She too is currently taking a road trip on her own (from Boston), so we had a lot to talk about. It was great getting to know her tonight, but she leaves for Nashville in the morning so tomorrow is another day of going solo.

Singing "Don't Stop Believin" (One of 3 that I sang tonight)

Meeting Leslie tonight just proved to me that God does answer prayers. Sometimes my faith gets shaken up a bit and I begin have doubts. However, God continues to prove Himself faithful and loving, and He is willing to answer your prayers!

Goodnight everyone! A full day of New Orleans tomorrow, and then a full day of driving back to Texas on Thursday.
-Patrick

Downpours and detours

"And there arose a fierce gale of wind, and the waves were breaking over the boat so much that the boat was already filling up. Jesus Himself was in the stern, asleep on the cushion; and they woke Him and said to Him, 'Teacher, do You not care that we are perishing?' And He got up and rebuked the wind and said to the sea, 'Hush, be still.' And the wind died down and it became perfectly calm. And He said to them, 'Why are you afraid? Do you still have no faith?'"

-Mark 4:37-40

"The mind of man plans his way, But the LORD directs his steps." -Proverbs 16:9

Today was mostly a travel day, yet so much eventful stuff happened that I don't know how to fit it all into a single post that can be read in one sitting. So I will try my best to condense my day (Postscript: I failed, so this is a long post).

I woke up this morning with a choice: take the short route to Memphis or add an extra 30 minutes to the drive and make a stop in Nashville to see what the post-flood city looks like. I opted for the latter choice and I was Nashville bound. Along the way, I took a look at my map and saw a city that caught me off guard: Elizabethtown, Kentucky! For those of you who don't know, Elizabethtown is the setting of the amazing Cameron Crowe movie "Elizabethtown".

Spoiler Alert (Skip to below the photo if you haven't seen the movie but plan to): At the end of the movie, Drew Baylor embarks on a musically enhanced road trip, and since I am currently embarking on a musically enhanced road trip, I had to make a short stop in the town. It doesn't look much like it did in the movie. (I want to give a special shout out to Darcy for her amazing mix that I put on as I was leaving Elizabethtown as it almost perfectly fit the mood of my road trip and of that movie!)

When I got to Nashville, for some reason I changed my mind and opted not to go into the city, so I continued down I-40 toward Memphis. As I was driving down I-40, a realization sprung to mind: the last time I was on this highway 5 years ago, I was driving back to Texas after dropping out of UVA. I got a little emotional and started tearing up a little bit thinking about UVA (Yes, men cry sometimes too...). While driving on I-40, two notable things happened: 1) There were sporadic downpours of rain and 2) There was a wreck on the highway that caused over a 2 1/2 hour delay. After sitting in a dead standstill on the highway for 20 minutes, I decided to make a U-turn across the grass. I stopped at the nearest gas station, bought a Tennessee map, and took a backroad way into Memphis. I saved myself a great deal of time with that decision.

As I meditated on those two incidents: the downpours and the detour, I realized that the same things happens in life. Sometimes major storms wreck and ravage our lives. UVA was one such storm. Sometimes, the storm gets so strong that you don't think you will survive. You are so blinded by what's right in front of you that you can't see the sunlight in the distance. Jesus' disciples were so distraught in a storm that Jesus had to rebuke them for not trusting that God would help them through it. Consider this: the storms in our lives are actually caused by God. Why then do we have so much trouble trusting that he will deliver us from the storm, just as he delivered us into it. When you trust in God through the storms, the sunlight on the other side is so much brighter!

Furthermore, sometimes detours happen in life. Dropping out of UVA was a major detour in my life. I should have graduated from college in 2007, but God had a detour for me. In the nearly four years as a college dropout, I matured and grew so much. I have learned a great deal about life, and I wouldn't change anything that has happened to me, because all of my experiences create the exact me who is sitting here writing this blog. In the end, however, the detour gets you to the same spot, but usually takes longer. My college detour took a little over 3 years, but I am almost to my destination! Without the detour though, some of the amazing sights may have never been seen.

Look at all the pretty lights!

I finally made it to Memphis! I really wish I had booked to stay another night, because Memphis on a Monday night is significantly better than Memphis on a Friday. The clubs are less crowded, the music is better, and the setting is more intimate. Beale Street is AMAZING! It's like a sonic explosion of great music. Imagine this: pretend you are sitting in the middle of a room that has a 5.1 surround sound speaker system. In each of the 5 speakers (ignore the subwoofer in the analogy) is different music. That is what standing in the middle of Beale Street is like. I have already seen 4 different blues bands play, and I'm about to go listen to some more.

Music goes on until 3 am, but I have an early morning tomorrow, so I probably won't stay out that late! New Orleans tomorrow!
-Patrick

Faith is the biggest race of all!

"Therefore, since we have so great a cloud of witnesses surrounding us, let us also lay aside every encumbrance and the sin which so easily entangles us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, fixing our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of faith, who for the joy set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God." -Hebrews 12:1-2

"Do you not know that those who run in a race all run, but only one receives the prize? Run in such a way that you may win." -1 Corinthians 9:24

Danica Patrick has an awesome last name!

Today was a record breaking day at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway: it was the hottest race day in Indy 500 history with temperatures as high as 95 degrees! And since I got a really bad sunburn on the top of my knees from the baseball game on Friday, I decided to wear pants as to not aggravate that burn. That was a bad decision...

I still don't get the fun of watching auto racing. Yeah, the cars drove really fast. Yeah, I got to see a couple crashes. Yeah, the noise that the cars made as they drove by was pretty awesome. But I still don't get it. Granted, I am extremely glad that I went to the race as it will be an unforgettable experience, but I can't say that I would ever go back. In the end, it was simply cars driving around in a circle. Maybe if my seat was higher up or maybe if I was on a straightaway I could have seen more and enjoyed more, but all I saw was cars drive by once every 45 seconds or so, and since I was on the curve, I never saw anyone pass anyone. The wicked crash on the last lap happened at the other end of the curve, so I didn't know it happened until I saw it on the video replay (I actually did get the end of the wicked crash on video. I tried to upload it but it wouldn't work). In the end, only one winner could be crowned, and the winner was: Ashley Judd's husband.

The apostle Paul said several times that our faith is a race. So in honor of the Indy 500, I dwelled on the race aspect of faith today. I don't know what kind of training it takes to be an IndyCar racer (I presume a whole lot), but I do know the type of training it took to be an 800m track runner. Training encompassed all aspects of my life. 5-6 days a week, I would do various distance runs and various tempos. 3 days a week, I would lift weights. At home, I tended to eat fairly healthy (I was a teenager, I wasn't perfect). During the season, I wouldn't drink any soda. I even would avoid smoke filled concert venues as to avoid inhaling any secondhand smoke.

As with the 800m (and presumably IndyCar), our faith needs encompass all aspects of our lives. Paul tells us to run the race to win the prize, which means we cannot be content living life as an "average" Christian. We must strive to grow in holiness constantly and daily, which means that we can never slack off in anything! All of our lives affect our faith, and the race is a very long one (much longer than the Indy 500!) The training is hard, the race is long, but the prize is worthwhile. But just like with any race, we can't go from zero to hero overnight. Training is a gradual process: we lay aside the sins that ensnare us when they are revealed to us, we discipline ourselves to read our Bibles more often and for longer periods, we put Jesus more at the forefront of our lives every day. Thankfully, there isn't only one prize, because I would be found nowhere on the leaderboard, but Christ is the prize to all who are running the race! In that prize, I truly rejoice!

Only 4 days left on my roadtrip (3 of which consist of at least 8 hours of driving). Memphis tomorrow!
-Patrick

The day of rest

"And we know that God causes all things to work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose." -Romans 8:28

"Your eyes have seen my unformed substance;
And in Your book were all written
The days that were ordained for me,
When as yet there was not one of them." -Psalm 139:16

God was able to go all out creating the universe for six straight days before He had to rest, but I am not God. I'm surprised I was able to make it five. Thankfully, today was my predetermined day of rest! Indianapolis is pretty lame anyways, so I'm not missing much.

This hotel is pretty gross. The hallway reeks of cigarette smoke and I was put in a smoking room. Of course, what else do you expect from a La Quinta Inn? (It was the only hotel available to book such short notice before the Indy 500 that wasn't over $300/night...) I may hit up a movie in about an hour, or I may stay in and rent one of those still in theater hotel movies. Tonight is going to be very low key, I'll probably be in bed by 12:30 (and since Indy is 1 hour ahead of Fort Worth and Chicago, that's actually 11:30, which is INSANELY early for me).

One thing that I have been dwelling on all day is the sovereignty of God which is a topic that I tend dwell on and pray about a lot. Whenever I begin most of my prayers, the sovereignty of God is usually one of the first things I adore God for. I am so immensely thankful that God is in control of my own life and not me, because otherwise I would find a way to eff things up. But since God is in control, even the seemingly crappy things that happen are simply a part of His plan that my tiny brain is unable to come close to understanding.

It is so relieving to think that every exact moment of my life up to this point and every moment left is already known by and overseen by God. Screwing up at UVA: that was God's plan. Dating Kim for 1 1/2 years longer than I should: that was God's plan too. Losing my job: God. Going back to school: God. Changing my path from Seminary to Law School: God. Getting accepted to only one Law School: God as well. When I rest in the sovereignty of God, all is well, because He loves me and He is in control. I have heard mentioned in church how people get angry at God sometimes, this is something that I don't believe I have ever experienced. Even in the worst situations, I don't get angry at God. I question Him, sure. But anger is not an emotion I have ever felt towards Him. I attribute that to my being able to trust in His sovereign love no matter what. I pray that I continue to do that in greater and greater measure in my future.

Indy 500 tomorrow! I could use some prayer from you guys about my sunburn! If it doesn't heal a bit by tomorrow morning, sitting out in the sun all day will be a pretty brutal endeavor!

Peace, love, and Jesus!
-Patrick

"But may it never be that I would boast, except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ" -Galatians 6:14

"But whatever things were gain to me, those things I have counted as loss for the sake of Christ. More than that, I count all things to be loss in view of the surpassing value of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and count them but rubbish so that I may gain Christ" -Philippians 3:7-8

This post is coming to you guys much earlier than normal, I have some time to kill before dinner and another improv show tonight, so I decided to go ahead and update my blog.

This "morning" (11 am), I went to Karyn's Fresh Corner for some good raw vegan food. I am aware that most of you are confused about how I could put "good" and "raw vegan food" in the same sentence, but it was true (Mom, you may be the only one who understands).

Portobello Napoleon (a raw vegan treat!)

After Karyn's, it was off to Wrigley Field for the Cubs-Cardinals rivalry. I was more or less impartial, but I bought a Cardinals hat in St. Louis so I chose to root for them. My seats were A-MAZE-ING! I was on the second row along the first base line. At one point Derreck Lee, the Cubs first baseman, caught a foul ball 2 feet from me (If you can find the highlight of that catch, then you could probably see me. If anyone does find it, I would like to see it, it was in the top of the 6th). In the end, the Cardinals came out victorious 7-1. Today was my third day spending a lot of time out in the sun, but it was my first time getting a sunburn all trip.

I was so insanely close to the field!

After the game, I did my first bit of clothing shopping for the trip. I went to Barney's to buy some more crazy colored socks to add to my collection. I found three awesome new pair! Tomorrow morning is when I will be doing the bulk of my shopping for the trip.

All the colors of the rainbow!

Pride is a sin that I have been fighting for a while. God has done a great deal recently in destroying some the pride in my life and replacing it with humility, but early this afternoon pride crept up its ugly head. I said something to someone that made me look like an arrogant prick, and though I apologized to her about it afterwards, the damage was done. That's one of the many things that sucks about sin, though the ones we sin against may forgive us, they still bear the scars of that sin, so it can never be completely forgotten.

Dwelling on my pride has occupied a good portion of my thoughts for the last 6 hours, and I am sure to continue in my introspection for a while. I know that I am forgiven by Christ, but I wish to learn from my sin to make incidents like this happen less frequently. I think of Paul, who although he was pretty much a "Super Jew", considered all the good worldly qualities about himself to actually be bad, because those qualities can have the tendency of instilling pride and self-reliance, rather than God-reliance. The attitude of Paul is one that I am striving for. Of course, sanctification is a process, and my growth will happen slowly over my entire lifetime. At least after I die, God will perfect me and pride will no longer be an issue!

God bless you all. Indianapolis tomorrow!

-Patrick

Magnificent miles...

How blessed is the man who does not walk in the counsel of the wicked,
Nor stand in the path of sinners,
Nor sit in the seat of scoffers!
But his delight is in the law of the LORD,
And in His law he meditates day and night.
He will be like a tree firmly planted by streams of water,
Which yields its fruit in its season
And its leaf does not wither;
And in whatever he does, he prospers. -Psalm 1:1-3

Chicago skyline from atop the Ferris Wheel on Navy

I did a whole lot of walking today. Of course, I left my shoe bag in the car overnight and was too lazy to get it this morning, so I walked all day in my flip flops (this did actually prove helpful when I decided to run into a fountain in Millenium Park, as I could take my shoes off easily). My first planned stop for the day was the Art Institute of Chicago, but as I was walking there I realized that I had totally forgotten about Millenium Park on my list of things to do, but thankfully Millenium Park was on the way to the Art Institute. So of course, I got my "Bean" picture taken!

Cloud Gate in Millenium Park (aka the "Bean")

I like art... well, let me rephrase that. I like the stuff that I deem to be art. Modern "art" is not art. I spent about 30 minutes in the Modern Wing of the Art Institute, and I still couldn't figure out how some of it was exhibit worthy (granted: some of the stuff would look really cool in my living room, but it is not priceless treasure). One such "artwork" was a video of a guy dragging a Fender guitar along the ground in random roads and fields. I don't get it.

I spent a much longer time in the Renaissance section. I think I prefer Renaissance art because it comes from a time in which society at large actually liked Jesus (as evinced by the plethora of paintings of Jesus' birth and Jesus' crucifixion).

After the Art Institute, I walked for about an hour to get to the Navy Pier. Last year when I came to Chicago, the Navy Pier was almost empty, but this year it was packed. I had a nice ahi tuna sandwich for lunch (my first meat of the trip), did a funhouse maze, rode the Ferris Wheel, and played a round of mini golf.

I went to The Second City tonight to watch an improv/sketch comedy show. It was good stuff, a little vulgar (which I can handle) but a little too much Jesus joking (modern society doesn't like Jesus like the Renaissance people did).

This trip has been going really great so far. The solitude has allowed for a great deal of reflection, prayer (note: when praying while driving, be careful to avoid the natural tendency to close your eyes...), and spiritual growth, along with a great deal of fun. I am excited to see what else God has in store for this trip.

Goodnight! Cardinals/Cubs at Wrigley Field tomorrow!

-Patrick

The long and winding road

I'm sorry for the brevity of tonight's blog, but I am exhausted.

This morning I visited the Anheuser-Busch brewery before saying farewell to St. Louis. The drive to Chicago was supposed to take only five hours, but of course, I timed my drive to perfectly coincide with Chicago rush hour traffic, it took almost 2 hours to drive the last 25 miles...

After finally getting to my hotel, I walked around the Magnificent Mile for a bit (didn't buy anything yet, I'm gonna do my shopping on Saturday morning) and then I took the subway to a distant Ethiopian restaurant. It was well worth the trip, but it was a 2 1/2 hour round trip endeavor...

Now I'm exhausted, so I'm gonna turn on the TV for the first time all trip, rent a movie, and fall asleep early (I'm aware that early for me is late for many of you...)

Goodnight Chicago!
-Patrick

The least of them

"Then the righteous will answer Him, 'Lord, when did we see You hungry, and feed You, or thirsty, and give You something to drink? And when did we see You a stranger, and invite You in, or naked, and clothe You? When did we see You sick, or in prison, and come to You?' The King will answer and say to them, 'Truly I say to you, to the extent that you did it to one of these brothers of Mine, even the least of them, you did it to Me.'" -Matthew 25:37-40

"Do not neglect to show hospitality to strangers, for by this some have entertained angels without knowing it." -Hebrews 13:2

The Arch and the Old Courthouse

St. Louis is a pretty awesome city! I woke up this morning at 9 am (possibly the earliest I have ever voluntarily woken up) and my first stop was the Gateway Arch. To get to the top, I had to ride a tram that was so small and cramped (it reminded me of the escape pod that C-3P0 and R2-D2 take at the beginning of Star Wars), but it was worth the inconvenience, as the top provided a great view of the city.

After the Arch, I got to be a kid again! The City Museum is a giant playground in an old shoe factory, made for both adults and kids. The first thing I did was ride a 10 story high slide (which you can experience below!)

Oh to be a kid again!

After the slide, things got problematic. I'm definitely not a kid anymore and my knees and lower back are proof of that. I couldn't survive more than an hour at the City Museum before I had to leave.

The majority of my day was spent on the Delmar Loop: a 6-block long area with lots of shops, restaurants, and other attractions (it is named one of the 10 best streets in America). Being so immersed in the eclectic area, I was really tempted to get something pierced. (don't worry mom, I didn't...) At one point, there were some Hindu men singing and dancing and trying give away meditation books. I entertained the proselytizer for about 5 minutes and tried to share the gospel with him. I did not succeed, as he was convinced Jesus spent time in India learning Hindu meditation principles that affected his ministry in Israel. Afterwards, I saw an indie documentary in a cool old theater then and ate at a Syrian restaurant for a late dinner.

Singing and dancing to Rama while decked out in traditional Hindu garments

(notice how Crocs are authorized footwear)

One thing of great note about St. Louis is that there are a great number of beggars. I have always had a soft spot in my heart for the homeless, and I tend to give money to them whenever I cross paths with someone. I know that many people do not give to the homeless because of the assumption that they will spend it on drugs and alcohol. That may very well be the case, but I always give in faith that perhaps they will use it for food or shelter. I doubt that God is going to hold me accountable in the judgment for giving in faith if the guy spends money on drugs.

Since arriving in St. Louis last night, I have encountered a greater number of homeless and beggars than ever before. I gave to a few at first, but eventually had to close off my heart to them or else I would be giving away way too much money. It made me cringe inside that I had to say no to some. However, I did get the privilege to talk to two of them for a few minutes, and I got to share the gospel with both of them! I realized after a few minutes of conversation that the first man was clearly going to use the money to gamble (he told me that he had just lost $70 at a casino), but the second one was a different case.

The second man was clearly homeless and living in a shelter, all his possessions were in an old backpack and a black trashbag. I talked to him for a few moments and told him that the reason I was giving him money is because I believe in Jesus. I talked about how Jesus can be his savior too and as I said farewell, I hugged him and said "God bless!" His reaction was unforgettable! He turned to me with a huge grin and with excitement in his voice he said, "You BLESSED me! I can't believe you blessed me!" That man's reaction makes giving to the homeless completely worthwhile. Perhaps I will see him again in heaven!

That is all for tonight. Chicago tomorrow!

-Patrick

Enjoy the journey, don't just await the destination!

"Set your mind on the things above, not on the things that are on earth." -Colossians 3:2

"Enter through the narrow gate; for the gate is wide and the way is broad that leads to destruction, and there are many who enter through it. For the gate is small and the way is narrow that leads to life, and there are few who find it." -Matthew 7:13-14

Greetings from St. Louis!

Today's drive started off slow... It took about an hour and a half to get to Texas Motor Speedway. Note to others: Don't begin a roadtrip during rush hour!

So I was watching the finale of LOST last night, and I was thoroughly disappointed. The problem was, that I was so much awaiting the conclusion of where things were going, that I forgot to enjoy the journey that led to the conclusion. So for this road trip, I decided to enjoy the drive as a pivotal part of the experience. Therefore, I decided to make a stop in Oklahoma at a wildlife refuge: GW Exotic Animal Park. This park is the largest refuge of tigers in North America. The tour guide taught me a whole lot about tigers and lions, it was definitely a worthwhile stop! I even got to play with a baby tiger!

This little guy is only 3 weeks old, he doesn't have any teeth or a name yet
(but I'm gonna call him Tyson in honor of Darcy's Hangover song)

After seeing a lot of lions and tigers (...and yes... bears! OH MY!) up close. I headed to Norman, Oklahoma to have lunch with Dean. After that, it was more or less non-stop to St. Louis (except for stopping for dinner in Springfield) It has been a long day, and I finally checked into the hotel at 11 pm...

What this drive has taught me about my faith, just like how I should have watched LOST, is that it is not simply the destination that matters, but the journey is also important. We are called to set our minds on the things above, but does that mean that we ought to ignore things on earth? While we are here, as believers, we ought to do what we can to incarnate the love of Christ into the lives of everyone around us. Walk the narrow road! Look forward to entering through the narrow gate, but also enjoy the beautiful scenery along the way. Sometimes sin knocks you off the path temporarily, but we strive to get back on and continue walking. When you walk the narrow road, God will begin to do great things through you, not because He needs you, but because He delights to use you. Tonight, after nearly four years of trying and countless prayers, I was finally able to share the gospel with my longtime friend and former roommate Tom. If I was only concerned with the destination, I may have missed the stop along the journey!

God bless you all. I'm gonna go enjoy St. Louis and listen to some live music!

-Patrick

Today's Road Trip Mixes: Darcy #2, Charlie #1, Jennifer #1, Dean, Ashley #2, Julia's Adagio, and Amy #1