To Write Love on Her Arms

Omaha Talk.

Oct. 17, 2008 at 8:42pm

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.

Byron came with me and this was our second trip to Omaha - we were there last December when i was asked to speak at a concert a few days after the WestRoads Mall shooting. Both of these invitations brought up similar feelings (and insecurities) for me: humbled, not qualified, "what do you say?", etc.

What do you say when there's a girl in the room whose mother was shot and killed while buying Christmas presents?

What do you say when you're asked to talk about suffering - do you tell them you were just on vacation in Europe?

Sunday night in Omaha turned out to be a really meaningful night for me - it sort of changed some of what i had been feeling about "speaking" (or "public speaking"). This night made me feel like maybe i can just be myself and be honest in that setting, that maybe i was never meant to look or sound like everyone else... and finally, i think it reminded that i truly enjoy telling stories and seeing people find something in the words.

i told several stories in Omaha, one about a conversation i had in France last week, one funny story about almost meeting Bono... i close with a story about my friend Elisha who lives in South Carolina. Elisha had a brain aneurysm when he was 9 - he is 25 now, is in a wheelchair, has a really hard life. The talk basically ends with me confessing that i don't understand the questions that my friend Elisha is forced to live with, i don't understand why his life has to be so hard... and that maybe there are a lot of things we won't understand this side of Heaven.

Perhaps more than anything, the talk is about the idea that we all live with questions, we can all relate to pain, we all get stuck... and we aren't meant to live alone under the weight (and silence) of our questions. It seems we're meant to share our questions, to invite other people into the broken parts of our life, and to learn to meet our friends in the difficult places in their lives as well.

To listen to the Omaha talk, you just need to click here.

The audio quality is poor early on but gets better and is super clear by the Q&A at the end. The recording is basically three parts:
1. me talking
2. conversation with Chris Heuertz
3. Byron and i answering questions from the audience
(Byron is Byron Cutrer, TWLOHA Director of Operations)

We had a really amazing night at Taylor in Indiana (last Tuesday) as well. 800 people showed up, from as far away as Michigan and Ohio!!! It was another night that meant a lot to me personally and really gave me a lot to think about. Between Omaha and Indiana, i came home super encouraged, and really excited about bringing our message on the road.

On that note...
We'll be hitting the road next month for a short tour with the goal being more nights like the ones that just happened in Omaha and Indiana. The tour will be roughly two weeks between Boston and Georgia, mostly small rooms (coffee places) in college towns. Our talented friend Josh Moore will be playing solo acoustic, i'll be speaking and then our favorite part is that each night will end with questions and conversation.

More on that in the next couple days. For now, we hope you'll check out the Omaha talk and we hope you have a great weekend.

Peace to you.
jamie

PS: There's some new stuff available in the Online Store.

PS2: Here's that link (Omaha talk) again - you just have to click here.

Posted in General by reid twloha

Comments (11)

I was wondering if you guys are ever going to come to Dallas? Or at least Texas?
Please.
A lot of us would love for you to come.

1 | Left by Erin Hotchkiss | Oct. 25, 2008 at 8:11pm

Hey, I missed you guys when you came to Omaha.
Are you going to come back any time soon?
I would love to go.
[:

2 | Left by Aryn | Oct. 26, 2008 at 8:23pm

I'm so thankful for what you guys are doing and have done. There are so many people here, in Utah, who are suffering, but unfortunately it is swept under the rug. If you can find the time, please consider coming out here. It would really help our community.

3 | Left by Rachel Wachs | Oct. 27, 2008 at 9:00am

:] Thank you for coming to Omaha, NE. I will forever cheerish the memory of shaking hands with the team and giving Jamie a hug. You've impacted my life and made me a better person. Thank you. I love you guys.

4 | Left by April | Oct. 29, 2008 at 6:06am

hey. I just wanted to let you guys know that you changed my life forever. I used to hate life, but To Write Love On Her Arms pulled me back from the ledge. Thanx. :D
Renee's story really inspired me. I even wrote a school essay on TWLOHA.

5 | Left by Bethany | Oct. 29, 2008 at 6:16am

Hey guys!
I was just wondering if yall will come to New Orleans, Louisiana!
I've actually just recently heard about yall, like withing the month, but I searched yall up, and it helped me get through alot!

I'd love it if yall could come!
Kthanx,

6 | Left by Angela | Oct. 29, 2008 at 7:55am

"To be in a relationship with God is to be loved purely and furiously. And a person who thinks himself unloveable cannot be in a relationship with God becuase he can't accept who God is; a Being that is love. We learn that we are loveable or unloveatble from other people' Paul says. 'That is why God tells us so many times to love each other." -Blue Like Jazz

I'm working on loving myself, but TWLOHA helps me think that I am sometimes loveable and that God loves me and there are people out there pulling for me to come through. Thank you so much for everything you do and the talks you give everywhere you go. I wear my TWLOHA shirt with pride hoping that someone will ask me about it so I can praise this amazing organization. Please never stop spreading the message of TWLOHA.
Love, Melissa

7 | Left by Melissa | Oct. 29, 2008 at 7:13pm

i feel sorta weird somehow, im not sure why but i feel like because im a person who inflicts self injury on myself that i shouldnt like...be here yeah im stupid i have no idea what im trying to say. its just that, a friend of mines who used to cut herself saw that i was and she said "Why did you right love on your arms" i was kinda confused so i went home and looked it up and here i am lol yeah maybe i should go to a meeting...thingy XD lol yeah i'll have to go the next time you guys are in Atlanta =3 hmm yeah i'll have to look into it but thanks for spreading the love and support to people maybe it'll do me some good in the future...

8 | Left by Michelle | Oct. 31, 2008 at 6:47am

Starting with the first time I heard that Jamie was coming to Taylor (Indiana), I was stoked. I have always felt like TWLOHA was the voice I could never find. In the following days, I began a conversation with my family that has opened their eyes to some things in my life including depression, anxiety, and consuming pain involving things of the past.

I felt like Taylor students (including me) needed to hear Jamie's words and needed to know that this mess of things that plagues so many people is not just a problem in secular environments, but it's something that is tearing apart so many people within the Christian community. It is real and it is something that the Church needs to turn to and address instead of pushing it under the rug. I feel like having Jamie at Taylor was a great first step. TWLOHA has encouraged me and changed me for the better. Thank you.

9 | Left by Sammi | Nov. 3, 2008 at 7:51am

hey guys we lub u and ur program I was just wondering when r u guys coming to texas? We would appreciate it if you came,we could use da help 2!!!!!! lol Don't forget us!!!WITH LUB cindy!!!!p.s will b waitin......

10 | Left by cindy | Nov. 7, 2008 at 11:22am

there's a small project along a similar line of thought that's trying to find some footing on myspace. Check out Speaklove, if you have some free internet time.

11 | Left by courtney | Nov. 10, 2008 at 12:10pm

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