Back from the Central Time Zone, and the Appreciation of Family

Photo of the outside of the Fallout Art Co-op on 2nd Street & 26th in Minneapolis where some of the 24-7 Gatherings were held. There are some cool paintings on the inside. A brick wall with evidence of having been plastered... very artsy looking, but significant because Dave Konkel (a leader for Campus America) tied that into a picture saying our prayers need to be free of facade (like the bare brick) instead of keeping up appearances, being showy (what was left of the plaster seemed silly).

My beloved sister Erin & I outside the Guthrie Theatre standing in front of a huge portrait of Tennessee Williams (I think). I love this picture! It's even symmetrical!

This, oh, this is a huge mural puzzle piece painting that was done Friday night of the conference. There were twenty-six huge puzzle pieces made of somthing like particle board with black lines on them & Erin & I received instructions to paint whatever we liked on ours, except to leave the black lines. With the pieces together, you get a beautiful, prophetic picture of Minneapolis & ministry going on there. The piece Erin & I did together is on the bottom right, part of the second & third houses on the right.

This picture was taken inside the Black Sheep, a coffee house in St. Paul. This is the latte Tom ordered; isn't it lovely? His face is in the background. Gotta love a brother with good taste in coffee...mmhmm.

Eating makes up some of the most important times of vacations, ever notice that? Here, Liz, Ian, Nina, Andrew & I were at Noodles & Company for lunch. Oh, the niece & nephew are so cute! After this we went to the park & Liz & I felt like paparazzi as we tried to capture AJ & Ian playing on the playground. It was such a fun day!

Family was the focus of this trip, in more ways than one. Of course there was the time with Erin & Liz, Tom, & the kids. It was so good to stay with Erin during the conference, a mere number of blocks away from North Central University where the conference was held. In a way I didn't expect, the word "community" was invalidated in describing what God desires the Church to be, and the word "family" became the way to describe it. The spirit of adoption is what God has for us & it is awesome. I saw this demonstrated at the 24-7 Gathering. It was SUCH a HUGE PRIVILEDGE to be there. This is something I've dreamed of being a part of for at least four years & it was sobering & humbling to be there. I felt so unworthy, yet GRATEFUL that God set it all up for Andrew & I to be there. I'm not perfect at having these new friendships I gained, treating them as family...to be honest, I justified my shyness there by thinking, "Oh, I'm a newlywed & there aren't as many married couples here; it's okay to mainly hang out with Andrew." (I've pulled that card too much, I think, when it comes to doing hard stuff these past months.)

I'm challenged to love this new family I've gained, and after spending a week amongst my biological family, I'm challenged to love them better, too. My family is so incredible and I'd be crazy not to love them more. It was so hard to leave Minnesota & I definately cried. Erin's right; it's harder leaving when there are kids involved because they grow so much inbetween our visits. Ian is three years old, almost four, and his age is so fun! I had a blast giggling with him & playing "I'm-a-gonna-get-you" & "pillow, pillow, pillow" (this means I'd grab him, throw him gently on the couch & cover him up with pillows...).

My sisters are amazing too. I'm so grateful to have them as my friends, glad to be stuck with them.

Thanks 24-7 Prayer Crew in Kansas City, thanks Erin, Tom, & Liz for your hospitality. Erin, for your understanding with the crazy conference schedule, the walks & the amazing restaurant picks. Tom, for the late night movies (Andrew explained the "Matrix" to me, I'm getting it) & French press. Liz for the book recommendations (I checked one of them out at the library today) & your exemplary life as a wife & mom.

I'm full of love for family.