mission conference.

My home church in Lexington, KY is holding a mission conference this weekend. I somehow ended up on one of the planning committees. As it turns out, I got to handle our publicity and media... which meant I got to have some fun taking pictures. Thanks to brother Chad and friends the Kelleys for their foot and shoe modeling. My friend Laura also ended up being a foot model without realizing it - the photo featuring her feet (and mine) was taken more than a year ago. Big uber thanks to Trevor to make all the pictures come together for our posters in the way I imagined it. swoot!

Enjoy.

amazing show, amazing venue.

Trevor + I caught Over the Rhine at a special performance after getting free tickets just for buying and waiting patiently for the delayed release of their Live from Nowhere album Volume Three. It was a small holiday gathering at the former St. Elizabeth's church in Norwood, Ohio. The inside of this church had the exposed brick, peeling walls, and breathtaking stained glass windows. It was funky and fun. They had belgian waffles and coffee brewing for the taking, were raising money for World Vision, and gave an awesome fun show. The place was so packed that Trevor and I ended up sitting in the center aisle of the church, about 15 feet from Karin Bergquist. This was the 5th time we've seen Over the Rhine which has become the semi official band of our relationship. We jump at the chance to take in their music. You feel a part of this wonderful music family... and it's lovely.

They are playing at Ram's Head in Annapolis on February 5th... if you're there, you must go. You won't be disappointed...

this woman is amazing.

I love Karin Bergquist's voice... and their lyrics are killer.

snow prints.

Alyosha and his momma walked side by side one early snowy morn at 6am... all was calm, all was quiet... and we were the first to disturb the blanket of snow. Peaceful winter...

comings and goings.

My dear friend Anya from Belarus left yesterday and Lord-willing arrived safely in Kiev, Ukraine about 2 hours ago. We had such a wonderful summer together. I took her to some neat places, most in Kentucky, which included the following highlights... (I recommend checking out every place listed below if you find yourself in the area!)

-The Historic Kentucky Theatre
-The Lexington Farmer's Market
-Shakertown
-Poor Richard's
-Keeneland
-Red River Gorge and Natural Bridge
-Miguel's at the Gorge
-Laurel Lake
-Natasha's Cafe
-Common Grounds
-Alfalfa's
-Henderson State Park in Destin, FL
-The Track in Destin
-Fudpucker's in Destin
-Costa's BBQ in Birmingham, AL
-The Jam House in Scottsville, KY (owned by Mennonites, so they're not on the internet)

As for our movie list, here are the newest additions:

-Lawrence of Arabia
-To Kill a Mockingbird
-The Philadelphia Story (seen in the Historic KY theater!)
-The Graduate
-Singin' in the Rain

I can recommend them all... the cinematography of LoA was amazing... fascinating story.

My apartment is quiet and a bit lonely now without her. I tried to explain to Alyosha that Anya left but he gave me a blank sad puppy dog look of incomprehension...

flash snow fall.

We had a furious flash snow fall yesterday. I was caught outside in it, without a hat or a hood on my coat, and of course without an umbrella. I found refuge under a tree to take some pictures. (I’ve been carrying my camera around with me everywhere… I just get too self-conscious sometimes to pull it out.)
Today, snow is melted, sun is shining across clear, blue skies. (Such a rarity for Belarus!)

I recently finished reading a book called Freedom of Simplicity by Richard Foster. This book was wonderful to read for this season leading up to Easter. The first half deals with the theology of simplicity, while the second half of the book deals with application. In the second half, he looks at three areas for living in simplicity’s freedom: inward, outward, and corporate simplicity. I found myself dog-earring a plethora of passages. I’ve decided to do a short series of blog posts on a variety of quotes from this book with my own personal commentary and reflections. So check back this week and please, join in the conversation in the comments!