We've moved!

Ok, so it was only 7 blocks. We are still in the same neighborhood of the lower South Hill, but we really wanted a little bit bigger living space because we have people over so often. We started looking for a new abode about a month ago when we found the humble little apartment that we moved into just before Thanksgiving.

We kept thinking we were crazy to go through all the hassle of moving since we are planning to move again in 10 months. However, now that we are settled in, we are really excited to be here.

Here is our living room right when you walk in the front door.

Here is the other side of our living room, facing the front door

Looking into the dining room from the living room.

Dining Room

In the dining room, looking into the kitchen through a wonderful little window.

The Kitchen (Claire's favorite room in the house)

Our tiny bedroom (yes the bed takes up the whole room) And just because I think John is amazing, I have to note that he made the frame that is situated around the bed (it was his wedding gift to me!)

Another wonderful thing about living in older homes is getting a large clawfoot bathtub.

Though we only plan to be here until September of next year (when we are scheduled to leave Spokane and head to orientation), we are thankful that we will get to spend our last months in this quaint little place, so ideal for hosting dinner parties, and generally inviting people into our home.

Pray with us that this place will be full of God's love and that all who come into it will feel overwhelming welcomed and at home!

Cliche Metaphores + Dying Leaves = Deep Thoughts

Using Autumn as a metaphor for change in life seems so cliche. However, if you live somewhere, like we do, where the changing colors deciduous leaves is so dramatic, it's hard not to get sucked into some deep contemplation on account of having the erie sense you are living inside a Thomas Cole painting. Current contemplative reflections have included the evolving awareness of how much our lives will change when we move to Kenya and (on a much lighter and strictly weather-related note) a dread of the coming winter (which is predicted to parallel the winter of 08-09 with its 6+ feet of snow; oh joy).

Here are some pics of the changing leaves in our neighborhood.






Moving to Kenya our lives will change. A lot.
As more time passes since our trip to East Africa this past summer, we are beginning to see more clearly how our lives will change when we move there. Already we are being changed. Being confronted with the poverty, the need for aviation, the beautiful people, and something else that can't quite be described only experienced, has ushered us into a season in which our perspectives are changing, our values are shifting and our hearts are undergoing some major renovations.

What is really important? How much money should we be spending on rent? How much space do we really need to live comfortably? How important is comfort anyway? Do we really need all our stuff? What does it mean to be thankful for what we have, but not find our comfort and identity in it? How should we really be spending our time? Perhaps these questions are to be expected of anyone planning to move to Africa, but we find ourselves thinking about them here and now, both in regards to our future, but also our present. These questions (and a couple dozen more) seem to creep into every conversation and decision. We look to scripture for fixed answers to these questions and see that we are confronted with the challenge (and freedom) to "walk in the Spirit." Somehow, there are no right answers, yet we embrace the Big Story we know we are a part of and use that to help us answer these questions.

There is a Redeemer, and He is redeeming brokenness. He brings beauty out of ashes and light out of darkness. He cares for the poor, He is zealous for justice, He sacrificed Himself and is calling us to sacrifice ourselves. To sacrifice our time, our perceived need for comfort and predictability and to sacrifice our own narcissistic desires to serve people who will likely never repay us (except for, of course, with their smiles and joy, which is worth more than anything money can buy).



Just give me an electric blanket and down booties and I may survive
On a much (and I do mean very much) lighter (and some might add trivial) note, Fall has been a daily reminder that Winter is coming. Already, I have begun to wear long underwear almost every day, and already I am drinking 4-6 cups of hot tea every day just so I can hold the warm mug in my hands and keep them warm. I am fairly certain that my tolerance for cold has greatly decreased over the past 5 years, and I am thinking this must be God's way of preparing me to relocate to a tropical climate. However, I still have to make it through the next 6 months of frigid Spokane tundra.

Perhaps it sounds like I am complaining (and maybe I am), but there is one thing that the decreasing temperatures is doing (maybe it the whole colored leaves, living in a painting, provoking deep thoughts thing) and that is that I am continually confronted with how easily my joy is dependent on being comfortable. If I am comfortable, I am happy. If I am uncomfortable, suddenly the wicked witch of the West (or at least a distant cousin) shows up. I am unmotivated to get out of bed (the floor is cold), accomplish anything (which would require throwing off my blanket and getting off the couch), or even invite people over (mostly because I would have to do the first two things. In a word, I become lazy and selfish. Ick. And all this just because we can't afford to heat our apartment to a charming 85 degrees. So, I am learning (or at least praying that I am) to not let my joy or my contentment be dependent upon what the thermostat says. Amy Carmichael is my hero in this. If only I could have an ounce of her joy and peace in trying circumstances (And yes, I fully realize that being slightly less warm than I would like can hardly be called a trial.) I am consoled, though, to know that the God who gave her joy and peace in her circumstances is the same God who provides for me to have hot cups of tea, and who can ultimately give me joy and peace in Him, if only I would seek it there rather than in being roasty toasty all the time.


Here are some fun pics from going apple picking.

A New School Year, Jordanian Refugees and The Windy City

The seasons change so quickly in Spokane and we are reminded that time does not stand still. Already a new school year has begun and midterms are just around the corner. Many things have taken place since this last post, so we'll try to touch on each them without being too verbose.

1.) On July 21, we celebrated our One Year Anniversary. A few weeks before we had been able to take a trip to the Olympic Peninsula (see previous post). We are so thankful for the year of marriage that God has given to us. Though there have been challenges in learning to resolve conflict, and how to communicate well, these minor things have been eclipsed by the joy of living daily life together. Being married truly is a journey of looking not only to our own interests, but also to the interests of the other. In dying to my own desires, a unity and joy much more beautiful is born.

On our anniversary, we dressed up in the same attire we wore at our wedding and went to Manito Park for a picnic of deli food from Huckleberries.

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2.) Moody Aviation recently began a new school year, which means new students entered into the hanger, and the graduating class made their leave for wherever God is calling them next. To see the graduating class move on is bittersweet. There is great joy in knowing that they have been trained well and are now equipped to be used around the world, and yet there is also sadness to see them go, especially with the maintenance specialist students, whom John has worked very closely with for the past year. At this point, the school year has been underway for almost three months, new students are flying for the first time and Moody Aviation is in full swing. The Our Ministry page on our website explains more about our involvement at Moody.

2009 Graduating Class

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3.) In August we made some new friends. Naimah and Haidar are refugees from Jordan who were recently placed in Spokane. One day when Clarissa was getting into her car, she was approached by a woman in full hijab, who, with very limited English language skills, communicated that she needed quarters for laundry and wants help learning English. We were delighted by the answer to specific prayer. Recently we had been praying that God would give us insight in who we should be serving. We moved into this neighborhood because of the diversity, poverty and proximity to downtown, with the desire to be servants to those around us (and quickly found that it was not very easy to step out and make friends with people who are different from you). Getting to know Naimah and Haidar has been a blessing. They are very devout Muslims and we have been learning a lot about Islamic practices and cultural norms. In September, Clarissa and a few other girls put on a baby shower for Naimah, and recently Naimah gave birth to their first child, a baby boy they named Muhammad. It has been both a challenge and a great joy to figure out how to serve them.

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4.) At the end of September, we took a trip to the Chicago area. Our purposes were two-fold. First, we wanted to attend the wedding reception of one of John's best friends who was recently married in Spain. Second, we hoped to connect with some of the people that John knew from living in the area for 10+ years. We planned three African Dessert Nights that people graciously offered to host for us in their homes and sent out postcards to over 50 people inviting them to come and hear about aviation ministry and how we are involved. Though we were discouraged that not many people were able to come, we know that there were many people who wanted to be there and were unable to attend. Now, we are gearing up to host some African Desserts in our apartment here in Spokane. Other highlights of our trip to the Chicago area (this being Claire's first trip there) were getting to walk around downtown Chicago, going up in the Hancock building, eating authentic Chicago Deep Dish at Gino's Pizza, seeing Moody Chicago and visiting the Lincoln Park Zoo.

Community Gardening

Is it strange that we live next to other living breathing humans, who in imago dei should be honored, valued and known, and yet many times we barely know their names. We go about our separate lives, isolated by a yard, a fence, or (as in our apartment/house) a wall. Is it not also strange that though we have the ability and the space, we have other people grow all of our food? Sometimes I wonder if a more tribal way of life, of living in community and eating food that is the fruit of our own mutual labor is more of how God intended us to live. Though I by no means will deconstruct the entirety of our post-industrialist society and claim things ought to be different, I can't help but wonder if we have disconnected ourselves too much from one another and the means which were origonally used to obtain our nutritional substinance. Just a thought.

This year marks our first real attempts at cultivating the seemingly barren Spokane soil to produce something we can eat. In May we talked with some of our neighbors who had also expressed interest in having a garden and together we tilled the soil in the empty lot next door (though often it is not quite as empty as the name implies, having various transients taking up overnight residence). We figured that if any of the homeless folks living on the lot decided to ransack our garden for tomatoes and spinach, they probably needed it more than us. Now, 2 months into our horticultural adventure we are starting to see the evidences of all our toil. Especially considering that is only our first garden, we are quite pleased with the results. Getting to spend time with our neighbors, digging in the dirt together has also been worth the effort and thoughts are already begin to take shape of how next year's garden could be bigger and better.

Sean

Claire

Becca and Sarah

Valentines Day and Benjamin Button

For Valentines Day, John and I went to a before noon $5 movie at the AMC downtown. Prior to our cheap cinema date we had intended to get coffee and French pastries from Madaline's. (For those who are strangers to Madeline's, they have spectacular croissants and they pull great shots.) Unfortunately, it beeing Valentines Day, the place was packed and we had to settle for Starbucks. Coffee ok, pasteries sub par.

At 11:05 we settled into our seats. Little did I know, I would be using my sleeve as a Kleenex for the next 160 minutes. The film has a Forest Gump-esk feel to it, following the life of a unique man, from his birth to his death. After the film, I couldn't quite place what made the film so sad, and yet satisfying all at once. His "condition" of being born old and growing younger as the years pass seem to bring so much pain and saddness into his life. At least that is how it appears on the surface- hopeless. However, upon further reflection, it is clear to the honest viewer that life is no different for any of us. We grow up and live our lives in a world where people die, hearts are broken, and some of the most deirable things are left wanting or fade with progression of time. As I continue to think on it, I am all the more convinced that Benjamin Button's curious case is not what made his life lamentable, but because life just is lamentable. There are so many things that are broken or lacking in our individual lives, in relationships, in our communities and on it goes. I am reminded of C.S. Lewis' perspective on Heaven, when he muses that if we crave something better than what this life offers (unending happiness and true love), and if we have that desire outside of ever expereincing it on this earth, then clearly we must be made to experience it at some point. I am eager for Heaven, but thankful that this journey here makes me all the more aware of how much I want that place of peace.

Fleeting colors

By this point the trees outside my window are all naked. Their leaves are gone, but it was only a few weeks ago that vibrant colors painted the sidewalks of our neighborhood. What a joyous eye-feast and blessing it is to live in a neighborhood where the streets are lined with ancient oaks and maples. We are also thankful that our friends Dan and Heather Milligan live only 6 blocks away!

Home is where your rump rests

The words of Pumba ring true, and I was unaware of how much our apartment could not feel like home to me until there was a suitable resting place for my rump (i.e. a couch). Stirrings of discontent had begun weeks ago, and continued until I felt I could no longer enter my living room in peace while the ugly brown monster couch shared my residence. Here you can see what once took over our living room. Don't get me wrong, I am perfectly aware that there are people all over the planet who would rejoice at having this couch, and I did make every effort to maintain a heart of thankfulness for having any couch at all. However, I truly desired to have a couch that guests would not be afaid to sit on. And so, for weeks I scoured craigslist, to no avail. Then, sharing my dilema with friends, they prayed with me for a couch, though I hardly thought that God should give me a nicer couch when I had such a sour attitude about the one I already had. (How glad I am that God does not treat us based on what we deserve!) As you might guess, God did decide to bless us with a great couch. Our classy new (to us) rump-rester goes great in our pre-1900's apartment and is a continual reminder that God loves to give good gifts, even when I have had a heart that is discontent with what I already have! Such lavish grace!