A new year. A new blog.

So. I used to be really good at blogging--writing three or four times a week when I was in college. And then I entered the real, grown-up world and I started to feel like my life was too boring to write about. So I stopped writing...

But it's time to start again.

I've been a fan of the author, Don Miller, for a long time. He came to the Festival of Faith and Writing at Calvin in 2006 and I was his student host. Basically, I had to make sure he was in the right place at the right time. (I failed him one of the days. He was supposed to have lunch with students. I told him he was done for the day and he went out to lunch with his friend Jordan. This was not good. Bad job, Lo.) But!...I did have to drive his get-a-way car after his last lecture. He was being mobbed by fans. Then he jumped in my van and I drove him to his hotel. And he was grateful.

Anyway.

This past summer, he took seven weeks off from the grind of daily life and rode his bike across the United States with a group of his friends--starting at the pier in Santa Monica and finishing on the shores of Delaware. And all to raise money and awareness about the current water crisis in Africa. I like it. And want to do something like this...at some point.

Reflecting on his time, he says this:

"I learned a great deal about America in the seven weeks we spent crossing the country. I learned America is good, not as wealthy as you might think, kind hearted and big hearted. I learned that small towns are dying and I wondered what we could do to bring them back. I learned that we work very hard, and that our heart is still industry and agriculture. The generosity of the average American is astounding. The idea we are divided or opinionated is something propagated by the media to sell advertising, and adhered to by those I would consider to be ignorant. I don’t mean that as an insult, I simply mean ignorance in the way a child is ignorant of spelling before they learn to read. I think the inability to think rationally begins when we believe we know more than we are actually capable of knowing, and do not think objectively because our identities are tied to our ideas."

Yep. I like him.

Here's a video he made--an overview of their journey.
Watching it makes me smile. Reminds me what it's like to share an experience with a group of people and become a family in the process. Plus, he chose one of my favorite Rosie Thomas songs to play in the background. :)