Another blog...

One of Nick and I's professors, Scot McKnight, who is a very well-known author and an incredibly intelligent man writes a blog called jesuscreed.org. Well, a few weeks ago he asked Nick and I to write a book review on a new book that is about to come out by Shane Claiborne. It is a book on prayer and social justice. So we did, and he posted it on his blog. This blog is also one of the most read blogs in the Christian circles, especially in the emerging circle, and he gets thousands of hits and comments on his blog everyday, so it's fun and pretty cool that he used our book review.

CHECK IT OUT! The blog is -----> www.jesuscreed.org

The blog is titled "Prayer as Activism"
And you can read what we wrote about this new book called "Becoming the Answer To Our Prayers" By Shane Claiborne.


P.S. It is supposed to snow this week.

WE BUILT A PLAYGROUND!

Well, it happened! And we did it! We have a finished beautiful playground next to our facility now and the kids from the neighborhood just can't wait to get playin. Really exciting. This is a huge step for our community. Check out how this was all possible with all the volunteers that came out from across the city. WE BUILT A PLAYGROUND IN 7 HOURS!











Isn't it beautiful!?!

Finals Over + Fall = Mini Road Trip

I finished all my finals today! I made it through 3 of my classes. This means my life will be incredibly manageable and I will actually be able to slow down, I know, an amazing luxury. I really hope I can multiply all the extra free time God is giving to me these next few months, such a blessing.

Anyways, to celebrate, Nick and I drove out to an Apple Orchard/Pumpkin Patch. It was so beautiful, like I mentioned in my last note, all of the trees just blow me away. (cactus don't change colors you know).
Here are some pictures from today, enjoy. Happy Fall!

They have homemade apple cider and homemade apple cider glazed donuts. My heart skipped a beat when I tasted them for the first time.

Fall, as in the season that comes after Summer and right before Winter.

The leaves are changing here. Purple, deep red, yellow, orange. The trees outside my room are even bare. It is about 70 degrees out everyday. The sun is shining with a little breeze. And so I guess (I'm not really experienced with this whole fall thing), with all those signs, it means fall is here. I can't believe it is already that time. The time when holiday after holiday, time starts to fly away in just one big flash.

New things seem to bloom here in my life everyday. I'm just trying to keep up with all of it and trying not to miss any of it. So, finding a place to start seems a little impossible.

Well, I have officially been accepted at Northeastern Illinois University. And I will be transferring there in January. I am incredibly excited! This door of opportunity you could call it has just been placed in front of me it seems like. It all sort of happened on it's own. But I will be finishing my Bachelor Degree in Art with an emphasis in Art History at Northeastern. This is a commuter school, meaning that there is no "on campus" housing, which also means that in about 3 months, I will be moving yet again into a new living space. The campus is less than a block away from North Park, so I am not going far. I cannot even begin to understand how God managed to work all of this out. But, apparently, I moved 1700 miles away from home to go to a school that no one has ever heard of, to lead worship with a brand new church plant 2 miles from the North Park campus, then to meet my husband, once again at a school I wouldn't be at for more than a year and a half, and the craziness continues...I know, take it in. Life is way beyond me.

Speaking of my husband to be...wedding plans are coming along. The big day is May 28th, 2009. We couldn't be more excited. We just took some of our engagement pictures, and a few of them are posted. There will be more to come, but you can have a little sneak peak. And the story of how we met the girl, Sasha, who is taking these pictures is amazing all in itself.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/theoperamafia

This upcoming Friday, there will be close to 300 volunteers from all over the city helping to build a playground next to the WestRidge facility. A non-for-profit organization, KaBoom, is donating a $40,000 playground, that the kids from our neighborhood designed, right on our property. We are so stoked. This is going to be such a blessing to our community, that is filled with kids who just need some love.

A few exciting things going on here that I wanted to share with you!
I will be better about updating life in the windy city so all of you can continue to share in my journey.