Thanksgiving

Hopefully you all had a great Thanksgiving Day and were able to spend the time with family and/or friends.  I am on a plane right now doing what I do… work.  I am in my 5^th year at Whitworth and I am spent yet another Thanksgiving on the road.  If you include my times with Northern Colorado, I’ve been in my home town three in the last 8 years:  Greeley twice and Spokane once.  People, including myself, cringe at that fact because holidays are supposed to be spent with family and friends.  However, I have been blessed with friends all over the US so I actually have been able to at least see family or friends on over the last 8 years.  As I reminisce over the last 8 years out of Whitworth I have vivid memories of each Thanksgiving.  I’ll start with my first one out of Whitworth.

Year 1:  Elisha Cusumano and I were both new to G town and had spent the majority of our new lives as GA’s working or studying.  That didn’t leave much time to make friends.  Besides, most of the people we knew didn’t have to stick around for the break because they didn’t work in athletics.  We both planned on studying and made plans to meet for dinner at the Chilli’s.  Little did we know that most places close down in Greeley on Thanksgiving.  I’m pretty sure we tried two or three restaurants before figuring out that none of the “nicer” restaurants (Chilli’s, Red Lobster, Panda Express) were going to be open.  We ended up at IHOP.  I had French toast, eggs and bacon for my Thanksgiving dinner.  Elisha and I laughed at our fortune.  It was a valuable lesson to learn, yet one I didn’t seem to apply in later years.

Year 2:  My second year out had me on the road with the women’s basketball team.  We were somewhere in Montana and had traveled most of the day.  We had practice and then went in search of food.  Once again, there were no restaurants open except a JB’s that had a thanksgiving buffet waiting for us.  Only problem was that we arrived right before they were going to close and they had no turkey goodness left.  My parents and Gma had driven up to see me.  We ended up ordering off the regular menu.  By process of elimination (evidently they were out of a lot of things) I had chicken strips and my Gma had a hot dog.  I wonder how long it is going to take me to learn that nothing is open on a Thanksgiving.  At least I was with family for that one.

Year 3- This year I was working with the women’s soccer team and the season had just ended.  I traveled down to Broomfield with my friend Tracy to have a real meal with some of her friends.  It was here I experienced my first fried turkey Thanksgiving.  It was amazing.  Juicy, well flavored and plenty of turkey for 4 or 5 of us.  I also had an amazing homemade sausage stuffing.  My mouth still waters when I think of it.

Year 4- My first year in Spokane.  To be honest, I have no idea what I did for this one.  I think I was in Spokane, but was working and ended up just doing my own thing.  Evidently it wasn't nearly as exciting as other years.

Year 5- Once again work had taken me to the east coast for some games.  This consisted of a trip to Washington DC followed with a direct flight to LA for a few games.  One of my students Christina, who is an athletic trainer for a dance company, came to see me.  It was great to catch up over dinner one night. This was an eventful Thanksgiving for me as we traveled from Baltimore to LA with a layover in Denver.  The morning started out great.  Facebook allowed me to know that Amy Helms was driving up from Nashville to see he parents just outside of Washington DC.  She was crazy enough to come and have breakfast with me even after driving all night.   It was by far the best part of my day.  As some of you know, Hayford had some weird travel things going on.  I traveled under a few different names.  Don’t ask me why just read the story J.  In Denver, as we were catching our next flight, TSA decided to check ID’s at the gate.  Who has ever seen TSA check ID’s not at security checkpoints.  I haven’t and neither had Jim.  I’ve never seen him so scared.  Craig Fortier and I were making plans to be interrogated by the FBI and then calculating how long it would have taken us to drive from Denver to LA.  We would have arrived just in time for the games.  Somehow (Thanks God) they let us on anyway.  As we were sitting and getting ready to take off, the jokes were flying about how we were headed to Cuba now or that as we taxied, police lights were going to come on and stop the plane.  Neither Craig nor I breathed a sigh of relief until we were in our rental cars in LA.

Year 6: The only time I’ve been in Spokane.  I’m pretty sure we had two games the following two days so I was unable to travel home or to my brothers in Tacoma.  Instead I spent it with Matt Knoll and his girlfriend at the time (I’m glad Bekah’s around now).  Pretty sure we had enough food for 25 people and there were only 3 of us there.  It was excellent though because it had been a few years since I had eaten a proper Thanksgiving meal with turkey, gravy, mashed potatoes, pumpkin pie and a Jell-O salad (reminded me of home).  After dinner it was all about Football and practice later that night……

Year 7: When people found out I was going to have to be in Hawaii for Thanksgiving they felt really sorry for me.  When I told them we were staying right down on the beach and had numerous hours of freedom, they even volunteered to take my place so I could be around Spokane and friends.  Good thing Kurt Kagawa lives in Hawaii or I just might have taken them up on that offer…. (Hopefully you caught my sarcasm)  The team had plans to eat dinner at the hotel and it was $50 a plate.  Instead, I opted to go with Kurt who took me first to his girlfriend’s family’s celebration then his family’s celebration.  Nothing like stuffing myself with two HUGE meals to make up for missing previous Thanksgiving meals.  If you know Hawaiians, they like to eat and they make really good food so needless to say, it was excellent.  That week was great.  I hadn’t see Kurt for a while so getting to hang out with him and finally meet Joanna was a huge bonus of the trip.  Kurt took the coaches and I to a not so touristy beach and we got destroyed by a few waves.  It was fun while it lasted.

Year 8:  New coaching staff, same travel ideas.  This year I was in the Bay area for Thanksgiving.  Instead of eating in the airport like a few years ago, the coaches have a meal being catered to us at the hotel.  It much better than I had anticipated.  Had all the traditional turkey and potato goodness including some sweet potatoes.  Just to make up for years past I had another meal at the home of the Callaway family.  It was even better than the first one of the day.  The house we ate at was amazing.  I was late so they had a leftover plate waiting for me.  Then it was out to the man cave for football, beer and cigars.  This place was awesome.  Made me want to drop lots of money on something similar.   Yep, Law and Bosh reunite once again!!!  I was fortunate enough to spend some good time with Law before he got married this summer.  I’m excited to see how things are going for him as he will become a father in February.  Guess I’ll be flying back down sometime in the spring to see the new kid (Hoping for a boy and Liz’s height).

As much as I enjoyed spending time with Law, I think my favorite part of the trip was listening to the basketball team talk about what they were thankful for.  Matt asked them for something they were truly grateful for, knowing we were all grateful for family and friends.  Most still said family, but they elaborated as to why.  The guys on my basketball team surprised me with their responses of understanding the sacrifice their parents made to put them in the position they are today.  All know Whitworth is not cheap and for some, it’s a struggle to be here, but all and I mean all show extreme gratitude for their parents.  Make me like them even more J

My prayer that night was one of only thanksgiving to God for the life I live, the family that supports me, the friends that lift me up when I’m struggling, the staff I work with who show the true meaning of servant leadership, and most important the grace and love of a God who will always be by my side.  I take true joy in knowing that God’s grace will always be free and there is nothing better in life.  Enjoy your holiday season.

Blessings.

South Africa

I was surfing the web the other morning and saw some flight deals to exotic places like Thailand, Mongolia and China. I also saw a list of the 16 most dangerous countries to visit. Seeing both things makes me want to travel. It also reminded me that I haven't really shared my story from this summer with very many people. You've maybe seen my pictures on facebook, but there wasn't much cometary with them. For those who don't know or need a reminder, I spent 10 days in South Africa, 6 in England and a day in Ireland this summer. Its always fun to see peoples reactions when I told them where I was going. Most didn't believe I was actually going to follow through with it. Others were excited and yet others were confused. "Why South Africa? The World Cup was last year!!" My mother was not too excited that I was talking about going to Africa again. The answer to these questions and confused looks was simple: I have friends. Yes, people, I have friends. I know its hard to believe, but I really do... well, at least I did. I'm hoping I didn't ruin anything on my trip :). In Capetown, a college friend of mine named Amy Helms had accepted a call to be a missionary. I thought it would be a great opportunity to hang out with her and be in SA. In England, many of the people I spent time with in Ghana were getting out of university and the time seemed right to visit them. The trip was an opportunity to broaden my horizons once again by heading to another African country and to see how my friends in England live. This post will highlight some of my favorite parts of South Africa. I'll post later about England.

I have written this blog twice, but it was super long both times so I'll just give hopefully a brief synopsis of some parts of my trip.

Pre Capetown: My trip actually began on June 28 with a drive to Pocatello to drop of my dog. From there it was a trip to Boise to golf and off to Oakland for Law's wedding. From there began my 36 hour trip to Capetown. The flight from LA to London put me next to a little girl who was very excited to be heading to London. She fell asleep on my arm a few times on the flight. The flight from London to Capetown was much more eventful as the retired lady I sat next two was a nervous flier and had lots and lots of alcohol to calm herself. She had toured the US by hitchhiking back in the 60's and had traveled all over the world with her late husband. She told me great stories of being attacked by a lion on a safari and how she watched a cheetah kill its prey. She had lived a very adventurous life and was glad that I wasn't a home bodied American and gave me a long list of things to do while I was in SA.

Side note: I had no expectations heading into South Africa. In fact, I didn't do much research before I left. I figured Amy would know all the cool things to do. My only knowledge of South Africa was from everything I had seen during the World Cup. I knew of the townships, the history with Mandela and Robben Island and the poverty gap. What didn't know/realize, was how beautiful the area was that I was going to explore.

Best Day???: My first view of South Africa was the sun rise from the airplane on our approach. It was amazing. I don't really have the words to describe what I was feeling at that point. Here is the picture I was able to get from the airplane.


My emotions changed rather quickly as we were landing and flew over one of the townships, which are tin shacks lined up for miles. I would later visit a few of these places that Amy worked in and learn much more about the divisions that exist in South Africa. I have been around poverty during my 3 months in Ghana, but the site of it will always break my heart. This is one of the reasons I strongly believe everyone and I mean everyone should spend an extended amount of time in a third world region. You can see pictures on TV or hear about it on the radio, but nothing compares to experiencing it first hand. Every time I think about it I thank God for the life that have.

As I deplaned and retrieved my luggage I was hoping Amy wasn't late. The last time I was in Africa my pick up person was late and I had taxi drivers try to shove me in their cars. Low and behold, Amy was waiting and had a little laugh as she saw me. Come to find out, I was easy to spot. She told me that it was "very like and American" to be wearing a baseball hat.... She quickly looked at her watch and told me we had places to be. Nothing like hitting the ground running...

Robben Island was an experience. To see first hand where Nelson Mandela and many other political prisoners were kept unfairly was one of those life experience many people will never have the chance of doing. The initial tour starts out with a drive around the outer edge of the island while a guide give a history lesson. Some of the more fascinating facts: People who were held on the island are free to live on the island at the expense of the government. The only thing they are asked to do is give tours as part of their "rent". Only 1 person ever managed to swim to the the mainland. He did it twice. Each time, the police were waiting for him on the mainland. Initially, Mandela and his fellow prisoners were only suppose to work in the quarry for 6 months. Instead, they worked in it for years. The next part of the tour was actually inside the prison. Our guide was held there and had numerous stories about his incarceration. He was imprisoned there because he was a arms dealer. I don't think I really understood what Robben Island meant to the people of South Africa until we were on the boat back to Capetown. I will never be able to identify with the horrors they experienced during the Apartheid. I am thankful for the opportunity to at least see and learn a part of what they experienced.

Mandela's Cell

The rest of the day consisted of me eating, being amazed by a whale outside my window and enjoying one of the most beautiful sunsets I've ever seen. I'm a sucker for good sunsets. I have pictures in my room of a few that I have witnessed. The vibrant oranges, blues, pinks and purples are hypnotic to me. I sit in awe of nature's ability to produce such beauty and this takes me back to God. I always come back to God when I see the natural beauty of the world because its His creation and thats where I feel closer to Him. Capetown allowed me a lot of time to sit and be in awe of the beauty of the world.



There were so many highlights from my trip but in order to make this post not enormous, I'll focus on just two or three points.

Hiking: One of the biggest surprises of the greater Capetown area was the amount of hiking there was. I managed to do 2 of the big 3 in my second day there. Amy ended up having to work so she was kind enough to drop me off at Table Mountain. I decided I was going to climb it and then walk over to climb up Lions head as well. She thought I was crazy. turned out i was.... The climb up Table mountain was crazy steep. It was like walking up stairs for an hour and a half.

Zig Zag of Death

Devils peak, Table mountain and Lions Head

However, once at the top there was a sense of accomplishment. So much so that I took the tram down :) Lions head was beautiful as it had a different look to the ocean. I was able to just hang out on Lions head for while and took in that fact that I was actually in South Africa. I was half way around the world visiting a friend from college, getting away from real life and learning how to relax while on vacation. These thought could do nothing but bring a smile to my face. As I walked down I thanked God for the opportunity to be in South Africa, experiencing amazing scenery and doing what I love to do: Hike.

Life experiences: While in South Africa, I was able to visit the southern most tip of Africa. Not many people can say they have done that. While there, i had one foot in the Indian Ocean and one in the Atlantic ocean. Again, not many people can say they have done that. Also, I was farted on by a rhino. No joke. During our Safari, we were actually close enough that a mother rhino pretty much farted on us. Granted, it was in our general direction from about 5 or 6 feet away, but still, it sound much more adventurous to say I was farted on by a rhino. There were 9 other people in our vehicle that were a part of it. Also, if you need verification, ask Amy Helms or Emily Borders.... Here is list of the animals I saw: cheetah, giraffe, Kudu, elephant, penguins, black mamba, green mamba, crocodile, lion, springbok, wildebeest, red hartebeest and eland. I'm sure I missed a few, but you get the idea. I could tell you numerous stories from our Safari most of them involving our guide name Corny. To the surprise of no one, his jokes were just like his name :)



Food: Kudu, ostrich, pork from the townships (best I've ever had) and a few local beers that weren't up to my expectations coming from all the micro's I drink.

Lesson: There were so many life lessons to take away from my trip. God is faithful. He has called people to serve all over the world. I met many missionaries while in Capetown and they are living proof that when God calls, He will also provide. Amy is there serving with an organization called Living Hope. Its a fairly new non-profit organization serving in many aspects in and around Capetown. They have their hands in numerous projects including AIDS/HIV education, education, hospice care, professional development, farming and many other things. Check out her blog to learn more about what she is doing.

Relaxation is key while on vacation. I have been on vacation before, but has always packed my day full of activity to make sure I didn't miss anything. Capetown was much different. I had no plan and was up for doing anything. My tour guide had plans that fell through at times, but that was ok because we could adapt, relax if we needed to and eventually were able to do many things from hiking to seeing penguins to watching the sunset to watching whales from my room :).

The trip was amazing. I could give you a day by day account because something great happened everyday. There were also trying times everyday because my heart breaks for those who live in some of the horrendous conditions I saw. Knowing how they were put in the conditions saddens me even more. Ever since I have left the question that has been on my heart is how can I help. This questions is unanswered for me. I've been reading a book call the Hole in Our Gospel and it makes me uncomfortable because it is challenging me to look at my life and see if God is calling me to do more with my life than just tape ankles in my comfortable life here in Spokane. I don't have an answer to that question yet, but I'm sure when God is ready for me to do something more, He will be faithful and provide me the answer and the means. I just hope I ready for that day.

Jon

Summer Statistics

As some of you know, I didn't spend much time in Spokane this summer. My big trip started on June 28 and ended on my return to Spokane on July 28th. During that time I was in 4 countries, 3 states and 2 national parks. Here is a breakdown of that trip.

Summer Statistics
Total Miles Driven: 2765
Total Miles Flown: 23363
Total Miles Hiked/Walked (est): 100
Total Miles via Train (est): 100

If I start my count on June 1 I would add 700 miles driving, 3294 flying and 30-40 hiking/running/walking.

I'll post a South Africa story soon.

Jon

30

I've been thinking about staring a blog over the last few months. Mostly as a way to get my thoughts out there and let people know how I'm doing and what I'm doing. I am by no means a great writer. In fact, I suck at telling stories and most of the time I think I'm funnier than I really am. It will probably end up being a lot of incoherent ramblings. Even so, I'm going to give this a whirl.

I turned the big 3-0 yesterday and happened to have it off from work (days off are hard to come by so I was pretty excited). I decided to drive north to the Kettle Crest trail and hike. It was brisk beautiful fall day for a 9 mile trek with Tag. It gave me time to reflect on the last 30 years, what I've learned and how all my experiences have made me who I am today. Here were some of thoughts:

Family- I am unbelievably blessed with a loving family. As I look back over the last 30 years my mind is bombarded with memories of soccer tournaments, family vacations, holiday's at Grandma and Granddad's, multiple weeks spent in Rupert with cousins, Bosh family reunions, Grandpa's lighter trick, fishing, camping and so many other things. All such positive memories that have molded me and shown me what a family life should look like. My parents have been married for 36 years and my brother and Emily are coming up on their 10th anniversary. There are no better examples at what marriage should look like and be like. Both are examples of waht it means to sacrifice for your family and to love unconditionally. There is a whole new chapter of family involvement with Lincoln, Addy and Gideon. I think a lot about my uncle Gary and what he meant to me while I was growing up. He wanted to be involved in the lives of his nieces and nephews as much as possible. I can only hope to as great of an uncle as he was.

Friends- The great thing about friends is that the good ones last forever. As we grow, different groups of friends seem to come and go, but out of those groups, good individuals never seem to disappear. My best example of this is my friends over the UK. We spent some wonderful times together learning, growing and experiencing life in Ghana. I left and came back to the states and they back to the UK. This summer I was able to reunite with them and it was just like we had been hanging out just the week before instead of 4 years prior. I think this is because they are good people and I have been blessed so much by the good people that surround me still today. One of my favorite groups of people were those from good old Camp Perkins. I miss the days of sneaking into the kitchen for a snack at night, the many late nights spent in the loft, the amazing sunsets, dressing crazy for banquet night, lifting with Bacon and Angel, Muie Muie Muie time, Babe the blue ox and M4L. I miss even more the good people that truly cared about each other and each and every kid that would spend a week up there in the summer. As my life has moved forward the close group of friends has changed, but no matter what, those from the past remain an integral part of who I am today.

Love- I won't bore you with the details of this one, but just know, I had love once, it was lost and I am excited to find it again when the time is right.

Travel- When I was in high school I never would have thought I would be a world traveler. I had no interest in knowing what the rest of the world was like and was fine in my own little part of the world. Then came college and friends who studied abroad. They came back and made the world sound very exciting. I have been all over the US, but took my first trip abroad to Japan with a Whitworth May term trip. That trip planted a seed in my head and I became more and more curious about the world outside of the US. Of course, I had my own plans and didn't get our of the country again until after grad school. I then spent a life changing 3 months in Ghana where I experienced true poverty, the joys of a simple life and a changing worldview. I left after my 3 months and decided I needed to see more of the world and what it had to offer. Since then I have been to Costa Rica, South Africa, England, Ireland and am planning on hitting up many many more countries as soon as possible. From my experience in Ghana I have decided that all people should spend a large amount of time in another country to see what the rest of the world is like and to understand the struggles people face. It makes you appreciate what you have and gives you life experience. Plus, its fun :).

God- Believe it or not, my brother was the one God used to bring me to Him. I look back now and kind of laugh at the story because of the relationship Jason and I had. I wouldn't say it was fractured relationship, but more like one full of fissures, yet God still managed to get me to see Him through my brother. I by no means would say my relationship with God has been fantastic and willingly admit its because I suck. I'm slowly learning to be more consistent in prayer and study. My biggest influence though have been some of the people God has put near me. I am lucky to work with the people that I do and to have the friends that I do. They listen to me whine and then tell me to suck it up. They deal with me when I'm crazy and when I'm angry. They always bring me back to what is important: God and His work. Faith is a long process and journey and I am always encouraged to know that I don't have to be perfect to be loved and that there are others struggling right along with me.

I had many, many more thoughts, but no one wants to read all of them. In fact, I'll be surprised if I have more than 5 people read this (and yes, i will count my mom, grandma and aunt who are sure to read this because they will finally be getting the insight into my life they have all been craving since I moved away for college) If your survived reading all the through, thank you. If you skipped to the end, thanks for at least visiting my blog :)

Blessings,

Jon