JoeTucker’s Weblog

Mission Year has started. As I type I’m in Camden New Jersey, sleeping on a mattress, in a house with 3 people that I literally just met. And it still hasn’t fully hit me yet, that I’m doing it. It seems like a weekend trip or a short-term Mission trip still. But I know that that will inevitably change.

Let’s recap yesterday’s events:

+Woke up at 6:30, shared an emotional goodbye with sisters and Noah (who I will actually miss a lot). Bethany read me the book “Yeah, You” and began to cry, while Lindsey listened and also began crying. I have yet to cry, but I expect an episode within the next month.

+Mom, Dad, and I spent 8 hours driving to Philadelphia. For the most part this was a very uneventful drive. I napped, we listed to Chicago. Dad listened to classical and jazz. Classic Tucker roadtrip.

+And then we arrived in Philly. We drove around the poorer neighborhoods, in search of the Mission Year office and it struck me that this would be my home for quite some time now. Weird. So we continued to drive and after rounding the block in search of a parking space we found the Mission Year office and we were greeted by Caz Tod, my city Director, who it was good to finally meet in person.

Caz is from New Zealand, and her accent, despite living in Philly for the last 4 years, shows it. She is the essence of the “Ordinary Radical” that the Irresistible Revolution proclaims, humble and committed, patient and tactful. She toured my parents and myself around the Logan area of Philly, where I will be working and handled the deluge of questions from my parents with skill, knowledge, and insight. I am excited to learn much from Caz.

Also as I sit here typing, next to me, (on a different mattress) lies Jason, my first new friend in the whole Mission year experience. Jason arrived 3 hours earlier than I did and we have since kicked it off after he toured the area with my parents. Jason, fairing from Oklahoma and sporting a twinge South-Western accent, and I have found that we share a fair amount of common ground. We both left close friends and existing ministries. We both desire to see the word of God enacted in our lives. And, we both just met Shane Claiborne.

So after the tour, we returned to the Mission Year office only to find 3 people assembly trapper-keepers full of school supplies for neighborhood children. Among the assemblers was Katie-Jo (Caz’s roommate), Cayleb (Mission Year alumn who stuck around Philly), and Shane Claiborne (Simple Way founder). So we all shook hands and joined them in organizing trappers. It was no big deal. Shane had an air of normality to him that made him approachable and simplicity to him that demonstrated his kind-hearted nature.

We then left the office, after Amy (my other Philly team captain arrived) to pick up Faith (the team captain for Camden). We ate at a cheap, hole-in-the-wall Mexican diner and tried diligently to converse with 4 other strangers. I won’t lie the conversation was a bit forced, but it was good nonetheless. We told of why we were doing Mission Year and who we were, colleges we attended, degrees we earned, the superficial stuff you have to say in order to get to know each other.

We then arrived at the Camden house (my house in Logan is still not available) and after talking genuinely with the other team captains for a while and taking a shower, we went to bed.

So yea, it feels weird waking up, not in Akron and it still hasn’t hit me that I am not going back there anytime soon. But God is here. With me, leading me on.

Grace and peace

As I sit here typing I am surrounded by boxes in what used to be my home, The Manastery. Stuff is piled in random corners of the house and remnants of the last two years scatter the house: the wood frames we built our bunks out of, nerf darts from our many nerf wars, DVD cases of shows we together watched and enjoyed, books left behind because their collegiate material no longer fits one heading to the real world. It is a house that is saying goodbye.

And yet as I look out the window, I see more cars than I have all summer. The rush of new students moving onto campus.  A wonderful journey before them, new friends to make, memories to share, lessons to learn.

It is August saying goodbye and September sending its salutations. A time when life changes. And it’s as if the world chimes in. The nights get colder, the leaves will soon change. And for me as I prepare to leave Akron and go to Philadelphia to work with Mission Year, nostalgia overcomes me.For I have undergone this change many times.

From the porch of the Manastery I can see where I lived as a college freshman. I can recall the tiring trips of caring my belongings up to the 4th floor of Gallucci, meeting my RA, standing in line to register and making some of my first (and most enduring) friendships. And I was there for a year and then August again ordered a new change.

And I christened the Honors Complex. Akron’s newest residence hall and home to me and many new friends. And I remember eating at Rob’s and stealing chocolate milk, staying up late because we could, leading Bible studies, and a year full of deep discussions and forged friendships. And again come August, my residence again changed.

Buchtel place. the dirtiest place I have ever lived. Where I learned to love people. Where I learned to stop being judgemental, but to never stop being good (and by good I mean living righteously). And I remember picking up the harmonica and learning the blues, and I recall house boxing, and our love for ninjas. Games of Risk and many movies between classes. And again August ushered in something new…

The Manastery I. 319 Spicer. Right across from campus. Community as I have never experienced before. My introduction to and immediate Love for  The Office and Scrubs. Cooking meals often, revelling in or own nerdiness, and trying to serve the needy around us. I remember opening our house for all to come in after church and commune. I remember sending off friends and meeting there for small groups. It was the first place since high school that I actually felt comfortable calling home. Yet come August…

We moved to a new house, and a different community. Losing four of our original Manasterians, we picked up six new recruits (and a great deal of couch crashers) to form the Manastery II. A two house complex composed of the Manicotti and the MANsion. And we lived well. Made dinners often. Went out for $3 steaks at Annabelle’s or 69 Taps. Went for night hikes and created Pittin the Olive (playing a card game at a bar, fantastic idea). We talked of Torah and kosher, of community and age gaps, of social awkward-ness and  fitting in. We listened to Will Smith’s Miami while doing house chores and watched Walker texas Ranger for fun.

And the ironic thing is I have come full circle. Literally I have circled the University of Akron and now live nearly a block from where I lived 5 years ago. And August has once again reached its end, demanding once again a time of change.

So I leave for Philly in a week. And it finally started to sink in. I’m leaving Akron. This coming Sunday is my last Illuminate service for a while. Last night was my last night of Akron karaoke for a time. This coming Thursday will be my last CF. And again the irony runs deep, for it will be the first CF for so many.

I don’t really know how to conclude this post. To talk about the spiritual value that transitional living gives us, reminding us of God’s constancy. To simply express how much I have enjoyed living n Akron and the friendships I have here. To celebrate the start of something great and new, and commemorate the passing of my collegiate life.  ( I guess I just did all 3).

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Well, Akron, you have left me at a lost for words.

Grace and peace

So I plan on posting most of my newsletters from Philly to home on my website. I created a new page for them, look to the right–>

I’ll post whenever I post a new pdf file!! Enjoy the Philadelphia Epistle!

Grace and Peace

I attended one of my last college gatherings in Akron last night and was deeply moved by two of the songs we sang at the end of the night. The songs seemed to hold more authority and truth at this juncture in my life. With Philadelphia and Mission Year swiftly (and anxiously) approaching and the idea of leaving Akron becoming both more tangible and slightly unnerving (in all honesty).

The first song (and the only one I will blog about) was “Surrender,” a song by Marc James that draws from Philippians some of it’s lyrics which are as follows:

I'm giving you my heart, and all that is within
I lay it all down for the sake of you my King
I'm giving you my dreams, I'm laying down my rights
I'm giving up my pride for the promise of new life

And   I    surrender all to you, all to you
And   I    surrender all to you, all to you

I'm singing You this song, I'm waiting at the cross
And all the world holds dear, I count it all as loss
For the sake of knowing You for the glory of Your name
To know the lasting joy, even sharing in Your pain

And I found myself thinking this song has never been truer for me than at this very moment. That the act of going to Philly to serve and love was for me a very real, exciting, and (once again let’s be honest) scary way of giving up my dreams, my heart, my pride, and my life. And that over the past few weeks I have found myself in the place where faith is enacted. Where one must believe and trust God because one has no choice not too. Control has been lost.

And to what end? What is the result of this blissful surrender???

Knowing God. Paul writes that he would gladly discredit all his earthly accomplishments if only to know Christ more. And I’m slowly coming closer to that. And it requires a faith that is new to me. New and exciting.

Grace and Peace