new york, new york

Shot up to the City this afternoon because my former boss whom I did some policy research for in Scotland is actually over here on business for a few days.

Walked by "Tom's Restaurant", payed homage to Seinfeld.

Quick turnaround, literally a bus ride up in the afternoon, and heading back early tomorrow morning. Feels like a day at the "office". Spent the entire 4-hour bus ride working on the free wireless/power outlet seat I had. Love it! So cheap too.

After NCC this morning, was debating whether to actually head out. It wasn't getting to NY that got me motivated, it was the chance to reconnect with a part of Scotland. I miss the accent, I miss the people.

Awesome to finally be here with kate too.

Thailand

Excited to go to Thailand in only a few short weeks! It was obviously a last-minute decision, but we're trying to hit missions full-throttle at NCC and one of the ways is to document key trips abroad that focus on some essential human rights issues.

This happens to focus on the sex trade that is still prevalent in Thailand.

We'll be working with The Well, which is a Christian ministry in Thailand. Its purpose is to "love Thai bar girls and sex workers in the same way that Jesus loved others like them; to help them see and experience their true value as a creation by God, and to help them, their family and village indeed find their dream of a better life."

We're also planning a live video-chat in Thailand to all the weekend services....live! Could be a unique opportunity for the wider community to join us in our journey.

4th and I

After much deliberation, we've decided on a place. Pretty sweet 2 bedroom loft with exposed brick only a few blocks from our cousins.

It's a 15 minute walk to the Capital.

Movin' in tomorrow morning!

Schweet.

all the way

Excited to say I've got two cubs post-season tickets in my hand! My brother, a complete and utter fair-weather cubs fan ended up winning tickets in a lottery. The incredible human being that he is though in spite of this, gave them to me.

What a guy.

I'm going to time it right so I catch the game in Chicago with my best mate and long-time fan, then head out that night for DC with a uhaul van of furniture with my dad.

Check out Pearl Jam's Eddie Vedder doing a great song dedicated to the Cubbies.

aOne:eight

The goal of aone:eight is simple: Go. Excited to be part of the push for a more multi-faceted approach to missions at Theater Church.

Act 1:8 is Jesus' final words before his ascension: "But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth."

Sometimes we get this wrong: we're not supposed to save others. We are called to be witnesses of the spirit within us.

We're going 10/10. 10 trips in 10 months. We'll work with former sex slaves, an AIDS organization, building drug rehab centers, taking an RV road trip to New Orleans to build a house, and orphanages to invest in effective local ministries around the world.

At NCC, we want to grow to give more to missions. I love that. Excited to dive into a few projects right off the bat.

shocked and surprised

We flew in a few days ago and the sickness dulled our excitement, somewhat reminiscent of our arrival in Scotland a few years ago. Mono leaves you consistently hazy and somewhat aloof. The little sharpness I once had is now lost in my fogginess.

Really just feeling a strong sense of purpose here. Any arbitrary changes up to this point could have us in any number of different places. But we're not.

We're here.

As we learned first-hand in Edinburgh, our purposes are often much different from God's and sometimes our plans must fail in order for His to succeed. Though I have certain expectations and vision for the next year of our lives, completely expectant to be shocked and surprised at what is in store for us.

tired of being tired

Been a joy to be home, but to be honest, I haven't been able to kick this sickness. I've had flu symptoms for over two weeks. Not only that, a blood test revealed I have mono.

Haven't had this viral infection before, but what I do know is it leaves you tired.....constantly. I got in a good 12 hours sleep yesterday and within a few hours of being up, I was ready for sleepytime.

Bad timing with the move and all. Praying for quick recovery.

unedited sunsets

Just got back from our family's summer home in Northern Minnesota.

So many great many memories, so many stories and pictures.

3 of the 4 nights had KILLER sunsets. These are completely unedited pictures. What you see is what you get.

my sister rocks

Have to give mad props to my sister who for the past 10 years has been a flight attendant for United Airlines. That means her family ends up reaping the reward.

I've flown to Hawaii, Europe and all over the US for very little over the years.

I flew out to DC and back for under $80 this week and happened to catch first class out.

There have been business class flights overseas where I haven't wanted to get off the plane, I was too comfy.

Flying stand-bye is not for the weak and weary though. Bad weather, cancelled flights, delays, and late arrivals can change the dynamics of getting on a flight in a drop of a hat. I've had to exit an airplane on a few occasions because the paying customer had arrived last minute. Nothing more humiliating than grabbing all your stowed-away luggage and sheepishly walking off in front of a packed flight.

All this say though, my sister has been hookin' me up like crazy and has saved me thousands of dollars over the years.

Seriously, mad props.

Missin' the Burgh

I've been either sick or working on a research project for someone back in the UK that I haven't had much time to think about it; we're not going to be able to walk up Calton Hill anymore and overlook this amazing view.

I've been trying to avoid the introspection of all the change taking place in our lives (just want to enjoy family at the moment), but can't help it tonight. I'm missing close friends and that fantastic city already.

It's ok to fail

Had a great day meeting the NCC team. Go to look at a bird's eye view of the next 12 months in DC. A lot of storytelling, eating, and laughing.

That's been one of my prayers: to work with a group of people that are not only gifted and passionate about loving others and each, but know how to laugh and not take themselves too seriously.

One theme I got from a lot of the staff was that they empower people to fail. Sounds kind of backwards, but if you're not failing at some points in the year, you're probably not pushing yourself hard enough or taking enough risks. Such a great way to release new staff to go for it!

Another thing that really resonated was NCC wants to grow to give. It all started back in May when I was sitting in the back of the car with Mark and Joel and got to listen in on some fresh vision casting for the year. It started out with, "wouldn't it be incredible to be able to give a million dollars to missions! Wouldn't it be amazing to be able to write a million dollar check to build some orphanages in Ethiopia!"

How do you do that? You've got to grow. I love that. Growth has so much purpose when the passion behind it is not simply to increase numbers or build larger facilities. The vision behind growth is missional. That's powerful!

integrated world

Flew into DC today for a few days of meetings with potential mono and all. Pretty much lost my voice, but already feeling the energy of being here in DC. LOVE IT!

Great welcome: was sitting in a cafe called Ebeneezer's that I'll be mentioning a lot in the next year and got up to order a coffee. Part-way through my order, the cashier said, "Wait, I know you."

Caught off guard, I asked how she knew me.

Within a few moments, she blurted out, "Eikon! I read your blog."

Crazy, we'd apparently met a few years ago when we spoke in a small group just before setting off to Edinburgh and she's been following ever since.

I love the total integration of the body of Christ.

outa be about

"I simply declare the cross must be raised again at the center of the marketplace, as well as on the steeple of the church. I am claiming that Jesus was not crucified in a cathedral between two candles, but on a cross between two thieves. On the town garbage heap, at a crossroads so cosmopolitan that they had to write his title in Hebrew, Latin and Greek. At the kind of place where cynics talk smut, and thieves curse, and soldiers gamble.

Because that is where he died, and that is what he died about, and that is where Churchmen ought to be, and that is what Churchmen ought to be about." - Sir George MacLeod

digital alters

I read that 60-80% of blogs are abandoned after only a few postings. Seems like a nice, trendy idea at first, but the commitment of it is entirely different. I was recently reminded again why I do it.

Alter building was common in scripture. When Abram was promised land and descendants from the Lord, he built an alter. Why? Because I'm sure there were days he needed to be reminded of the promise. Sarah was well past the age of fertility. My guess is he needed to literally stare at that stone alter every so often and say, "that's right, this is what you've done and promised."

When I left Scotland a few days ago to begin the next stage in our journey, I looked through the past few years on this blog. I realized something: We tend to remember what we should forget, and forget what we should be remembering. Call it selective memory or some other cognitive mechanism. Regardless, we do it all the time!

The blog has been my digital alter. As I flipped through some of the logs I posted over the past few years, I was flooded with memories I had completely forgotten about. The story of financial provision in the nick of time last summer, the favor we had at The Forest Cafe, and just the daily stories of the visible awareness of God's presence in our lives.

I got chills that afternoon.

I can't wait to look upon this next year a year from now and remember what God has been up to in our lives.

pictures are worth 10 million words

I read something recently: The brain is able to process print on a page at a rate of about a hundred bits per second. But the brain can process at picture at about a billion bits per second. That means that a picture isn’t worth a thousand words! A picture is literally worth ten million words.

Perhaps this is why photography inspires me so much. About 3 1/2 years ago, I got motivated to not only see photography as a hobby, but build it into who I want to be and where I want to go in the next several years.



Got up to Aberdeen to photograph a wedding recently. Had such a blast. Wedding photography doesn't exactly inspire me all that much, nor is it my ultimate goal in the profession. It has however proved to be a tremendous training ground. You have to think creatively very quickly while adapting to changing lighting conditions. If you're starting out, bring your camera to the next wedding you attend and ask to shoot a few shots.

I'll be photographing in Italy and London next summer and hoping to pursue some editorial work with some newspapers and magazines in DC this year.

I think part of the key to incarnating the gospel so a generation can understand it is capturing or painting the right pictures, whether it be metaphorically or in my case literally.

sunset

The sun has set in Edinburgh. What a two-year journey.

Shared a special moment with Donna yesterday. She couldn't hold back the tears as she helped me pack during the day. As I walked away and gave my Dad a call to discuss travel plans, I lost it. It finally hit me: the sun had set over our two years of serving here in Edinburgh, and just the response from Donna was satisfaction enough that it was all worth it.

I stayed up the entire night walking the streets and hanging with my boys from the Clam Shell fish n' chips shop I have single-handedly kept affloat the past two years.


I'll miss the views, the cobblestone streets, the bagpipes outside our flat.....actually no I won't:), the relationships, the incredible stories of what we've seen God do in and through our lives, the failures, the accomplishments and the laughs.

Looking forward to family and close friends in Chicago for a few days.