school's out

last day of school for isaac yesterday.  summertime is here.  yesterday his school celebrated their 'field day' and reveled in the sports/activities on offer.  here are some pics of the fun.

coming along

we are slowly seeing our garden come into shape.  we still need to lay the brick path between the raised beds.

whoa!

i'm interested to see this movie

wonderfully provocative promo comments...

Bowling for Columbine did it to the gun culture.

Super Size Me did it to fast food.

Now The God Who Wasn't There does it to religion.

The movie that has been astounding audiences in theaters around the world is now available on a high-quality, feature-packed DVD. Own the taboo-shattering documentary that Newsweek says "irreverently lays out the case that Jesus Christ never existed."

is religion really an analog to fast food and guns?  Lord, help us if people generally believe this to be true.  i hope faithful people of God overturn this perception with gracious lives of love and justice.

9 years

today we have been married 9 years (in a row).  our dear friend LF is caring for isaac this evening so we can go out and share a special meal together.

first goal

isaac scored his first goal in soccer this weekend.  here he is just after the goal with sherry and paul (Sherry's dad).  we were delighted that sherry's parents were visiting and were able to attend the soccer match....and to witness "that goal."  on a related matter, isaac has declared his intention to play for Manchester United after seeing an add for the UAFA cup at an electronics store TV.  look out Man. United!

here are some more pics of our weekend with family.

peony roses

our peony roses have bloomed and look wonderful as always.

it was just at dusk when i took these pictures so they are long exposures but turned out okay.

soccer

isaac is loving the soccer season.  here he is at practice in the glorious spring sunshine.

and the parents on the sideline...

sowing seeds

hope is a very fragile thing and sometimes it is better to say less than more about your most precious hopes.

i took this photo over the weekend...sherry is planting corn with some of our neighbors.  fragile seeds in young hands might be one of the best ways (along with this photo) to summarize what it is we hope for.

in the news

check our local (Lexington) paper for this article about our urban gardening work.  apart from the misspelling of our name it is a good article that summarizes so much of Sherry's recent work.

http://www.kentucky.com/150/story/781906.html

bus stops and missio dei

sherry and i continue to be formed by our attempts at mission in our household.  one of the lessons we have learned over the last five years is the high value of bus stops.  our home sits on a corner with two bus stops and we are daily given the blessing of meeting people for the first time and deepening relationships with regular commuters.  a simple "hello" or longer conversations serve our love of "neighborliness" as we go about our work to "seek the welfare of the city" (jer. 29).

so, if you are looking to rent or own, we encourage you to consider this as a factor as you wonder about a place to make your home.  as is so often the case, these 'ordinary' factors become well springs for the holy work of loving a place and its people.