Shine on you crazy diamond

"Be sure to search high and low, where it is hot and where it is cold." Those were the words left upon the bathroom mirror on Sunday evening. I assumed they were scrawled lovingly by the hand of my beautiful wife as it mimicked her handwriting. However, one can never be too sure. The prelude to this riddle assured that there was a "surprise" coming my way. I proceded cautiously to the kitchen, searching the freezer, refrigerator, pantry, garage, cabinets, patio, oven, microwave and deeper into the freezer before finding my treasure of goodness. Yes,waiting for me, wrapped in plastic Kroger bags was a full pint of what will one day come to be known as the single greatest discovery among all frozen treats: The Chunky Monkey. Ben & Jerry's greatest contribution to mankind and--to me--their legacy! Thethree of us--Miranda, myself and the chunky monkey--cozied down onto the couch and watched our beloved St. Louis Cardinals quickly fall to Detroit in game 2.

Miranda had never seen Stanley Kubrick's 1980 film The Shining and so, after just sitting through the rather incoherent Black Dahlia, we were primed to sit through some filmaking of substance, character and most of all coherency. And where do you go when you want some good ol' everything-makes-perfect-sense filmaking? Why, Stanley Kubrick of course! Kubrick's film is near perfect in score, cinematography and pace. The performances by the entire cast are superb, especially Jack Nicholson's terrifying, often comical portrayal of Jack Torrance. You can sense his character heading for the deep end even before he and his family arrive at the Overlook. It's as if he takes on the job as caretaker not only to find solace as he begins writing, but also to escape his loveless marriage. When this guy begins attacking his family, even though he already appears to have checked out of his role as father and husband, that's when things get frightening. The supernatural elements of the hotel often seem irrelavent to the story, but there are fewer films that I've seen which are as spooky as The Shining. Top notch performances, beautiful filmaking, weird storytelling with creepy little kids and Scatman Crothers! You can't go wrong with Hong Kong Phooey!

Here's to you, The Shining! If only Mr. Kubrick were alive to read this riveting review of his film. I imagine he would be inspired to make a film about the review itself. Oh well. All for nought. I believe there is only one way to bounce back from that digression...

There's that PB&J I went on and on and on and on about in that last entry. Wanna guess what I had for lunch today?

-joel

Peanut butter wishes and strawberry jam dreams

You know, there's really nothing quite like two thick slices of hearty toast slathered with peanut butter and strawberry preserves. If you think I'm joking around, I would challenge you to enjoy yourself a helping right now without delighting in each delectable bite. Go on, I dare you! If you find me guilty of bearing false testimony then I would urge you to seek professional counseling immediately. Mmmmmmmm... The peanut butter just melts into the toasty bread and when you start to spread the strawberry preserves... oh my goodness how the two coalesce into a magical medley to dance across the tastebuds. I won't go on for fear that I'm creeping out anyone reading this ridiculous post, but I assure you... Try it!This week was pretty amazing just because Miranda and I got to spend some time with so many wonderful

people.

Monday morning, I did some painting at my grandparents house which I've been working on much of the summer. That evening, our amazing friend Emily who is a student at Purdue was in town for fall break and she joined us for some dinner, dancing and top secret spy work.

Tuesday night, Miranda's folks drove down from the Fort Wayne to stay with us as they were flying out of Indy the next morning for Rome. So for those keeping score at home, we had ten warm bodies sleeping in our house tuesday night. I believe it's a new record for the Rockey house.

Wednesday, Dan joined us for a crock of ham & bean soup with cornbread and some conversation in the living room afterwards. Later that night Jace, Kath, Miranda and I gathered around the tube in our upper room for our weekly fix of Lost. Can you believe that Sawyer? I mean, my goodness. Our neighbors and friends Chris and Amy eventually joined us as well and we got to spend some time catching up afterwards.

Thursday afternoon my good friend and musical associate Andrew joined me in working up some songs for my CD release show on November 4th. After a couple hours of rockin' the suburbs, Andrew stuck around for enchiladas and some good ol' snoopin' around on our favorite website featuring the Dutch Sesame Street.

Friday, I was offered a job at Starbucks which I gladly accepted as Miranda and I headed out for our weekly custodial responsibilities at Southminster. Afterwards, we joined my folks and my broseph Jeremy for some pizza and ice cream. Then we got to enjoy watching the St. Louis Cardinals come back and beat New York in the ninth inning.
Saturday, Miranda and I had the whole house to ourselves as the Jason Rockey family was in the Fort Wayne visiting Katherine's folks. I seized the opportunity to spread out in the kitchen and finish screenprinting the artwork for Kyrie Eleison. Later that evening my brohan Jeremy caught a ride with us to Mass Avenue to see Dan perform at Comedy Sportz. We laughed many times over.

Sunday morning, there was the breaking of bread around our table and discussion of ways for our small church community to be serving those around us. We also came to the decision to begin reading through the Gospel of Mark together. Steph and Kip stopped by again and I was able to give them a preview of the final version of the Everybody Loves Tyler video (see previous post) which we sent to him last week. It was such an encouraging time for me talking with the two of them... hopefully they were encouraged as well. My heart aches for them and the other kids at CGPC. These kids have revolutionary hearts and I hope to see them rise up and be voices of leadership, not merely in the youth ministry, but in the church... Whether others will take the time to really listen to them, I don't know. I hope so. Which leads me to...

Today. I joined my friend Tim for coffee at Einstein Bros. for the first time in many months. We caught up with each other's lives, shared where our hearts were right now and prayed for one another. It was so refreshing to my soul to have that short hour together. I've missed my friend Tim. As we sipped the last drops of coffee from our cups, our conversation was intruded upon by this revelation; that the Church must come to a place of desperation before the throne of Christ. Not just desperate for His wisdom or His direction or His provision, but simply desperate for Him.

Everybody loves Tyler, part II

Here is the video referred to in the previous post. You may want to sit down and grab a box of your favorite brand of tissues for this one.

Everybody love Tyler, part I

I have found that recently I am in the habit of checking my email quite often. For about three weeks now, I have wrestled with whether I should write to a couple of the kids from the youth ministry we were asked to leave from. In particular, I had been thinking of Steph and Katie. They are two young ladies who Miranda and I were very close with and haven't had any conversation with either of them all summer. Well, it's Sunday morning and before preparing breakfast for our family and guests, I check

my electronic mailbox. Before my welling eyes, what should appear? I have one email waiting to be read from Stephanie. I was overcome with such a feeling of love and joy. You see, I am also in the habit of believing lies such as; none of the kids we used to spend so much time with any longer want anything to do with us. Of course this simply wasn't true as Stephanie let me know in her email. I immediately wrote her back and called her to invite her to come over to the house to talk. Around noon, she and Katie showed up at our front door--an occurence which was greatly missing from our lives. We all sat around and talked, listened and lamented over the wrongs done to us by others who should have been the ones building us up and modeling the attitude of Christ for us. It's easy to point the finger and lay blame, but we all know that what's done is done. The hard part is forgiveness. How do we keep from making the same mistakes and have no other agenda but listening to and following Jesus? It's difficult.

After we'd been talking awhile, Stephanie recieved a call from Kip and he soon joined us. We began to collectively think about our good friend Tyler who had started at school out in Arizona this fall. We miss him. We pondered how difficult it must be to live so far away from everyone you know and love. He seemed to spend every waking hour with his family and/or friends. Tyler is a great friend who genuinely cares for those close to him. Strangely, soon after we began discussing plans to bake him cookies and make him a video, Tyler himself calls Kip on his phone! Hmmm... So then, we all set out to, as I like to say, "bake the hell out of some peanut butter cookies" for our friend Tyler. It felt really good to spend the afternoon laughing and lamenting with these kids who we love so dearly. I'm so amazed at how God shows up in these moments of mortality and gives us comfort and joy in the company of others when we least expect them.

Startled squirrels and horseshit

As I sit in our "bedroom apartment" atop the home we are now sharing with my cousin Jason, his wife Kathy and their four children, I sip my morning coffee by the open window. The cold autumn air dances beneath my feet. Cold Spring Harbor plays behind me while my wife's loving words left upon the bathroom mirror this morning recall the activity of a gorgeous October Sunday.

With barely a cloud in the sky, the sun warmed the morning air quickly as we drove to Brown county state park. The leaves were just starting to change color and fall to the ground. Miranda recounted the days at our last house when she would wrap herself in a blanket and sit on the back patio facing the woods just past our backyard. She loved to sit and read while the tiny creek trickled through fallen leaves and earth. It's difficult to not long for that backyard again. Though we both agreed that there's no substitute for the proximity to our family and friends right now. Memories of the past always seem to haunt us. We know the futility in playing that game of twenty questions. We wonder if only we'd known how things would turn out, would we do things differently? It doesn't matter. Not that the past doesn't matters because it obviously matters a great deal, but we certainly do no good hoping for the past to give us another chance. My memories often take me to times spent with the kids from the youth ministry. Last fall, we spent a weekend at Yellowwood Forest. Little did I know that a year from then most of those kids would be removed from our daily lives. It's hard not to still be angry. I still wonder a great deal where we'll be in a couple of years.

Back at Brown county, Miranda and I hiked a few miles through the woods, startled squirrels & caterpillars and read beneath the shade of birch trees as acorns pelted our car like Indiana hail in the Summertime. Last spring, our travels to Brown county led us to a limestone creek bed. We hopped across rocks further down the creek to a secluded place where all we could hear was the sound of fresh water and wind. We were really looking forward to returning to our special place only to be disappointed that the creek was fairly dry and muddy. There were also cavalries of horseback riders galloping past us which left us trodding through horseshit.

Nevertheless, we had a wonderful time getting away together and enjoying a most beautiful day. We can't know what tomorrow holds but we'd do well to just shut up and rest in the sound of sheer silence now and again. That's where Scripture tells us that God speaks and where we can hear.

The Bob Dylan Show: Rain or shine

Last night, Miranda and I ventured north to the mighty Fort Wayne to see the all-star rhythm & blues review, The Bob Dylan Show. I'd heard a number of exciting things about this Bob Dylan fellow. In fact, I had recently purchased his most recent sound recording entitled Modern Times which I enjoyed very much. The sun was shining down upon us from it's lofty throne as we drove along I-69 from Indianapolis. It appeared a picturesque day for an outdoor concert at a ball park! Yes indeed, we would be participants in a real slice of Americana!

Just then, as we pulled into the Memorial Stadium parking lot, a dark ominous cloud snuck up behind us and gathered directly above the ball field. The temperature dipped to chilly giving prelude to the light rain which would keep us company for the next several hours. "Rain or Shine" declared the ticket stub... and rain it did. As my wife and I snuggled beneath an increasingly damp blanket from high atop the metal bleachers, we listened to some fantastic music by Elana James & the Continental Two, Junior Brown, and Jimmie Vaughan. After several hours of good time boogie woogie music, the rain let, the sun went down and Bob Dylan and his band took to the stage to perform an amazing set opening with a rip-roaring version of "Cat's in the Well". Other highlights of the show were "Masters of War", "Tangled Up in Blue" and a beautiful 3/4 time rendition of "My Back Pages". Dylan's band was tight as could be and his vocals were surprisingly clear. Dylan led his band from behind the keys and broke out the harp for a handful of numbers with some beautifully delicate solos. Another highlight was hearing "Like a Rolling Stone" during the encore in which the house lights came up during each chorus.

After the show, Miranda and I hit the road and headed back home under the light of the full moon being veiled by the breaking clouds. Fantastic show with some great friends. Thanks to Ryan and Aimee for inviting us to the show with them. Thanks to Bob, Elana, Junior, Jimmie and the rest of the fine musicians who made the 4 hour round trip worth every mile.

Complete Bob Dylan setlist (9-5-06)

1. Cat's in the Well
2. You Ain't Goin' Nowhere
3. Tweedle Dee & Tweedle Dum
4. Girl of the North Country
5. Watching the River Flow
6. Stuck Inside of Mobile with the Memphis Blues Again
7. Masters of War
8. Leopard-Skin Pill-Box Hat
9. Tangled Up in Blue
10. Highway 61 Revisited
11. My Back Pages
12. Summer Days
13. Like a Rolling Stone (encore)
14. All Along the Watchtower

Kyrie eleison is coming

The finishing touches are being lovingly crafted for the distribution of the most recent sound recording by The Mustard Room artist Joel Rockey. Digitally stamped on compact disc, Kyrie Eleison includes thirteen original songs, guest appearances by Emily Furrow and Tyler Johnson, and hand-printed artwork. This newest release arrives at the dawn of a new day for The Mustard Room. Be sure to check back soon for the new website complete with online store and details of all The Mustard Room's creative solution services.

Hear ye, here ye

So here I sit, typing upon my keyboard, officially thirty years of ruggedly-aged joel. It would be silly to say that I really feel any older than I did yesterday, but it certainly does cause one to look back on the seasons of life with a little perspective. The last six months have been a series of emotional chutes and ladders for Miranda and I. There was really nothing that I wanted more than to celebrate my thirty years on earth with some the those who

are dearest to my heart. I was honestly overwhelmed as sixty or so family and friends merged in our backyard for conversation, food, games, music and frivolity through a monkey sprinkler!

Thank you everyone.

Garage sale

Aloha

After months of anticipation about our upcoming, long overdue vacation, Miranda and I finally made it to Hawaii. Oh sure, many never even make it across the Pacific to the beautifully lush islands in a lifetime. But you see, it was the very dreaming of one day traveling to Hawaii which brought our relationship to a new level of commitment what began eight short years ago. Now that the two of us have been to the islands together, we can finally move on with our lives. In planning for our visit, we opted to find a cheap, all-inclusive cruise which would visit several of the islands. After some online research, we chose to embark on The Pride of Aloha with Norwegian Cruise Lines.

We flew in to the island of Maui and enjoyed a couple of days there before floating over to Honolulu on Oahu. During our stay in Honolulu we met a wonderful family from Nebraska who hiked up Diamond Head Crater with us. We also joined them for dinner a couple of times on the boat. From Honolulu we drifted up to the garden island, Kauai where we had the privilege of looking out over the Grand Canyon of the Pacific known as Waimea. We also did some snorkeling in Kauai. I have to tell you, snorkeling in the Pacific was just about one of the most magical things Miranda and I have ever done together. During our honeymoon in Florida six years ago, we visited this makeshift aquatic zoo in what had to be someone's back yard. It was, to say the least, highly entertaining. The simultaneously cool and sad thing about this questionable operation though was that they had a giant sea turtle in this little pool. He was a beautiful creature slowly swimming back and forth. Occasionally, he would poke his head out of the water and look you right in the eye as if to say, "Not a whole lot to do around here is there." But Miranda marveled over him like a little child. Until then, I had no idea how much she enjoyed sea turtles... Fast forward to Kauai, 2006. Aside from the colorful fish of many sizes and shapes, we got to float right over two big sea turtles as they waved their mighty flippers and went on with their everyday turtle lives. As amazing as swimming with those turtles was,and believe me it was pretty amazing, the thing that gave me more joy was watching my wife's face light up behind her snorkel and mask. The plastic plumbing clinging tightly to her face couldn't hide the shrieks of delight as she watched those turtles float slowly beneath her. If I'd ever forgotten, all of the memories of why I first fell in love with this girl came rushing back to me.

After two days on Kauai, our boat took us to the big island where we stopped at Hilo for a day to ride bicycles down a volcano and then Kona where we went 100 feet below sea level in a tiny submarine. Our journey ended where it began back on the island of Maui where they booted us off the boat at 8:45am and shuttled us to the airport where our flight was to leave at 5:50pm. Miranda and I decided to rent a car and drive for a while. We took off along the coast down the Hana highway to see what we could see. We found a beautiful off-road oasis call the Twin Falls where we hiked back to swim in some crispy cool waterfalls. We then stopped to walk along the beach on our way back to the airport at afternoon's end.

Sure, we had to endure the tiresome bitching of some of the cruise snobs aboard the ship. We went cheap and had no cruise experience with what to compare. I say, you get whatyou pay for. And who cares anyway? We were in paradise. No amount of airborne flu, bad buffet food or obnoxious cruise directors could take away from that. The icing on the cake, as our plane departed over the Pacific, was looking out over the expanse of endless blue sea that slowly veiled itself beneath the thick of clouds that cradled the sky like an arctic landscape. I swear we could have set that big old jet right down and all walked out to dance around for a bit. I just said, yeah God, that's pretty good.

This bird has flown

Dearest brethren of Center Grove Church,

It is with pain in my heart and tears in my eyes that I write this letter. These three and a half years behind us have reaped so much fruit for God's Kingdom. Along with many of you, my wife and I have seen lives transformed by the grace and love of Jesus Christ. We have experienced the warmth and healing of God's mercy in genuine Christian community. I can think of no greater joy - save the love of Christ - than sharing in the chapters being written into God's story which we've been so graciously allowed.

We are filled with such joy and yet it burdens us in knowing that we have experienced more grief and agony from tongues of those whom we should call brother and sister than we have from those who do not claim to know Christ. I say this not to dismiss the work that God is doing through the people of Center Grove Church. It's hard to imagine a greater tragedy than to allow a foothold to the enemy who seeks to destroy what has been established and consecrated by God. Rather these words are meant to encourage you dear brothers and sisters to press on in love and in oneness in Christ Jesus. Do not give up! Do not give up on His goodness and do not give up on one another. Surely, our loving Father has yet to give up on any of us. We pray as we leave you that in the days and months and years ahead that Center Grove Church will be known for being a community which listens. May you listen for God's redeeming voice in the silence between the busyness which most mistake for life. Don Miller said it this way, "We can trust our fate to a jury of peers, we can work to accumulate wealth, buy beauty under a surgeon's knife, panic for our identities under the fickle friendship of culture, and still die in separation from the one voice we really needed to hear.

I was invited to Center Grove Church to dream and to cast a vision for the youth ministries at Center Grove Church. The vision which I continually saw before me and was convicted to follow was not that of efficiency and fast-paced programming, but instead had more to do with authentic, relational community. I believe with all of my heart that God was blessing and will continue to bless that ministry in which He has laid the foundation.

It pains us to leave you this way, not of our own sensing of God's calling us elsewhere. However, God can and will take all things and use them for His glory. Of that we can be quite sure.

Therefore, do not stop loving one another with your very lives. For love washes over a multitude of things and it is by our love for one another in which we will be recognized by the world as Christ's bride.

As the apostle Paul said, "When I came to you, brothers and sisters, I did not come with eloquence or superior wisdom as I proclaimed to you the testimony about God. For I resolved to know nothing while I was with you except Jesus Christ and Him crucified. I came to you in weakness with great fear and trembling. My message and my preaching were not with wise and persuasive words, but with a demonstration of the Spirit's power, so that your faith might not rest on human wisdom, but on God's power."

May the peace of our Lord Jesus Christ reign in your minds and in your hearts,

joel

Only wish

The 2005 Christmas ep is now making it's way into the hands of good folks both young and old. This one was a joy to create as the songs took on a lovely shape thanks to the nurturing of a couple of good friends named jason and kyle.

Be sure to come out for a hot beverage at Strange Brew on friday, january 20th while the boys from rebel robot and myself share some music and song.

"If I find myself a desire which no experience in this world can satisfy, the most probable explanation is that I was made for another world." -c.s. lewis

And the adult superstores shall be as numerous as the stars in the sky.

I just spent a handful of hours northbound on 65 from the wonderfully inclined nashville city. My wife and I spent about four days hanging out at the annual YS national youth workers convention. We hadn't been in a couple of years, but had the chance to spend the time with two incredible women (one R. Furrow and another A. Johnson) who are continuing to listen to and follow God's wonderfully calling on their lives. Together, the four of us were challenged and encouraged in our faith, love, and in the youth ministry at center grove church which God has called us to be partners in. I made a few new friends like Brad from first baptist church in Williamsburg, Kay Why. We sat in on a seminar together, snapped a few photos and prayed for one another before parting ways. He has just finished a year as an interim youth pastor of a group of about twenty kids (jr AND sr high). After a brief conversation, it was evident that God has been blessing their "small" youth group with depth in relationships and transformed lives rather than with numbers...

As I spent the last few days in Nashville, reflecting on our ministry, fuming about our church community, listening to God, to brothers and sisters in Christ, to Dylan... alot of things began to percolate... not only in my mind, but in my heart. I began to see how inward focused I have become lately. I have forgotten my first love. I have stopped trusting my God. I have stopped jumping fearlessly into His arms with wild abandon. And yet, regardless of my own neglect of my soul and of the God who alone can nourish and sustain me, He has not forgotten me. Somehow, in my confusion, and inability to see two steps ahead of my self, I am held by the peace of Christ Jesus. You are my joy You are my joy You are my joy You are my joy.

And so, after miles and miles of billboards citing Scriptures adjacent to adult superstores, I arrive home. Not with answers to all of my questions, but with joy in my heart and a hope in the God who was doing just fine before I came around and who certainly doesn't need me now. And yet he desires me. He delights in me. He invites me to be apart of His story as salvation unfolds and His kingdom comes.