Break the Chain Monster youtube!

Check out our Break the Chain monster at the Sublimity Harvest Festival!  http://youtu.be/JfmvcoW-5PY

Weeding lifes garden

When I woke up this morning and heard the weather report for the next week, I decided I

needed to get out and weed our garden. It was completely over taken with weeds and I

could barely tell the difference between what were weeds and what were plants. The task

seemed as if it would be endless, but as I got going I realized that it wasn’t as difficult as

I thought it would be. As I worked, I also came to the conclusion that if I had taken the

time throughout the summer to weed a little here and there, I would not be in this

situation to begin with!

Slowly I pulled and yanked and dug out the weeds that were smothering my bounty. Our

tomatoes were small and withered, along with the giant zucchini we had which were

unable to be seen due to the weed growth. It became apparent to me that our lives are

similar to our gardens. Relationships get tangled with problems that are left to fester and

grow until they all but choke them out. Life’s weeds are what we need to get rid of.

I have been blessed with a wonderful husband, and I am grateful everyday that we found

each other. We have a great relationship but we still have to pull weeds in order to

maintain our closeness. I want you to ask yourself what weeds need to be pulled in your

garden of life? Are you spending too much time on the computer instead of talking with

your spouse or children? Are you spending money unnecessarily just because buying

something new gives you comfort? Are you eating or drinking too much? Are you being

respectful of your spouse, children, friends or coworkers and listening instead of arguing?

Are you dealing with an anger problem that is escalating out of control? Are you taking

your weeds to work and school and letting them take over there to?

Take the time to sit down and write what weeds are in your garden of life and take the

time to work on getting rid of the excess baggage in order to live weed free!

As I finished the garden and looked back over all I had gotten rid of, I realized that I too

need to weed my own personal garden of life weekly instead of letting it grow out of

control. Once it grows out of control there is nothing left to do but till it up and start over!

If you have taken the time to plant it, take time to weed it so it can turn into the bounty

you expect it to be.

Beyond the limits

Is it possible to dream past our own human limits?  I say yes.  What is the definition of limit? According to the free dictionary it is,The point, edge, or line beyond which something cannot or may not proceed.  We are given choices everyday regarding limits.  When you go through a drive thru window you are asked if you want “Fries with that” or if you would like to upgrade to a larger size.  We know our limits with food, and seem to have no problem reaching past the full limit.  What would it be like to Super Size our dream limits?  Imagine envisioning your dream, and actually achieving more than what you thought possible!   

As many of you know might not know, actually having a monster truck has been my dream for many years.  I couldn’t  have known that the road I was on back then would lead me to where I am today.  Back in the early 90’s when “No Violence” was making its mark, I was sure we would have a monster truck.  We had our stickers on the Grave Digger and many other trucks that were running the circuit back in the mid nineties.  It wasn’t meant to be. 

Fast forward to 2009 as my friend Becky and I walked lap after lap at the Stayton Relay for Life.  We began to create a Monster truck t-shirt just in time for the Sublimity Harvest Festival.   We imagined that it would crush domestic violence, child abuse, addiction, and other social issues.  We laughed as the concept began to take form in our minds, and we continued to build on the dream. 

After the event I sent the idea to our design team, and they immediately called with questions about just how we thought this “t-shirt” should look.  I remember saying, “the truck is black”, and John saying, “No we need to make it green”.    As I look back I can still remember the looks on the designer’s faces as I began to explain exactly what I wanted the shirts to look like.  What is even more amazing is that we have been able to accomplish most of what we printed on that t-shirt.

On September 9 2011 our very first Break the Chain monster truck hit the dirt at the Sublimity Harvest Festival.  I got to watch it fly through the air and listen to the crowd roar with excitement!  Daron Basl our Break the Chain Monster driver walked away with the trophy for the evening.  Then came Saturday night and Daron hit a double to take home trophy number 2!  Sunday came and the Monster trucks crushed domestic violence, child abuse, child abduction,addiction, and many other issues were written on the cars.  It was the first annual Cause Day at the Sublimity Harvest Festival.  Daron drove our Break the Chain Monster and won the Championship!  You see, it did exactly what Becky and I had envisioned 3 years before.   
By the grace of God miracles happen every day.  We would like to thank the following people and businesses for making our dream a reality.  Daron Basl, Aaron Basl, Gary Basl, David Smith, Cascade Floors, Beyond Auto Repair, Stayton Tire, Service Graphics, CCC Inc, Santiam Towing and Recovery, Sublimity Insurance, D&W Automotive, De Nova Coffee, 1430 KYKN Radio, Withnell Motor Company, Stayton Auto Wreckers, B&B Auto Supply, Jim Burns, Brandon Hamilton, Matt Hays, Kris Stewart, Tom Ptacek, Neal Schumacher, Logan Nelson, Mike Klein, Ben Miley, our Sublimity Harvest Festival family and most importantly God for teaching me to dream beyond my limits. 

I know this isn’t’ the end of the dream but just the beginning.  I know that much bigger things are yet to come.  I dare you to dream beyond your limits.  To envision and follow the path that is waiting for you.  It definitely takes strength, faith, and love to push past the limits. There will be days when you think you just can’t take one more step, and others that you are on top of the world.   Like Jesus said, “It won’t be easy, but it’ll be worth it”.

Small acts of kindness can make a Big difference

Kaine Horman and Jim Burns go for a ride

We have been going from event to event this summer, and have had little time to catch our breath.  With that being said, something wonderful happened on Saturday.    We were asked by Pat and Nikki James to join them and the Kyron Horman Foundation at the Woodburn Drag Strip for the Truck Drags.

As we pulled up with the truck and trailer I got a glimpse of Nikki and Pat waving us in.   We set up right next to them and their hopped up S10 pickup.  We had met Pat and Nikki at the Hot Rod Hair car show in July and really hadn’t had much time to get to know them.  As we set up Nikki and I went up to get “Hope” (our Monster display truck) signed in as she was going to come up to the starting line and the announcer was going to talk about Break the Chain and our mission during opening ceremonies. 

In a room next to us,  Kaine Horman was conducting an interview with Inside Edition about the disappearance of his son Kyron.  As the interview concluded they came down to the booth and we got to meet all of them.  Kaine is a terrific guy.  Kaine's son Kyron was abducted 14 months ago.  To date they have not found him.  We got to visit with Kaine and the volunteers for most of the morning.   The TV crew loved “Hope“ and took some footage of us talking with Kaine in front of the truck.  Nikki and Pat our latest "Racing to Break the Chain" team members have a souped up S10 and it was all decked out with Kyrons pictures.  Pat took Kaine for a ride down the track with the film crew in tow. 

The film crew left and we were able to sit and have a wonderful conversation with Kaine.  We are definitely going to be doing more events with the Kyron Horman Foundation, and are going to be adding a picture of Kyron to our monster truck and look forward to helping spread the word of his disappearance.  Jim had the pleasure of taking Kaine for a ride.

Kaine had another event to go to, so we said our goodbyes. 

I hadn’t really noticed the little boy sitting in a chair in the booth next to us.  He is 11 and in the 6^th grade.  His name is Buddy.  He came to our table with his mom and looked at all the t-shirts.  They immediately settled on the Bullying t-shirt.  Buddy has experienced bullying first hand and is really having a hard time.  They shared his story with us.  Nikki is Buddy's sister and she asked if Buddy could sit in “Hope”.   Jim helped Buddy up into the truck and the look on Buddy's face was priceless!  He was so excited!   It became clear to me that Buddy needed to be with Jim when “Hope” rolled up to the starting line for the opening ceremonies.  This little boy who has had so much trouble with self esteem was now the center of attention sitting in the passenger seat of the truck that would soon crush bullying at the Sublimity Harvest Festival in September.   I learned a valuable lesson.  Just when I think I have it all figured out, I realized again the purpose of Break the Chain. It is to reach people of all ages at ground level.   It is listening to their stories and letting them know that they are each valuable.   Buddy didn’t know that he was going to tell us his story that day, and I didn’t know that we were going to make one little boy feel important and special.   I watched as his sister  Nikki wept softly at the sight of her baby brother being lifted up emotionally and physically into the truck.  His face became illuminated with the biggest grin I had ever seen.  

Thank you Buddy for reminding me why we do what we do, and that small acts of kindness can make a BIG difference. 

It takes a Village to build a Monster Display Truck

As I sit and review the last few days, I am in awe.  Hope our Break the Chain Monster display truck turned out even better than I could have ever imagined.  But even though she is truly an amazing sight, something else happened during the build.  I was able to watch a miracle in the making.

I watched from a distance as regular guys came together with their God given talents to build this dream.  One by one they would show up and put in countless hours.  Sometimes staying and working on her until 2 or 3 in the morning, and then get up for work by 8 a.m.  This went on for weeks.  You never really knew how many would show up or on what day but there was always someone there adding a little here and a little there towards the goal.  I guess I never realized the magnitude of the project until I began going to watch them build her.  You see she started out as a 1978 GMC 3/4 ton truck that was donated to Break the Chain by Beyond Auto Repair on March 20, 2011.  She came from the junk yard, broken, beat up and not even running.  I can relate to feeling like that.  She was destined to become a parts truck and nothing more.  But, with the help of  human hands and a spiritual guide she became much more.

What she became was nothing short of a miracle.  I loved the care that she was given as all the rusty old broken pieces were carefully removed.  As the process went on she got new parts added like a 12 inch lift, and some other things, but she was still pretty rough looking.  She had a 2X6 block of wood for a bumper.  Slowly but surely they worked knowing exactly what she was going to look like when she was done.  Me on the other hand, had no idea how great this machine was going to be.  Not only did she look good, but she became an inspiration to all who helped build her. My husband Jim was like a mad scientist.  He would disappear into the shop and not come out for hours.  He worked and worked and worked on that truck and would come into the house and get me to come and see some of the really big things that we had done.  I even got to bleed the brakes!

As she got down to nothing but a frame, motor and transmission the tearing away was complete.  It was time to rebuild what had been broken for so long.  Who could of known what she was about to become years ago as she sat in the junk yard? God knew.  The guys forged ahead with the deadline looming less than a month to get this truck ready for it's debut.  Beyond Auto Repair donated their shop and tools for the guys to work with.  They began to build the cage that would hold the brand new fiberglass body.  Pain staking measurements, pipe bending, and welding were taking place.  Sometimes there were 6 guys working on her at a time!  Some would leave for t ball games, or family bbq's but they would be right back the next day digging in to get her done.  I decided to start feeding the men after finding out that they never stopped to eat.  They would get so involved with what they were doing that they lost all track of time.  Day by day, weekend after weekend, and a few days off she slowly began to take shape.  I still think that what they were able to accomplish was nothing short of a miracle!  Each one brought a different set of skills to the project, welders, pipe benders, roll cage experts, mechanics, and the like came together for one common goal.  To give "Hope" life.

As the deadline came into view we realized that our tires that were donated by Aaron Basl were still in Texas!  We had only a week and half until D day.  Mike Klein of Cascade Floors called and said to get him the address of where they were.  Cascade Floors paid to have the tires shipped up! Mike also made a financial donation to help with any extras we needed to purchase.  Amazing we received them on the Friday just before the 4th of July!  Mike picked them up and dropped them off with Cory at Stayton Tire to have them mounted.  Cory had donated a set of wheels for Hope and we were excited to see them.  They were amazing! Black and Chrome!  Cory got the wheels mounted on the tires that same day.  Which I might add was no easy task as the tires are 52 inches tall!  Not only did Cory donate the wheels and mount the tires, he also donated the shocks, racing seats and the brake lines! 

While all of this was going on, the truck was sent over to Stayton Collision to have the frame and the cage painted.  Rodney Hansen of Stayton Collision donated the entire paint job!  It took him a full 8 hours to get her painted as she has lots of roll bars, and intricate bends to paint!  Rodney is an amazing auto painter.

As the paint dried the guys took a day off to get a little sleep and check up on a few hundred honey do's that were going undone.  I have to say that the wives of these men were very patient, and knew that there was much more going on with this project than just building a truck.  These men were also building lifetime friendships.  The laughed and joked around and shared little windows into each others lives.  They bonded over this giant piece of metal. 

As they pieced her together one by one, they got a little silly.  Laughing and joking.  I was a little sad, as I knew she was almost finished.  Then it happened.  One by one they began to talk about what was next!  They have a whole list of projects that they are going to work on TOGETHER!  They are going to continue to help each other. 

As for "Hope" she's beautiful, 9 feet tall and was built with love and care.  I know they haven't quite finished with her yet, and I heard something about a 454.  Who knows what they'll do to her next! All I know is that they have my utmost respect.  I love you guys!  You are all tops in my book!
It definitely takes a Village to build a Monster Display Truck.  Now you know why her name is Hope.
You can see all the pictures of the build on Facebook.  Click on this link to Check out the picture diary of the building of Hope