Rome Pictures

Take in these pictures from Roma! i think page 2 is my favorite, feel free to take and abuse them. I can't take credit for all of them, some of the pics are my boy Chris' and the camera I used was Hannah's, so enjoy these pictures made possible by so many.

on the mediterranean coast

the colosseum

the forum

back in london after a 5 day jaunt in Rome. enjoy some pics, I'll be back in town later on tomorrow night.

just for Matt Hamp

tower bridge at night

Saint Paul's from the southside

big ben at night

mmmm..beans, toast, and eggs for breakfast. Chris brought it to me in bed with a cup of tea. quite the friend.

for micah #2

for micah #1

football in the uk?

so i was out for a little run, which turned into a long run when i got lost, but thats another story (i really got to see london). As i was running through Finsbury park the last thing i expected to see was a football team with all their pads on practicing, american football, not soccer, on a cool March morning in London. strange.

our new scottish friend, Dave and Chris' bro, Tim. Dave bought us our first round tonight at the, "Oh! Bar."

peace

the spires

tower bridge

description soon to come...

reggae in london?

so tonight i guess we will be hitting the thriving reggae scene in the Camden borough here in London. tomorrow, we will be strolling through London at night which should be cool. today's trip around the palace and the Westminster abbey was neat. All in all London has been solid, it takes a little while to get anywhere, like any big city, so we haven't fulfilled all our ambitions. But, I'd rather enjoy each day than rush through it. btw, we need to start serving steak pasties here in the US. Hearty, Healthy, and convenient, what more could you want for a couple pounds?

an adventure

hey all, the first 2 days have been quite a journey. I got to find my way to Chris' house from Heathrow by myself. (Ruth, you understand)I got to the airport and he wasn't there. The good news was that I made it without a wrong turn, bus, or tube line. Now, when I got there, he wasn't at his home or sstaying there this week, but thats a whole different story. I arrrived in London at 7am Friday morning and caught up with Chris at 1:30.

The food, tea, and beer have been great! Saw a bunch of sites today, once I get to a hotspot with my computer I'll throw a few pics online. Evensong at St. Paul's was haunting (you would have loved it Matt). Just had a great dinner with Chris' housemates and we're heading out for a night on the town with some friends tonight.

london calling/rome is burning

Tomorrow afternoon I hit the road for Detroit and will catch my flight for London! The wonderful students and leaders of CT are sending me on the trip as a Christmas present! How cool is that? I'm very excited, tonight I need to begin packing, find my passport, and pick which books to read. I assembled my playlist for my ipod mini already, just need to load it on tonight. its tough to figure out the tunes i want for london and rome when you have 4 gb's to play with. The cities call for such different music, although hopefully I'll purchase some new tunes overseas. I'll try to update regularly on my blog.
I'm gone from Thursday, March 9th-Sunday, March 19th, so don't try to call me, unless you simply want to hear the sweet sound of my voice on my vm.

oh yeah, Snow Patrol's new album is released May 9th, it is called, "Eyes Open." It is the same day that the Chili Peppers new disc hits the stores. It will be a great day for music lovers.

guess who's back

I couldn't have scripted a better Sunday.

Church was a blast, we were focusing on the contemplative stream of faith today and it was so good to take time to practice lectio divina together as a church and simply spend time in silence. Jim did a great job preaching and teaching today. I felt like we equipped folks well to begin to explore a contemplative life.

I had announcments this morning, which were short and simple, i liked that and because it was the contemplative week i wasn't supposed to be funny, which can be difficult at times.

I also had the chance to teach at SML for the first time and I had a good time in there sharing about Theresa of Avila and her writings on The Interior Castle. You can read the whole book here if you are interested in pursuing spirituality a little more. Theresa was a nun within the Catholic church who developed a profound personal relationship with God through a contemplative life.

Following church I got to take Tyler Stevenson out for lunch and we had a good chance to connect over some New China Express and NCAA 2006. I also had a great conversation with his Mom which really confirmed some promptings i've been feeling from God towards a neighborhood in Columbus.

CT was excellent, Ryder did a great job setting up the 4 Rooms contemplative experience for our students tonight. I was manning the unofficial 5th room which was for journaling and while in there God really led 4 guys to sit down with me and we had some incredible conversations and times of prayer. it was quite the reminder of why i'm in student ministry.

Finally, to top it off, I came home to Pork BBQ, rice, green beans, a bottle of Pinot Noir, dairy free ice cream, and peaches all prepared by my beautiful girlfriend, Hannah. Quite the way to end the day.