Chicago...

Ok, we were in Evanston, actually. A week with heaps of other United Methodists for the School of Congregational Development. The gorgeous summer days were filled with incredible preaching, challenging conversations, and lots of learning about starting new churches and giving new life to existing congregations. They were also filled with (borrowed) bike-riding down tree-lined streets, walking along Lake Michigan (sigh) and eating with old and new friends. It was so great to be back in the city where Goose and I met, fell in love, lived, worked and got married. And it was the little things that made me feel back at home: the distinct smell in the entranceway of every apartment building, the 6-sided tiles in every apartment bathroom in the city, the ding-dong before the "doors closing" announcement on the El. It is good to have these places that welcome us back, no matter how far we've gone or how long we've been away.

We stayed at Reba Place Fellowship, an intentional Mennonite community, in their guest apartment:

Our good friend Joseph has lived there since seminary and we got to hang out with him quite a lot during the week. Somehow, I ended up with zero pictures of him!

Goose on the porch--perfect for breakfast and coffee and for late-night visiting.


Good ol' Garrett-Evangelical:

Coffee with Maiko and Joey, good friends from seminary:

And my mom came to visit for a night!

At the lake with Teran, another dear seminary friend:

The view from the "Class of 1986" bench where Goose and I got engaged:

Monica and Brittany, Holy Covenant friends:

Kristin, another good friend from Holy Cov. She's coming to Oregon later this month--yay!

And now we are back. Back home, back to work, back to the goodness of daily routine and challenge. Back to make some changes--in us, in our churches, in the world.