I just finished reading The Return of the Prodigal Son by Henri J.M. Nouwen. In the book Nouwen uses Rembrandt’s painting as a source of reflection and insight into the biblical story. Most intriguing was how he sees Jesus in – and calls us to see ourselves in – each of the characters in the story. Fascinating and challenging!
Happy Father’s Day to my Dad, Kevin Sr. Thanks for being such a great role-model, mentor, and friend! I love you!
Last night we had our Middle School Summer Kickoff BBQ & Pool Party at the home of one of my volunteers. We had over 100 students show up and about 30 adults. I had a great time messing around with the kids and meeting their parents. Super fun start to the summer!
On Monday morning we checked out of our hotel and headed to the church. Hundreds of cars were there and over a thousand children were being dropped off for the Summer Spectacular. We got Natalia checked in and went inside for the opening session. Claudia jumped right in as a volunteer. Ady and I went out for some coffee and began working on our game plan. At 10:30am we met a very nice lady who shoed us a 1-bedroom condo which we decided to rent on a monthly basis while we’re searching for a home to buy. At noon we picked up the girls, stopped in to see my new office, then went to sign the paperwork for the condo. We unloaded most of our luggage and cleaned the van. I then ran to get some pizza for lunch and got some groceries while the girls went swimming in the pool right outside our front door. At 4:30pm we met with our real estate agent and looked at a home. Then we returned our Uhaul trailer and went to our friends’ (the Jones’) house for dinner. We left around 9pm, swung by Walmart, then came home and turned in for the night. It was a productive day.
Today we dropped Claudia off at the church at 7:30am for volunteer duty, checked Natalia in, then Ady and I met with Kym, the HR lady at the church. After that we ran back home, ate some breakfast, then headed out on our own, driving through the area looking at homes. After picking up the girls and having lunch, we met our real estate agent and looked at a couple more homes. Then went to Walmart, got the oil changed in the car (just had it changed 2 weeks ago! lol!), then returned home and signed an offer on a home. Pray that we’ll get it!
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| I believe that’s now a population of 41,096! |
Today we left the Grand Canyon and traveled about 6 hours – mostly through the desert, and after 9 days, 3,206 miles, going through 12 states, we have arrived! Our new church, Southwest Community Church, is located in Indian Wells, CA, and we are hoping to purchase a home in the town of La Quinta. For tonight we are checked into a hotel, and tomorrow we are hoping to land an apartment for the next two months until we can close on a home. Thanks for taking this journey with us. Stay tuned as the story continues.
On Friday Ady and I woke up to a room filled with sunshine at 6am. At 7:30 we were able to fall back to sleep for an hour. At 8:30am we all got up and ready. After some breakfast and devotions we left the cabin at 10:30am and began our trek to Utah. We were just planning on going to our hotel, but Utah was surprisingly beautiful, and we ended up taking an excursion into the Arch National Park in Moab, UT – a great decision! We drove about 10 miles up into some stunning scenery. We got to Blanding about 9:30pm and checked into the first hotel of our trip.
On Wednesday morning we said a tearful goodbye to Nana and Pappy and hit the road bound for Nebraska. After driving through Illinois, we entered Idaho and I got to check off another item on my bucket list … Visit the World’s Largest Truck Stop. Well, by God, we found it. Iowa 80 … The World’s Largest Truck Stop. Wow! Amazing! Inspiring! In fact, I’ve decided to get out of youth ministry and I’m now pursuing a career as a truck driver. LOL! At 3pm we arrived in Lincoln, NE where we stopped for an hour and had some coffee and gelato (yes, I was stunned to find gelato in Nebraska) with my childhood friend, Jason Frew. We then drove another hour-and-a-half to Grand Island, NE where we stayed with Jason’t mom and my first grade teacher, Lori Frew-Kessler. Her son Nate was also home. After some dinner we had a wonderful time reminiscing on the past and reconnecting. I haven’t seen Lori since they paid us a visit in NY 20 years ago.
On Thursday morning we departed and headed to Colorado. On our way to our next pit stop, we stopped by the Group headquarters in Loveland, CO and were so blessed to have the whole youth ministry team come down and visit with us – Rick Lawrence, Kami Gilmour, Andy Brazelton, Justil Bowling, Veronica Lucas, and Jeff Storm. We ate a little lunch and chatted for a while before driving through Rocky Mountain National Park. Unbelievable! Breathtaking! We drove Trail Ridge Road – the highest continuous paved road in the United States, crossing the Continental Divide with beautiful scenery, with a high point at 12,183 feet. And, yes, we did it with our Uhaul trailer in tow. We saw elk and some moose – including one with a baby. After exiting the west-side of the park, we arrived in Grand Lake at the cabin of a wonderful friend who graciously allowed us to stay there. It was wonderful! We had a nice, relaxing evening including dinner in the very cute (yes, I said cute) little downtown.
Yesterday I finished reading My Jesus Year: A Rabbi’s Son Wanders the Bible Belt in Search of His Own Faith. Cohen is an engaging writer and the book was fun to read. While I don’t agree with some of his conclusions about religion, I did find the book insightful on at least two levels. First, I learned a lot about Judaism. Discovering some of their beliefs and practices was very helpful when I think about engaging them in conversations and connecting with them relationally. Second, the book was invaluable to me as a Christian leader in terms of seeing the church through the refreshing lens of someone totally “unchurched” – that is one having never set foot inside of a church prior to his year-long exploration. No two Christian churches are the same, so it’s hard to ever say “this is Christianity.” Cohen did a good job getting a glimpse of a wide variety of churches, but in my opinion he ended up in many that were somewhat unbalanced and/or had niche theologies or practices. Furthermore, he went to one or two groups that would generally be considered cults, and also joined some Mormon missionaries – which, most would argue is not Christianity. If you enjoy reading about people’s spiritual adventures, you would find this book intriguing.
On Monday we drove from my sister Naomi’s house in Fort Wayne, IN to my parents’ home in Chicago, IL. We went out to dinner and then spent the evening chilling around the house and checking out Pappy’s (my Dad’s) snakes, turtles, and salamanders. Then today while Pappy was at work we went with Nana (my Mom) to downtown Chicago. We had a great time on the Navy Pier, riding the ferris wheel, going into a fun house, and walking the pier. We then met up with Pappy and went to Gino’s for some deep dish pizza. It’s been a very fun visit! Tomorrow we’re off to Grand Island, NE where we will be visiting and staying with my 1st grade teacher and dear family friend, Lori Frew Kessler.
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