Uphill idealist

If I could, I'd take all of the favorite days and place them in a frame. This would be perfect, except there are too many moments to fit any size frame. There were dreams - and they came true. There a people I longed to meet - and did. There are songs that were written - and played. There were paintings painted - and displayed. There were broken hearts - and they were mended. There were strangers - and now they are dear to me. All of this - all of these people are infinity. They can't fit into a frame, but they can reside... in my memory, in my heart  and  in my pockets... I'm taking you with me. Poem and image by T.L. Eastman copyright 2015

Luke 7:1-10 Jesus Heals a Centurion’s Servant "After Jesus had finished all his sayings in the hearing of the people, he entered Capernaum. A centurion there had a slave whom he valued highly, and who was ill and close to death. When he heard about Jesus, he sent some Jewish elders to him, asking him to come and heal his slave. When they came to Jesus, they appealed to him earnestly, saying, ‘He is worthy of having you do this for him, for he loves our people, and it is he who built our synagogue for us.’ And Jesus went with them, but when he was not far from the house, the centurion sent friends to say to him, ‘Lord, do not trouble yourself, for I am not worthy to have you come under my roof; therefore I did not presume to come to you. But only speak the word, and let my servant be healed. For I also am a man set under authority, with soldiers under me; and I say to one, “Go”, and he goes, and to another, “Come”, and he comes, and to my slave, “Do this”, and the slave ...

The long awaited, independently produced movie version of Donald Miller's book, "Blue Like Jazz" is going to be released on April 13th, 2012. Before the movie is release, Donald Miller and Steve Taylor will be touring to promote the film. To view this tour cities, click here . It's my hope that through some local connections to media and a local theater, that 'Blue like Jazz' the movie will be able to come to Jamestown NY. If you are interested in helping to make this happen or commit to attend a local showing - please post a comment below. Let's keep the Jazz rolling. T

As I was sitting in a restaurant flipping through a copy of a book I'm rereading for a book group; my friend leaned over and said... "Hey, who's Suzi and why do you have her book?". I stared at the inscription by the author for a moment, totally perplexed as to why I was hold my friend Suzi's copy of the book in my hands. Then, the AHA moment came. A year and a half ago, (yes that long), I'd picked up a copy of " A Million Miles" by Donald Miller when he was on his book tour when it stop over at my church for a book salon. Susan Issacs was also on the tour with her book, "Angry Conversations with God." Thankfully, I did not forget to forward signed copies of her book - one oversight like this is plenty! ( Donald Miller and Susan Issacs were so kind to agree to taking a photo with me after their book readings.) One of the main ideas discussed in Don's book is working through the action and intent in how one builds their "lif...

Yesterday the Don Miller and Susan Isaacs book tour stopped by to First Lutheran of Jamestown NY. I was excited to have writers and speakers of this caliber come to our small city, as so often I have to travel three hours or more to experience a opportunity like this. The evening was more a concert than a lecture and Susan's presentation was so impressive, my 16 year old daughter can't put her book down! A little over two years ago, I asked some friends to join me at a local coffee shop to try gathering for a weekly book club. Two years and many books later, we still get together on a weekly basis. Blue Like Jazz , Don's first best-selling book, was the first book we used with our book group. After all this time, I'd have to say that book got us started off on the right foot. It was a great evening of laughter, thoughtful conversation and a challenge to live the kind of life a good book could be written about. So often I find myself uncomfortable in the place of conf...

"New York Times best-selling author of 'Blue Like Jazz's', Donald Miller and actress/comedian Susan Isaacs will be performing on Saturday, October 24th at 7:00pm at First Lutheran Church of Jamestown at 120 Chandler Street, Jamestown. Tickets are $12.00 for Adults and $8.00 for Students. Donald Miller and Susan Isaccs will be promoting their new books with a 62 city tour this fall. For tickets call First Lutheran Church at 664-4601 or go to www.itickets.com"

You may be familiar with organizations like Big Brothers or Big Sisters , Compeer and even locally, Striders makes an effort to pair students with caring adults to help support and build up the lives of students who may be missing out on caring adult relationships. Mentoring Spotlight - Ben and Dennis from The Mentoring Project on Vimeo . This month, my church ( First Lutheran of Jamestown, NY ) will be learning about a new program called, The Mentoring Project , when Don Miller stops in Jamestown on his Million Miles tour with Susan Isaacs , to let us in on the details of his program geared for boys growing up without the regular involvement of a father. My new friend Larry, from Grace Church in Erie, PA is on the board of the Mentoring Project and will be coming to help share more details about the program on October 24th, in addition to Don's presentation. Larry tells more about this opportunity, here at his church's blog. Are you interested in mentoring a child miss...

To book tickets for Susan Isaacs and Don Miller's USA Book Tour, go to itickets.com to search for a booking in a city near you. If you are in the Southwestern NY, Northwestern PA area - come to their booking at First Lutheran Church, October 24th at 7:00pm. Tickets are $12.00 for Adults and $8.00 for Students. Call 716-664-4601 for more details.

Photo found at Christine P. Newma n. On the return to school in the fall, teachers will often ask students to write an essay on "What I did this summer." Students will have stories from vacations, summer camp, concert festivals and maybe a trip to Grandmas house. Even when I was in school, I used to look forward to this chance to tell my teacher and peers what I'd been up to over the summer. Taking a moment to look what we've been doing can help to indicate where we are headed in the future. This last weekend, I took some time to read Donald Miller's newest book, " A Million Miles in a Thousand Years." In this book, "Miller chronicles a rare opportunity to edit his life into a great story, to reinvent himself so nobody shrugs their shoulders when the credits roll."(Back dust cover,Million Miles by Donald Miller) While reading Donald's book filled with his own adventures of life editing, I began to ask myself this question, "If I were ...

First Lutheran Church of Jamestown to host Bestselling Author Donald Miller Kicks Off 65-City Tour: September 16 to Launch His Highly Anticipated New Book: A Million Miles in a Thousand Years Donald Miller , author of the New York Times bestseller Blue Like Jazz, takes to the road this fall, visiting 65 cities by tour bus to launch his eagerly-awaited new book, A Million Miles in a Thousand Years: What I Learned While Editing My Life (Thomas Nelson, $19.99 hardcover, October 2009). Though in great demand as a speaker, Miller usually does just a few talks each year. “Donald Miller On Tour: An Evening with Donald Miller” will give his legion of fans, who turned Blue Like Jazz into a contemporary spiritual classic that has sold more than one million copies, the opportunity to see him live as he logs thousands, if not quite a million, miles. Miller, who lives in Portland, OR, will spend about two months on the road. He’ll kick the tour off in the Pacific Northwest, with an event in Victor...

Donald Miller will be speaking at First Lutheran Church on Saturday October 24th while on his northeast book tour. Ticket details to come very soon! BTW - Here's the link to Donald's new book "A Million Miles in a thousand years."

Last Saturday I sat among 38,000 Lutheran youth and youth ministers and waited with baited breath as Donald Miller (author of Blue Like Jazz), came onstage to address the crowd. He spoke of the challenge of being authentic in service to others, even in the areas that aren't so fun or are not the areas of service we feel we are "good" at. Donald spends a great deal of time still writing and working with The Mentoring project , that pairs adult men with boys that lack relationships with positive male role models. He spoke of the joys and challenges of mentoring. Mentoring requires the mentor to stay engaged and interested in the life of another person, even when that person does not turn out to be tiny Tim. The Mentoring Project - Elephant Musth Cycle from The Mentoring Project on Vimeo . Being with others and living in community is difficult to say the very least, but the option of living in isolation from others does not offer very much interest to me. How about you? Ju...