Alot Can Change in 365 Days

The past several days have gotten me to thinking.  It was a year ago October 31, that I left Washington D.C. and continued the trip that had started in Capitan New Mexico in December 2006. 

The whole trip was special, but something about the last “leg” of the trip was even more special.  And I’m not sure what it was.  Something a friend of mine in D.C. calls “trail magic” I guess.

Anyway, coming down through the mountains of Virginia, enjoying the fall colors and freezing my butt off was a bag of mixed blessings.  Ever wake up in the morning and find your bicycle tires AND your tent floor frozen to the ground?  Not a fun thing.

Moving on into the Carolinas, the day times warmed up slightly, but the nights were still colder than “a well diggers nose”.

Then I traveled to Georgia where I spent Thanksgiving weekend with some friends that I had met on my way to D.C.  I followed that up with a month long stay in Gainesville…catching up with some friends, working a little part-time job and spending some time with my daughter.

Then in February it was time to head out again.

Somewhere in my travels I had heard about this little farm in southwest Georgia called “Koinonia”.  Didn’t really plan on visiting the farm, but when I found out that the American Legion and Rolling Thunder had me booked into some places close by to speak, I contacted them to see about visiting the farm for a week or so.  Ann Karp, community member working in the area of hospitality, emailed me and said I was more than welcome to come…just let her know when I’d arrive. 

Now when you’re traveling long distances on a bicycle, you can’t always predict with certainty when you’ll arrive at your destination…so she was patient, kind and understanding when I explained to her what I was doing.

The afternoon I rolled into Americus Georgia, I found a CVS pharmacy.  Thinking that would be a good place to find out where this “Koinonia” place was, I pedaled onto their sidewalk, turned the corner and literally ran into two people…a man and a woman.  After cursing them under my breath for being in my way, I parked the bike, locked it and was heading inside the store for some warmth and directions.  Guess who approached me as I was heading into the store.  Yup, the same two people that I had just nearly bowled over on the sidewalk. 

The guy stuck his hand out and said, “Hi!  I’m J.  This is Beth.  Are you looking for Koinonia?”

Several thoughts went through my head.  Mmmm…what exactly is this place called “Koinonia” about?  Why do these two rednecks think I’m looking for Koinonia?  What is there about me that makes them think I would be looking for it?  Being the sensitive guy I am, I kept my wits, just nodded and grunted…”Yah”.

Well, J. and Beth gave me great directions and I pedaled on another 8 miles to the farm.

Ever been somewhere that you knew you hadn’t been before but you had this strange sensation that you had?  That’s the feeling that I got when I rolled onto the farm again…after looking at the feeling a little and trying to wrap my brain around it, I realized what it was…I was home.

And home was pretty cool.  Lots of compassionate folks around.  Lots of hospitality.  Lots of love, caring and fellowship.  Even though there was a lot about me that didn’t really fit in, they welcomed me and quickly made me a part of their family.

The week or so passed too quickly and it was time to hit the road.  But before I left, I talked to Bren Dubay, the director, about the possibility of coming back in September and doing an internship part.  She smiled, nodded and told me what I had to do to apply. I put in an application even before I headed out.  It was a hard decision to leave…but I knew I had to get away so that I could make an objective decision about coming back.

Well, the trip took me through Alabama, into Tennessee and Kentucky; then on into Indiana, Illinois, Missouri, Iowa and Wisconsin.  I met hundreds of people after leaving Koinonia.  I spoke to thousands.  I was interviewed by numerous TV stations and newspapers…I found out that Tami Ryan’s book about my trip is to be made into a movie.  A postage stamp based on the picture Jennifer Kaleba took of me is being sold by the post office with the proceeds going to help support homeless veterans.  In short…a lot of stuff swirled around me.

But in the back of my mind, was this little farm in SW Georgia called Koinonia.  So I made a few calls, turned the bike around and headed back to the farm.

It’s been an awesome year since leaving Washington D.C.  I’ve met a former President, reconnected with some old friends and made some new ones, got hit by a car, almost drowned, have become the subject of a movie and have found a new family.

Koinonia is an oasis of sorts.  An oasis from whatever troubles of the world are dragging you down.  The folks here aren’t perfect, but they are perfectly loving. They don’t expect you to be perfect, but being around them inspires you to try and be.

On the bike trip, I raised money and support for homeless veterans.  Today I’m asking for your help in support of my new home – Koinonia. Koinonia is a non-profit 501 c3 and depends on donations to help us carry out our ministries. The 501 c3 is a fancy way of saying that any gift you give this place is tax deductible if you’re into taking tax deductions. Everybody knows the world is in an economic crisis. When you’re a community like Koinonia founded to serve others, donations are essential. We need to raise $200,000. Fast. We raise $200,000 and we meet the budget for the year. Now, according to my calculator, if everyone (all 17,500 of you) who is subscribed to this blog gives $11.43, we get this amount — fast. Give more if you can. Give less if you can’t give $11.43. Just give by clicking here. Make a donation and sleep easy. Koinonia has been here since 1942 doing good, living peacefully even when others were attacking the place.  It’s home to me and my home needs some financial assistance. Thanks for assisting.

 

*You’ve seen this picture on this blog before.  CNN emailed me for permission to use it in a feature they are doing about Veterans’s Day.

Good Times

What

Remember J J from the show Good Times?  Well, unless you were around in the 70s, you probably don’t.

He would burst into a room and shout his signature line — “What’s Happening”!!???

That’s how I feel today…shouting “What’s Happening”!!!

In just the past twenty-four hours, here’s what’s gone on.

1.  I’ve gotten an email request from a book author to use an article I wrote for Sustainable Farmer a few months ago.

2.  There’s a company that wants to buy a picture of a train that I took…and they want to pay $350.00.

3.  I’ve been contacted by a college in Florida to come down in February for a speaking engagement.  MMmm, a all-expense paid trip to Florida in the winter — there IS a God!

and

4.  A member of the fair trade coffee-coop wants to use a picture I took on their website.

All good things of course.  But it does make me wanna ask –

What’s Happening!!!

God Throws Me Curve Balls

God did it to me again.  He threw me another curve ball.  He did it to me back during the summer and here it is fall, and He’s doing it to me again.

What am I talking about?  He keeps pushing me up against people that I normally wouldn’t hang out with in the outside world.

Remember James?  Exhibit A.  Now there’s Kurt.  God did it to me again.

Let me tell you about Kurt. 

Kurt’s another twenty-something here at the farm.  And we’re about as different as two people can be.  Need a couple examples?  OK, how about these.

He’s a great vegetarian cook.  I’m a Swanson’s TV dinner in the oven at 450 degrees for an hour type person.

He makes these tremendous home-made candles.  Give me a Coleman lantern and I’m happy.

He sees a deer in the garden and thinks Bambi.  I see a deer and I think antlers on the wall in The Mancave.

See?  We’re different.  Nothing wrong with that…we’re just different.

The other day I wrote about my camera being stolen.  Kurt came to me the next day and told me that he had an extra camera and if I’d like to borrow it, I could.  It’s about like my other camera.  Mine had some features his doesn’t.  His has some features mine didn’t.  But for some reason, using his camera for the past several days has somehow made it ok to experiment…and I’ve gotten some great shots.  The two shots with this post were done with his camera.  I took them at The Riverwalk in Albany, Georgia after I finished with an appointment I had.  Came out pretty good…don’t ya think?

So God keeps throwing me curve balls.  I think He does it for His amusement.  I can picture Him and Jesus now.  Sitting around the Throne Room…bored.  God snaps his fingers and fairly shouts — “I know what we can do.  Let’s take a long-haired hippie who cooks vegetarian food, makes candles and has a soft spot for Bambi and push him up against a grizzled ol’ vet who can burp the National Anthem”.