Saturday, March 22, 2008

Craig's List & Jesus

First and foremost, this isn't a post designed to pump or build up Kate and I. Rather, its all about awareness!

If you're unfamiliar with Craig's List, it's a great website (www.craigslist.com) that allows individuals to post items for sale, classifieds, wanted items, etc. You're able to specify your search to your city or region. And in a matter of seconds you can be purchasing jet skis, homes, electric guitar amps, locating English as second language tutors, leasing hunting land, even renting property for metal detecting purposes (I chuckled at that one).

It's very broad and there's always new stuff. Oh yeah, and ITS FREE! So it's like a less flashy, super ebay, on crack. Anyway, today Kate and I we're looking for piece of used furniture and we decided to look at the WANTED section. At first it was mostly people looking for cheap acoustic guitars, chrome rims, maids services, etc. Then we found some posts that grabbed our attention. There were folks needing coupons for various items around town because budgets were tight. Immediately it tugged at our hearts.

We're called to be the hands and feet of Jesus. And today I think Jesus would be checking Craig's List to see felt needs throughout the community. So, if you've never visited craigslist.com, now you have a reason to.

Needless to say, it was amazing to hook up with a mom that needed some help and be able to serve in that way. We didn't have the coupons she was looking for, but we were able to leave her with some financial assistance - just a little, but that's all she needed.

It's easy to forget the need around us - especially in the burbs. But for us, the need was only minutes away and we might have never known had we not visited Craig's List today.

-Ross

Tuesday, March 11, 2008

a mentor that meant so much

It’s kinda’ weird how life happens.

I’m the first to say I can’t control it or will even go so far to say that I’m glad I don’t control it. I’m jacked up. And I think if we were all completely honest, we’d all agree that there’s something jacked in each of us. So life happens all around us and much goes on that’s understood. But then there’s instance like the one I’m writing about.

I’m a musician. Through and through, music and art and the creative juices that craft all of that work together, are what first and foremost make me up. But I didn’t always see it in me. Until a certain point in my life I saw music as a hobby. I’m not sure why. It was still what consumed everything about me. But for whatever reason, when I thought about the job a man should have, ‘musician’ wasn’t even on the radar. Lawyer, doctor, politician – these were jobs; not a musician.

It wasn’t until someone I respected and looked up to as a mentor pushed me and challenged me to pursue my music, that I truly considered it a possibility, vocation, and lifestyle. This mentor of mine had worked with me for a number of years. He’d written hundreds of songs, had platinum and gold records hanging all over his office. I mean, think about that…this guy had sold millions of songs! A songwriter that worked in and out of Nashville, that would also not only give me the time of day, but worked weekly with me at performances, recordings, and actually cared about my future. He wasn’t going to gain anything from me. He’d “made it.” But yet he saw potential and a fellow artist and pushed me when he didn’t have to.

If you haven’t heard of him, it’s because he’s a songwriter. The infamous mavens of creativity and culture; the puppet masters that forego the bright lights and tour busses and multitudes of crazed fans to write, write, write – that in a nutshell was Gary Driskell.

I got a phone call from my dad a few weeks back. I could tell in his voice that something was off. I just knew something bad had happened. Gary had suddenly passed away. And for a brief moment I had no feelings at all. I guess that’s what disbelief feels like. I hadn’t seen or spoken with Gary in nearly six months, and now he was gone forever. It was hard to imagine such a man, a father, a husband, a son, and an influence to me, gone.

For all that knew Gary, we are saddened. But he will live on in all of us through his influence of music, creativity, and his humbleness. For those who never had the chance of meeting or hearing his music, I can honestly say that you’ve not heard what the human voice is capable of. You haven’t seen a musician sculpt a song in seconds and perform it on the fly. That was Gary. He had a great family and led many with his music. That was Gary. A writer, an instrumentalist, a success story, a dad, a husband, a leader, a friend – that was Gary.

That is Gary.

It’s kinda’ weird how life happens.