Soul Graffiti - Spread the word

Mark Scandrette, who you probably know I work with, has been working on this book for quite some time. It just released a couple days ago, and I'm excited to see how God uses this book to shake things up and inspire people to a life of apprenticeship to Jesus. Here's a review I wrote...

Mark Scandrette's Soul Graffiti reminds me of Rob Bell's Velvet Elvis. What sets Soul Graffiti apart is the practical dimension. Mark uses his unique talents as a storyteller to draw us into real life experiments in following Jesus in the details of life. As he illustrates this way of life he manages to be both raw and elegant at the same time. This book is full of ideas for pressing forward on the journey...walking in new ways, developing new habits, finding new rhythms. You will encounter an inspiring and dangerous faith full of risk taking and love.

6 years

Six years ago today I got married to a wonderful young lady. If I could go back, I would certainly do the ceremony differently, but I would also certainly get married to Andrea. She has amazed me the past couple years with her ability to grow as a person, as a follower of Jesus. Several months ago she moved into "The City" and soon after gave birth to our second child (with no pain medication, mind you). She has navigated an incredible amount of change with grace and courage. She is an amazing mother and wife. I am so proud of her. Mark says we'll have another 80 years together...sounds good to me.
Today Ryan and Holly and Dan and Bethany came over to allow Andrea and I to have an anniversary date. When they left at around 5 PM they said they were coming back to have dinner with us at 7. In reality, Lisa and Hailey Scandrette came over to watch the kids and let us have our second date in one day. We are so grateful to have the kind of friends who would care for us and actually ask to watch our kids for us on our anniversary...the kind of people who would suggest not letting Andrea know about the second part of our day and then enjoy fooling her with a story about dinner.
At moments like this when I reflect on my life I am reminded of God's goodness. I am a part of a beautiful community. When we try to explain to people we meet that we just moved here a few months ago but we have a large group of people we spend our lives with, hoping to care for each other and live a life of love together, we can receive strange looks. We are reminded that many people do not have community. We should be grateful. I have a wonderful wife who I truly love and respect. I should be grateful.
All this to say here's to Andrea and our friends. I am a blessed man.

Che

I just finished Guevara: Otherwise Known as Che while Andrea went to lunch with some friends and the kids took a nap. While much of Che's life is disturbing and I can in no way call him a hero or role model, I took away much from reading his biography. One thing I admire is his ability to think big, to dream big. After the revolution in Cuba was successful, most people would enjoy the aftermath and talk about the good old days of the revolution. Instead, Che went out to the Congo train the revolutionaries there to fight for liberation and was soundly defeated. He went to Prague in disguise and continued to be the mastermind behind a plot to bring revolution to all of Latin America. Cuba wasn't enough. He hoped for equality and liberation, for the end of tyranny and empire, in Argentina, Bolivia and everywhere else. He was killed in the jungles of Bolivia (with help from our CIA) with a handful of men who evaded thousands of soldiers and inspired revolutions for years to come. He was never scared of what would happen to him, and he didn't seem to care what people thought of him. He had a reputation for brutal honesty to all those around him.
Again, I'm disgusted by the violence, and I question if any good really did come out of all this, but I'm amazed at the determination and persistence in hoping to change the whole world for the better along with the steadfast belief that it was indeed possible. May we dream big and work for what we believe every day.

I like college students

We had a great time hosting some Wheaton College students a couple weeks back. Here we are getting ready to pick up some trash and paint over some graffiti in the neighborhood...