So, remember how we mentioned that we really love living in the city? Well, we do. For the most part.

Not so much last night when they turned off our water at 8pm & proceeded to dig up the street right in front of our house to try to fix some sort of water pipe problem. But that part wasn’t so bad, really.

It was at midnight when they started digging up the pavement with a backhoe. And continued to do that until at least 2am. That’s when I finally was able to fall asleep. Do you know what that sounds like? Basically they were using the backhoe as a sledgehammer. Which is not really a pleasant sound in the middle of the night.

This morning the water is back on, the street is mostly put back together, and there is a giant hole in our front yard.

(This isn’t meant to be a “complaining” post…  just a “we’ve been wanting to blog more often & well, this is something significant to tell you about” post.) Honestly, I’m grateful for those guys who were out there working all through the night-away from their families & probably really frustrated that they couldn’t find whatever they were looking for.

Have you heard about this? Garnett is going to be a host site for this FREE online conference this year. I’m so excited!

Want to join us? Just send me an email or give me a call!

We spent the last week of August with some incredible people, in some incredible places.

We had the opportunity to go with a handful of the youth at Garnett to visit Dry Bones Denver. We got to experience the mountains in a whole new way this time around. {And yes, we still left saying, “Why don’t we live here already???”}

The first part of the week was spent backpacking around Arapaho National Forest [Englemann Peak 13,362 feet]. We hiked in on the first day & camped, hiked a little farther the second day & set up camp, summitted the peak the third day and hiked all the way back down the fourth day. It was wonderful to be in such a beautiful place-surrounded by mountain peaks.

And the second part of the trip we spent in downtown Denver. Dry Bones is a pretty unique ministry. They focus on befriending the street kids [homeless youth-ages 12-30ish] of Denver. They provide some meals, and can help people find things they need [a backpack, a sleeping bag, an ID, an apartment, etc.] but that isn’t their focus. Their focus is to befriend the street kids [what they call themselves] & let them know that they are there for them. Part of our time was spent bowling with them, and taking them to a movie. Giving them some opportunities to experience “normal life” for a little bit.

It was a blessing to be around the Dry Bones staff & to see them simply walking around the downtown area & giving the street kids a look in the eye, a smile, and the time of day. And a challenge for us to find ways to interact & love the people we see on the streets each day.

Here are some pictures from our week. We didn’t take many pictures of our time downtown-partly because we were “on the go” the whole time, and partly because we wanted to be sensitive to those who may not want their pictures taken. But if you visit the Dry Bones website you’ll see some of the same faces we saw & will be able to read about (or watch) some of their stories.

With our packs on Day 1:

At the top of Engelmann Peak:

Ben in his element (mountains):

Beth in her element (mountains + french press coffee):

The whole gang:

I celebrated a milestone yesterday. 30 years old.

I sort of freaked out about turning 25. {because 25 is practically 30-or at least that’s what I told myself.} It just feels like the expectation to be more adult-like is there now that my age starts with a “3″.

But I’ve been blessed with 30 really great years-and that is a reason to celebrate. {not freak out.}

And so-that’s what I did!

I bought a fun new dress {thanks to the fabulous Laura}, enjoyed a lazy day at home with Ben, got a haircut & shared hobos for dinner w/ some of our new friends. {complete with chocolate cake baked inside hollowed out oranges-YUM!} And there’s more celebrating to be done! {I’m all for extending the birthday celebrations as long as possible…} 

These 2 news stories are unrelated, but I heard both of them this week & found them pretty interesting (to say the least).  What do you think?

1) Pea Lung?  http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=129155683

2) Gulf Caravan http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=129158245

The first one just has some shock value. But the second one I just really love. A unique idea & a way to not only help practically (investing in the economy in the gulf) but also to invest in people’s spirits. To give them a good sales day probably means more to them than most of us can imagine.

Freedom Rodriguez is a friend of ours from Siloam Springs. Freedom spent some time in Uganda at an orphanage & has fallen in love with the children there. To help raise awareness & share their stories he has painted over the covers of 100 discard children’s books with faces of the children he met over there. Freedom was here at Cafe Mosaic last week with all 100 books. It’s truly a beautiful project that he’s done…and it’s so much more than simply a “project.” It is his heart, and God’s heart & inspires others to love & care. I think that’s a good thing.

Here’s short word from Freedom about this project:

The desire to paint 100 faces is an expression of the life changing memories I have of my visits to Africa. With this collection, I hope to raise awareness of the needs in Africa and help fund our full-time arts ministry. These faces represent the increasing burning in my heart to serve those in need.

Each painting is done in acrylic on old discarded children’s books. The series represents the millions of orphans that have been discarded or abandoned. Many have been given over to orphanages for the chance of a better life. Nevertheless, these children need to feel and know that they have a story still worth reading about. No matter what they have gone through, God still desires them to live fully and with the purpose God created them for.

Here’s a link to Freedom’s website

Turning 25 sort of freaked me out.

When I turned 25 I remember saying things like, “I’m practically 30!” [To which Ben promptly rolled his eyes.]

And so, 5 years later…as the big 3-0 quickly approaches I keep feeling the need to make some lists. So when I saw this article today, I figured it was a good start.  And I’m trying to appreciate my 30 years, not be all freaked out by turning 30.  This helped.

http://www.relevantmagazine.com/life/whole-life/features/22216-9-things-to-know-before-you-turn-30

I can’t really stop thinking about dinner tonight with these lovely ladies.

I miss them & am really looking forward to catching up tonight.

I’m also looking forward to celebrating the arrival of baby Cadence to this cool family:

into a  few things I’ve been liking lately…

- the Santa Ana roast coffee from Topeca

- Topeca coffee (in general)

- Cherry St. Farmer’s Market

- the Cosby Show

- seeing Cafe Mosaic really taking shape

I think my jaw may have literally dropped.
I think the word “what?!” may have come out of that open jaw in a whisper of disbelief.
I know my eyes were wide with shock.

And I sort of hate that I reacted in any way to someone telling me that Jennifer Knapp was gay.

But I sort of like that I had to find out for myself before I could move any further down the path of thinking about it/figuring out what I believe about it.

And I found some really great stuff here. Mostly because it goes straight to the source.

And as we watched her in concert last night, there were lots of things swimming around in my head…

how?
why?
how can she love God & willingly “disobey”
how do I feel about singing along to these songs that are so powerful to me, knowing they were written by someone who would do that.

how could I be such a hippocrite?
no, wait…it’s wrong to judge her, I don’t even know her.

And then, this thought came to mind…

She’s just not who I thought she was.

As if I even knew her in the first place!

And that’s sort of where I’ve landed with this for right now.
I don’t know her. I know that she has written some powerful songs. And I still love them.
And I know that she sang her heart out last night & it was beautiful to watch her & get drawn into her music-full of questions/honesty/faith/hope.

And I know that we, as Christians, are called to love above all else.

Not fix, or change, or judge.

love.

So I will keep trying to train my brain/emotions/heart to not react so quickly to shocking news. But to love first.