http://twloha.sitecrafting.com/blog/ Latest blog entries from TWLOHA en-us Tue, 06 Jan 2009 15:53:26 PST Tue, 06 Jan 2009 15:53:26 PST SiteCrafting, Inc. CMS http://www.twloha.com/blog/new-shirts-cities-bold-as/ New year. Two new shirts. ... Mon, 05 Jan 2009 14:51:00 PST http://www.twloha.com/blog/twloha-2008-year-in-review/ Hi Guys. It's been a pretty amazing year. Thanks beyond words for your support. Here's 2008 in review, starting back in January. ... Wed, 31 Dec 2008 14:59:00 PST http://www.twloha.com/blog/questions/ What was the highlight of your 2008?What are you hopeful for in 2009?: ) ... Tue, 30 Dec 2008 21:15:00 PST http://www.twloha.com/blog/as-today-christmas-blog/ Hey Guys. Sorry it's been a few days. i hope this finds you warm and with people you love. At the heart of today is this idea that we've been given a gift, and the gift suggests that we are part of a bigger story. Gifts and stories are the same in that we get to choose what we do with them. Someone hands you a present and then you get to choose: ... Thu, 25 Dec 2008 15:10:00 PST http://www.twloha.com/blog/alliance-youth-movements-summit/ Hey Guys.Hello from New York City - Times Square to be exact. Byron and i just took a walk and checked out the enormous famous Christmas tree at Rockefeller Center, which was lit earlier tonight, smells great and simply rules. New York is hard to beat, especially this time of year. You gotta see it.We are in town for the first-ever Alliance of Youth Movements Summit:"From December 3 to 5, leaders of pioneering youth movements will launch a global network that seeks to empower young people to mobilize against violence and oppression. Brought together by Howcast, Facebook, Google, YouTube, MTV, the U.S. Department of State, Columbia Law School and Access 360 Media, leaders of the organizations will travel to New York City with the mission of crafting a field manual on how to effect social change using online tools."Needless to say, we're beyond honored to be here. It's a pretty amazing group of people from all over the world, brought together by a pretty incredible group of brands. Everyone here is fighting for change in some way, working creatively to fight injustice and make life better for people. One interesting thing about this group is that all of us are using the internet and new media to do it. TWLOHA will be featured (speaking) on two different panels:Thursday, 12/4 - 1:45 to 2:45pm ESTPanel: "Addressing Violence at Home"Hosted by Whoopi Goldberg!!Friday, 12/5 - 8:50am to 9:40am ESTPanel: "How to Begin - Taking it to the Streets"Hosted by Larry DiamondFor tons more info (including schedule and press release) and to watch the whole thing live online tomorrow and Friday, check out:http://info.howcast.com/youthmovements/ This is a pretty big moment for us and i just want to take a second and say that we are here because of you. i mean that in a couple different ways. i mean we're here because you got us here, because of your response and because of your incredible support. But i also mean that we're here on your behalf. Earlier tonight we were at Google and tomorrow we're being interviewed by Whoopi Goldberg and tomorrow night we'll be at MTV in Times Square, and all of that is pretty exciting... but the heart of the matter is that we're here on behalf of people who are hurting. We're here on behalf of people who feel alone and people who live in silence. We're here because we believe in hope and help, and because we believe that people need other people. It's a privilege that we get to say those things and it's a privilege to represent you guys.i have to be awake in five hours so i should probably get some sleep : )Peace to you.jamie ... Wed, 03 Dec 2008 22:10:00 PST http://www.twloha.com/blog/postsecret-dont-to-apologize/ Hi Guys.i hope it's been a good weekend. Thanks for the kind words in response to the last blog. That one meant a lot as those are the moments when i feel like i have the best job in the world. Perhaps honesty is a bit contagious in that when one person goes there, it somehow gives other people permission to do the same... Also, really cool to see people talking about the things they're thankful for in the comments. As for tonight... As an organization, we are fans and friends and partners of both Hopeline (1-800-SUICIDE) and PostSecret. One is on the front lines of saving lives and the other is inviting people to tell their secrets and it's sparked a conversation that is honest, creative and powerful. We feel a lot of common ground and believe in the work of Hopeline and PostSecret because what we all have in common is that we're trying to invite people to reach out and take steps away from the weight and shame of their secrets and their pain, to begin to be less alone in those places. In yesterday's PostSecret MySpace blog, PostSecret's Frank Warren interviews Hopeline's Reese Butler. Reese started Hopeline after the suicide of his wife Kristin in 1998. Kristin ended her life in the midst of battling postpartum depression and Reese founded Hopeline because he believed that more needed to be done to offer hope and help to people considering suicide. Frank calls Reese his hero and i know that we would echo that in saying that we are inspired by his life and work, and we are thankful for his friendship. Each week, PostSecret receives hundreds of anonymous postcards from people all over the world. These are people's secrets and they are delivered to Frank's door. The following postcard was featured in yesterday's blog and i thought it might be powerful to post it here, and also to respond: ... Sun, 30 Nov 2008 21:19:00 PST http://www.twloha.com/blog/honestly-thanks/ Just wanted to say a quick hello and Happy Thanksgiving. It's an interesting day where families get together and we're invited to consider the things for which we're thankful. i suppose this holiday, like pretty much every holiday, can look and feel a lot of different ways. In some homes, i imagine it's epic and people stand and share aloud the things they're thankful for. For others, it might just be a lot of football on television and conversations that stick close to the surface. Maybe it's a day you love and look forward to, an easy day. Maybe it's a difficult day, rooms filled with elephants, things left unsaid or people simply missing...  No matter which version sounds familiar, i think there's something powerful about taking a day or even some fraction of a day and pausing to consider that we have some things to be thankful for. Because if we're not careful, we start to buy the lies... We start to believe that we have nothing or that we are nothing or that we're alone. Shame creeps in and tells us that we're stuck, that we're too far gone, that our family is broken beyond repair...Maybe Thanksgiving is a chance to remember that which is true, and to say it in the face of the lies. i think it's important to remember that the story isn't over, that there are things worth fighting for and living for, that beauty still happens and love still happens. Hope and redemption as well. Take a moment tonight and consider these things. What do you have to be thankful for? Who do you love? Who loves you? Who needs you? What are your dreams? What's worth fighting for? What's worth running after?  ... Thu, 27 Nov 2008 21:04:00 PST http://www.twloha.com/blog/skylit-drive/ Last summer, we were approached by a music video director named Robby Starbuck about working with him on a music video project for the band A Skylit Drive. After hearing why he wanted to incorporate TWLOHA into this video and the response from the guys in the band when he pitched the idea, we had no hesitation. ... Thu, 27 Nov 2008 08:13:00 PST http://www.twloha.com/blog/remembering-casey-calvert/ Tonight we remember the life of Casey Calvert. It's been a year since Casey's death. Our thoughts and prayers are for Ashley and the rest of Casey's family, and for Hawthorne Heights (Eron, JT, Matt, Micah) and the many more who called Casey a friend. Our hearts are heavy and light.We laugh and scream and sing.Our hearts are heavy and light.In loving memory: Casey CalvertThis community responded in an amazing way one year ago. We want to thank everyone who has honored Casey and helped meet the needs of his family over the last year. And thanks to everyone who wears the Casey shirt - i know it continues to mean the world to the guys in Hawthorne Heights. i had dinner with them a couple months back and they said it's the coolest thing in the world seeing those shirts at their shows, people saying that they care and they remember. You are welcome to leave a comment here, but i think it would be even cooler if you send your love HERE. ... Mon, 24 Nov 2008 21:19:00 PST http://www.twloha.com/blog/flowers-emily-1/ i met Walter Crumpler and his wife Megan at our event in Charlottesville, Virginia last week. Walter shared that he had lost his sister Emily to suicide one year ago that night. He showed me a picture of the two of them together. There were tears in his eyes as he spoke of her life. He kept using the word "remember", that he wanted people to remember her, that he wanted people to know her story. He thanked us for the work we're doing with TWLOHA, this talking about things that people don't talk about, letting people know they're not alone.   Walter and Megan were married just a few weeks ago in Florida, a wedding on the sand at Clearwater Beach. At a typical wedding, the bride throws her bouquet of flowers and a single friend will catch it and everyone smiles at the possibility that this person might be next to marry. It's an easy moment and it points to the future. At Walter and Megan's wedding, Megan did not throw her flowers. She handed them to Walter's mother, in honor of Emily. She did this to remember, to say that someone was missing on this beautiful day, and perhaps also to say that as a family and as a community, they continue together. Tomorrow is for everyone who's lost someone to suicide. It is a day to say that their life mattered and it is remembered, and perhaps it is a day to say that we continue together, learning life is better less alone. Peace to you.jamie ... Fri, 21 Nov 2008 13:26:00 PST http://www.twloha.com/blog/philly-video/ Hey Guys.Mentioned our surprising night in Philly in yesterday's blog.  Well, thanks to Mike Gallagher and Philly Music Scene Initiative, we get to share it with you here (minus the cold weather and minus the hot chocolate).  This is what happens when 100 people show up at a coffee shop where the fire code is 50.  Is it possible to be in two places at once?  This was our attempt at "Yes"... ... Thu, 20 Nov 2008 15:35:00 PST http://www.twloha.com/blog/new-video-taste-road/ Hello from the Shenandoah Valley in Virginia. Today is a driving day, Maryland to Tennessee.  We're making our way to Birmingham for tomorrow night's event at Samford.  After that, there is only Atlanta.  The talent has taken the wheel for the first time - Zach Williams is driving and Josh Moore is his co-pilot/navigator. It's been fun to watch these guys become friends on this tour.  Mostly, they keep us laughing all day and then they move us with their story songs each night.  We're thankful for both.  Denny Kolsch has been with us for the last couple days and his story has been a powerful addition to the nights.  Denny has known the darkness of drug addiction and it's been amazing to hear him talk about the power of community and how grace revealed in community has helped him find healing and sobriety.  Last few days have been great - long drives but worth the miles.  Every night is different. We were in a giant ballroom at University of Maryland last night, a tiny coffee shop just outside of Philly the night before.  In PA, the fire code was only fifty and atleast twice that many people showed up, so we did our best to make two shows happen at once. Zach and Josh stood on chairs outside and everyone huddled together to stay warm. Z and J had everyone clapping and singing and someone's yell of "Write a song!" was followed by the debut of "It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia Except for Tonight (It's Cold)".  Aaron and i borrowed the chairs for the speaking, and it hit me as it was happening, just what a surprising night, and how strange it must have looked from the road, this gang of strangers huddled together in the cold, at first gathered in song and then staying for a conversation about things that most people never talk about.  What a rare thing and i was thankful.   Our talented filming friend Dustin Miller was with us for DC, Brooklyn, UMass Lowell (and all the in-between).  He does incredible work and we're really grateful for this video that he made.  He'll be with us again in Atlanta and we'll be posting another video or two next week.   For now, here's a taste of the road... Wish you were here, or hope to see you soon. jamiePS: For those of you interested in being a TWLOHA intern, we just posted our new application HERE. ... Wed, 19 Nov 2008 11:13:00 PST http://www.twloha.com/blog/hello-jersey-turnpike/ We just finished the gig in Newark, Delaware and we're heading for NYC. It's late but we're excited to get Zach Williams back to his Brooklyn and his bride. We'll spend our day off in New York tomorrow. Friday night is DC and then we'll be back in Brooklyn Saturday afternoon. The road's been great so far. The colors of the Carolina Fall have had us staring out the windows, considering beauty. The brights are giving way to browns and grays, and we know it won't be long before they fade to white and winter. We are here before those storms. ... Wed, 12 Nov 2008 22:56:00 PST http://www.twloha.com/blog/greenville-college-interview/ Josh Moore, Aaron Moore and i had a great night at Greenville College in Illinois two weeks ago. First event we've done together in a while and it got us excited for this east coast tour that we're on now.  The GC folks were kind hosts and i was happy to say yes when they asked if i might answer some questions so that their community could learn a little more about TWLOHA.  i wanted to share the conversation here as well: GC: Can you give me an overview of TWLOHA? How it started? What's the purpose? Who is TWLOHA? JT: "To Write Love on Her Arms" began in 2006 as a written story and an attempt to help a friend. We made a MySpace page and started selling t-shirts as a way to help pay for our friend's drug treatment. The organization was born from the response to those things. Today, we're a non-profit movement dedicated to presenting hope and finding help for people struggling with depression, addiction, self-injury and suicide. We exist to encourage, inspire, inform and also to invest directly into treatment and recovery. In the last two years, our team has responded to 80,000 messages and those messages have come from 40 different countries. I'll give you two answers for "Who is TWLOHA?" TWLOHA is a small team of staff and volunteers based in Cocoa, Florida. TWLOHA is a worldwide movement of young people committed to hope, help, conversation and community. GC: Who is TWLOHA aimed toward? JT: Our message has spread quickly through MySpace, Facebook and the music community, so a lot of our audience is young. That said, we know that the issues we talk about are issues that affect people of all ages all over the world, so I think the best answer is simply "people". We're trying to create something inviting, something that meets people where they are, as they are. GC: This story started with Renee's story. (See www.TWLOHA.com for the background information.) Was she the first person who raised your awareness to these types of issues and gave a "face and a name and realness" to the things people struggle with? JT: Renee was the first in terms of addiction and self-injury. There were other people in my life (prior to Renee) who struggled with depression. I lost my friend Zeke to suicide about a month before I met Renee. GC: How does TWLOHA invest in lives? JT: We try to create hope and point to help and we do that through words especially. Through our blog and other website content, through the messages we read and respond to, through creative campaigns and projects, through opportunities to speak and lead discussions at universities, concerts, churches and other events. We also invest financially in treatment and recovery.  GC: When others invest in TWLOHA, through T-shirts or donations, what are they investing in? Where to proceeds go? How do you decide where those proceeds go?  JT: Through the things I just mentioned mainly. As for treatment, we give to Hopeline (1-800-SUICIDE), Teen Challenge, Mercy Ministries, S.A.F.E. Alternatives, KidsHelp in Australia. We also invest in counseling in central Florida. GC: What has the response been to TWLOHA? JT: Well, since 2006, we've responded to 80,000 messages and those messages have come from 40 different countries. Between MySpace and Facebook, we have the largest audience of any non-profit (roughly 500,000). People have been incredibly kind and supportive. We feel like the issues we talk about are important because they affect people all over the world. We hear from so many people talking about these things for the first time, people asking for help, people asking how they can help their friends. GC: Have you come up against any opposition? What kind? How do you "battle" that? JT: We've grown fast and we live in a day where some people are ignorant and some people are rude and they want to see things fall as fast as they rise. Plus we're a non-profit, so people are quick to ask questions, or simply to doubt that something that looks like a good thing might actually be a good thing. We have to explain things and provide answers and then, at a certain point, we just have to leave it there and walk away. You're not going to please everyone, especially when you try to do something in a way that's unique. A lot of people offer opinions from the sidelines and we're trying to invite people to take the field. GC: What is the goal/aim of TWLOHA? Do you set year to year goals? What does the "big picture" goal look like?  JT: The goal is to continue to talk about these issues, and to continue to invite people into a conversation about pain, hope, help and community. We're trying to do that in a way that is honest, creative, poetic and bold. We're also trying to fund treatment and lower the suicide rate worldwide. More than anything, we want people to know they're not alone, that their story matters, and that hope and help are real and possible. GC: The T-shirts you sell are really cool and seem to be the main form of "advertisement" and way to get people asking questions. However, they could also become more of just a "trend" and a "band wagon" type of thing in some places – have you seen that? Is that ok with your TWLOHA crew? JT: Like a lot of people, I started to care and pay attention to Africa because Bono started talking about Africa. So "cool" isn't necessarily the enemy of good or change. We can't control who buys our shirts and we can't know why each person would choose to wear one of ours shirts, but we believe in the work that we're doing and we've heard countless stories of meaningful conversations sparked by people wearing TWLOHA shirts. We try to focus on the heart of the matter and our hope is that people will join us in that. GC: Why is "going national" and visiting campuses and being a part of concert tours an important thing for TWLOHA? JT: These are issues that affect people, and these are issues that people don't talk about. So we believe it's powerful to bring this conversation to people, and to do that by meeting people where they are. We have seen the best of the internet and we will continue to focus and invest online, but nothing beats being in a room with someone, looking them in the eye, having a conversation... GC: Am I correct that TWLOHA serves as a bridge for hurting people and organizations that can help? How do you do that? JT: Yes, I would say that's part of what we do. We respond to messages and emails, we point people to the FIND HELP and FACTS section of our site, as well as other resources online. The first step to recovery is the one most people never take, so in my opinion, the best of what we do is we help people take that first step. Encouragement is huge. Hope is huge. Words are powerful. We offer those things and we do our best to point to other people and places where needs are being met. GC: Last night (October 27, 2008) during your time at GC and throughout your website you talk a lot about "honesty" and "living an honest life", what does all of that mean? Can you unpack that further? JT: Depression, addiction, self-injury and suicide are things a lot of people live with, but few people talk about. The bigger picture is pain and questions. We can all relate to pain and questions, but hardly anyone talks about those things. So we're trying to tell people that it's okay to be honest. It's essential. We need other people. We need people we can be honest with, people who actually know us and walk through life with us. We believe in community and we believe that counseling and treatment can be a powerful extension (or unique expression) of community. GC: In your mind and in a "best case scenario" world, what does it look like to live honestly in community? Can you unpack a bit more what you mean by "community" and what that looks like? JT: I don't think there's a formula. I just believe we were made to love and be loved, and to know and be known. So I think it starts there and I think those things happen in relationship. I believe that conversation is part of relationship, part of knowing someone, part of friendship. Commitment, compassion and honesty would be in the mix as well. We need people asking us questions and meeting us in our questions, and we should be doing the same for the people we care about. I think [community] is honest relationships, people living life with other people, walking through the hard stuff and the good stuff.  GC: TWLOHA does not "brand" itself as a Christian Organization, which I totally understand, but in that how do you speak truth into the lives of the people you hear from? Do you introduce scripture? Do you introduce Jesus? Spiritual principles? Prayer? JT: I've heard it said that "All truth is God's truth." We're trying to communicate truth, but with that we're trying to meet people where they are, as they are. We're not trying to shove Jesus down people's throats. The Church has done a really poor job of that in my opinion. The Church has made a mess and offended a lot of people "in the name of God." The Church has been quick with it's answers and slow to meet people in the questions. Jesus talked a lot about loving people, and He seemed to care about people and their needs. We're trying to learn what it means to love people, and we're trying to meet needs. The language of what I believe is super obvious in the story that I wrote. I don't feel the need to use that language every time I stand on a stage or write a blog or have a conversation. I'm okay with a patient process. I'm not selling used cars.  GC: Why do you travel to colleges and universities with this conversation? Why that group? JT: Because we know that these issues exist in people in those places. Suicide is the second-highest cause of death among college students. And I think we go there also because college students tend to be open-minded and willing to engage this conversation. Beyond all of that, the average age of someone on our team is roughly 25. We like being around college students. We like staying up late.GC: Why is this type of organization so important? And why now? JT: Now is always the most interesting time. We believe that this work matters because these issues affect people and we believe that people matter. We believe that we have the opportunity to see lives changed and saved. I can't imagine anything more important or anything I'd rather be apart of. GC: TWLOHA is paired with music in most venues, how do you see that partnership being beneficial? JT: We believe that music is powerful in it's ability to move people, to remind us we're alive, to remind us it's okay to scream or cry or celebrate or ask questions. Music causes us to feel. We think all of that is pretty incredible and it seems that songs can be like friends when things are difficult. GC: Now that you have been out from under the umbrella of a larger ministry for one year, do you have any people or organizations that hold TWLOHA accountable? JT: Yes. We have a Board of Directors and several advisors beyond that. We work with accountants and lawyers. We have relationships with the organizations that we work with, especially Reese Butler at Hopeline. Beyond that, we have a community of friends and family - people who care about us as an organization and as individuals. These are people who want the best for TWLOHA, and for our team as individuals. We invite their opinions, feedback, questions, etc. We invite them into key decisions. Beyond all of that, we're accountable to the I.R.S. GC: Do you have anything to add in closing? JT: We just want people to know they're not alone. We're all in this together. Your story is important. You matter. You are loved. ... Wed, 12 Nov 2008 15:49:00 PST http://www.twloha.com/blog/east-coast-tour-starts-tonight-1/ Hey Everyone,I'm sitting here at the bungalow. It's been a very busy week for us. Right now, Jamie and several members of the team are headed up to Athens, GA to kick off the east coast tour, "An Evening with To Write Love on Her Arms." This was an idea created over chicken fingers and burgers just over a month ago, and it's something we've been looking forward to ever since. ... Sat, 08 Nov 2008 11:48:00 PST http://www.twloha.com/blog/myriads-randy-miller-1/ We've stood on a lot of different stages over the last couple years, though they're almost never ours. We tend to borrow them from our friends. The crowds gather and stand and wait for the songs. The band sends us instead. It's a surprising privilege, scary at times. Usually, it's just a couple minutes, just long enough to to mention hope, to say you're not alone. It's an honor to take the stage before the songs, because we believe in the songs - we believe in the things our friends have to say, the music that they're making. And maybe it's an honor all the more because the borrowing suggests that a band believes in us as well, that maybe we have something to say. We've borrowed from Anberlin, Switchfoot, Bayside, The Almost, The Rocket Summer, and Copeland. Maybe you first found us at one of those shows, as the stranger on stage or the table in the back... We've heard that from a lot of people. We love those nights. We love being in the room with the music and the people and the sense of now and urgency.The stage thing first happened three Cornerstones ago. July 2006 to be exact. i introduced Bradley Hathaway, Copeland and one other band that year. i'd met those guys before, Bradley at a birthday party in Orlando, Aaron on a long walk in Lakeland. The third band was the Myriad and i'd never met them prior to Cornerstone. i kept running into Jonathan from the band and we became fast friends. They played twice that year and i think i actually introduced them both times. i remember Jon playing in our green Title shirt, but with this long white scarf as well. It shouldn't have worked but it totally did, as the band is completely unique and something like a theater show. They are truly great live.We've run into The Myriad guys here and there since then, at festivals and shows along the way. They were with us for the start of the Switchfoot tour earlier this year, always warm and kind and smiles. They work hard, tour constantly. They travel by van to keep the costs low, so that there's something to send back to loved ones on the west coast. The old songs were good and the new songs are even better. The live show is even stronger, which is saying a lot. We root for them.And i've never forgotten their generosity back when all of this began, basically: "The show can wait. You have something to say. Go tell them." Well, we have something like a stage now. The numbers suggest a stadium. You helped build it, you lit the lights. This place is unique and so we all play all the parts. We are the builders, the sold-out crowd, the workers and just as much the talent. i'm writing tonight to return the favor to The Myriad, because there is a need among them.Their drummer Randy Miller is fighting cancer. With him in this fight are his wife Kristyn and his children Connor and Gillian. There are immediate and on-going financial needs. Please read the initial band's blog HERE.  There is also an update HERE. ... Thu, 06 Nov 2008 07:11:00 PST http://www.twloha.com/blog/twloha-goes-to-brooklyn-zach/ Hey Guys.We've been working on tour stuff today, excited to kick things off this Friday night at UGA in Athens. (As a sidenote, i am a little sad about having to miss Coldplay. They're playing Orlando that night.)i want to say thanks to everyone who responded to yesterday's "Meet Zach Williams" blog. i talked to Zach for a while this morning and he was really moved and encouraged by all the kind words. He wrote a blog in response and you can read that HERE.We're excited to announce that Zach Williams will be joining us for three dates on the upcoming East Coast Tour.  He will be playing the first two shows, Friday in Athens and Saturday at Clemson. He'll also be joining us in Brooklyn on Saturday, 11/15. That's a show we're just now announcing and that one will have to be "An Afternoon with To Write Love on Her Arms", because it starts at 4pm. Super excited about this one as i spent a few days there last week and it got me thinking... that maybe life in NYC has a lot in common with life in community. Both require sacrifice. Both mean being vulnerable. Both can be really difficult, but people choose NYC and people choose community because, ultimately, they believe it's worth it. There are easier places to live but ask any New Yorker and they'll probably tell you that it's the greatest city in the world, that they couldn't imagine living anywhere else. It seems there's something healthy about living life with other people, living among stories and conversations, inviting those things and choosing those things. And then it seems like there's something about inspiration as well, like we were meant to be moved. For me, there's something about being in a place where so much is happening, something about all of that history and beauty, something about that skyline...  ... Mon, 03 Nov 2008 16:31:00 PST http://www.twloha.com/blog/meet-zach-williams-lets-move/ We just added a new song to the MySpace playlist... i'd never heard of Zach Williams until my friend Jon Tyson invited me to see him play last Tuesday in NYC. Jon is one of my heroes and his text said "Trust me" and since i'd never heard him say that, i pretty much had to go.i went to see Zach play at Rockwood Music Hall, which is a tiny perfect room in Manhattan's Lower East Side. It turned out to be one of the best shows i've ever seen in my life. i keep telling people about it and i'm pretty sure i sound like an idiot because i can't begin to explain it and i just go on and on. For me, it was everything i love about music and so much of what i hope to find in this life. The packed tiny room was also a picture of community. When Zach sang "Take me to Brooklyn", his friends screamed and it was obvious that Brooklyn is them and theirs and they are a gang of the best kind, the kind we were meant for. ... Sun, 02 Nov 2008 14:43:00 PST http://www.twloha.com/blog/omaha-talk/ Hey Guys.We've been to Atlanta, Omaha, and Indiana (Taylor University) for events in the last week, and i was away in Europe for a week before that. It's good to be home for a couple days. As for Omaha, we have a good friend there named Chris Heuertz. Chris leads an organization called Word Made Flesh and once a month in downtown Omaha, the WMF folks open their doors for a "Beggars Society" meeting. Each month, someone is invited to lead a discussion centered around one of the WMF core values. For this month's meeting, i was invited to talk about TWLOHA and to speak on the topic of suffering. ... Fri, 17 Oct 2008 20:42:00 PDT http://www.twloha.com/blog/friendly-competition/ hey everyone,we are extremely excited to announce our month long contest with our friends at SocialVibe.com is finally underway!if you are not familiar with how SocialVibe works, you can read our previous blog here for a quick update. our goal for this contest is to raise $15,000 through SocialVibe.com by the end of October and we want to make this something that is fun for all of you : ) ... Fri, 03 Oct 2008 20:09:00 PDT http://www.twloha.com/blog/flying-back-to-florida-1/ Hey Guys.Just wanted to say a quick hello from JFK in NYC. Sitting here with Byron. He is eating chips and i am listening to the new Jonezetta record... ... Wed, 17 Sep 2008 20:15:00 PDT