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):

Blending right in...

Peter's been working hard to be missional. Blending in to the indigenous culture and all. And yes, that's an empty stick of deodorant in his mouf.

How about a game of create your own captions?

Wasting no time...

...but getting straight to work. The driveway apparently had a few too many rocks on it.

What the dump truck couldn't carry, Peter stored elsewhere...

I think he's adjusting just fine.

Kudos to the first person who can explain the man-made structure in the first picture.

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... .

silly boy

Happy Mother's Day!

Pepsi drinking Peter

One recent Sunday afternoon, Peter decided he wanted to try some of Papa's Pepsi. After getting it in his mouth and feeling all the bubbles, he'd wrinkle up his face and shiver all over. Then he'd start smiling and want more. Because, after all, Papa likes it. In the end, he decided that he would just stick with his milk.

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!

yummy breakfast

jelly belly

He reached and reached and finally grabbed the bowl of jelly beans. And managed to eat a couple too. He was very pleased with himself.

More birthday cake