little baby chachi

we were getting ready to eat dinner at my sister's house the other night and we kept hearing a high-pitched squealing in the back yard. when we went to investigate we found a nervous but very friendly baby squirrel under the sea-grape trees; he gave the air two quick sniffs before running right up to us. his teeth weren't strong enough to bite into the nuts we gave him, but his little feet were perfectly capable of scurrying up my leg and investigating his new friend.
thanks to photo-lovin sisters i can share the moment with you guys!!

i'm can't upload any of the great little videos of chachi becoming acquainted with us, but here are two of my favorite pics:

we brought chachi inside on my shoulder breifly before dinner and after that he'd run back up to the sliding door and squeal when we set him outside. so we made him a box and by the next day could see that his mother was not around... but a little brother was!

we check in on them in lisa's backyard though they won't intake the liquids we try to give them, and if we leave the backdoor open chachi will still run in and follow you around till we help him to the door.

they are both little heartbreakers, and I don't think I'll ever be able to look at a "pesky" squirrel the same again.

me and my mom will be drivin out early tomorrow mornin back to Raleigh. I'm lookin forward to seein everybody lots!! and yes they have made sure i leave the squirrels here ...

- kp

Apo-kata-what-a!?!?

In addition to KP's cycling marathon, I have a whiffle ball trophy to add to the IDR blog. This afternoon my fellow Divinity School students came together for BBQ and a whiffle ball tournament. It was a great time to meet some new faces and greet some friends from this summer. The teams (aptly named A, B, C, and D) played each other and the the only team to win all their games was Team A, my new friends and I. Some of the upper classman decided the team's name (Team A) stood for apokatostasis and begin to create cheers in earnest. Of course, the other newbies and I had no clue what that meant. Never fear! We discovered it is a Greek word that roughly translates into "the end shall be like the beginning." After arriving back home I grabbed my hand pocket dictionary of theological terms (NOT A JOKE: It has already come in handy and classes haven't even begun!) So here's what it had to stay about my team's name :

apokatoastasis: A Greek word loosely translated as "restoration." In the Old Testament the Hebrew equivalent of the term referred to the return of Israel from exile (See Jeremiah 16:15). In the New Testament apokatastasis speaks of a future time when God in Christ will restore all things in creation according to God's original intention. Some theologians have taken this to mean that at the end of history all humankind (and perhaps even Satan and his demons) will be saved. Generally, Christian theology has rejected the idea of universal salvation.

Additionaly, one fellow student remarked that it would be like all the hair you've ever had cut off with come back at the endtimes and we will all have heavenly afros.

I think I'm going to like these people a lot.

The past several days have been a whirlwind. I've been through orientation, registration, campus tours, and various extracurricular adventures. I have bought my requisite 30+ books and poured over the syllabi that have been available to me. The nerdy part of me is quite excited!

Some of you may remember Andrew Tatum. He visited RMC for a few Sundays. He graduated from Campbell and he and his wife are in the process of moving to Durham. Well, Andrew and I are not only fellow Dukies, but we are in the same Spiritual Formation group. Our SP groups are about 10 people with which we meet weekly over the entire year. It was great to have a a friendly face to hang out with during orientation.

I also met a 2nd year student who goes to Chapel Hill Mennonite (He know you both, Karen and Janelle!!) and I shared with him my love for RMC. CHMC meets on Sunday evenings so I might get my Mennonite fix regularly after all. I know it won't be the same as RMC (BTW: HUGE Shout out to Eric and the SA fellas who helped me move. Y'all are amazing!!!!)

I hope you all are doing well and I hope to visit soon. Actually, I think Karen Metzler is scheduling me to speak to the Journeys Sunday School Class sometime around the end of September. Soon might come sooner than I think!

The Graduate School Adventure begins tommorow!!

Peace,
Jodi

Destination: The Southernmost Tip

So this past Thursday me and two sisters Natalie and Lisa had planned to make a 30 mile bike ride to Marathon since we all had a day we could do it together. We left early in the morning in order to beat the Florida heat, and I brought my IDR tshirt with me in order to take a picture feeding the giant tarpon at Robbies.

So the trip was going great, and it was such a beautiful morning for a bike ride.

So beautiful in fact, and our feet were feeling so light, that while conquering the upcoming bridge in this picture it occurred to us that we wanted to try and ride the rest of the way to Key West.

(lunch time!)

My sister had been planning a trip to Key West for a little while, over a two-day period of time. This became a sort of spontaneous, self-initiated marathon, that none of us had trained for... ! Not being the Keys native I once was, the 'couple' extra miles in the blazing heat were definitely threatening to knock me off my bike the last 20 miles...

(almost there!!)

But we made it, and even if my mom was the only fan waiting for us at the end, we all definitely felt like stars for making it all the way through.

It was a beautiful journey to the southernmost tip of the continental US;
an event of which i was proud to say
been there
done that
brought the t-shirt.

:-) - KP

Finally...

Hey everyone! I'm finally putting out a blog...geeze louise. Crazy to think of Tiffany in such a different place and seeing some of the effects of the earthquake.

Life here is going well. Been busy with work, thesis, house sitting for the parents of a good college friend, things like that. Right now I'm living in Alexandria, VA in a nice house with an almost-too-friendly cat that just won't stop licking me. That's normal behavior for him - Simba. Maybe someday he'll learn to roar instead of just lick. Who knows.

I remember Janelle requested a "moving in" blog. To tell you the truth, we still aren't really moved in all that well. Everyone's been traveling a lot and wrapping up things at previous schools (except me...ugh, but I'm house sitting) so we all haven't been in the house very consistently. But I will put up some pictures of the move from June 21.


So here me and my roommate (John Creasy, nuclear engineering Texas A&M) were unloading my hitch. I had that U-Haul, my car on the tow dolly, and then (I think) my bicycle on the back of my car so that amused me greatly. You'll see a bigger and better picture of that rear end soon.

Here's us posing together. I almost created a disaster with my car by forgetting to take the chains off connecting my car's tire wells to the tow dolly. I went in reverse a little, felt the snag on something and John saw what was going on...oops! A little too eager to get my car off that thing.

So next are the "going through the threshold" pictures going into the house:


(the promised rear end...hehehhe)
I'm smiling right now kinda like I am in the picture

His girlfriend Angela was taking the pictures. I also had a couple of friends come down from Baltimore to help with the move later that evening, which was really nice. A mini college reunion.

I like it a lot here and miss RMC and all of you in IDR. Things are good, thesis is frustrating as usual and I can't wait to be free, but it will get done. I like the people I work with, the roomies are great, and I'll be traveling some for work this calendar year. Prague at the end of September, possibly Burkina Faso in Oct/Nov (wonder how much Tresor knows about the Burkinabe), and possibly Ukraine I don't know when. Not a bad deal!

I have some funny/interesting Mennonite-themed stories to tell so this will serve as my reminder to put them up sometime next.


Blessings to you all and I should come to Raleigh either in September or October so I will track you down and make you hang out with me!!!

----Ethan

Pray for Chincha Today

The area of Peru where Tiffany is serving in the Peace Corp. has suffered a 7.9 earthquake yesterday, and many people across that area of Peru have reportedly died. See Tiffany Stokes' personal blog for her discription of the city of Chincha, July 29th (link below right), which has apparently suffered a great deal of damage.

Tiff, we'll keep Peru in our prayers as recovery efforts continue near you.

Isaiah 40. - Janelle

Swim Against the Current

The IDR T-shirts induce questions about our faith.
And some of them have now travelled to Texas, Oregon, Indiana, DC, Florida, Canada, Peru and more!

Big thanks to Caitlyn, Cynthia, and others for the work you did creating and ordering them!

"Swim against the current," Mennos. : ) - Janelle

Another new IDR chick!

Jason and Joni welcomed their new daughter Harper May Boone at 7:57pm on Wednesday, August 8. She weighed in at 8lbs 4oz. Congratulations!!

My Living Prayers

Greetings y'all (yes they say that in Texas too)! It's good to be back with you here in our little corner of cyberspace. Things are good here in Austin - and I'm mostly feeling settled. At least as much as one can in a totally new city with a new job looming....at least the boxes are empty!

All throughout this transition the song A Living Prayer by Ron Block has been in my mind. I shared it with Worship commission and Servant Leaders before I left, and Craig played it at the goodbye party. I wanted to post the words here, because they have been so meaningful to me as I've said goodbye.

A Living Prayer

In this world I walk alone
With no place to call my home
But there’s One who holds my hand
The rugged road through barren lands

The way is dark, the road is steep
But He’s become my eyes to see
The strength to climb, my griefs to bear
The Savior lives inside me there

In Your love I find release
A haven from my unbelief
Take my life and let me be
A living prayer, my God, to Thee

In these trials of life I find
Another Voice inside my mind
He comforts me, and bids me live
Inside the love the Father gives

In Your love I find release
A haven from my unbelief
Take my life and let me be
A living prayer, my God, to Thee

Ron Block notes on his website that "To be a living prayer is to be indwelt by Christ, used by him to manifest God's character and goodness to others in our circle of influence". So often in the last few months I've realized that my friends at RMC, and especially in IDR, have been living prayers to me -wonderful reflections of God's love and goodness. And your examples and encouragement help me be open to the ways Christ can use me to share that light with others. Thanks for that. In these days of newness and lots of unknown it's so good to know that there are friends thinking of me and praying for me. Know that you all are in my thoughts and prayers as well

Peace, Lisa

PS - A Living Prayer is performed by Alison Krauss & Union Station on the 2004 Album "Lonely Runs Both Ways" - excellent!

New baby Rodriguez

Hi all -

For those of you who weren't at church on Sunday, we have a new IDR baby! Adelyn Olivia Rodriguez was born at 9:30pm on August 4th to Becky and Eloy. Congratulations to the happy new parents!!

-Karin