Lent and my flabby soul

Posted: 28th March 2012 by nick in Road to somewhere
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For lent this year I gave up laziness.

I realized the extent of my laziness a few years ago. I was working at a local coffee shop and as I prepared our brew for the week, I looked down and noticed the view of my feet was obstructed by my belly. The obstruction was small, small enough that with every deep breath it went away, but it was definitely there.

Since then I’ve had many fights with laziness and the flabby belly it’s created. Ultimately though, I find my default mode is to just to keep being lazy.

So this year for lent I committed to both physically and spiritually exercising every day until Easter Sunday.

The first few days were miserable.

For physical exercise I’m working out to a video series called Insanity and…well…it is insane. For the entire first week I struggled to finish the 7 minute warm up.

For my spiritual exercise I’ve been taking late night walks around my neighborhood. This gives me alone time for prayer, meditation, and silence. But just like my physical exercise, the first week proved very challenging. It seemed impossible to clear my mind from distraction and simply be still and silent.

I think my soul is as flabby as my belly.

However, now that I have stayed consistent for three weeks everything is getting easier. I can finish an entire Insanity workout video and I am learning to be at peace in silent meditation before God.

I’m positive that there are complex theological reasons why people observe lent. But for me, observing lent this year, has simply reminded me of my broken humanity.

Here I am, using every inch of energy and discipline I have, to accomplish minimal daily commitments.

This realization has deepened my love for who Christ is and what He overcame during this season. Sometimes I forget he was BOTH man and God. And as a man, with the same flesh and emotions we have, He managed to overcome His broken humanity and make every decision in obedience to His father (including dying on the cross).

I’m glad I’m observing lent this year.

It’s reminded me of Christ’s faithfulness.

It’s reminded me that His love is always perfect.

It’s reminded me that He can always be counted on…even if I do have a flabby soul.

 

Nick

an emotional child

 

 

Introducing Mr. Foy Vance…

Posted: 27th January 2012 by nick in Road to somewhere
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My wife and I started dating about 6 years ago. One of our rituals back in our young and uninhibited days was to stay up all night in my garage watching television. We would cuddle up on the couch, turn up the propane heater, open a bottle of wine, and watch episode after episode of Greys Anatomy.

It was there in that garage, wrapped up with the one I loved, the warm glow of the heater on my face and the sweet taste of wine in my mouth, that I first heard the sounds of Foy Vance.

The song was called “Gabriel and the Vagabond” and it softly played as the characters on the show hashed out some intense emotional scene. The second the episode was over I got on ITunes and bought all the music he was selling. I then spent the next three hours watching every Foy Vance video I could find on YouTube (check out Angels in Drag.) And as the sun came up and I was finishing my last video, I realized this obscure Irish folk singer named Foy Vance had just become my new favorite musician!

For the following 4 years I introduced everyone I knew to Foy. Friends and family alike all fell in various degrees of love with him. Unfortunately he never toured America, so we were all stuck watching cheap IPhone videos of all the shows he did in other parts of the world.

That was…until last year.

It all started one normal Monday afternoon.  I was scanning Foy’s blog when I came across this statement; “…I will be in Los Angeles in a week to record my next Album…”

LOS ANGELES!?!

I immediately emailed his booking agent, “Can we get a show while Foy is here?” They responded, “No, he is only there for one week and all of his time is devoted to recording the album.”

I emailed his manager, “Please…have mercy on us California fans…can we get a show?” He responded, “Foy is very busy and won’t have time for a show, our apologies.”

Finally in a moment of desperation I got on twitter and sent a tweet to Foy “@foyvance R U COMING TO CALIFORNIA? YOU HAVE TO PLAY.” A few days went by with no response.

Then the unthinkable happened.  Foy Vance sent me a tweet.  “@thechandler I am in California but really busy with recording, not sure I’ll have time for a gig.”

I nearly fell out of my chair. I jumped online and started a Facebook page called “Let Foy Play”. When the page got up to 25 likes I sent the link to Foy; “@foyvance look how many people want you to play here in California.”

He responded again, “@thechandler if you can get to 100 likes I will play a show for you”.

This wasn’t an easy task, except for me and my 25 closes friends nobody in Fresno knew who For Vance was. But I was determined and I started a campaign. Four days later I had 124 likes.

I sent a tweet to Foy, “@foyvance it’s official…100 peeps loving you on fb…”

Then I waited. Every hour seemed like a decade. Finally, by the end of the night, Foy responded… “@thechandler I’ll get going and let you know…”

Foy Vance kept his word and on January 31st 2011 at 11:30pm he played a small concert to about 30 loyal fans at the Hotel Café in Los Angeles California.

There are not sufficient words to describe the experience of that evening. I had managed to accomplish a dream, meet a hero, and hear what I believe to be one of the greatest singer/songwriters alive today. It was….almost spiritual.

This was my tweet from the concert floor during his final song… “@foyvance greatness is rare to see…thanks for showing us.”

 

This year I will….

Posted: 13th January 2012 by nick in Road to somewhere
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I like t.v.

Okay maybe “like” isn’t the right word. I mean…I like a hot shower…

I obsess over t.v.

Let me give an example. A few weeks back i started watching season 4 of a show called Breaking Bad. Season 4 has 13 episodes, each running approx :46 minutes, totaling 10 hours of viewing pleasure. I started watching it on Sunday afternoon and by Monday morning I had finished it.

I would like to tell you that this is a rarity. I would like to say that most of my free time is spent feeding the hungry and praying quietly in my closet for world peace. But I can’t tell you that.

Most of my free time I spend building quality relationships with people like Micheal Scott, Liz Lemon, and Dexter Morgon – before that my best friends were Ross Geller, Rachel Green, and George Costanza.

Six months ago something changed.

Netflix had finally started streaming Parks and Recreation and I was on an 8 hour bender . My butt was sunk deep into the couch, my fingers were covered in Cheetos, and a sea of empty Diet Coke cans lay at my feet. This was no way to live.

Something (or someone) deep in my t.v. loving soul was crying out… “STOP”!

For six months I ignored those cries. Then, just the other day as I was driving home from work I realized 2012 was just around the corner. What better time to make a grandiose commitment to something I never plan to keep? So I made my resolution.

2012 is the year of no television for Nick Chandler!

I busted through the front door and announced my news to Kyoko. She laughed. And laughed. And laughed some more. And once she had picked herself up off the ground she gently encouraged me to aim for something a little bit more tangible.

So, through the conviction of God and the wisdom of my wife, I’ve made another decision.

January of 2012 is the month of no television for Nick Chandler!

Check back at the end of January to hear how it went…

Nick

an emotional child

 

 

 

 

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Christmas – The birth of a man…

Posted: 31st December 2011 by nick in Road to somewhere
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I was recently inspired by a classmate’s statement regarding the Christmas story.

(Paraphrase) “In today’s world Jesus would have been born to an insignificant teenage girl and her construction working boyfriend. She would have given birth in a friend’s garage, and their only visitors would have been a few field workers and a recovering drug addict. And that is exactly what I love about the Christmas story. Christ wasn’t born the son of a King or as some superhero; He was born as one of us.”

This perspective of the Christmas story is refreshing; the story I grew up with did portray Jesus as a superhero. My Christmas story told the tale of a brave couple who, against all odds, find shelter in a manicured stable for the miraculous virgin birth of the predicted Son of God. Present are thousands of singing angels and a few well-dressed shepherds and Maggi who come tossing gifts of gold, incense, and myrrh at the tiny superhero’s feet. All the while… “the little lord Jesus no crying he makes.”

From there, the superhero baby lives a superhero life… and He is often only remembered as a superhero Jesus.

I appreciated the reminder that in reality, Jesus was born to a carpenter and his girlfriend. He was born in an unfamiliar stable, and his only visitors were unkempt shepherds and local star gazers. I would also bet that little lord Jesus much crying He made.

And this is what is significant about the Christmas story: by being born in this incredibly un-magnificent way, to an un-magnificent couple, in an un-magnificent place, with un-magnificent visitors, God offers hope and redemption for every one of us un-magnificent people.

This Christmas season I am remembering that Christ was born as a man, for me and as me, and not just as a superhero!

 

nick

an emotional child

Those that thirst…

Posted: 18th December 2011 by nick in Road to somewhere
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The desert is a dry and hot place. I haven’t experienced this personally, but I have done the next best thing: watched it on television.

During an episode of The Discovery Channel’s Man vs. Wild, I virtually trekked with Bear Grylls through the dangers of the Mojave Desert. Bear, being the perfect model of masculinity, battles against sandstorms and flashfloods, takes on the world’s most dangerous snakes, and dines on fish and goat testicles.

Unfortunately, there was one thing that Bear could not accomplish despite all of his skills and training. He could not find water. In a moment of desperation and with no other option, Bear took out his empty water bottle and with a cringe on his face… urinated into it.

This was the most disgusting thing I have ever seen on television, but I couldn’t look away as the warm yellow liquid spilled onto his cheeks as he took gulp, after gulp, after gulp.

Recently I’d been feeling a connection between my spiritual life and the life of Mr. Grylls. Like Bear, I have been living in what feels like a desert for a long time. I have managed to battle through some storms, avoid dangerous pitfalls, and even feed myself. Unfortunately, like Bear, I also knew that something vital was missing that would keep me alive.I had been living without the body of Christ, the Church, and I knew I wasn’t going to survive well without it.

So last Sunday I went to church.

I sat quietly before God.

I listened to the others worshiping around me, their voices softly washing over me.

I enjoyed hearing the Pastor’s gentle encouragement to his listeners to enter into a deep and loving relationship with God.

And during the closing prayer I realized something. I wasn’t thirty anymore.

Sometimes going to church is like drinking your own pee.  It might not always be what you expect, but it will keep you alive.

 

nick

an emotional child

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