And on the 9th day...We rest

I'll be honest, I dont have much trip to talk about today. We drove the van a grand total of 20 miles and didnt do much. Derek and I woke up around noon and started our day with a nice breakfast. JD on the other hand decided to get his day started a touch earlier than us. After breakfast we didnt do a whole lot. We spent most of the day by the pool reading, writing blogs, and enjoying the sunshine.

JD and I did venture outside the house for a run along route 66. I wouldnt call it the most fun thing I did all day but necessary none the less. We spent a good chunk of the evening at a pizza place down the street with Marlin watching the Lakers/Nuggets game. After all we are in LA. Following the game we came back and did an interview with Marlin about his life and job. It was quite interesting and he is an incredible person. He has a true heart for people and really seems to live out what he stands for.

Backstory on Merlin,Marlin, (The wizard)- JD originally spoke to him on the phone a few days into the trip and called him Marlin. I however thought he called him Merlin, as in the wizard, wand, the whole gamut. I kind of grew attached to the name Merlin and havent let go of it since.

Random Tangent- Whats with Californians and placing a "the" before every road they talk about. "Take the 55 to 271 to the 210..." They speak about these roads as if they are theirs and nobody elses. Other states do have the same roads. Its an odd phenomenon if you ask me.

Food for thought- It seems a little funny writing this on a blog which is surely not the most personable style of communication but I'll do it anyway. Something I have learning on this trip and have been continually trying to embrace is that their is no substitute for face to face communication with people. Relationships with people are such an essential component of life and a building block to becoming the people we turn out to be. In today's world technological advances have made it so easy to stay connected through pictures, facebook, email, cell phones, texting, and other things that the value of face to face communication has diminished.

Over the course of this trip I have really begun to understand how much of an impact true, meaningful, face to face communication can have on a person. Of course I have had the opportunity to spend countless hours in the car and around the country with JD and Derek but we have also had the chance to meet and learn from so many other people. Taking the time to get to know people and really listening to people's stories is so good for us. God did not create us to be on our own individual island. We were created to be in community with one another and continually learning from other people. Tony Dungy writes in the book that I am reading- "Its in those real-life connections that the power of our personal influence can have life-changing, long-lasting impact. As we sat and talked with Merlin tonight, he drove home the message that I had been digesting all day. Community is the wellspring of life. As he puts it "When you hang up the shingle at the end of your life, its not the financial gain that you’ve made that counts, it’s the relationships you’ve built and the friendships you’ve made that matter."

I believe that in today's society it can be so easy to be swept away in the whirlwind of technology that we forget to step back and take a look at what is truly important. May we never forget the power of true human interaction. Real meaningful relationships can have a profound impact on someone's life. A simple conversation can impact a person more than we may know. Seek out the little moments in life to make a difference and develop meaningful relationships through true person to person communication.

Big day tomorrow as we head to Yosemite National Park for a few days. More than likely we will not have internet so look for a new post on Thursday when we arrive in San Francisco. Once again, I cannot tell you much we appreciate your thoughts and prayers. We have been extremely blessed thus far and look forward to an exciting, safe couple weeks ahead of us.

Later Days,

Brett