Top Ten Likes

I feel like I'm always talking on here about how much I dislike Philadelphia so I've decided to use this as a sounding board to describe some stuff I actually like about this "City of Brotherly Love."

So here they are, in no particular order:

1. Springtime along Kelly Drive and West River Dr. (the trees and plants are absolutely beautiful).
2. The Custard stand (more specifically a small twist cone dipped in chocolate).
3. Our Church (check out the link to the left for more info).
4. The fact that Chipotle is less than 5 minutes from our house.
5. Wissahickon Creek.
6. Humidity (I recognize this sounds odd but after recently experiencing the dry air out west I greatly appreciate the presence of moisture on my skin).
7. All the different neighborhoods and the uniqueness they each bring to the city.
8. The Greek Lady-40th and Walnut.
9. Mabel (ok, so maybe she came from South Jersey but nonetheless we would've never found her if we didn't live in Philly).
10. Good stories from our experiences here to share with family and friends!

Great Summer Reading!

Last Wednesday night our church hosted a book discussion featuring the author of the book Trish Ryan. Trish wrote the book He Loves Me, He Loves Me Not a memoir about her crazy dating life and in the midst of it all her search for Jesus. I bought the book Wednesday and I'm about three quarters of the way done with it (P.S. this is highly unlike me). The book is unlike anything I've ever read, the pursuit of God from someone who had no intentions of falling for him and in fact thought that most Christians were "fruitcakes" to steal a phrase from Passion. I love how real she is about every thought she ever had about men or Jesus. She recounted this at the book discussion by stating, "It was hard to write about all my horrible dating experiences knowing that everybody would read this even my dad." But I certainly applaud her for this and I certainly can't put the book down because of it. So if you need a good book to read this summer in the sand and sun certainly check this one out.

Life Update

I can't really think of a good way to introduce our next bit of big life news, so I'm just going to dive right into it ...

The big news around here is that April and I have decided to leave Philadelphia and our jobs here to move back to Blacksburg, VA and join the staff of the Baptist Collegiate Ministries at Virginia Tech. Actually, we made this decision almost 4 months ago now, and the whole process of thinking about the move started sometime last fall. There are still details to work out, but our goal is to be down there sometime in July or August, ready for the start of school in the end of August.

Working in vocational ministry on a college campus is something April and I have talked about for a long time. Being involved in a college ministry during our time as students at Virginia Tech was a big deal for both April and me. When I arrived at college, I was in the beginning stages of my relationship with God. The BCM was a place where I first became part of a community of people who had a passion for God and weren't afraid to share it with me. I found opportunities to be mentored, to serve other students and the community, to go on mission trips, and to take my first steps in leadership. It honestly changed the direction of my life. Our passion is that every student would have that same opportunity to hear and respond to God's love and to be part of a community that supports, loves, and encourages them.

The first big steps we've taken in the process were a visit to the campus over Easter weekend and a trip out to Colorado two weeks ago for a training conference. Part of the Colorado trip included a chance to explore Denver and the surrounding mountains, so I've put a few pictures from that trip below. We are sure that it's going to be a difficult transition, especially since we are leaving the friends it took a long time to make here in Philadelphia and the church that we love so much. But we're also really excited about the opportunity that God has put before us, and we can't wait to see what great things are going to come of it.





By a waterfall outside of Boulder, CO.















View from the top of Red Rocks. That place is amazing.