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This is a test post from my archaic iPAQ. I'm wireless.

Next step: try it in Spain.

Spain

We're off to Spain with CIEE. One of the great perks of the Exchange work is the free trips! I'll tour with the boys around Madrid and Toledo while Judy works the first few days, then The boys and I will show her around...

warm and well fed

been thinkin lately... the walking out of faith in Christ absolutely must put the Matthew 25 "least of these" in a prominent place in our communities.

Teaching today

Today I teach French and Latin. It looks like my Co-Op will have to pull my pay for the class, though, since Judy can no longer participate. I'll deal with that...



remember WE'RE ALL GONNA DIE!!!



Puts things in perspective! So be patient, kind... set aside Christ as Lord in your heart... enter into hope and give a reason...

Barb

Barb had an aneurism this year... Three, actually... That's the brain kind.



She's my next door neighbor, in the young sixties or late fifties, a gramdma--my son aaron is friends with her grandkids...



She and Randy (randy's my neighbor, too...) are retiring in the small rental property next door. There are a lot of maintenance issues (roof not draining, foundation sagging severely), but they don't say anything to the landlord because then the rent will be raised. On a fixed income, that'd be disastrous... So they keep remodeling and repairing the inside and working on it as they can, at their own expense, mostly...



This is how a lot of our neighbors live, in fear of a rent hike. They work hard.



Anyway Barb had an aneurism, tons of spinal taps, a repair job in her skull... And now she's on daily pain pills for the spinal damage... The two aneurisms that are left will be examined in a year or so...



And Barb wants to "get baptised" and "be saved". She knows it's time... And she thinks God sent us to live next door for that...



Whatdyou thinK?



Barb is so cool.

The Boys--JP and ZACH

Jp and Zach are looking at rental properties in Northside. Last night, they went down to CAIN (churches active in Northside) to help with the food pantry...



The boys are planning to move in and "neighbor" this community. This is our plan... This was God's plan...



So these days are full of getting to know our neighbors...

. 

In Colorado, there were some lumpy parts...  

Judy went to Colorado and it was big and flat...  

Here's a Ross Kids' Christmas shot. Scarves made by Judy. very fun. very cold...  

Here are Zara and Pia, with a bunch of our exchange students! Korea, Germany, Spain, Thailand, Turkmenistan, Tajikistan... all at the table together!  

Zara and Pia (Thailand and Turkmenistan) are sooooo glamourous...  

Seth in Dad's new glasses. Reminds me of Roy Orbison.  

Pondering Lent

It's a snowy day. No delay, though. I'm at the Rohs St. Cafe, drinking "Celtic Breakfast" tea. I'm trying to cut down on my major voluntary toxins, in preparation for Lent...



Now I'm not a big Lentster. My view of religion is focused mainly on my lack of obedience to Jesus' words about the poor, lonely, prisoner, cold/naked... So observing the days of the calendar of the church isn't a high priority to me... I feel guilty indulging in ritual and symbol when there's such a need for justice and reform in my life... Isaiah and Amos really nailed this stuff. So did the rest, especially Jesus...



So, I'm still contemplating an observance of Lent. Fasting is the probability, but there's a trip to Madrid in the middle of it. How am I to go to Madrid without piggin out? I mean, it'd be immoral not to taste that city...



but Lent isn't just about food. It's about self-denial. It's for Remembering. Remembering that we live in relief. That we've been rescued. That we are not our own. That our debt to Christ is a debt to each other. That Isaiah 58 thing...that fasting has less to do with food than giving away to the least of these-the brethren of Jesus...



So, I'm pondering lent...

Hey everybody! Here's Shawn Bansen, the electrical guy who has been a friend or ours for over a decade (he, his wife Ginger, and his kids Hannah and Eli). His work on Chase House is getting the first floor prepped for lots of love.  

Carpentry!!!

Starting a radical, subversive Christian Community movement in a generation so addicted to entertainment and comfort... is FUN!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!



Yesterday, Judy and I were in the kitchen. She was prepping coffee, and she almost spilled as the countertop (not attached or fitted to the cabinet--it was pirated from a remodeling tearout) shifted.



"Lew, we need this finished, or something!"



"Totally, babe. God'll take care of us."



No kidding! That was where we were, there.



So we continued our conversation, a great one, about deacons and deaconesses and how we are going to have a few, soon...



...and the phone rings. And it's Nate! He's coming to help us "carpent" the kitchen! next Monday, we'll hit it!