Update: In which I tell you what we've been doing and what we're doing next

This time last year,

Jake was finishing up his classes and getting ready to teach at a summer camp in West Virginia.

I was busy packing our things, cleaning the apartment and trying to schedule an ultrasound before we had to be in Mississippi. (And if you remember, Miss Lucy chose not to reveal her identity in that ultrasound. We thought for sure she was a boy.)

So, are we going to back to Mississippi? No. Are we going somewhere else? Nope. We'll be having ourselves and Indiana summer this year, with a short hiatus to Oklahoma.

But before I explain that, I'll tell you a little bit about what exactly has been going on in our lives lately...

Jake- preached his first wedding, in which he also was a groomsmen (the picture was from the wedding, I was in the party also)
...taught at the last Fold of the year (The Fold is the college ministry's large group meeting on campus, see the website here.)

...entertained the college students at the end of the year party by singing a classic graduation song, "Good Riddance (Time of Your Life)" by Green Day, to the seniors

...went to his last day of classes, ever (hopefully)
...went back to working full-time with the Indiana Painting Co.

Amanda- has been working on all kinds of sewing projects, including skirts made from pants and dresses, headbands, and curtains, and is always looking for things to modify, update, or altogether re-create.
...taught the last upperclassmen women's discipleship group of the year while sitting on a tick infested couch, it was definitely memorable.
...dug out plots in the backyard for the garden. Some plants, which she started from seed inside, made it in the ground in between rainy days.
...has just embarked on a new adventure: Potty Training.

Peter- turned 2! (pictures, and maybe a video, coming soon)
...is enjoying the warmer weather and the freedom to roam the backyard
...has made friends with the little Muslim girl next door, all communication issues aside
...thinks Spiderman lives across the street
...is about to ditch diapers forever

Lucy- will be six months old tomorrow. Already?!
...likes Peter's cars and trucks more than her own toys
...cut her first two teeth
...loves her papa's kisses
...had her first taste of oatmeal
...loves watching Peter's every move, until he comes over and holds her hand, really tightly

Now, what are we doing next...
Well, so long as Jake finishes up a couple final papers we'll be celebrating his graduation from the ClearNote Pastors College on Sunday evening. We'd love to have you join us. The graduation will be held this Sunday, the 16th at 5:30p.m. at our church, Church of the Good Shepherd, here in Bloomington. There will be a dinner following the service. Consider this your formal invitation.
The Oklahoma hiatus...in a few weeks we, the whole fam, will be going to Norman, Oklahoma, on a mission trip with the college ministry. We'll be serving University Fellowship Church by helping paint their church building and working with them in a Vacation Bible School. University Fellowship is a young church plant where Mat McIntosh, a former youth pastor of Jake's and mine, is the pastor.
As for the fall, you might be wondering what is in store for us now that Jake is done with his training. We'll be staying in Bloomington, for now. Jake will be coming on staff with our church as the college minister. He was already the college minister, but now it'll be his official job, goodbye work sites. He's looking forward to doing it full time and not having to divide his time between Pastors college work, painting, and college ministry. We don't plan to do this forever, but this is where God has us for the next year or two.
A month or so ago Jake mentioned that I had written a blogpost for ClearNote Fellowship. It's my turn to recommend Jake's blog post series to you. The series is a very clear and practical discussion of the Christian's relationship to sin. It's now on part three, but it won't take you long to catch up. And it's worth it.

That's about it for now, I'll try to get more pictures up soon.

Family Update & February Books

First, let me point out that Amanda's first post on the ClearNote Fellowship Ladies' blog was published this week. She also contributed an article profiling CNPC's program for pastor's wives in the latest edition of the CNF Newsletter. If you want a copy of that you can drop us a note in the comments and we'll sign you up for the mailing list.

Second, I know it's been awhile since pictures have gone up. February may have been the busiest month we've had since we started the Pastor's College. I expect Amanda will get some new stuff up for you in the next week or two.

Finally, here's what I finished reading in February:

Life Together - Dietrich Bonhoeffer (for class)

A good read on Christian community. Maybe one of the best.

2000 Years of Christ's Power, Vol. 3: Renaissance & Reformation - N.R. Needham (for class)

The third volume in this series, and maybe the best.

The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes - Arthur Conan Doyle (for fun)

Good fun.

Darkness & Light - Martyn Lloyd-Jones (for study)

Skimmed and surfed this one for Fold preparation. Didn't give it as much time as previous volumes on Ephesians.

Calvin: A Life - Emanuel Stickelberger (for class)

I've never read anything quite like this before. Profitable and enjoyable at the same time. Will read again.

Persuasions - Doug Wilson (for class)

A small apologetic that tries to be C.S. Lewis meets John Bunyan: "Evangelist" encounters men on the road to destruction and tries to turn them around. It's a light, easy, fun, and helpful read.

The Puritan Hope - Iain Murray (for... class supplement)

Read this one on my own at our dean's suggestion. Very good. Very helpful if you want to understand the roots of the dispensational prophecy craze and if you want to understand the view of prophecy that preceded it, how it was displaced, and why it's never returned. And, as a rule, you should read everything Iain Murray has ever written. I'm serious.

Our Church's New Website

Just some brief updates. First, check out our church's new website:

Pretty cool, huh? Also, be sure to check out the new ClearNote Fellowship blog and the corresponding Ladies' blog, where Amanda and I will both soon become regular contributors.

Mailing Address

Since some of you have asked, you can send mail/packages to:

First Presbyterian Church

c/o Jake Mentzel

P.O. Box 413

Charleston, MS 38921

Playin' Around

A few random shots of us playing around the cabin this week:

On Sunday, the owner of the cabin dropped a 4-wheeler by the cabin for us to play around with. Peter was a little afraid at first, but he got used to it pretty quick.

It's also been nice to have a goal around. Peter will sit on the edge of the porch and watch me shoot around for a long time.

At least until he wants to play, too...

"Peter, who made you?"

Revival

On Sunday evening, I joined the Joyful Jammers, a local bluegrass band at a country revival service. The music was bad, but it was good fun.

The church was Pinehill Presbyterian, an old country church out in the middle of nowhere. A pair of "retired" methodist circuit preachers (they're brothers) preached, and did a nice job. They travel around and preach/pastor/officiate wedding/funerals at a number of different rural presbyterian and methodist churches in the area.

First Pres, Charleston

For those of you that haven't been drawn into the loop yet, Amanda and I are down in Charleston, Mississippi, proud home of Morgan Freeman. I'm serving as a pastoral intern for the church above (90 year-old meeting house in the foreground, brand new Family Life Center in the background).

First Pres. is home to a sweet people that we're looking forward to serving for the months of June and July. I'll be particularly focused on working with the youth, but I'll also preach on a couple of Sundays and in a couple of nursing homes on weekdays.

For those of you who are curious, Grace and Andy (the pastor and his wife... but not in that order) are doing well. We've absolutely loved getting to know them and spending time with them. The four of us and our 3 kids (well, 4 if you count the child in Amanda's swelling belly) took a day trip to Memphis yesterday and hung out on Mud Island. Then we got caught in a nasty storm on the way back. It was good fun.

Speaking of good fun, kudzu to you if you can tell me what's wrong with this picture (apart from how off-balanced the framing is):

The Homestead

A generous family in the church has set us up in a nice, cozy little cabin on a hill. It's about the same size as our apartment, two stories, one bath, loft, wide front porch w/swing (as you can see), the ever-important a/c, and Direct TV. It also came with a stocked pantry and a home cooked meal waiting for us in the fridge.

I wish I would have taken pictures that day. It was very surreal. The sun was setting, the grass hadn't been burned up by the heat... the place dripped with charm. It still does.

What you don't see in this picture are the many walking paths that surround the place. As soon as I get us ahold of some boots, we'll go explorin' 'em. Sadly, they were left behind.

Charleston is a quaint little town in the Mississippi Delta. We live off of "the Delta Highway", a scenic little road that passes neatly on the border of the hill country and the Delta.

We actually live on the hill side (hence the cabin on the hill) off of a red dirt road:

A good portion of the hill country is overrun by kudzu, a vine not native to the country with the amazing propensity to transform ordinary pieces of land into something out of a Dr. Suess book:

On the way to Charleston

A brief update, with more to follow:

The trip down to Charleston was pretty complicated. I was in Nashville, TN. But really, I was at Appalachian Bible College in West Virginia. But then I had to go back to Nashville and meet Amanda and Peter in Evansville. Amanda had a van full of stuff (as you can plainly see). So I made it back to Evansville, after a minor fight with a guard rail (poor Subaru). Then we went back down to Nashville and stayed with Joe and Jess Beck. And then, of course, we came all the way down to Charleston. Now we're here, and I'll be a-showin' ya what it's like soon.

And yes, she took that while she was driving... .

the Littler Baby

I had my first appointment on Friday to check on the new baby in our family. We heard a tiny little heart working just like it should. Everything looks good so far. Praise God!

1st Anniversary

Why The Post-Pause?

You may be wondering why we haven't posted any pictures of Peter for a solid week or so (he's three weeks old today, after all).

Well, the answer is that Peter has grown ugly. I'm sorry. It's true. We're ashamed of him. We mostly keep him covered with a blanket if ever we're forced to take him out in public. Unfortunately for Peter, the general consensus of those unfortunate few who have seen him is that he is the spittin' image of his father. How tragic.

On a happier note, his hair seems to be lightening/reddening a bit and the curls show promise of return. Hopefully this is a sign that he's soon to emerge from the ugly phase. As soon as he starts to look more like his mama, we'll start posting pictures again. I promise.