Solitude, Goodbyes, and Celebrations

The past two weeks have been a time of reflection and preparation for my up coming adventures, on the road. It feels pretty unbelievable that I'll be shoving off from Indy Monday morning for my first week of NTS camp orientation and preparation. The last two weeks have been filled with goodbyes as I prepare to leave home. I finished my work at Panera Bread last week and walked out, after a close, feeling a strange mix of happy and sad emotions. Many of my co workers and regulars at Panera I have know for 3+ years and it is always hard to leave them. Walking out of Panera gives me a blissful hope of the coming adventures that always seem to follow my departures.

End of a Panera

Since I finished up at Panera, I have had an excess of free time, which I have been trying to be productive with. Most of my time I spent either playing music or training for my end of the summer adventure. This cycle has often been interrupted by visiting with friends. One of these occasions, Will came down to Indy to spend time with Brady, myself, and a whole slew of new friends to celebrate Brady's birthday. Brady has been a staple for my sanity over the past month, and really over the years. It was great to get to celebrate who he has been to me, and what God has in store for him in his 22nd year.

Dustin is Getting Married

Along with celebrating Brady, I was also fortunate enough to be able to celebrated Dustin's engagement in Brown County, IN. If you have never been to Brown County, it is a little slice of heaven just south of Bloomington, IN where the houses grow farther apart and the stretches of forest grow larger and larger. Here we stayed Jason Chapels parents cabin(more on them later), which was tucked in the woods, out the back of a long gravel driveway. Here we lived like men, eating more protein than one could possibly imagine, driving trucks through mud, shooting guns and playing shower games. It wouldn't be a Keith Harshbarger party without shower games. It was great to tell funny stories of Dustin from throughout the years, and to indulge in some of his favorite activities. We took an 8 mile hike, on and off trails, in Morgan Monroe State Park, which was easily my favorite part of the weekend. Nothing like wondering through the forest with no agenda beyond simply enjoying God's creation and avoiding the mad tick infestation. Once we got back from our hike, we went to visit Jason's parents Mike and Dot. These two folks were amazing. We dropped in  as they were sitting down to dinner and the second we pulled up they were on their feet showing us one of the greatest displays of hospitality I have seen in some time. We were still 30 feet away from them and they were offering us drinks and inviting us into their home where we spent about 2 hours chatting and playing music. Bryce and I spent a good amount of time playing music with Mike, who was an incredible guitarist, and it was easy to see where Jason gets his talent. He showed me his new-found love for bluegrass tunes and I showed him some of my songs. We capped the weekend off with several hours of shooting guns at everything from pictures of random things to water bottles to watermelon. Maybe I think gun laws should be a little stronger, but I have to admit it was pretty fun. The weekend was awesome. It took me the next three days to recover from a beat up shoulder, exhaustion
and to digest the pounds of meet I ate.

R & R

This week has been a time of rest for me. Knowing that the coming three months will hold little sleep and lots of contact with people, I focused on getting my introverted side well taken care of. I have been experimenting with some of my newer songs, as I prepare to record on the road with Christian. Between jam sessions, I have found myself running more and more. It's strange but I am starting to like it! Last night I went on a good walk through the Starky Park in town Zionsville, where I practiced my new hobby of film photography. I saw one person, one dog and loads of trees. Pretty sweet.

This week I found myself processing nothing over and over, until one night I went on a walk and found myself asking God some hard questions. "Am I ready for what this summer holds?" The Lord spoke to me in simple words that night. "Yes" he said. I responded, "how can I know?" He said, "trust me". That was it. That was all He said. It was strange as I sat on a park bench under the stars talking to Shea on the phone about it, I felt the Lord ease my angst and I found myself feeling prepared to go. I know where I am going, but I am not entirely sure of my responsibilities. This summer will no doubt be a stretch, but I am excited to tell the stories of the people I meet and the work God will no doubt be doing all around me. Be praying for our team to have hearts to serve and listen to what the Holy Spirit desires for us. May God increase as we decrease. Until next time, stay sweet.