the finishing touches!

                 The Peacock Mural was completed Sunday, September 16, 2012, around 5:20 p.m.!  There was a nice article in the Waterloo Courier yesterday morning that you can read here.

Isaiah puts finishing touches on the wall

Nathan adds some spots and feathers on the top level

Finished at 5:19 p.m. Sunday, September 16, 2012!

Jayda  T.added a little note  on the white board to Orchard's kitchen crews  as she helped prepared snacks one day for Youth Art Team.

Megan was Sara's personal assistant through much of the mural work

Rebekah admires Jayda H's fine brush skills 

Hannah steadies the letter for Sanaiah

Stop in the Plaid Peacock Gift Shop!  Awesome handmade gifts and art! 

Heidi, the team's director, coaches artists on the jobs in front of them.

Alizae and Bradley teaming up

Snack break!

Alex sits alongside Jayda as she paints

We love Tank, the Plaid Peacock beloved pup!

picnic in the park..a place for young people to serve!

As  I walked around Picnic in the Park yesterday, I loved seeing all of the young people serving others.  From wiping tables to rolling napkins around silverware, to serving the food and drink, to playing with the youngest, it was awesome to see young people practicing hospitality and expressing faith in action as we worshiped and served together.

reconciling all things

I'm getting excited to attend CCDA's National Conference Sept. 26-29 in Minneapolis (click here if you want to learn more).

Two speakers this year in Thursday's morning large session are Emmanuel Katongole and Chris Rice.  I read their book Reconciling All Things last year, and it was probably my favorite book I read last year. Loved it. It was rich and soul-deep; kind of like a Henry Nouwen type of book.  Felt grief and longing, peace and hope wash over me as I read it.  Just a brief bit of it below...

"...pilgrims are slowly confronted by a different world that begins to interrupt their own.  Pilgrimage is a posture very different from mission.  The goal of a pilgrim is not  to solve but to search, not so much to help as to be present.  Pilgrims do not rush to a goal, but slow down to hear the crying.  They are not as interested  in making a difference as they are in making new friends.  The pace is slower, more reflective.

Pilgrims set out not so much to assist strangers but to eat with them.  They journey in the wisdom about transformation held in the Rwandan proverb, "If you cannot hear the mouth eating, you cannot hear the mouth crying."  There are so many efforts to make a difference that do not make us different.  It is not the people who paint a house in a strange place but rather the people who make friends and are transformed who make the deeper difference over the long haul.  Pilgrims return home as new people.  Changed by their journeys, they change the world where they live."

Purchase through Amazon here.

almost!

gettin' there!

Helen went to Sherwin Williams, CF, to get our  paint for  the day.  She  met Cherylyn, the Sherwin Williams employee, and she even got to help mix the paint!

Hannah, a UNI friend, supported JR in his painting on Saturday morning.

Kasius paints while Morgan cheers him on.

Alizae the tall.

Josh worked all day at the mural.

Morgan traced Lance in order to add his silhoutte profile to the peacock spots!

Go Corin!  Thanks for your support, Alex!

Isaiah paints on feathers.

The mural got new colors today!  "Exuberant" pink and  mustardy yellow!  Awesome!

The scaffolding will soon move to the left!

Sanaiah gets her profile traced for painting

Elijiah

Saturday's work crew was amazing!  We had many students and grown ups helping throughout the nine hour day, and  great progress was made.  As I watch this wall transform, I think about how Jesus can transform people's heart and lives, and he can also transform spaces and places!  He makes all things new!

peacock progress (days five and six)

It's been great to see the progress the students from Youth Art Team are making on the peacock mural project in Downtown Waterloo next to the Public Market!  Here's what I have loved seeing over the last few days:

1.  A dad and mom came to volunteer and support their children at the wall.  It was so neat to see them working as a team to measure for feathers and to see Dad and Mom encourage their children.

2. I love seeing the various ages working on this.  Last night, Robert, the oldest team member at age 18, worked on some detail drawing, while Aeryz, age 5, painted a broad section of the wall in light teal.  How amazing that this entire mural will be painted by young people ages 5-18!

3. I love seeing adult volunteers go one-on-one with students to hold paint, coach, encourage students.  There are amazing grown-up volunteers who are cheering the students on.

4.  Yesterday, two youth art team students came to our church to make sandwiches and cut watermelon for snacks during painting.  Two days ago, three different youth art team students thought up and typed a letter of request to another paint store, asking the store to consider donating paint and getting on board the project.  They included pictures of the wall in progress, and they even went to the paint store to deliver the letter and pictures.  The paint store agreed to their request and enthusiastically joined the effort.  I'm reminded how much students can do if they are given some direction, coaching, support and encouragement.

who is ? this man

Due to being on vacation, I missed the Global Leadership Summit this summer.  Upon return, I heard a lot of reports on speakers and highlights...one being John Ortberg's session, "Who is ? this Man" taken from his book by the same title.

Thankfully, a friend recently sent me a link to Ortberg's six part teaching series, "Who is this Guy?" at Menlo Park Presbyterian in June/July 2011.  I've listened to the first four teachings and look forward to the next two.

As I was listening to the fourth...."Dignity"....I was daydreaming about how I think every Christian church should give their pastor(s) a six week sabbatical to recharge, study, pray, and during those six weeks, this series should be shown from the front.   Powerfully important.  You can find the teachings here:
http://mppc.org/whoisthisman