"The Experiment"...

Okay....it has been a while since I have blogged...I am very inconsistent in this but I believe I have found a way to stick with it...and that is to read my friend Cass Trumbo's blog. Cass is currently in Turkey teaching English, and apparently having adventure after adventure. I read his blog regularly and can't stop laughing for hours after. I often feel as if I am having these adventures with him. Therefore it encourages me to write more. So Cass if you are reading this thanks.


I have entered into a new era of my life that we will call "The Experiment"

As Mission Year ended I had decided to stay in Houston to try and figure out what living a life of service and simplicity looked like outside of the constructs of Mission Year.

I moved into a house to join a program that is starting up called "Love Works".
Love Works is a look at how living in community and working with At-risk children can affect the city. I live with six other people. Josh and Aimee Wood and their three children Shaun(6) Rebbecca(3) and Danny(1). My other housemates name is Juli Allen. Juli, Josh, Aimee, and the kids live in the house while I live in the garage apartment(just like the "Fonz", for all those reading who don't get that reference...you are a baby...and your childhood was void of all that is good) We live in community, which doesn't just mean that we live near each other, but rather that we share things, we eat meals together, we do chores, we celebrate life together, we laugh, we cry, we live as a family. We are dysfunctional at best but in the greatest ways. Together we are figuring out what it looks like to be a house that celebrates together, opening our home to our friends, neighbors, family, and strangers. We are working to better the lives of children-at-risk in our neighborhood by mentoring at a local school, and trying to find ways where our passions can be used to brighten others lives.

On top of living with my new family (as they will shall be called) I am working at Taft Street Coffee. Taft Street Coffee is a coffee shop that a Church (Ecclesia Houston) runs in our neighborhood. I am glad to be back in the coffee industry, as I enjoy the work very much...If it would pay the bills I think I would be a Barista for a long time (and I hope to be). I would like to eventually open my own shop that roasts their own coffee, but that dream is a long way off. Working at the Coffee shop brings some very interesting characters into my life. Because of staying in Houston and doing the work that I am doing some of the people that I see on a daily basis are homeless, transvestites, prostitutes, socially down-cast, vagrants. This mixture of people along with our more "normal" customers at Taft Street makes for some very interesting stories and adventures. I am enjoying my life here in Houston very much, but like any life there are bumps along the road. I hope that through this blog I can convey the stories that are molding me and also let you glimpse into the story that I am living day-to-day. I don't promise that my stories will be wholesome, enlightening, or even entertaining but I hope you will join me on this journey as I try to figure out what living in Love and Service looks like, and as I try to answer the age old question...Why am I here?...What is my purpose?...
This blog will "hopefully" be updated often with stories and adventures in our home, stories from the coffee shop, and my observations on events in my life. (it's OK it even sounds boring to me)

Thomas Merton once said that "Art enables us to find ourselves, and lose ourselves at the same time." Going along with this Idea I have a running slide show of my different paintings on top of this blog but I will also post paintings and sketches as they are produced.


Sometimes I ramble when speaking to people...I think this is just the electronic version of it. Luckily for you it's impossible for me to accidentally mumble on the internet...

You'll find my Blog easier to read if you imagine Morgan Freeman reading it to you...in fact while writing this I did an impression of Mr. Freeman reading it and I was rather impressed.


If you are still reading this, God Bless you...

Peace, Love, Happiness

Isaac