A St. Louis Wedding

We made a trip to St. Louis this past weekend for the wedding of Meghan and Tim, friends of ours from our church community here in Houston. We were blessed to be able to attend the wedding (all while seeing family who live in St. Louis...we love you guys) and Brian did the wedding. That's right, it was the first official wedding performend by the new pastor, and as far as we know, they are married. Everything was signed, nobody passed out, they said "I do"...so, we think it took.

A perk to the wedding was the reception. I know what you are thinkng, "isn't that the perk of most weddings?" Well, yes...but this reception was held in Busch Stadium!!! In fact, you almost forgot that you were in the stadium until you went into the restroom (there's only so many places with that many toliets lined along the wall). It was awesome...their pictures were on the jumbotron for all the city to see. We ate toasted raviolli (it's a St. Louis thing...if you've never had it...you need to), spring rolls made by Tim's mom and Grandma's risotto. Need we say more??

The pictures are for your enjoyment! There will be more to come about our time in St. Louis...

24 Weeks and Counting...

Just for the record, I'm totally caving in to the "online peer pressure"! :) After many a request, here is the much hearalded "bump" picture. Yes, there really is a cute little baby growing inside of me...

Baby and I had a doctor's appointment today and all checks out well. Baby's growing... and so am I... thus the "bump"!

Enjoy!

Under the Boardwalk

So we decided to take the afternoon to ourselves. And what better to do then go see the bay. Now, for a number of you, the days are slowly getting colder (we're jealous, by the way), but here in Southern Texas the days are still warm (when we say warm we mean in the 90's). So, with the afternoon off, we decided to drive down to Kemah, Texas.

Kemah lies right on the edge of Galveston Bay. For those of you who don't know, Galveston Bay is rather unique since it is both fresh water (the San Jacinto and Trinity River, plus the ship channel via the Buffalo Bayou) and salt water (the Gulf of Mexico and Atlantic Ocean). The Bay has some of the best shrimp in the US, and at the right time of year, one can see dolphins swimming out front of boat.

Well, a number of years back, someone decided to renovate Kemah and create a boardwalk; complete with Amusement rides, restaurants, shops and plenty of seagulls. We spent a quite afternoon enjoying the ships as they came in from the bay, pelicans flying to and fro, and little kids playing in the water fountain (yes, Brian jumped in as well). We had dinner at a small Mexican restaurant on the bay (which we barely ate any of...the portions were huge) and then headed home, but not before stopping by NASA. We didn't have time to visit Johnson Space Center but we saw it from our car. There's always next time.

Enjoy the photos!

Look Out World!

If a picture is worth 1000 words, then there aren't enough words in any language for the picture of God's creative power in new life. Enjoy.

A Whacky Place

For those of you who don't live in Texas...there is something you must learn. You are either an Aggie or a Longhorn.

In the state of Texas, two schools rule college football (my apologies to those of you reading who went to Tech, TCU, Baylor, etc): the Texas Longhorns or the Texas A&M Aggies. There is no love expressed between these two teams. Allow us to illustrate. Brian grew up in the lovely state of Colorado, where he quickly became a Buff's fan (much to the chagrin of his parents who are die hard Cornhusker fans...or to his sister who is now a student at Colorado State University...sorry Megs). Now, one was either a Buff's fan or a Rams fan (CSU) and you didn't like it when the other team won. Now, there were exceptions to that rule...say when the Buff's played in the National Championship...then Rams fans cheered along for the other school from their state.

Not so here in Texas. When the Texas Longhorns played in the National Championship two years ago, Aggie fans routed for none other than the Trojans (USC). There is no love.

Well, this past weekend we were "blessed" to be in College Station (home of A&M) for a retreat. Many of those involved in the ministry downtown are graduates of this fine institution. For them...it was like returning to Mecca...most got misty eyed as we walked by the graves of Reveille I-VI, and became giddy at the obligatory howdy. A&M is a unique place...unlike most campus' we have been to; filled with all sorts of tradition carried into the world by its huge alumni. To A&M...we must give a whoop!

The Beacon and Eggs

Friends, we have to share with you one of the most thrilling experiences since arriving in Houston. This morning we were able to be a part of Beacon and Eggs. No, we haven't forgotten how to spell!

The Beacon is an outreach program run by the Episcopal Church for the homeless around the city of Houston. Chris Kennedy, who was the vicar at Christ the King last year, began to work with this incredible ministry. The beacon is open only on the weekends (one of the few who are) and serves lunch for about 500 people. Those who come to the beacon have the opportunity to launder their clothes and can take a shower. It is amazing to see what a church can do when they put their hearts and souls into it. The community in the city with which we are part, volunteers their time to help serve lunch, launder clothing, wash dishes, bus tables, pick up trash, etc. Pretty much whatever they need. For three hours we get to serve those society has cast aside. God is good and this morning we were reminded that we are extremely blessed.

Before heading over to the Beacon, we went to our dear friends Andy and Lanetta's loft for eggs and biscuits (ah, Brian loves the South). It was a great time for our city community to spend time together and then to serve those less fortunate. We are looking forward to our next trip to the beacon this Labor Day...they are hurting for volunteers since most people want to spend their Labor Day with friends and family grilling the burgers and brats. We'll be spending ours with the homeless of Houston.

Go salt the earth!!

Our New Home

Well, we have officially been living in Houston, TX a week. In many ways the week has both flown by and crawled at the same time. We've spent a lot of our time simply recouping from the craziness of the move.

For those of you who don't know, we bought a three story townhouse in downtown Houston. Alright, it's actually in a part of town called Mid-town, which if you ask true Houstonians, would tell you that it's NOT actually in downtown. For those of you who have ever been to New York City...think uptown and downtown: it's the city. We know that some of you have been worried about our safety living in such an urban area, but we assure you that we live in a very safe neighborhood. In fact, we've been getting to know our neighbors...most are involved in business. So when they ask what it is Brian does and he replies, "I'm a pastor." They simply exclaim "OH...wow...that's interesting." The subject usually changes rather quick...or they apologize for the profanity they were using.

Anyway, the house is a three story townhouse with three bedrooms and three full baths. The second level (the living, dining and kitchen) is entirely hardwood floors. We are especially thankful to have a washer and dryer so readily available. For the past couple of years, Erin's parents have been kind enough to allow us to use theirs. It will be nice to have our own so that we can wash all the baby's clothes. YEP...

Erin is pregnant and due in mid February. We are both overjoyed and humbled that God has blessed us with the opportunity to raise children to serve Him. We can't wait to see what God has in store for this child of His. As pictures arrive, we will make sure to get them up so that you can see. Also, many of you have cried out to see the house...well, for now you only get the front door. But don't worry...there are more to come (when the boxes disappear).

A Change of Seasons

Well, the day has finally arrived. It is a day that marks the end of one season and the beginning of a new one. On August 19th, 2007 Brian was officially ordained into the ministry of the Lutheran Church. It has been a long road...a good one...but a long one nevertheless. Brian's days as a student have finally ended (we think...and hope) and he has begun what God has called him to do.

Brian will be serving as an Associate Pastor for Christ the King Lutheran Church in Kingwood, Texas (a Northeast Suburb of Houston). However, Brian's role on staff is to begin a missionary movement in the city of Houston; connecting people through a network of house communities. None of it makes perfect sense yet, but we're following the leading of the Holy Spirit. As soon as the website goes live we'll let y'all know.

Thanks to all of you who have prayed for us over the past four years! Those prayers have kept us sane and healthy. It's our prayer that you would know more and more the grace of God found in Jesus.

For those of you waiting for pictures of the house, don't worry they will be up shortly. Below are a couple of pictures of Ordination. Enjoy.