Closing of a Season
Written by Allie Sampson
Photographed by Sydnee Mela & JD Gravitt
As the Cageless Birds community, we have set our hands and hearts to so many things. We release albums and books, create art, run an online store, take photos and create videos, roast coffee, craft leather goods and take on building projects. Though we spend six months out of the year creating and growing the Cageless Birds collective, we believe that there is no greater thing we can invest in than people. In the other six months of the year, we host two discipleship schools: Phase I and Phase II of the 18 Inch Journey. We consistently refer to the discipleship season as the highlight of our year, and while we value art and love creating, we have found that seeing people come face to face with Jesus is the most rewarding thing we can invest in. More than songs, more than words, more than art, we believe that the effects of a person who has encountered the love of God will change the course of eternity. At the heart of the Cageless Birds collective is the dream for discipleship — to see a generation wake up to who they are as sons and daughters; to see a generation changed by the Love of God.
Last Friday we closed this year’s 18 Inch Journey and we were blown away by the Goodness of God in the lives of each of the 32 students. They each came in to the school unsure of what the sixty days would bring, but ready and willing to give Jesus their yes. Throughout the school, they discovered the power of their willing and humble hearts. They consistently came to the end of their ability and made the powerful choice to let God meet them, help them and change them. Through the creative collectives, teachings, cleaning times, work duties and assignments, they unpacked this one simple truth: dependency on the Holy Spirit is the key to sustainability. Over the two months, the students found themselves in the middle of moments that challenged them and pressed them in many different areas. It was in these moments that their character was forged as they learned the power of their choice: to refuse His help and stay the same, or to make space for the Holy Spirit to speak into their lives and change them. Over and over again, these students chose to let the Father tear down their walls and to welcome the process of becoming a new creation. From standing on chairs and declaring who God is for them to creating paintings to declare who they are as sons and daughters to letting family see and celebrate them, they faced their fears and they were transformed. As we sat down at an extravagant dinner table, we reflected on all that the Father did in their lives in such a short time and we were overcome with gratitude. Truly, He is faithful.
Tonight our entire community will sit down at another beautiful feast as we close our Phase II school. These ten students all chose to come back for another season in the woods of Sophia, North Carolina. They said yes to six months of discipleship, humility, growth and servant leadership. They said yes to Jesus, and they have been profoundly changed. As we sit together for one final dinner, we will hear from each of the ten as they read their exit statements and seal their season by proclaiming what the Father has done for them, who they have discovered Him to be, and who they are as they step into their next season. We will laugh deeply and weep earnestly as we remember how faithful the Father is to each one. We will close this season with celebration and bless them as they bravely step into their next seasons. Tonight, around the table, we will honor the incredible journey of each of their lives and raise our glasses to the Author of their stories. It has been our deep privilege to walk with them, lead them, live alongside them and love them. We are forever grateful for the season the Father gave us with these ten. Their lives are saturated with hope, and we are certain that beautiful things are ahead for each of them because they have cultivated friendship with the Father and surrendered themselves to the best leader that they will ever have: the Holy Spirit.
After closing the Phase II school this evening, our community will be taking some time off to visit our families and loved ones over the Thanksgiving holiday. The Cageless Birds community will resume our normal rhythms in December. We pray that you have a restful holiday. We look forward to sharing more from our community with you this soon!
The Value of Art
Written by: Allie Sampson
Photographed by: Sydnee Mela and JD Gravitt
One of the core pillars of the 18 Inch Journey is Creativity. It stands alongside Worship and Community, two other aspects that we believe are keys to wholeness, and we believe that it is vital to the heart. We believe that creativity is not a talent, but rather is a natural expression of us connecting with our Father, the ultimate Creator. During the 18 Inch Journey, the students cultivate creativity in a range of areas, some of which they may have loved for years, and others that may be brand new to them. Recently, we posted a blog about Collectives: specific small groups focusing on one creative expression spanning the course of the Journey. However, one of the other areas that students cultivate creativity in is Art Class.
Twice a week, the students gather together in the Art Barn to receive technical and inspiring art lessons from our Art Director, Justina Stevens and her assistant, Lindsay Armistead. In their first lesson, the students are taught to make a History Book: a handmade leather book to visually document their journey with God. Throughout the course of the Journey, the students are given various History Book prompts, or assignments, to help them chronicle their time spent on the land. In addition to History Booking, students are taught a scope of art techniques, mediums and terminology. Within the safety of family, the students are released to explore, create and share. After each prompt is complete, students share what they’ve created with each other and learn the power of encouragement and being seen.
We cultivate creativity through art throughout the entirety of the 18 Inch Journey because we believe that learning how to see properly is essential to life. We believe that art is not about what you produce, but who you become in the process. This year it was our great privilege to take the whole school to the North Carolina Museum of Art and give them space to drink in beauty and be inspired. As they walked around the museum, students found that their vision has changed. They began to understand that great art draws something out of us, inspires us and causes us to recognize the beauty that is all around us.
By encountering, learning and creating art, the 18 Inch Journey students learn to connect visual art and expression with what is inside the heart. More than the students becoming fantastic artists, it is our dream that they would grasp how to be constantly inspired to produce from a place of wholeness. As artists, it is easy to fall into the trap of creating from a place of striving or proving, but when this happens, we miss the point. The Father created out of inspiration and delight, and we believe it is His dream to meet us in our creating. We believe the point of art is intimacy with Him.
For more details about the Art Barn or the History Book, check out the videos below:
The Value of Meals
Written by Ella Roselt
Photographed by Sydnee Mela
“Encouragement is the table family feasts at.”
David Burbach
It is one of the greatest honours of my life to be a member of the kitchen staff team (captained by the phenomenal Martha McRae) at A Place for the Heart because the kitchen is right at the heart of the ministry. Meal times are an essential part of our everyday lives and play a crucial role in establishing our core value of family and community during the 18 Inch Journey. I grew up in a family that believed in eating meals together around the table – but I didn’t understand the full value of that simple ritual until I was much older. Because it was so normal to me, I was surprised when I discovered how rare it actually is to find families that regularly take time to eat together. I was therefore so delighted, when I first came to the 18 Inch Journey in 2011, to discover that meal times are something this family deeply values and makes time for. This is because we have received food and meal times as a good gift from our good Father, and as a family we prioritize time spent around the table together.
When our Father created us, he could have designed us so that we would need food only once a week, and perhaps even that we could get it in a simplified form; like a car being re-fueled. But in His great wisdom and kindness, that is not how He dreamed up our lives. Perhaps because He wanted us to have a daily reminder (in the form of our physical hunger) that we have a spiritual hunger that may be easier to ignore, but which it is even more important that we tend to. Gathering around the table three times a day during the 18 Inch Journey reminds us of our need, and how the Father wants to meet it.
We know only a fraction of the day-to-day life of Jesus, and yet much space is given within those limited accounts to his interactions with people over the business of meals. Take for example Jesus inviting himself over to Zacchaeus’ house for a meal; the feeding of the five thousand; the fish breakfasts he cooked for his disciples on the beach; the last supper. Every meal was a significant time to Him, because it made space for family moments to happen, and he understood that the very act of eating together carried in seed form many truths of what life in the Father’s kingdom looks like.
Meal times are an essential part of our year-round lives at the farm (as we affectionately call our 52 acres). The kitchen is the heart of the land, and the table is the place we reconnect with each other after a full work day. It is where we gather to encourage each other, to swap stories, to share the hard things of life, to celebrate the victories. And so when students arrive for the 18 Inch Journey, and join us at a table for a meal, they are folding into a pre-established rhythm of honouring the life-giving space that a meal can provide. Meal times are always very intentional, and just as important as a teaching session or a collective time. It is important that we learn to dive into the depths with the Holy Spirit, and it is important that we learn to let Him lead us back up for a deep breath of fresh air. Laughter around the table is just as necessary as the laying on of hands.
We take great delight in the planning and serving of our school meals. As Papa Ken Helser says, “You can find God in everything and miss Him in anything,” and we have found so much of God in every part of the process; from the planting and tending of the garden and the harvesting of its bounty, to our weekly shopping trips; the planning of a great feast, to the fruition of a wonderful evening, and even in the washing up of dishes that comes later. We have seen the Father as Planner and Provider. We have learnt about His intentionality and the delight He takes in planning beautiful moments for us. We have discovered how He loves and leads us through serving us, and laying a place at the table for us. We have learnt how He helps clean up with us the messes we make as we create the dishes of our lives. Every student has the invitation and opportunity to learn these aspects of the Father too: the second phase students get to help us chop vegetables and lay tables in preparation for meals, and the first phase students take turns to help us clean up afterwards. All of it is full of delight because it is full of the nature of the Lord, and full of family.
In the physical, we never get to the point where we have eaten the one meal to end all meals. In both the physical and the spiritual, we will never progress beyond the cycle of becoming hungry and then having that hunger met. May we never stop becoming hungry for community, for the feasting on the Word, for communing with the Father.
Collectives
Written by Molly Skaggs
Photographed by Greg Harris
Creativity is one of the core values of the 18 Inch Journey because we know it is a key for living out a thriving life with the Trinity. We believe that we were created by a beautiful and perfect Creator, and that one of the most wonderful gifts He gave to us as image-bearers of His likeness is our hunger for and ability to create. In the journey of Wholeheartedness, we have a deep need to use our own voices and hands to create something that tells our heart’s story. We have a need to communicate and a desire to be seen and heard. While the 18 Inch Journey is not a school whose primary focus is on students becoming better, more skilled artisans, we see important purpose in incorporating weekly rhythms of creativity in focused artistic areas for the students. These are necessary times for our hearts to exhale. One of these times are Collectives, one of our favorite school rhythms.
The Collectives range greatly in artistic focus. This year, our staff is able to offer Movement, Music, Writing, Bookmaking, Darkroom Photography, and Digital Storytelling. Before they arrived to the school, we sent these choices to the students and asked them to bravely choose a Collective where they felt their hearts would be challenged. Each week for two afternoons, our students break off into their groups to work out beautiful assignments with their leaders. They are confidently led into moments of facing the fears that challenge their greatness and keeps them from being exactly who He made them to be. Students are given opportunities to walk out the process of their hearts becoming more whole as they choose Belovedness over fear and shame. Sometimes, that looks like creating something by themselves; sometimes, that looks like creating and collaborating with others. Walking out the creative process is messy, andstudents often hit walls of fear, insecurity, and inadequacy. Yet, it never fails that each time, just when our students think they have absolutely nothing to say, they have a true face-to-face encounter with the Father. He meets them in their creative processes and through His love and value for them, they learn to love and value themselves. They learn how to fall back in love with creating from Love rather than from pressure to perform or be accepted by what they can do or make.
The Collectives are little families within the bigger 18 Inch Journey Family. Here, the students learn how to not only stand up and take back their own voices, but they learn how to bravely and joyfully fight for one another. They quickly discover that the more whole and free they become as individuals deeply loved by the Father, the only natural outflow of that love is lavishing encouragement on their fellow students. Collectives can be one of the most vulnerable spaces of the entire school because they invite students to be fully seen and known by God, themselves, and one another. Love is always the agenda. Joy is always the compass. Students’ hearts are recreated by the loving hands of Jesus in the midst of family encouragement, shared laughter and tears, and deep camaraderie and fellowship. The staff believe in the power of agreement and family fighting for each other, so much so that the Collectives are some of the safest places for sons and daughters to be reborn into who they always were meant to be, without pressure or competition, prideful striving or shameful hiding.
We are six weeks in now and find ourselves as a staff consistently amazed at the bravery, vulnerability, and beauty that has come forth from our students. The way creativity unravels the human heart is remarkable — it is full of confrontations with the truth of Love and becoming undone from the false identity of being only what you can do in order to really be loved, accepted or even forgiven and wanted. Creativity has a way of putting the shovel into our own hands and giving us opportunity to really find out who we are in the eyes of Perfect Love. It is all a part of the well-digging of Sustainability for a life lived in the Holy Spirit that we practice and cultivate in the 18 Inch Journey.
At the end of the school, we host our Collectives Presentation over two nights so that the whole 18 Inch Journey family can see, touch, and hear what the beautiful love of God has done inside of the hearts of our students in each collective. They are two of our biggest nights of family celebration and joy, and we are always undone and forever changed by the power of His love and the Gospel that has reawakened inside of them. Creativity has a way of Naming us as we have always been known and named by their Originator of our design, and it is our privilege as a staff to host these safe spaces for students’ hearts to be renamed forever.
Heart Transformation
Written by Allie Sampson
Photographed by Sydnee Mela and JD Gravitt
We are halfway into the 2015 18 Inch Journey, and already we are undone by the incredible things the Father has done in the hearts of our students. They have sat in empowering teaching sessions, participated in work duties, explored their creativity in collectives and cleaned up after meals in the kitchen, and they are discovering that every moment is changing them. Over the past four weeks we have been blown away as students share the incredible changes that are happening in their hearts.
One consistent theme that the students have shared is how much they are being changed by family. Throughout the school we have discussed how the Kingdom of God is a family and that we are all created to be a part of it. As we have unpacked what Kingdom family looks like, our students are learning that they do not have to fight for a seat at the table, that is, they do not have to work to belong. When we understand that we are not orphans, but beloved sons and daughters, we are able to confidently walk out our identity without comparison or competition. It is this revelation of family and belonging that is transforming these thirty-two hearts.
Another truth that is planting unbelievable hope and redemption in our students’ hearts is the truth that Love is extravagant. Over and over, we are hearing testimonies of hearts that are colliding with Love Himself, Jesus, and that are being blown away by his extravagance. As the thirty-two begin to understand that He is an extravagant Father, they see that Jesus looked at them and gladly chose to die for them. As they begin to learn His heart, they learn that He looked at them and joyfully resolved: “You are worth the cross!” This truth is building new, incredible foundations and making space for them understand how profoundly loved they are by the Father.
Perhaps the greatest value that the 18 Inch Journey students are learning is that life is not about getting fixed or finding the formula to solve all of your problems. Rather, it is about dependency on the Holy Spirit. As we delve deeper into the school, our students are beginning to see that they are being set up for long term success, as we lead them not to ourselves and our own leadership in their lives, but to the feet of Jesus. Every day, the 18 Inch Journey students are being empowered to cultivate friendship with the Holy Spirit and to seek His help in their lives. They are learning friendship, dependency and sustainability. They are learning wholeness.
As we reflect on everything the Father has done over the past thirty days, we are blown away! We are so proud of each and every student, and we are only halfway in. We are excited and expectant for what the Father wants to do. We know that He has incredible dreams in His heart for the thirty-two, and they are consistently making the brave choice of saying yes to Him.
Papa Ken Time
Written by Allie Sampson
Photographed by Sydnee Mela
As a staff, one of our favorite elements of the 18 Inch Journey is Papa Ken Time. Papa Ken is Jonathan’s dad and the founding father of this land. He and his wife, Linda, have been pouring into the 18 Inch Journey since it started, and once a week each small group has breakfast with Ken as they discuss life, scripture and what the Father is teaching them. During this time, the students have the rare opportunity to sit down with a father in the faith and hear his heart and ask him questions. Often times, Ken will share something that he felt the Lord share with him in his own quiet time or will share from My Utmost for His Highest by Oswald Chambers. It is Ken’s heart that each of these students would fall in love with the Word of God and would begin to understand what it means to work out their salvation with the Lord.
In addition to these weekly sessions with Ken, he and Linda invite each small group up to their house for a Sunday Lunch during the school. At these lunches, the students get to hear family stories and the history of A Place for the Heart.
We are a community who is exceedingly grateful for mothers and fathers in the faith. As a group of young adults, we recognize our need for those who have gone before us and can speak truth and wisdom into our lives. It is for that reason that we believe Papa Ken Time is one of the greatest gifts the students receive during the 18 Inch Journey. We are so grateful for Ken and Linda and their investment in our lives and for all that they are doing to shout the acts of God back over our generation. For more about Ken and Linda and A Place for the Heart, visit aplacefortheheart.org/connect/#/kenandlinda/.
Jesus Week // Adam Cox
Written by Allie Sampson
Photographed by JD Gravitt and Sydnee Mela
Every week of the 18 Inch Journey has a specific theme or focus. Week one is Father week and this year Jonathan led us through God the Father: what He is like and His deep love for us. Last week was Jesus week and we were honored to have our dear friend Adam Cox here to share with us. Adam and his wife Juli lead Navah Church in Kansas City, MO and have been very close friends with Jonathan and Melissa for years. Each year, Adam comes and teaches at our school during Jesus week unpacking the story of Jesus in a way that unlocks our hearts and reintroduces us to who He really is. This year, our eyes and hearts were opened as he taught the importance of going from being familiar with the story of Jesus to being fascinated by Him. Our staff and students were invited to drink in the Gospel again and open ourselves up to be transformed by it and changed by it as though it was our first time hearing it. After breaking open the scriptures, Adam broke bread and served our entire school communion, looking each one in the eyes and declaring that they are the Beloved of Jesus Christ.
Each year, after Adam leaves, we find that it was not just the sessions with him that affected us, but that he truly set a spark inside our hearts. Just like the two that journeyed on the road to Emmaus with Jesus, we look back at our time with Adam and find that our hearts are burning within us as we have begun to see who Jesus really is. Many of Adam’s teachings, including his teaching on the God Story, can be found at http://www.navahchurchkc.com/god-story. We encourage you to check it out and pray that you too would find your heart burning with a deeper love for Jesus.
2015 18 Inch Journey is Underway
Written by Allie Sampson
Photographed by JD Gravitt and Sydnee Mela
Last spring, our community took a step of faith and invited the world to partner with us in our dream for discipleship. At the beginning of April, we launched our 18 Inch Journey Housing Campaign, where we invited you to help us raise the funds we needed to build new cabins to host our next group of 18 Inch Journey students. Since then, we have been blown away by the generosity of the Father through your support. We have received contributions from over 700 generous donors, who have given a collective total of $132,500! That’s an average donation of $190! How incredible! But the donations are only the beginning. As the 18 Inch Journey started last week, we felt incredible joy in knowing that we are standing in the middle of your support, and it is through that generosity that lives are being changed.
On September 14th, we welcomed 32 new students onto the land of A Place for the Heart. As a community we could hardly contain our excitement. We typically host the 18 Inch Journey in the summer, but this year is our first time hosting the school in the autumn. On that Monday, the air started to cool and we felt the transition of the season. It was as though the Father was singing back through the air that the time was right, and we were giddy with anticipation. These 32 students have come from far away lands and from neighboring counties. Between them, there are 6 countries and 14 states represented here in the woods of Sophia, North Carolina. Though they come from different regions and have different stories, one thing remains the same: they have all come for Jesus, and He is meeting their hearts in incredible ways.
As we look forward to the 50 days ahead, we are confident that the Father is doing a brilliant work. Already hearts are being healed and sons and daughters are waking up to their identity as the Beloved of Jesus Christ. Our Father is faithful to finish what He has started, and the beginning has already been so sweet. To everyone who contributed toward the housing campaign, made a donation at a worship night, or supported us monthly, thank you! We can confidently say that you truly are changing the world one bunk at a time. We invite all of you to continue praying and dreaming with us in this exciting season! We cannot wait to share with you the stories of what the Father has done.
18 Inch Journey Retreat: Testimonies
We just recently held our first-ever 18 Inch Journey Retreat for adults ages 26 - 40. The retreat spanned 4 days and took place here on the grounds of A Place for the Heart. There were men and women hailing from more than 8 nations, some traveling from as far as South Africa! We packed the four days full of community, creativity and worship and gave God full permission to wreck our plans each day. Here are a few amazing testimonies from some of the men and women who came for the retreat:
From the moment I pulled in, I felt welcomed - expected - even known, though I had not met anyone else before. Everyone immediately felt like family. I was blown away at how easy it was to immediately let down walls and defenses, and to realize there were walls in me that I never even knew existed. I knew that you had truly cultivated a community of safety, vulnerability, and authentic, Jesus-focused love. I feel that everything you did with us each day modeled the invitation of the Father. I did not feel pressured into doing anything. I was invited, and eager to answer the invitation. - Taylor
The level of professionalism and excellence surrounded by love was unbelievable. God confirmed and revealed so many things to me I was astonished at times and almost in a state of laughter. I know God set me up for some incredible experiences through Him and the staff. - David H.
I really didn't know what to expect. I just knew I was supposed to be there. I will forever remember my time there as the first place that I saw Jesus face to face. I have been a Christian for a while but I have never seen him like I encountered Him that weekend. - Misty
Personally I feel peace like never before. In the past I would be stressed and not know why, but now I’m learning to carry His sweet presence in a new way. We were greatly impacted and wrecked in a good way. We will soon be beginning to disciple and steward our worship community in our home through our church family; and we know being at the retreat was pivotal for knowing how to pour and serve our own community with excellence while pursuing Gods presence together. - Renee
18 Inch Journey Housing Campaign
For the next 30 days, we are running a campaign for new student housing. Our goal is to build three new cabins. Each of these cabins cost around $50,000 so we need to raise $150,000.
{click here to support the 18 Inch Journey Campaign}
Our Dream
Fifteen years ago, Melissa and I joined my mother and father on this 52 acre piece of land called “A Place for the Heart”, and launched a one week creative worship camp for high schoolers.
We wanted to create a place for them to encounter the freedom of the gospel of Jesus. This one-week camp grew into a two-month school, which grew into an extended internship, which then became a six-month second phase of the school. Along the way, as we have grown, we’ve intentionally kept our schools smaller, and more intimate in nature. Our desire is to be face to face with the students that come, to sit and eat at a table together, and pour into their lives in a personal way. Today, we host Phase 1 and Phase 2 of the 18 Inch Journey, internships, and retreats, and have a full time staff running the schools with us every year. What was a small seed, the dream of God for this land, has fully blossomed.
Our Vision
My father started this ministry on a principle from Mother Theresa, “If you wait till you have what you think you need to do ministry, you’ll never do ministry.” God used the stick that was in Moses’ hand to deliver Israel from Egypt. We have used everything in our hands to host our first worship camp and many 18 Inch Journey schools since.
Over the past eight years, we’ve expanded, remodeled, and rearranged our buildings in every way imaginable to host our schools and retreats. We’ve turned barns into apartments and sheds into studios. With the expansion of our discipleship schools and internships, we simply need more space. We have maxed out the capacity of our facilities. Now we need your help to expand our housing for the dream to continue to grow.
Our History
Since 2008:
- Seven 18 Inch Journey schools
- Students coming from 26 states and 15 countries
- Total of 137 students who have been radically changed by the love of Jesus!
Our Need
We believe one bunk can change the world. More cabins means more bunks. More bunks means more hearts. And each heart that encounters the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit will never be the same. Marriages, families, culture, cities, and nations will be blessed and impacted by the DNA of the sons and daughters who come to this land, setting apart a season to be with God, and family. Help us change the world by investing in this dream.
Our goal is to build three new cabins for student housing. Each of these cabins cost around $50,000 so we need to raise $150,000.
- $50,000 we can build One cabin
- $100,000 we can build Two cabins
- $150,000 we can build Three cabins
Our plan is to break ground in May, and have these cabins built before the start of our next 18 Inch Journey School in the Fall. The $150,000 goal is our first step toward a much larger vision for these 52 acres of land. In the last year we have designed a layout for the property with buildings, studios, classrooms, and cabins that stretch out across these beautiful rolling hills. To fulfill this ultimate goal we would need over 2 million dollars, so $150,00 is just a baby step, but it still feels like a giant leap! Any money that we raise above $150,000 will go into the many dreams we have for expanding the dream God has given us.
How you can be involved
We need your help. Here’s how you can be be involved:
- Make a pledge and claim one of our amazing perks.
- Help spread the word. This is a community effort and we would love your support, and the support of your community or church to reach our goal.
Your support will help this generation encounter Jesus, and equip them to live healthy and thriving lives. Thank you so much for considering giving to this dream. We could not do what we do without your help.
Click here to support the 18 Inch Journey Housing Campaign.
For more information about the 18 Inch Journey, check out: www.18inchjourney.com
Building a Fire - From Vol. II of the Eighteen Inch Journey Book
Written By Melissa Helser
Ink Drawing by Ken Helser
In the beautiful noise of my everyday, I am learning to listen. In the beautiful schedule of my everyday, I am learning to be flexible. In the beautiful mundane normal, I am learning to see extravagance in simple moments.
I love winter. I love the invitation it gives. My children notice that our family time grows and deepens in winter months. It gets darker earlier. We stop working sooner. We linger at the dinner table longer. We become slower in a fantastic way. We make fires and sit in the warmth of its presence.
Why is a fire so magical, so inviting? When the fireplace is full of flame and generously giving warmth, it casts a spell over our home. It woos the heart to breathe deeper. It calls to the soul to stop and sit and be still. I am learning to be present in these moments, to give in. My son asked me today if he could start a fire. It was 65 degrees outside, not quite cold enough for a raging fire. He was persistent and kept insinuating how cold he was. I told him that I didn’t know if he was old enough to build a fire, and he proudly said, “I am, Dad taught me. He even taught me how to cut kindling and use his hatchet.” I suddenly realized it had nothing to do with the fire and everything to do with his desire to show me how grown up he is. I smiled and relinquished the thought of sweating while doing homeschool. “Okay, you can build one.” He was pumped.
I went through my normal mom advice: “Be careful.”
“I will be, Mom.”
“If you play around with a hatchet you can cut your hand off…”
“I know, Mom,” he assured me.
The door shut. Thirty minutes later he came in with four pieces of wood. It took him forever, but he was so proud. He proceeded to carefully build a fire in our wood stove just like Jonathan had taught him. I kept asking if he needed help, and he kept assuring me not to worry; he knew exactly what he was doing. He finally had it lit and didn’t even use the fire starter sticks that I always use. “Mom, come and see. Look! I did it.” It was glorious—the fire and the look on his face. We just sat and stared at it. After a few minutes, he began to doubt that it would keep burning. I could hear the tone of the perfectionist coming out in his self-criticism. “I don’t think I did it right. I should have used the starters. I am not good at this.” I was astounded by how quickly the overwhelming fear of failure rushed in the room. I am learning to see it quicker and, as a mother, champion the beauty of my kids’ hearts. “Cadence, this fire is amazing—you did a great job! I think we should leave it, shut the doors of the wood stove and let it do its magic.” We sat down at the kitchen table and began school again. Distracted by our lesson, he forgot about the fire. Until Jonathan walked in the door. “Who made that fire?” We both turned and looked—it was roaring. A glorious smile swept over his face.
His father’s approval sealed the deal.
I hope and pray that I continue to have the sensitivity to the Holy Spirit to know when these moments are happening all around me and inviting me to come and feast at the table. Even as I write, I am overcome with emotion that my son is almost thirteen and life is moving like a rushing river that won’t be stopped. If I want to experience it, I have to get in it. I have to leave behind all my have-to’s and should-have’s and what-if’s and just give in. My kids invite me into these moments without even knowing it. It is what I love the most about them. I love that all his fear of failure, even in a simple moment, was swallowed up in his father’s approval. I pray in this moment that the seemingly insignificant moments of your life that have made you feel like a failure will be gloriously interrupted with the Father’s smile. That you would feel the Father of Fathers walk into your heart and honor the places you are truly desiring to grow and mature. That His smile would be that warmth, covering you and surrounding you with a beautiful “Well done.”
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This writing is featured in the newest Eighteen Inch Journey Book entitled Volume II : The Clarity that Winter Brings. To find out more about Volume I & II or to order a copy of either volume, click here to visit our online store.
The History Book
The Cageless Birds are proud to introduce the History Book. A History Book is a huge part of our rhythms in the Eighteen Inch Journey. It is a visual journal that centers around the power of remembrance and celebrating life with God. Many of you will never be able to come to the 18 Inch Journey, but this is an invitation to take part in one of the pillars of the school.
We’ve included a travel pack of water colors and one history book prompt written by Justina Stevens with directions and examples to help you take the risk of creativity. These beautiful books are packed full of thick water color paper and bound with beautiful distressed leather. This book is perfect for the active artist or those ready to make the plunge into creative discovery.
Available in our store.
-Cageless Birds
Collaboration with Bethel Music
We are very excited and honored to announce our partnership with Bethel Music as part of their Artist Collective. We wholeheartedly believe in the mission and vision of Bethel Music and Bethel Church. This is an amazing opportunity for us to collaborate and partner with the Kingdom of God on the west coast and all over the world. We couldn’t imagine joining a more amazing family of worshipers and musicians. We look forward to the new sounds and songs that will come out of this beautiful relationship.
With the benefits of this great collaboration, the majority of our ministry will still look and stay the same throughout the year. We will still journey with the growing community here in North Carolina and A Place for the Heart. We will continue leading the 18 Inch Journey and The Cageless Birds Collective. For the past 14 years, we have been serving the ministry of A Place for the Heart through discipling students, leading worship and pouring our hearts into this land. We have cultivated a beautiful community of artists and friends that are pursuing God and each other with their whole hearts. We are dedicated to our community in North Carolina and our collaboration with Bethel Music serves the greater dream of bringing heaven to earth.
We are excited to share our talents with the Bethel Music family. This opportunity allows us to continue to write music and lead worship in our own way while strengthening and serving our ministry. This year holds some very amazing new projects and albums, so stay tuned for more updates throughout the year.
-Jonathan & Melissa
Closing of a Season
2014 Phase Two Students
Written by Allie Sampson
Photographed by Sydnee Mela & JD Gravitt
On Friday night, our staff gathered together and sat down at a beautiful table to eat a meal and talk about what the Lord has done over the past few months. At one point in the night, Melissa brought up how crazy it was to look back over the past 6 months and look at all of the things that our community has done. Since January, we have released an album, completed 4 building projects, released the 18 Inch Journey book, opened an online store and hosted 7 worship nights in Asheboro, NC. As we reflect on all of these things, we are blown away by the extravagance and faithfulness of the Lord who has tended so beautifully to our dreams. We are so thankful to the Father for each of these projects, but by far, we are most thankful for the two schools that we have started and completed over the past six months.
Wednesday night, we closed our 7th 18 Inch Journey school with an extravagant closing dinner. It was a lovely night of reminiscing and remembering all that the Trinity had done in the 32 students who came. Tonight, we host another closing dinner as we end our 6-month school. Phase 2 is for 18 Inch Journey alumni and is a deeper dive into the rhythms and values taught during the Journey. In February, 12 students returned to the land for Phase 2 and since then, they have been participating in creative classes, small groups, impartation sessions and serving the 18 Inch Journey through servant leadership. We have journeyed with them deeply and are exceedingly proud of each one of them.
The 2014 18 Inch Journey
This evening, our entire community will join together to celebrate the brilliance of the Father and how much He has done in each one of the twelve. We will hear from each of them as they read their final exit statement, proclaiming how they have seen the Lord since they’ve been here. We will seal their hearts with declarations: statements we’ve crafted that acknowledge what we’ve seen in their hearts and affirm the Goodness of God in their lives. We will set a beautiful table, prepare an extraordinary meal, laugh deeply and cry frequently as we honor the journey of their lives and the amazing plans that the Father has intricately woven together for them. It has been our deepest privilege to get to walk with them and lead them over the past 6 months and we are certain that even better things are ahead of them. Their lives are full of hope because they have cultivated friendship and surrendered themselves to the leadership of the best friend and leader they could ever have: the Holy Spirit.
After saying our goodbyes, our community will be taking some time off to visit friends and family. We will come back together in the Fall to continue dreaming with the Father and to press more into what He is doing here at A Place for the Heart. Blog updates and the Cageless Birds store will resume their normal activity in September. We pray that you have a beautiful and restful August.
Papa Ken Time
Written by Allie Sampson
Photographed by JD Gravitt
As a staff, one of our favorite elements of the 18 Inch Journey is the amount of surprises that we tuck within the 60 days. However, the way that we find ourselves catching the most traction is within the schedule that we dream up with the Father. Before the students arrive, the full 60 days are intentionally prayed over and mapped out by our Core Staff. In planning, we carve out specific times for consistent classes or blocks, which we refer to as rhythms.
We use the word rhythms because these classes and activities that we keep coming back to set the cadence and the pace for the summer. They are the beautiful boundaries that we operate within; they keep us on track and create safety through consistency.
One of our favorite rhythms during the school is Papa Ken Time. Papa Ken Time is a chance that the students have to sit down with the founding father of this land, a true pioneer in the faith, and ask him questions and hear his heart. Every weekday morning, Ken meets with one of the five small groups over breakfast. Often times, Ken will share something that has been on his heart, something that he felt the Lord share with him in their time together earlier in the morning. In addition, Papa Ken frequently shares from My Utmost for His Highest by Oswald Chambers. The students have the opportunity to glean wisdom from someone who has gone before them – to ask questions that they have on their hearts and learn from someone who has so much to teach and share.
In addition to weekly Papa Ken Time, Ken and his wife Mrs. Linda invite each small group up to their house for a Sunday Lunch during the school. During these Sunday lunches, the students get to have more intentional time hearing family stories and learning more about Ken and Linda and A Place for the Heart. These times with Ken and Linda are one of the greatest gifts the students receive during the summer.
As young people, it is extremely rare to have someone who is generations ahead of us that wants to intentionally invest in our lives, pray for us and answer our questions. Our community is exceedingly grateful for Papa Ken and the way that he has chosen to give his life to see our generation fall more in love with Jesus. Many times, including this summer, he has chosen to decline overseas ministry trips, just so that he can pour into the students who have come to be here. So many of the staff have had seasons where we have been invited to sit around Ken’s table and hear his stories and each of us that have had this opportunity have been forever changed because of it.
Heart and Art
Written by Allie Sampson
Photographed JD Gravitt
The 18 Inch Journey is built on the pillars of Creativity, Community and Worship. Though it isn’t necessarily an art school, we do a lot of art. We love creativity in all forms. We are a community of photographers, artists, writers, musicians, cinematographers, chefs, bookmakers and dancers. What we love most about art is the way that it is so expressive of the heart. Art, in all true forms, is a mirror that reflects what is going on inside of the heart of the artist.
Every Tuesday and Friday, our students participate in a rotation that we call Art/Heart. During this time, the students are split into two groups. The first group spends the first half of the time in an art class with Justina while the second group spends the time in a session where one of the staff members shares something they wrote for the Eighteen Inch Journey book. The students spend an hour and a half in the session and then switch—the students who were in Art go to the Heart session, and the students in the Heart session make their way to Art.
In the art classes, the students typically spend time working in their history books. History books are an artistic tradition at the 18 Inch Journey. A history book is a space to creatively log your history with the Lord. In the art sessions, Justina along with the Art Interns, Kateland and Lindsay, teach art lessons on color theory, line quality and technique. Additionally, the students are given various art assignments, referred to as prompts, to explore their heart and the work of their hands. These lessons and prompts are completed in the students’ history books. Some of the students that come to the Journey are art majors and others have never held a paintbrush in their hand. There are all levels of experience, and in the art barn, all of the students are working alongside one another creating and discovering who they truly are as artists.
In the heart session, the students have an opportunity to hear from one of our staff members and learn more about their personal journey and experience. Each session, a different staff member leads the students through a piece that they submitted to the Eighteen Inch Journey book. The Journey students get a chance to listen and ask questions and are often given a prompt to complete in their journal. At the last Art/Heart session, Chris Miller shared on the Goodness of God and his experience of hearing from a farmer at an orange grove in Valencia, FL (pg. 49 of the Eighteen Inch Journey book). Chris then released the students to craft a prayer to the Father about His Goodness.
We have found that these times we’ve set aside for Art and Heart are a beautiful way that the students are finding themselves coming more and more alive. They are simultaneously discovering their true identity and from that, they are unearthing their identity as artists. They are choosing to let the Father soften their hearts and are bravely embracing the creativity of the Trinity and in doing so, they are becoming so vibrant and full of life.
Jessie Miller Teaches on Words & Poetry
Open Mic Night
Written by Allie Sampson, Writer for Cageless Birds
Photographs by JD Gravitt
Last Thursday night, we began one of our favorite parts of the 18 Inch Journey: Open Mic Nights. These nights are a chance for the students to share their songs, poetry, art, photographs, dances and any other creative expression that they have found themselves coming alive in. Open Mic Nights are so special to us as a family because these are the moments where we get to celebrate the students, to champion their greatness and to affirm that they are seen and heard. We set aside three of these nights during the school and encourage all of the students to participate at least once. We believe in creating environments for the students to be seen and heard without any comparison– a place for them to share their voice in the safety of family.
So much of the 18 Inch Journey is discovering that we are not defined by our giftings. Though our gifts are a beautiful part of who we are, they do not make up our identity. We are sons and daughters first, loved before we ever set our hands to anything, believed in before we even attempt prove ourselves worthy. When we come to that place of confidence and security, knowing that the Father loves us and is proud of us regardless of our abilities or success, we can create and explore without the pressure to strive or produce. We are set free as artists when we step into our identity as beloved children.
There is nothing that excites our community more than seeing people walking in their true identity and embracing their gifts from a place of wholeness. The 18 Inch Journey students blew us away on Thursday night as they shared songs and poems that they had written. After sharing their heart, every student was met with a standing ovation and wild cheering as their fellow students and leaders celebrated their brilliance and their bravery. Standing ovations are not something we have taught these students, it’s simply something they began to initiate as they have learned to love, honor and celebrate their friends. We were joyfully overwhelmed by each of the students, as they shared with us and as they championed each other, walking out of comparison and into wholeness as confident, creative sons and daughters.
Journey Moments: The Journey Begins // Adam Cox Teaches
