And the whirlwind is in the thorn trees

Happy Birthday, Michelle (my sister)! Please leave a birthday message for my older (not by much) sister. Now that we're older it seems like her and I have been able to build a closer relationship, thanks be to God! Pray for her new job, living in a new city, and wisdom and love as she builds relationship with family and friends. I love you, Michelle!

Well, the whirlwind of a visit to the great state of Kansas is now over and I'm back to the routine of research and bicycle rides. On the visit I caught up with family: I stayed at my mother's home and spent quite a bit of time with my little brother. My mother was able to take a couple of days off and spend extra time with me, which made for some great family time. Most notable was when Matt and I were riding bieks around the neighborhood. I would ride from house to house describing stories from my childhood, most of which he had never heard before. It was great to have those memories flood back. Here's one that I didn't share with Matt:

A bunch of us boys (Brian, Patrick, Evan) liked to build forts, ride bikes and so forth. Back behind the houses on Evan's block is an open meadow-type area, scattered with trees. It seemed pretty big, from what I remember. We would ride our bicycles through the mended and pruned lawns, saws, knives and rope in hand. Most of our time was spent cutting down branches, and whole trees at that, to peice together a fort - a place that we called our own. As I recall, the fun was in construction and ammending the lodge rather than 'chillin' in our villa on the lawn.

Back to the Kansas trip . . . While in T-town my grandparents hosted a nice Memorial dinner in honor of Memorial Day, of course, and a couple of recent birthdays. I'm also quite thankful for the time I was able to spend with Jesse, Craig and Casie prior to their departure for Southeast Asia (Of course, it was great to see Kristin, too!). Jesse and I were overseas together last year and he's leading a team back to the same University this summer. A short reunion with my high school buddies also came about - we reminisced about old times over chinese food and my home-brewed beer.

The second half of the trip was spent in Kansas City. I had some awesome pizza the first night as I caught up with friends from Olathe (guys/gals from my old Bible study). Chris and Todd, from Another Man's Treasure, gave me a private concert in Chris's home. They played new stuff, old stuff, and took request - it rocked! Todd even played a cover of Caedmon's Call's song "Bus Driver." I stayed at my sister and her husbands new apartment that night and spent most of Friday with Michelle. I even had the chance to go with her to pick up her new puppy (Michelle, why haven't you sent me pics of her yet???). The rest of the weekend was spent at my dad's house. Saturday evening we had a nice dinner at a Japanese steak house with my stepmom's parents and Mike and Michelle. I don't have the chance to spend enjoyable time with my family like that very often. Sunday afternoon Justin and Jason showed me the building where their new church is located. We spent a great amount of time talking about the Lord's good work in our lives and our hope for His future accomplishments.

Now that I'm back in IL my time has been spent bicycling and in the lab/field doing research. Praise God for how motivating his love is! My time in Ephesians has also been fulfilling, while the study of the Covenants has been enlightening. My friends and I also had a party on Tuesday to unveil Michael and my's beer. It tastes even better now that the carbonation has built up! This week has been good and relaxing, praise God!