It's been a while...

So I have decided keeping up on two blogs is exhausting when truthfully its probably not that bad I just am lazy and would rather work on our photo blog, which if you haven't seen it is:

http://kavodphotography.blogspot.com

So here we are, its November and we have officially started the call process for finding a job after seminary. This has always been a daunting thought for me because as much as we aren't looking for MY job, we are looking for a church community we can be a part of not to mention agreeing upon the idea of listening to God's voice well enough to determine this indefinite place is or is not where He is calling us.

We are trying to make it through one and half semesters still in love with each other, still in love with our call and stronger through all of it. Truthfully its easier said than done, so we are praying, not as a last resort but as a vital life line. We would be so bold as to ask you to do the same because we understand that this is not about us. It is about the Kingdom breaking into the world, it is about redeeming creation and it is about looking outside of ourselves to remember those who have come before us and hoping we leave light for those come after us.

My younger brother Micah is a brilliant guy and he and his fabulous new wife were brave enough to suggest that we as brothers and sisters don't go through the ever-difficult struggle of getting each other Christmas gifts and instead pool our funds and give them to someone in need. Both Noah and I were moved to tears by the suggestion and took the time to remember that Christ did not come for glamor of a holiday but to feed the widows and orphans and to love those society called outcasts and to be a shining beacon of hope for a coming Kingdom.

We are honored to accept a call to be heralds of that Kingdom but nevertheless we're examining the depth of our humanity in the fact we just want to know... or maybe I just want to know where we'll be, when we'll get there and what it will be like. I want to know if we'll be within driving distance of our nieces and nephew or will we be close enough to the pacific to smell it in the morning or none of the above?

So for now we have hope and the knowledge that He who has begun a good work will remain faithful to complete it and the faith that it will not be complete with a new job or a new home but will continue to work.... until Kingdom come.

Speaking of the Kingdom... there is nothing more amazing than God showing His love to us through two people who are meant to be together and Micah and Cassie epitomize that, so here, enjoy some pics from their wedding.

Much love,

Ali

Homecoming

A little over a week ago, which now seems like forever and a day, we had the distinct pleasure of heading home to Oregon to see our family and friends there. It was lovely. People keep telling me the weather in Oregon is always raining and dreary and never warm at the coast, never.

Apparently I have brought good weather on my four excursions to the Pacific NorthWest. It was sunny and in the 90s inland and in the 70s by the coast, the ocean agrees with me. Which, despite the fact I am a tried and true Minnesotan, began to challenge my notion of home.

The first time I saw the ocean I was in love. It wasn't on the rocky outcrops of Oregon beaches, no it was a dreary day in Rhode Island on a rather mediocre New England beach. For years I had never truly understood the metaphor of God's love like an ocean but that day, stepping into something bigger than I could fathom I understood the juxtaposition of fear and grace, love and power. I jumped in knowing I wanted nothing more than to be engulfed in something that could lose me in an instant but rocked me gently instead. I fell in love with the ocean that day, I fell more in love with its Creator.

Back to Oregon, climbing to the top of a waterfall that plummets gracefully 620 feet Matt Dyment asked me if it was good to be back in Oregon. I replied that the more often I come the weaker my argument to move back to Minnesota becomes.

The truth is we are continuously asked what we're doing or where we're going after seminary and the hardest part of that question is the fact we don't know. Everyone who knows us realizes we aren't people who like to "over-plan." We are OK with the idea of last minute... most of the time. Right now living in the tension between the already and the not yet is stressful, it's straining and it's both building and challenging our faith.

The fact is, we don't know but we are doing our best to live deliberately in the now and leave the future up the One who created time.

So for now we wait until we find our next home whether it be Oregon, Minnesota or nowhere near either one. Until then, we will revel in the beauty of the oceans, the waterfalls and lakes we call home and long for while we're away.

--Ali

Making it more than a hobby

So for a year now we have been playing with the idea of making  a hobby into more than simply that.  Photography has been a way for us to discover something we can do together and do well.

It seems that becoming a photographer has become the latest craze because of the onset of affordable digital cameras and the influx of sites like shutterfly and flickr.  Every time we log onto facebook it seems that someone new has started their own photography business.  For all of you who know us you know we are not about keeping up with the trends but this is one we cannot help but seem to embrace.

So this is us, not a business but an art form that has brought us together and challenged us to be better.  This is our website for now on flickr

We hope you enjoy it and let us know what you think but most of all let us know how you are.

The beginning, a year late

Today is April 19, 2009, thirteen days short of our one year anniversary and how time has flown.

One year ago today Noah was honored to perform the marriage of Aaron and Carissa Mooney, a great couple from the youth group at Hope Covenant in Grand Forks. It was a surreal experience for the both of us, a glimpse into the future not simply from the bride and groom perspective but from the pastoral angle as well.

It gave us a view of life to come, of a calling into ministry that was impossible to ignore but still difficult to come to grips with. Of course we would have rather been in Minnesota with my family or in Oregon with Noah's, but here we are.

And on that first day in a 17 foot UHaul towing our ever-stylish 1993 Honda Accord behind us, merging at O'Hare into some of the most insane traffic I have ever seen I began to cry. Why did God bring us here? It smells bad in this city and the people honk at each other, it feels crowded and I'm not used to being closed in.

Then I looked over at my new husband, patiently and nervously trying to maneuver all our worldly possessions through the Edens Expressway and I remembered that this was not mine it was ours. He sacrificed his complete content in Oregon to be in the city, he sacrificed it again to be in Grand Forks and I remembered I would give anything to be by him, even in Chicago.

So even though merging at O'Hare still scares me, Chicago is our home for now, imperfect as it is. It serves as a daily reminder that this imperfect earth is only our home for now as well, His Kingdom is coming and we are empowered and humbled at such a great call for us, to bring that Kingdom into this world we live in every day. We are here to love each other and those around us, to help stop the bleeding of a dying world and be Christ to those who need someone 'with a little skin on them." (Thanks Aaron Espe)

To all of you who are Christ to us every day, we cannot rightly express our gratitude but it is eminent.

So I hope you come back, look at pictures, read the thoughts of two individuals who are one life and can't help but process externally. Most of all let us know how you are, how we can pray for you and what God is doing in your life.

- Ali