Karen & Brian- A lifelong experiment in God's grace and love

Pictures from the past few months.

2007-03-22T10:33:00.000-04:00

OUR YOUTH GROUP GOING TO FLORIDA TO LIFE 2007!!

We headed to the Botanical Gardens in Buffalo in February!
Awesome: two feet of snow outside, 80 F and 80% Humidity inside.
The orchid collection was really amazing, beautiful and a wonderful smelling experience

Christmas dinner with Brian's dad, sister and Grandfather.... lots of seafood... mmmmm

Day after Christmas dinner with Karen's sisters, brother-in-law and cousins.
She wasn't feeling optimal but the time with family was great.

Update, longtime coming....

2007-03-22T09:40:00.000-04:00

Well, it has been a long time since we have posted an update to our blog. The past few months have flown by quickly and we are amazed at the working of God in our lives.

November was difficult with the passing of Brian's Grandmother at the beginning of the month. We spent a couple weekends in Pennsylvania with Brian's family, mourning and rejoicing in the grace and love of God demonstrated through his Grandmother's life.

We spent Thanksgiving with Aunt Cindy in Boston, enjoying much quality time with Cindy, Chris, Dan, Ben and Matty. It was a great time and was even better when Chris and Dan changed their plans and decided to stay in Mass and were able to spend Thanksgiving with us and Aunt Cindy.

December was filled with celebrations, youth and church events, and time with family. Our youth group hosted a successful ham and turkey dinner fundraiser for our trip to Florida in July 2007. We spent time with Karen's coworkers at a Christmas party and then left for Pennsylvania. We observed Christmas and spent Christmas morning with Brian's family for the first time. It was a joy to spend Christmas morning with Brian's sister and her young kids, even though some of them were a little sick. After spending some time in PA, we headed out to Michigan to spend a few days with Karen's G-Ma and Aunt and Cousins, and sisters. It was a good time with family but unfortunately, Karen was constrained to the couch for most of the visit, struggling with a fever and sickness.

January was an exciting month. We spent much time doing fundraisers with our youth group, and Brian began to focus on finishing his thesis and finding a job and our church plant began meeting more regularly for prayer, worship, and organizational meetings. January passed quickly into February. We worked more on fundraisers, a Father/Daughter dinner for Valentine's day. The evening was attended by several father/daughter couples and every father expressed great joy and gratitude when leaving, most saying that they had never spent so much quality time with their daughters. To God be the glory.

February also saw Brian received two interview opportunities, one in Boston and another in St. Louis. So, for Karen's February break, we traveled to Aunt Cindy's house and visited Boston, Karen and Cindy walked around the city and visited an amazing museum while Brian interviewed for the position. We had to return early from our trip to Boston so that Brian could quickly fly to St. Louis for another interview.

March began with us waiting to hear from Harvard, St. Louis, MD Anderson, U of Michigan, and Azusa Pacific University, regarding possible job opportunities. Brian was a finalist at Harvard, St. Louis, U of Mich, and Azusa Pacific and received his first offer from Harvard. After praying, and praying and praying some more, we decided that we would accept the offer from Harvard. Also during the month of March, we planned and held more fundraising events for our youth group.

Brian has recently submitted the final copy of his thesis to the Dean's office and has confirmed his defense date in April. He will begin his position at Harvard (a postdoctoral fellowship position) after the youth group trip to LIFE 2007, in Orlando FL in July.

During this entire time, Karen has been very busy teaching her middle school students. The
work is very stressful as she continues to learn how to work with IEP students and some very difficult students. Most of her students are doing great work and love her teaching. She is now looking at next year while spending most of her time and energy doing her best to finish this year well. We aren't certain if she will continue to teach next year or look at working in another field. We are both extremely excited by the prospect of living in the second most Brazilian populated area in the country and the opportunities that Karen will have given her love of people and cultures and her fluency in three languages.

We are continuing to work extensively with our youth group, leading Bible studies and fundraisers, and providing overall guidance in life. The church plant is continuing to meet more regularly, having Bible studies at least twice a month, prayer meetings and organization meetings each once a month, and meeting for services about once a month. When we are not working with the Church plant, we are working with our original home church, helping to lead worship and coordinate the church's assistance with youth group fundraisers.

Prayer requests:

Youth group fundraisers; we have raised $2400 and we need at least $6000 more ($3600 more before May 18).
We have several upcoming fundraisers.

Karen: for her teaching and energy levels. May she continue to learn the best ways to teach her students.
Karen: Direction when searching for possible jobs for next year and energy to pray for next year.

Brian: Defends thesis on April 23. Needs to finish a couple papers for publication before starting his position at Harvard.
Brian: Contacts for research at Harvard.

Us: Contacts in Boston in the Brazilian community and churches in the city
Us: Living situation in Boston; should we rent or buy? Which neighborhood?
Us: Wisdom, grace and love in our leadership roles in the youth group, church plant, and home church.

The First Snow!

2006-10-13T07:48:00.000-04:00

As much as we prefer warm weather, the first snow of the season is still a beautiful thing to see. The roads were simply wet but we did have to clean off our car. The dusting of snow and changing leaves mixed with a beautiful sunrise make a beautiful image.

This picture does not accurately depict the first snow of the year in Western New York. Some regions around Buffalo reported more than TWO FEET, TWO FEET!!, of snow overnight (Click on the link to go to the story). Records were set for snowfall in Buffalo. The New York State Thruway was closed part of the night due to overwhelmingly fast accumulation. Drivers are still stranded along parts of the highway. Well, if you live in Western New York, let us be the first to welcome you to winter.

Her New Cut!!

2006-10-07T13:30:00.000-04:00

Jobs vs. Relationships

2006-10-02T08:38:00.000-04:00

Karen and I visited the local (walking distance from our apartment) dollar theater on Saturday. We wanted to see Cars but the internet listed times were not correct and we missed the start. So, instead of Cars, we decided to watch "The Devil Wears Prada." Being a guy, I wasn't totally sold on the movie. Cars definitely had a greater "title appeal" to me.

The movie "The Devil Wears Prada" raised many interesting questions regarding the pressures that current American work habits place on relationships. To succeed in a job or relationships, that is the question...? It was really interesting to see a movie question the priorities of a career-success driven culture. Is our identity defined by our job or our relationships? To find the answers to these questions and more....

You probably don't have to watch the movie to find the answers since our identity is defined by our relationship with Jesus. But, this doesn't make the decisions and priorities clear in all situations. Karen and I are looking to move to NYC and engage a subculture that is driven by careers, and it is certainly easy to get caught up in the hub-bub of getting ahead and succeeding. So, how does a Christian succeed in a career-driven and oriented subculture while placing the high priority on relationships that Jesus requires of us? This is a question that I have asked of an Ivy League Dean, Professors, and peers. Everyone answers diferently; how do you respond?

On a totally different line of thought, Karen chopped her hair on Saturday and looks GREAT!! Also, we bought our first NEW CAR!!!!

It's Blue and it's Automatic (good for Karen but sadly for Brian). Right now, it's in Japan but it should be delivered before November. So, hopefully we will have the Fit to drive to all of our friends and relative's houses for Holiday celebrations.

An unexpected night in Chicago

2006-08-23T12:00:00.000-04:00

Well, we thought that we should take a picture of a plane taking off because it definitely wasn't happening for us. United provided us with a hotel to sleep and we had a great time talking to the many different people on our flight; it almost felt like a family unit as we all tried to figure out what was happening and when we would finally be on our way to Brasil!

Karen had fun entertaining children of the many single mothers going to Brasil for summer visits with family while Brian was attempting to advocate for the many people stuck in the airport without much understanding of the language or the happenings.

We had plenty of time to take pictures of the airport.

The children were funny and it was neat to meet Ben's brother traveling to visit with his wife and two other missionary families.

One of the worst things about the whole delay was that it wasn't actually our plane that was broken and the cause of the delay. Our plane was actually just fine and was plane-knapped by a French group traveling to Paris and they left us with their broken plane. So, first France boots Brasil from the World Cup and then they steal our plane... Such was the joke in our group of travellers.

Off to Brasil

2006-08-23T11:54:00.000-04:00

So, after a great celebration of July Fourth, we flew to Chicago to begin our trip to Brasil. We were so excited!!

It was our first time approaching Chicago with clear skies during daylight, allowing for great views of downtown.

And, one of the largest and busiest airports in the world. Can you spot your favorite terminal??

Celebrating the Fourth of July

2006-08-23T11:45:00.000-04:00

We celebrated the Fourth of July with a traditional cookout and fresh corn on the cob. We invited some friends from our college days and reminisced over fresh black grapes and Spanish cheese we discovered at Wegmans. We had a blast telling stories and looking at pictures from recent adventures and weddings of friends.

During the cookout, we accidently annoyed our new neighbor who, it turns out, is a vegan with very sensitive nostrils and doesn't appreciate the delicious smell of grilling hamburgers wafting with the the summer breezes in through his open windows. Next time, we'll just grill lamb. : )

Alas, we won't have too many meetings like this in the near future as Lori and Samantha head to the midwest for different graduate schools. We'll miss you and we love you.

Strawberry Picking

2006-08-23T11:39:00.000-04:00

A couple entries to update people regarding our time before our trip to Brasil (pictures forthcoming!!):

Strawberry picking in Western New York, in June!!
MMMMMMMM..........

Lots and lots of strawberries for ice cream, shortcake, pies ...

The strawberry picking was fun, but the eating was more fun and delicious. We also had fun playing with Maya and watching the Brasil World Cup game. We left the party quite sad, however, seeing that Roberto Carlos fixed his socks while Henry scored the only goal in the game... sadly Brasil was booted from the World Cup but they weren't playing the best footie anyways... not quite the Joga Bonita they are capable of playing.

A Laser Show in Downtown Rochester

2006-07-26T11:17:00.000-04:00

A warm night in June, downtown Rochester, High Falls District, this is the setting of the Laser Show.

Do they look alike?

The lasers and fireworks illuminated the entire gorge, while illustrating several popular American songs.

The high falls are illumated duing the entire show.

Cheering for Brasil!!

2006-07-26T11:14:00.000-04:00

It was contagious, everyone who came to our apartment during the World Cup cheered for Brasil!!!

We were so happy when they made it out of the Group Stage!!!

Rochester Raging Rhinos Raged to a Tie!

2006-07-26T11:10:00.000-04:00

The Raging Rhino needed a four-wheeler to rage around the field before the game started.

The action was minimal but the stadium was well designed to give everyone a seat close to the action. The game ended tied but it was a great experience to support our local professional soccer team, playing their first season in a soccer stadium instead of a baseball field.

Bro and Sis enjoying some time together and some sugar drink.

But they weren't the only ones enjoying a sugary drink!!

Tapestry Picnic Part II

2006-07-26T11:08:00.000-04:00

Networking, games, fellowship and God. It was all so much fun.

But we had to end the fun at the park so that we could go to a major league soccer game in the city...

Tapestry Fellowship Picnic!

2006-07-26T11:02:00.000-04:00

After a week of moving, visiting colleges and parks, and generally relaxing and having fun with Ben, we all went to a park for a picnic with our church plant group. There was plenty of food and converations.

Ben often discovers his tongue when the camera is pointed in his direction. He was also very hungry.

We spent lots of the day getting to know everyone more and playing lots of games outdoors. What a celebration of God's creation and his Bride!!

It is a blessing to spend time with the church plants and fellowship with Christians and reach out to others.

Ben's College Visits

2006-07-26T10:43:00.000-04:00

Since Ben is coming of Age, it is time for him to undergo the preparation needed for him to prepare to go though the ultimate decision of his life. (This is the sense of importance the admissions guro instilled during our first college visit with Ben, a visit to Cornell). It is definitely an importnat decision but the Ivy League Universities definitely make it into a hugely labor intensive (labor is every sense of the word) and prolonged experience beginning in the preschool years. Ben was very calm during all of this talk. The day of the tour was very beautiful and the campus is kept in very perfect condition, making walks around campus quite enjoyable as long as you stay away from the HILLS!!

The statue of the founder of Cornell, who had a vision of founding a college where all could attend, regardless of income and other restrictions of education. That vision lasted for a while but then Cornell joined the Ivy League (I'm VerY expensive League) and had to increase their tuition to match the elite competition, increase their endowment and build lots of pretty buildings. (Is this what Houghton is trying to accomplish?) Anyway, we had fun walking around the pretty campus overlooking the fingerlakes. The bells in the tower can play any song and we heard some music from Les Miserables while we were walking. We had some fresh ice cream made on campus and headed out.

On our way home, we stopped at the Largest Waterfall this side of the Mississippi. It's a pretty gorge and the view is great from the top.

Other colleges Ben visited included University of Rochester, Robert's Wesleyan, and Houghton College. We are praying that he follows God and attends the college that God wants him to attend, whether it is Cornell, Rochester, Houghton or somewhere else.

BEN ARRIVES!!!

2006-07-26T10:34:00.000-04:00

Ben arrived on the 16th of June, the same day that we were finishing our move back to Rochester!! (YEAH for no more Long Commutes!!! Now we can commute by bicycle!!) We immediately took him to the Home of The World's Greatest Cheeseburger. Upon completing the World's Greatest Cheeseburger, we decided that whoever awarded this piece of meat such distinction must not have traveled too much outside of the restaurant. It is good but not as good as a burger in Brasil, where the beef is soooooo much better and more pure.

We thought he was a little exhausted so we took a closer look and his eyes definitely looked a little sleepy.

He perked up a little when we got a call from one of his best friends in the States who is now in Brasil.

We decided to have a little fun the next night when we were eating in our new apartment some deliscious salmon and rice. Notice the Brasilian flag stratigically hung in preparation for watching the world cup.

Graduation Party Numer ???

2006-07-26T10:27:00.000-04:00

Karen was congratulated at our church for a job well done and completing her Masters. The pastor was attempting to congratulate her in Spanish and it got a pretty good laugh.

Everyone was asking Karen to give her speech in Spanish but she opted for English, for the sake of understanding.

The cake was beautiful and amazingly finished to fit two entire Bible verses. The verses for a great reminder to us during the huge transitions in our lives, moving, job searching, preparing for Brasil, and church planting. It is definitely encouraging and uplifting to know that God will direct our paths (as well as comforting to know that someone can direct our lives through the craziness!!).

A Working Family Reunion

2006-07-26T10:19:00.000-04:00

Following two days of sightseeing and conference attending in DC, we enjoyed some time with the Winey family in PA. It was a family reunion and workday, when we rescreened Brian's grandparent's screened porch.

The men worked on the screening and the women worked on Lunch... or spent some time catching up.

The newest addition to the family: Elizabeth Grace!!

Visiting DC

2006-07-26T10:06:00.000-04:00

During our second day in DC, we found a delicious Peruvian restaurant in the Hispanic District of DC which served a delicious roasted chicken. We were the only ones in the restaurant speaking English, due to Brian's lack of Spanish.

We visited two of the Smithsonian Museums, the National Museum of Natural History and the Air and Space Museum. The minerals and gemstone were fascinating, specifically the diamonds of extrordinary size, the minerals with interesting shapes sizes and colors, and the exhibits of minerals and gems from Brasil.

The Natural History Museum also had a very interesting Earthquake exhibit, complete with a world map, detailing earthquake locations from the past two weeks (yellow circles, radius corresponds to magnitude) and the past five years (puple dots).

The Washington Monument was closed when we arrived so we couldn't take any pictures from the top observation deck, but they graciously allowed us to take all of the pictures we wanted from the bottom observation deck, aka, the ground.

And what is any trip without a beautiful picture of Karen, albeit, a very fatigued Karen who had walked several miles around DC that day.

From NY to PA to DC to PA to DC to PA to NY

2006-07-26T09:43:00.000-04:00

We went to PA but only for a few hours because we had to go to DC to attain a visa for visiting Brasil. Since the embassy opens at 9 am and we wanted to avoid any line, we left PA at around 5 am and arrived just before it opened. The trip was wonderfully enjoyable, being a beautiful ealy summer morning, with little traffic, and a sunrise visible through the mist only seen in the early morning of the early summer. We arrived at the embassy to find no line and a very relaxed atmosphere, especially when compared to the Brasilian NYC consolate. The paperwork was completed in a few minutes and we were told that we had to return in one day to pick up the freshly minted visa and passport. As soon as the visa was taked care of, we drove a few blocks to the US Commission to UNESCO Annual Conference.

The politicians were out in force, including one Undersecretary of State and one Assistant secretary of State for international programs. Maybe someday we will understand the difference and responsibilities each has but for now they are simply people who work in the State Department, under the Sectretary of State. It was encouraging to see politicians addressing the needs of people around the world, specifically, illiteracy, water management and supply, healthcare, gender inequalities and more efficient models for resource distribution.

Since we had to be in Washington DC for two days, we decided to spend one day at the conference and the second day sightseeing around the city. First stop was the National Cathedral. Brian loves cathedrals, the architecture, art, and sense of worship embedded in the structure.

It is the one of the largest cathedrals in the world!!

Any visit to DC is incomplete without a stop at the Mall . The sky was a little hazy, preventing a clear view of the entire mall at once, but we were able to walk a good deal of the length and take pictures of many of the monuments and buildings.

Graduation Party Number ????

2006-07-26T09:33:00.000-04:00

From the camping, we returned to our home to pack, pack, job search, pack, etc. As a break from the work, we traveled to Syracuse one more time to visit with friends and attend a surprise birthday party for one of Karen's friends, a party that also, suprisingly, became a graduation party for Karen. The food was great and time was too short.

Some of Karen's friends have some kids who are too cute and enjoyed the festivities (at least the cake part of the festivities). They were also exceptionally happy because they were almost finished with classes and were preparing to return to France for summer vacation.

It was a blast but we couldn't stay too late since we were leaving for Pennsylvania in the morning and the kids had to sleep.

Camping Lakeside

2006-07-26T09:26:00.000-04:00

So, from the Lilac Festival, we went to the lakeside and enjoyed a night of camping, campfires, smores, and ministry at a local church and with our friends at the campground. We had loved the time with people from our church plant and the time we had to walk along the lake and sit around the campfires. It was a little blustery but the sun decided to peak out from behind the clouds from time to time, illuminating the God's beautiful creation.

Observe the boy scouts and other men attempting to burn some wood so that we could feast on some smores and keep warm.

The Lake was a beautiful blue when the sun was hitting it.

The camper was crowded but it is always great to be in a crowd of friends and family.

Since Graduation, Part I

2006-07-26T09:19:00.000-04:00

Well, the past couple months have flown by, filled with fun times, wonderful memories and busy comings and goings. Sometime in May, we visited the Lilac Festival for a second time and enjoyed the wonderful taste of fresh kettle corn. MMMMMM!!! The bag is half as tall as Karen!

It was exciting to watch the kettle corn maker make his kettle corn.

We definitely couldn't eat a bag so big without some help from friends. We met up with some friends from Hougton who matched the flowering bushes amazingly well. It was a fun time had together, a time to catch up and eat some tasty popcorn. But we couldn't stay too late because we were off to our next appointment: working with our church plant and camping on the shore of Lake Ontario.

I AM SOOOOOOOOOOO PROUD OF MY WIFE!!!!!

2006-05-18T17:49:00.000-04:00

The festivities will be forgotten but Karen will always be honored as a Master of Spanish Literature, Language, and Culture; and she has survived, even conquered, two grueling years of academia. I am so proud of my intelligent, independently thinking, adventurous, courageous, bold, wise, caring, and loving wife!!

~Thank you God for giving to me such an amazing wife and for your grace and love during the past two years. Amen.

Billy Joel is not an ORATOR!

2006-05-18T17:19:00.000-04:00

With the wealth of educated minds in the world and the eloquence and intelligence of so many people, Syracuse chose a pop icon, Billy Joel, to deliver the commencement address. While bragging about his sixth honorary doctorate despite never graduating from HIGH SCHOOL, he encouraged the graduates to do "what you love, that way you will love what you do." And, when all else fails, you will have love to fall back on. Additionally, you will be good at what you do because you will love what you are doing and you will be rewarded for doing a good job because in America people are rewarded for doing a good job (e.g. Billy Joel). (Yes, he did reference his own life as a positive example of this stunning use of logic and argument.) Alongside Billy Joel, Syracuse awarded Doctorates to a businessman in charge of a multi-BILLION dollar industrial group, a Judge from the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals, an internationally known architect, and a named Professor from U Penn who is one of the most recognized experts in geriatrics. We were confused why these people were not even given a chance to speak. In the end, the crowd loved Billy Joel and the President of the University was swooning over him. We concluded that it was better to be popular in pop-culture than to be educated and well-thought.

Becca, climbing

2006-05-18T17:14:00.000-04:00

At the Lilac Festival, there are some very terribly temptingly inviting trees for climbing. Becca enjoyed conquering this one. Soon after the picture, the shoes came off and she got a little more serious in her monkeying.

Beautiful Lilacs

2006-05-18T15:05:00.000-04:00

A family day out, enjoying the Lilac Festival, with its TWO THOUSAND varieties of these aromatic flowering bushes. Oh what a beautiful day!

SHE IS OFFICIALLY A GRADUATE!!

2006-05-18T15:04:00.000-04:00

HAPPY HAPPY BIRTHDAY BEN!!!

2006-05-02T22:59:00.000-04:00

BEN IS 17!!!!!!!!!!!!!

FELIZ ANIVERSARIO!!!

Karen is now a Master of Spanish!!!

2006-05-02T22:45:00.000-04:00

Karen passed her thesis defense today with flying colors!! Her committee members loved her thesis and her presentation. So, a little more work and she will be finished with her degree!!

Easter Weekend!

2006-04-17T16:06:00.000-04:00

Easter Weekend was a great time for us. We spent Friday lunch with Karen's sister and brother-in-law, catching up, eating food prepared from a Brazilian cookbook, and chatting with Karen's parents over SKYPE, the most wonderful computer program.

After filling ourselves with good conversations and food, we left Seneca Falls and traveled to Pennsylvania to visit with Brian's recently enlarged family. Brian's sister, Christine, gave birth to Elizabeth Grace (7lb. 7oz., 20.5 in.) on Wednesday morning at 10:27 am. Aunt Karen is holding the three-day-old beautiful child in the picture below, with Big Proud Brother Seth admiring his little sister.

We enjoyed visits with most of Brian's extended family and spent much time in the outdoors, delighting in the warm (near 80's F) sunny weather. Hanna, our niece, had fun playing on the trampoline:

On Easter, we went to a "Son"rise service at Brian's Dad's church and discovered that it was an outdoor service. The service was short but beautiful with the rising sun providing an orange glow over the entire sky. Following the early service, we ate breakfast at the church and had a chance to meet Jason's girlfriend and enjoy some great conversations over some superb bacon and omelets made by Brian's dad. (The men of the church cook the breakfast.)

The cantata during the main service was simply an amazing spiritual event and a powerful evagelistic message. The songs were mostly original and the choir quite obviously practiced an incredible amount. It was entitled "Who do you say I am?" (written by Claire Cloninger & Robert Sterling). The lyrics served as a deeply meaningful reflection for Easter and the meaning and importance of Jesus's life, ministry, death, and resurrection.

It was a busy weekend, filled with late night conversations with family, games of Mexican Train (what makes it Mexican?), good food, time for worship, and no homework.

Now we are in the final stretch for Karen's degree!!!!

(more pictures: Sam's Club Shared Album: Easter 2006)

The Davises!

2006-04-10T10:16:00.000-04:00

It was too tempting. We couldn't resist. The Davises (well, two of them) visited Houghton College on Friday and we decided to make the trip to see them. It was a two hour drive in the rain, with gas prices hovering close to $2.70 and a thesis nearing completion, but it was worthwhile. The warmth of family and friends, the joy of maintaining and updating relationships, is worth so much more than all of the logical reasons that threatened to keep us in Seneca Falls. We were able to catch up with all of the Davis clan's comings and goings and it was a delight to spend an afternoon and dinner with them. We ate several mammoth two foot long chicken finger subs from Harringtons in Belfast, NY and talked about the paths God is revealing to us. So much fun and warmth in a small video store/market/restaurant

Couldn't resist posting a picture of Becca caught tongue in cheek.

The group shot (minus cameraman Mike) with a beautiful backdrop of video rentals.

Spring Sharathon 2006!

2006-04-10T10:00:00.000-04:00

We stopped by the FLN Headquarters on Saturday to participate in the Spring Sharathon 2006. It was great to finally see the faces that belong with the voices we hear everyday. John and Denny (below, left and right, respectively) were hilarious as usual and it was great for Karen to have a little respite from her thesis writing to laugh a little with the Morning Show gang. For stopping by at HQ, FLN gave everyone a book or CD for FREE!! Wow, just being there and participating was fun but the free CD made it all the better (that and the free coffee and doughnuts!). The entire premises were filled with wonderful smell of Chicken BBQ, northern style. We couldn't resist the temptation and our stomachs were getting pretty hungry. For the first time this year, we had chicken BBQ and it was tasty.

We enjoyed a scenic trip through the Finger Lakes, along the shores of Keuka and Seneca Lakes, as we traveled from FLN HQ to our apartment. The lakes were dazeling shades of blue under the bright springtime sunshine. All of the trees are beginning to glow with a reddish hint as the leaves begin to break from their hiding places. We spotted a few forsythia bushes beaming with their golden blossoms. It was beautiful to see the many signs of SPRING! SPRING IS HERE!!

Never Settle!!

2006-04-04T15:18:00.000-04:00

As we begin the transitioning process once more and the questions and fears regarding housing, jobs, the future, stability, etc. arise, I have been unable to remove from my mind the following quote from Erwin Raphael McManus:

"So many of us have abdicated our passion for obligations, as if passion is a luxury for the young, and we must all grow up one day. We, even if reluctantly, fall into place to live a life of conformity that we desribe as "maturity." We made acting like an adult synonymous with living apathetic lives. ... If apathy is adulthood and passion is childish, then I understand all the more the words of Jesus when he said that to enter His kingdom we must come as little children."

Oh, may we never be found lacking for passion and zeal for the things and plans God has in store for us. If "maturity" is a guise for conformity, may we never grow up. May we continue to dream big dreams, knowing that God has a much larger imagination than we and he has the resources and power to accomplish the largest of dreams. But so often the unimaginable plans of God are restricted or obstructed by our obligations and planning.

May we live with only those obligations established by God with the knowledge that he can change our lives dramatically in an instant. Such a life may sound like it is instable but it is not. Such a life requires much more faith and trust than a life governed by obligations, commitments, plans, structure, and expectations. But it does not lack stability; it is stabilized by the underlying and overarching Lordship of Christ. This is not to imply that obligations, commitments, plans, structure, and expectations are inherently currupt or inappropriate. It is when they obstruct, block, supercede and obscure the will of God that they are misplaced and must be removed or diminished.

We live in an apartment, with a lease by the month, with this thought in mind: we are not constrained to specific location. We are not committed or obligated to a specific location, a specific job, or a specific income level. We want to daily commit ourselves to the will of God. While we reside at this location, engage in the relationships, and work at our jobs, we will do so to the best of our abilities, making a commitment to remain at this place in our lives so long as God sees fit.

Oh Lord, do not let us settle for anything less than the fullness of your will for our lives.

Posted by Brian on his stairs because a soapbox lacks direction and advancement

Zebras are beautiful

2006-04-04T15:16:00.000-04:00

(More Pictures: Sam's Club Shared Album: Florida Trip 2006)

Florida Fun in the Sun

2006-04-04T14:11:00.000-04:00

For Spring Break, Karen and I hopped on a plane (AirTran) and flew to Baltimore Washington International Airport. We didn't like the airport very much and we didn't know anyone in the area, so we decided to hop on another airplane (AirTran) and fly to Orlando. See, this makes more sense because Orlando is warm in March and we have loving family members who live north of Orlando, in a little town or spralling housing development called Debary. (Don't stress the "De" too hard or Paula will cringe.) Uncle Steph and Aunt Paula showed us many many beautiful sites in Central Florida, including many (hundreds of thousands) Harley Davidsons rumbling down the roads between Orlando and Daytona, probably causing the state of Florida to settle and sink another inch. They also showed us some natural springs, plenty of beautiful houses, (sub)tropical landscapes and the ocean.

Here's a picture of Steph and Paula enjoying the blooming bushes of DeLeon springs, after we ate a hearty meal of 5 grain pankakes!!

We met the emperor of the beach and Paula decided to feed the emperor some grapes.

We enjoyed the fresh fruits and vegetables.... mmm.... strawberries...

Brian was introduced to the Alliance Retirement Community, not that he is thinking about retirement, rather to show him where Karen's grandparents lived.

And he met Karen's grandfather's closest surviving relatives, who were preparing to travel to Japan

And Karen took a picture of Brian and his dream car, a LEGO Ferrari, at LEGOLand Disney!!

When we had seen and done everything in the Orlando area, we were ready to travel to West Palm Beach (Royal Palm Beach Gardens) to visit Karen's cousins and their adorable and lively (except when sick) children.

Caleb and Rachel were waiting on the sidewalk most of the afternoon for us to arrive.

We went with Jon and Aly on a double date to a Cuban Restaurant to have some Pork with Mojo Sauce and Rice and Beans. It was delicious. The next day, we went to the beach. Jon was planning to surprise everyone by taking a vacation day from school but Rachel surprised everyone when she awoke sick and couldn't go to the beach. In a selfless act, Jon stayed home with Rachel and the rest of us went to the beach. It wasn't as fun without them and we missed them as we played in the waves and Jacob chased the birds.

The final day of our trip was spent at Lion Country Safari. Caleb and Brian decided to become lions, but this didn't last too long because they missed their family members who didn't want to be lions.

The elephants were some of the most fun animals to see in the park. It seems that they are living any boy's dream, playing in water and then playing in the dirt:

Karen was asked to give the giraffe a birthday present and Brian tried to tell the 2 year old 11 foot tall toddler that the banana tastes better without the peel. But, the long purple tongue had already rapped around the fruit and it was probably being digested before he had a chance to finish the thought.

The lory was beautiful and we had fun feeding the pretty birds a tablespoon of sugar water.

We had a blast and enjoyed spending time with family. But, after a week of fun, it was time to hop on a plane and come back to Rochester, to finish our schooling and enjoy the coming signs of spring.

Thought for the day...

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From Philip Yancy:

"... I remembered a remark by Lewis, who drew a distinction between communicating with a society that hears the gospel for the first time and one that has embraced and then largely rejected it. A person must court a virgin differently than a divorcée, said Lewis. One welcomes the charming words; the other needs a demonstration of love to overcome inbuilt skepticism.

I thought, too, how tempting it can be—and how distracting from our primary mission—to devote so many efforts to rehabilitating society at large, especially when these efforts demonize the opposition. (After all, neither Jesus nor Paul showed much concern about cleaning up the degenerate Roman Empire.) As history has proven, especially in times when church and state closely mingle, it is possible for the church to gain a nation and in the process lose the kingdom."

From Christianity Today, November 2005, Vol. 49, No. 11, Page 128.

It seems like the evangelical church needs to be defined as a political action group more than a religious organization. Some days I feel as though the church is more concerned with saving the culture than saving souls. There are some important issues, such as abortion, that must be addressed politically and such action does confront the present culture. The church is not equally politically active however regarding issues such as poverty, basic human rights of migrants and immigrants and the poor and fiscal responsibility. The Bible definitely addresses these issues and the church is responsible for addressing these issues: individually, as a church body, corporately through denominations and church collaborations and cooperatively through the political process.

This is not a new idea; there are many sociallly minded Christian writers, pastors, and churches. The sad side of this discussion is the lack of action and care and demonstable love of Christians, specifically evagelicals, seen in the general culture. For sure, there are specific instances, such as the response to Hurricane Katrina, which demonstrate the love and care of Christ to the culture but the issues must be addressed more consistently and even politically.

In general, the message observed by many people outside of the church is one of neglect and disdain; this isn't just some "left wing media bias." This is an honest impression and feeling of more than half of the world's population. We defend the rights of the unborn but fail to defend the rights of immigrants, migrants and the poor. We defend the definition of marriage while constantly redefining the global economy to fill the wallets of executives. This is not to imply that abortion and marriage are not important issues. This is to imply that there are many issues that the church does not address but the Bible explicitly commands us to take a firm stance and love, love the poor, the weak, the neglected, the helpless, the outcasts. We must learn to love people as Christ does, even to the point of laying down our lives, our wealth, our security, our freedoms, our "American dream".

Todd Agnew, "My Jesus":

Which Jesus do you follow?
Which Jesus do you serve?
If Ephesians says to imitate Christ,
Why do you look so much like the world?

-Posted by Brian, on his soapbox

March Already

2006-03-02T16:44:00.000-05:00

We have been busy. Christmas season flowed into New Years which flowed into the new semester for both of us. During the holiday time, Brian was busy preparing for a conference in San Jose and Karen was busy working on her thesis. Wow... two months of busy summed up in two sentences. February was filled with more thesis work for both of us and visits from Brian's dad and Becca up to Seneca Falls and weekend trips to Syracuse and Rochester. March will be busy as Karen approaches her thesis deadline and searches for jobs, and we travel to Florida for a brief rest.

Christmas was split between Pennsylvania, where we were constantly in amazement due to Hanna's cuteness, and Michigan. It was great to see the grandparents, parents, siblings, cousins, aunts, uncles, dogs, cats, etc.

Notice the musical talent of our niece Hanna!!

We spent Christmas day in Michigan and worshipped in a beautiful candlelight service. The Clark and Myers women were complimented for their "angelic" singing and the peace of the season was evident in the stillness of the moment (there weren't too many in Michigan). The day was even more wonderful when we had the opportunity to Skype (new word for next year's Oxford Dictionary) Papai e Mamae en Brasil. Sitting around a computer, talking into a microphone, is becoming a very important practice in our household (It's FREE!!!).

New Years was spent in Boston, with Karen's aunt and cousins. We went to First Night Boston and enjoyed an Iranian Music concert and fireworks over the Boston Harbor.

After a bout with the flu, we returned home to pick up our books and start in on another semester.
Karen started her final semester and Brian started his 2nd century (actually eighth). Soon thereafter, Brian deserted Karen for a weekend to go to warm (warmer) and sunny Cal-I-Forn-I-A for an exciting weekend of sociallizing with fellow scientists. To take a break from the excitement, he spend a day walking around the streets of San Francisco, all the while trying to walk off a Brazilian Churrasco...

We spent February trying to catch up with our work and our relationships. Brian's dad to celebrate the elder Winey's birthday. We spent a Sunday afternoon with Lori after eating a delicious Puerto Rican meal. And we went to Brian's advisor's house on February 12 for a holiday party, held on the first day that everyone from the lab could attend... We had some great conversations with Lori, (left) and Yan, Brian's advisor (right).

So we are trying to keep up with life and take notice of the many many blessings God places in each of our days. It is a blast and it is crazy and it is all under the sovereignty of the Almighty creator of the universe. The next few months will see us traveling more, going to Florida, PA and possibly Brasil, moving back to Rochester, being part of the leadership team of a new church plant and applying for teaching jobs for Karen for next year. We are praying praying and praying. Hey, what good does it do to give God control of the rudder or wheel (or whatever your preferred metaphor) if you aren't willing to move? Thank you for praying with us and for us. Until the next update, whenever that might be....

Christmas Season

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We hope that your celebrations are filled with the joy of the Lord that can only be ours because God chose to dwell with us, and continues to dwell with us. May the days leading to Christmas be filled with awe as we celebrate this amazing gift from the creator of the universe.

Walter's Birthday Party

2005-10-22T22:08:00.000-04:00

Becca flashing her smile for the camera.

It was a blast seeing Laura and Walter and Becca this weekend at Walter's Birthday Party.

Link to Walter's Birthday Party Pictures

We are also enjoying the annual missions conference at our church, featuring Jack and Jean Shannon.

It's been a busy weekend but we have been blessed with many fun memories. And it has been a blast playing with our new digital camera.

Fall has arrived, Squirrels are having fun!

2005-10-20T15:21:00.000-04:00

Fall has arrived and the leaves are beginning to change. It is a beautiful time of year and we are thankful for the colors of the changing leaves, the crisp clean fall air, and the times of celebration coming in the next few months (and the heaters in our house that keep us warm) !!

I went to Shanghai...

2005-10-16T16:48:00.000-04:00

Yeah... this wall wouldn't stay up unless I supported it... China is a great country. The food is good if you find some good restaurants (beware the street vendors if you aren't used to the germs). The architecture in Shanghai is simply amazing and new; most buildings are younger than I am. The culture is rich and, yeah, I got to meet Steven Chu, Nobel Laureate. It was a quick trip to the Orient that would have been better and longer if Karen came with me...she had classes at the University.

We've been to Atlanta...

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What a time...
It was a blast spending a few days this summer with Joel and Angie Ballew down in Rabun Gap, GA...about two hours outside of Atlanta. There is a great churrasco, Carro de Boi, that is pretty cheap if you go for lunch.

It was good....

2005-05-24T15:46:00.000-04:00

Bem vindos!
Welcome to our blog.