trying to keep the blog from dying

So I am beginning to feel that our blog has become a little bit lame. Mostly because it isn't updated very often so now that we are finally settled in somewhere for the forseeable future, we'll try to be better at it.

After a year of wandering and being dependent on the hospitality and grace of others (for which we are entirely grateful), we are finally home. We moved to Chicago three weeks ago and Dan started working at the ECC denominational offices in Church Growth and Evangelism (Congregational vitality to be more precise). He loves the work and is really enjoying the opportunity he has to assist churches and to be a resources to pastors. (I really am not very good at describing what exactly he does but suffice it to say, he is happy with this call). We found an apartment and have some great neighbors and love our new neighborhood. It still doesn't quite feel like this is for real or for the long term, but I think it will just take time. Hopefully it will be sooner than later.

I'm working up in Gurnee for April and May but still on the hunt for real full time employment. This whole job search has been a source of discouragement and irritation for me throughout the past few years. Unfortunately, this discouragement doesn't generally translate to motivation for me but Dan has been great at encouraging me and providing that extra kick in the butt when I've needed it (though I haven't always wanted it).

After so long, I think we both finally feel at peace. At rest and contented with where we are. The last piece of the puzzle is that whole job thing but at least, I'm not totally unemployed. That helps. So life is pretty good right now.

And just for fun, here's a picture of us from Easter (yes, that is North Park in the background). We were invited to join the Cisneros family for their celebration and had a great time.

I want answers!

I (annie) am a bibliophile. Reading is one of my favorite things to do and has been as far back as I can remember. I can lose myself in a good story, staying up way to late just to read one more chapter. But as much as I read, not everything deeply affects or changes me. There have certainly been a few times in my life where I have come to the end of a book and have had to pause just to say "wow, that was amazing." Gone with the Wind (Margaret Mitchell), Roots (Alex Haley), East of Eden (John Steinbeck), Tess of the D'urbervilles (Thomas Hardy), and Wives and Daughters (Elizabeth Gaskell) are a few such books I have encountered in my life. Books that have made me think, made me laugh, made me swoon. Books that have changed the way I view the world and which I either have already read more than once or plan to read again. Theology, however, is one area in which my reading has left me feeling a bit incomplete.

I recently finished reading Surprised by Hope by N.T. Wright. Dan had been encouraging me to read it for quite awhile before I finally got around to picking it up and now, having finished it five months later I feel as though I am a better person for it. It is a very complex book that deals with some big ideas and issues, all revolving around the idea of heaven and the hope we as christians purport to hold. I do not feel equal to the task of writing a summary of the book so I am not going to do that but I will say that I feel like I got some answers. One of his main ideas is that every good thing we do here on earth helps to build the coming kingdom of God. It matters! And not just in a "do good because Christians are supposed to do good" kind of way. In a "I am a vital member of God's kingdom and the work I do here on earth is important" kind of way. I have struggled for years with not feeling like there were real, solid reasons behind the way I was supposed to live. This gives me hope. I feel like I am a part of something larger than myself and that gives me hope. It might sound kind of silly but it makes me feel more alive, more whole, more purposeful. And so I will keep on keeping on, now with something more solid to keep me motivated.