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Well my friends, family, xanga subscribers and browsers..I am in Chicago. This is likely my last xanga post, as I was planning to finish up xanga and go on to a new blog (blogspot probably) once I had told you where you could purchase the Master of Dreams Concept Album online. So let me go ahead and do that, and then I'll write some about my arrival to Chicago, including the drive up. I am pleased to announce that about 3 weeks ago we received a shipment from Discmakers of near 1000 Master of Dreams CDs!!!!!!! This was followed by an AMAZING going-away/CD release party organized by my brother Joshua and put together with the help of family and friends from church. I was blown away by the generosity of love and support everyone showed me at the party and through cards, notes, letters, and other gifts (including some CHAI!). Josh put this box together called the DD Box (David's Dollars), and little did I know he was organizing weeks in advance for people to send in their well-wishes and support for my trip to Chicago. Let's just say God blessed me with a good sum of money, and I was floored. And the party itself goes beyond words. I was so encouraged and touched. It is encouraging me now just thinking about it. Thanks Josh, and all who took part. Here's where you can get a digital copy of Master of Dreams online: www.digstation.com/davidello . Eventually it will be on CD Baby (actually it's there now but the clips aren't working like I want them to) and iTunes. If you get it from CD Baby you have the option to get a hard copy mailed to you, versus digitally. Either one is fine with me (though if you buy it from digstation.com I get the full cut of the profit). My dad was pivotal in the process of getting this CD produced, and for him I am very thankful. My mom was also so supportive throughout the recording process, so really I have been helped by both of them in this project (and in so many other ways).     So....I know you're just achin' to hear about Chicago. When did I get here? What am I doing? How's everything going? Well, let me begin by saying that my brother Joshua was the most amazing travel companion on this trip up. He drove up with me on Monday, and we stopped at our great Uncle Eddy's in Decatur for some good eatin', sleepin', and fun times. 
The next morning Uncle Eddie took us to Wal-Mart to stock us up with some goods for the journey on the road and in Chicago. Crazy blessing. Thank you, Uncle Eddie! Josh and I proceeded to drive through Oklahoma, where the focus seems to be Native American culture and Casinos. Josh and I drove through Tulsa, which has a nifty down-town area, and we stopped off in another town at a Chili's to order some baby-back ribs to-go w/Josh's giftcard. Mmmmmmmmmmmmm....Ribs! One of the funniest moments came when Josh and I decided to drive over to the nearby Sonic to sit in the shade with our ribs. (We couldn't just go into Chili's to sit and eat b/c we had my harp in the car, and a harp needs to be air-conditioned or at least remain at a neutral cool temperature.) So in order to make it legit, Josh orders some fruity drink at the Sonic, and the look on the waitress' face when she came out to deliver the drink and saw our Chili's rib platters was priceless. Good times. 
After about 10 hours or so of driving, we arrived in St. Louis by evening and stayed with a friend of Stephen Huey's and his roommate. Very nice guys. Before we left the next morning, one of them, Matt, played us a song he wrote on the piano about llamas, and I couldn't get it out of my head for the rest of the day. Great songwriter. Very talented. Both of them were great Christian guys, and Josh and I felt blessed to have enjoyed their hospitality and company. 
This is Day 3 of our journey now...I remember waking up in St. Louis that day thinking, "This is it. This is the day I'm arriving in Chicago after over a year of planning and praying." Very cool feeling. Josh and I arrived in Chicago about 5 hours later, and I put "Into The Fire" from The Scarlet Pimpernel in the CD player as we approached the looming Chicago skyline. The gravity of the moment overcame me, and I began to cry as I sang this stirring anthem. I yelled "Land ho!" outside of the window right along with the music, and continued soaking it all in. Josh took some pictures of this long-awaited arrival, and I continued to let the present reality drop in all around me, with Jesus right there by my side. 
 
Josh and I went to what I think was Lincoln Park to kill time for awhile 'til our first host, Hanny, could get off of work, and we were surprised to find ducks.   I'm not sure how much more detail I should go into regarding the rest of the trip, since I could write a couple of pages on this milestone journey. So I'll go ahead and list some of the significant moments and let some pictures fill in the gaps. ---Josh and I meet Hanny and her boyfriend Nick in Hanny's apartment where we will be staying for the next couple of days. They order some pizza for us and we settle in. 
---Josh and I begin the next day by worshipping God there in the apartment along with the harp. We praise God for how he has provided so far and cover the rest of the day in prayer before heading out. We make our way into the city using the wonderful public transit system, aka The El, reaching our first major destination of the day: Orange...home of the scrumptious Chai Tea French Toast!   
This was the last place that I went before leaving Chicago last summer, and I told myself and Josh that this would be one of the first places we went when we came back. We ordered the meal and it was every bit as good as I remembered, only it was BIGGER than I remembered, as in I couldn't eat it all (and neither could Josh). It would have been better to split one. But it was delightful to the palate nonetheless. 
---Josh and I make our way to Millenium Park where we lounge on the cool grass in the wonderful, non-humid Chicago summer weather. We take some superhero/destiny shots in the park near the pavillion (think of Miller Outdoor Theatre souped up) 
     
and afterwards trek to Buckingham Fountain upon directions given by a very kind Irish man. To our dismay, Buckingham Fountain is not working, so we sit on a bench awhile taking in the downtown sights around us, waiting for the repairmen to fix the fountain. Alas, it did not work, so we left (good news, it's flowing again since I last saw it). But the scenery over was quite lovely. 
 
---Trip down Michigan Avenue to the Apple Store. HUGE! I could go on, but suffice it to say that I fought back tears (unsuccessfully) as Josh and I were eating at a hotdog place for dinner and I realized he'd be leaving the next morning. I love my brother. We'd had so much fun together, even got upset with eachother at different points in the trip but got things worked out, and soon he would be leaving...and I wouldn't see him again for a long time, most likely.  
Here was my travel companion, my brother, soon to leave me all alone. Of course, I wouldn't be alone, 'cause Jesus would still be with me, and I don't say that tritely. But there's something about having family there, and having a very tangible part of the body of Christ helping out that makes all the difference. The next day was very difficult for me when Josh was preparing to leave for a plane back to Houston and after he left. I was able to get some good work done looking for apartments and making more connections with some contacts in the city, but there were times when I felt like I was going crazy emotionally, realizing I was so far from my friends and family and that Josh was now gone as well. The words in my balloon song have never been so fitting as they have been for me in these past few days. Thankfully, God came in to encourage me through Hanny who took me to this awesome Puerto Rican place for dinner called "La Bomba." I felt much better after getting some food in my stomach (gee, go figure) and felt more hopeful about the city and the adventure I'd embarked upon. I also found a new drink I like..."Coco Rico!" Look it up.  ---Checked out some apartments and two very BEAUTIFUL neighborhoods, Lakeview and Lincoln Park, with the help of Hanny. She had been so generous and an incredible blessing!
Eating at different places with her and seeing areas I'd never seen, I felt like I was in one of the Chicago tour books I'd browsed a year ago in the airport with Josh. There's so much I hadn't seen and so much I hadn't even imagined! I know where I want to live now, and I pray God will provide me a nice studio in one of those areas. INCREDIBLE. EUROPE MEETS AMERICA. Yeah. I wish I had pictures of this, but this day I purposely didn't take my camera so that I could just enjoy everything in the moment without thinking about capturing it digitally. ---Later that afternoon Hanny helped me pack my stuff back into my car, and I headed off to my next destination, the townhouse of three artistic guys in Edgewater. Before making the journey to Chicago, I'd emailed some churches to see about staying in some host homes while getting on my feet in the city. Some guys from one church called First Free responded to my email (I think the pastors sent it to them, since the pastor and his wife had emailed me back intially and said they'd send my email along to some other guys they know in the church), and lo and behold I have a couch to sleep on for about a week while I'm looking for a studio of my own. So God provided me with yet ANOTHER place to stay! To make things better, these guys are involved in acting to different capacities, one of them expressing a very similar vision to mine regarding Christians creating God-glorifying artwork in the mainstream media. God has been giving me several confirmations that I am in the right place, even down to the people I'm staying with temporarily. Praise the Lord for his provision and guidance! Here's a picture of one of the guys, Dusty, whom I've enjoyed getting to know better here. He's an actor and aspiring film maker. We were out by the Lake today, walking distance from where I'm staying right now. 
---This morning I went to the service at First Free and was totally blessed to experience the Spirit of God in that place and among the congregation. It seems to be a very down-to-earth, Jesus-centered church, full of God's spirit and grounded in good, Biblical teaching. The church is also very artistically inclined with many artists in the congregation and ongoing arts ministries within the context of Sunday morning services. After the service I followed the church members to a neighborhood festival happening just outside in Andersonville, of which the church played an integral part, performing music, dance, providing brunch for attendees and a slew of other services. What a cool church! I think I'm still going to visit some others in case God is leading me elsewhere, but I feel like this would be a good solid place to get planted, should God direct me that way. The pastor and his wife are very down-to-earth and were very welcoming right off, just like Michael and Donna at the Houston Vineyard. This post may seem very positive, and while my time here has included some very positive experiences, I must be honest and let you know that is has also come with a lot of difficulties. I think these difficulties are normal when making such a huge relocation as I am doing and in such a different city from where I come from. I expected it to be difficult, but I didn't anticipate it being this emotionally taxing. In many ways I miss my family, miss friends, miss the sense of home and belonging Houston afforded, miss the security of knowing and being known. But I know that the lack of those things right now is just part of my cross, and embracing that cross will help me to rely more on Jesus as the author and finisher of my faith. He is my anchor, my refuge, my support. I'm not giving up. He's with me, so I'm not giving up. I'd appreciate your prayers in this new adventure! Enjoy the pictures! David Isaiah 41:10 
My Lovely Lifegroup "Falling Up" whom I left in Houston...Wonderful people. I miss y'all! |
