Im not printing t-shirts today...

Ok I should start by first admitting that its 7am and ive already had way too much Pete's coffee - which is very strong and does some crazy stuff to my stomach every single time, which has helped me to get very acquainted with the lovely bathroom here at United. The part about my stomach doesn't matter as much as the part about it being so early! Its not that I really want to be up this early, but I have found my way into the 6am feeding for Camren and I hate waking up so much that each morning after feeding him I weigh my options of going back to sleep and having to wake up again, which would be terrible...or not going back to sleep and trying to face the day on minimal sleep, which is also terrible. Ok its not that bad really...and secretly I kind of like the new me.

ok, on with the blog...let me try to spill some thoughts that for some weird reason almost made me start crying while writing a simple email - (note that I did NOT start crying...it just crossed my mind and I got this tiny lump in my throat and wondered if when my eyes started to water if it was b/c they were dry and burning b/c its early and my eyes are terrible, or if my heart was aching a little bit - note again that my eyes ALMOST started watering, but they did not.)

This morning I was checking out a site I check out occasionally - Relevantmagazine.com - and ran across a featured ministry called Call and Response - www.callandresponse.com - In a nutshell it is an activist organization raising awareness and support for the slave-trade industry across the world. Check out the site to find out the details, but basically i learned some interesting things.
1. slavery not only still exists today, but there are more slaves today than ever before in history
2. there are 27 million slaves today in the world and 200,000 of them live in the U.S.A (land of the free?)
3. over 2.2 million children are sold into the sex-trade every year
4. In India, children cost less than cattle
5. it is an over $32 Billion per year industry
6. Slave-Traders made more money than Nike, Starbucks, and McDonalds combined in 2007

shocking? it was to me - like i said, check out the site and find out more - it is a very creative musical documentary these guys are putting together to shed light on this tragedy w/ artists like Matisyahu, Switchfoot, Natasha Bedingfield, Moby, and more.

but thats still not what made me want to post my 2nd official blog... it was just the road used to get me to write the email to Seth telling him to check out that site...thats when i started feeling something stirring inside (besides the coffee).
so here it goes...
I hate making t-shirts. Its not that cool. Its messy. Its hard. Its frustrating. Im simply not passionate about it. (but before you feel sorry for me, let me also tell you i love the benefits of working for myself, love working so closely w/ my mom, love the occasional opportunity to be creative, love the relationships I've built w/ customers/friends, and love the fact that I can make some cash doing it...) So when I say I hate making t-shirts, its not that simple. I understand that making t-shirts has a much bigger picture and serves a higher purpose than just slapping some ink on a shirt for someone...I've been told that you have to do some things you don't want to do in order to do the things you want to do...and there is some truth to that.
OK this isn't goign anywhere...let me try again. I got really moved this morning seeing this group of people that are spending their days and all of their energy on something with so much significance, in this case, the slave-trade issue. I see that and I think to myself..."what am I doing with my life?? all I did today was make tshirts for people who dont need anymore tshirts!"
I can't help but wonder what it would be like to wake up each day and spend my energy on what I am passionate about. And what am I passionate about? I don't know exactly...I'm pretty certain its not tshirts though. This morning, I am wondering if there could be a higher purpose in making tshirts...(and don't worry, the last thing on my mind right now is making 'Christian' t-shirts or starting a 'Christian' clothing line)...
I believe as a Christian, I have been called and commanded to be apart of the redemption process. The world is so messed up. These stats on the slave-trade are just a small picture of the brokeness of the world. I can choose to ignore this brokeness, which is pretty easy to do in SW Lubbock, Tx. I can choose to pretend everything is cool and just strive to make more tshirts for more people who don't need them in order to stack more paper...I guess thats what I've been doing, and on mornings like this, I realize thats its not working out that great. I wonder this morning if thats why I hate making tshirts - b/c thats all it is.
What if there were more? What if it wasn't that hard to get out of bed in the morning b/c you get to be passionate about something...you get to be apart of redemption...
I guess this can translate to everything that we do...do we do things just to do them? Is there a possibility of a higher-purpose in the things we do? Do we need to stop doing what we are doing b/c it doesn't matter?
I don't know...the coffee is wearing off though.
I've decided im not making tshirts today - im going to do something much more significant - actually, I think im going to play golf.
whatever.
coby

to blog or not to blog...

I've always been ok with blogging. I've never had huge issues with people who express themselves through blogging. I've probably talked behind a few of their backs, but never to their face...and only beat up a handful of them. (and it was in a huge gang fight in which I didn't find out they were bloggers until it was over). Who am I to say blogging makes you weird? I must admit however, that I've always thought of bloggers as being the super-intraverted type that used blogging as a creative outlet to get the craziness going on in their head out in the open, and perhaps infect the rest of the world...the normal people like me...with their ridiculous ideas and thoughts. I've also thought in the past that you had to know 'the language' of blogging to be a blogger. Not that I looked at many blogs, but I remember reading a few blogs (maybe 6 years ago?), and I thought they were simply lame attempts at trying to seem deep, intellectual, mystical, and wierd. Looking back on it, thats still what I think...however, I am beginning to be open to the idea that maybe...just maybe, I am just NOT deep, intellectual, mystical, or wierd enough to understand these things, so maybe I should consider joining them instead of judging them.
Add to this new open-thinking the fact that Matt Chandler recently started a blog (dwelldeep.com) and so it suddenly fits well into my life philosophy to 'be like matt'. I consider us basically the same person, just in different skin...kidding!...(by the way are you supposed to put things like 'kidding' or 'jk' or whatever in blogs or do you just let it ride and risk people taking you seriously??? I hesitated to put 'kidding' b/c bloggers should have this mutual understanding of sarcasm, but then again I would hate for someone to really think i meant that...i'm still learning so bear with me until i get this 'blogging weirdo' thing down.) Another reason to consider blogging is b/c my wife has a blog and she does not fit any of my stereotypes for bloggers. (by the way her blog is jennifercolley.blogspot.com) This is a much better place to go if you are a blog stalker and just want the scoop on me and my life...i.e. is my wife hot, what I look like, is my baby cute, is my baby born yet, all that creeper stuff. You probably won't get much useful stalker scoop at all on here.
wow, it feels good to get rid of the creepers we just lost by that last statement - now its just us real blog people and we can get down to business.
The real reason I wanted to start a blog is b/c every now and then I get these thoughts that I think might be worth writing down, or I read or hear something that I think deserves repeating, and this could be an easy outlet for that to happen. So my plan here is not to try to seem deeper than I am, more intellectual than I am, more spiritual than I am, more political than I am, or more wierd than I am...if you sense that, please tell me so I can talk bad about you.
As for the title (life.road), in Mt 7:14 Jesus says that there is a road that leads to life - its hard, narrow, and most won't venture down it...but it leads to life. I want to be on that road - I am actively seeking how to be (and stay) on that road. I'll share my thoughts and journeys down this road as much as possible, and try to be honest enough to let you know when I've taken the different road and found the hard way that it led to destruction.
so thanks for reading - I'll try not to waste your time.
coby (do you sign your name to posts or is that not cool since it should be obvious that I wrote it?)