• Archive of "memphis" Category

    Some Me Stuff

    February 4, 2009 // 8 Comments »

    It’s been a while since I did some sort of a, “here’s what’s going on with me” sort of post.  Well, the wait is over.

    Where to begin?  Remember my interview with famed, “Amy G.”?  Let’s start there.

    That was right before Christmas, and then for Christmas, my mom and brother came to town.  None of us really have any money right now (a gloriously freeing reality) so our Christmas morning was spent opening up tons of random stuff that I had picked up at the dollar store for everyone.  I’m not sure I can even remember a Christmas morning that was so full of laughter and enjoyment.

    family-christmas-08

    That’s right, I’m wearing shorts for Christmas!

    The day after Christmas we all had to go our separate ways.  Mom, back to OH, Alex, back to NY, and me, off to Kenya.

    A few days after I got back, as part of the contract we had negotiated for the interview, Amy G. came down for a follow up interview.  This one lasted for a few days and was filled with plenty of serious conversations.sideways-amy-and-jr amy-and-jr-being-silly

    This is from when I asked some questions on sensitive subjects and she tried to choke me.

    amy-and-jr1

    The highlight of the middle of the month was offered by way of my friend Jimmy and his floor seats to the Memphis Tigers basketball game at the FedEx Forum.  We sat down a ways from Penny Hardaway!

    tigers-game

    I love living in midtown and have been anxious to find a way to get more involved in the community.  That desire has finally taken shape in being able to help teach ESL (English as a Second Language) classes to a group of beautiful adult refugees on Monday evenings through the Refugee Empowerment Program of Memphis Leadership Foundation.

    refugees-1 refugees-2

    The capstone event of January was a trip to Chicago where I serendipitously ran into Amy G. who invited me to go see her family in Davenport, IA and do some bald eagle watching off of the north Mississippi River.

    amy-family amy-eagle-headeagle

    Not bad for the first month of the new year.  Can’t wait to see what February has in store.

    Posted in Amy, family, memphis

    2 Big Days

    January 20, 2009 // 4 Comments »

    Yesterday – Martin Luther King Jr. Day and Today – the inauguration of Barack Obama as the first African-American President of the United States, are two big days.

    Especially as a citizen of Memphis, where Dr. King was assassinated, the importance of all he stood for comes powerfully home.  Memphis is in many ways a broken and hurting city.  Racial division (if not tension) remains thick.  Systems and structures which perpetuate generational poverty and crime continue to plague us.  And the dominant expression of church here in the mid-south seems unable or unwilling to powerfully engage this sort of brokenness.  Memphis is a city desperate for the good news of God’s Kingdom breaking forth into the world.

    I caught a glimmer of this hope the other day as I was remembering King’s famous, “Paul’s Letter to American Christians” and came across this quote (from that sermon) on one of the walls of the downtown YMCA where I workout…

    Let no man pull you so low as to hate him.

    I am happy to stand with those who are excited about the progress we have made as a country, evidenced in our election of a black President.  I am even happy to stand with those inspired by the hope that this new President and administration aim to offer to a nation that has lost its way in war, economic crisis, and poor international reputation.  Yet I long for more.

    Yesterday we celebrated a man and his legacy of striving for racial reconciliation, care for the poor, and justice for all.  Today we celebrate the dawn of a new era for our country, an era (perhaps) to be marked by change for the better.

    But I long for the day that only God can bring about, a day when all our human striving and labor will be tested as with fire.  The chaff of our striving will be burned away and the precious stones of our striving will be even further refined.  On 2 days when it is so easy for me to get caught up in the acclaim of two good men, one who had a dream and another who represents, in part, the evidence of that dream coming to pass, I pause to remember the supremacy of the one man, who, at the height of his glory, was abandoned by all as he hung on a cross and proclaimed, “It is finished.”

    Posted in Jesus, justice, kingdom, memphis, reconciliation

    Catching Up

    September 16, 2008 // 6 Comments »

    I don’t really like it when a full week goes by and I don’t have a chance to blog – it’s like I get creatively constipated and then I don’t know where to begin.

    Aside from just getting back into the swing of things and playing catch up since returning from Afghanistan, I have been busy doing a variety of things – getting the new house settled, wrapping up the online course I have been teaching, and training for a 1/2 marathon, along with other life-randomness.  So, where to start?  How about the 1/2 marathon.

    My New Year’s resolution was to get a 1/2 marathon under the belt before the year’s end.  I found out that there is one in Akron on Sept. 27, and since I had 2 friends doing the race (one doing the full marathon and another the 1/2), I decided to give it a go.  Afghanistan came at a bad time in terms of training, so I hit it hard as soon as I made it back.  Well, the left knee, as it has been doing for years, continued to give me trouble and I had to go see an orthopedist.  He read through a previous MRI and did an x-ray.  You should have seen his face when I told him I was training for a 1/2 marathon in 2 weeks?!  He actually said, “You’re running on this?”  I just started rehab this morning and we’ll see how much that helps.  Next stage is a fluid injection to make up for the cartlidge that is damaged and/or missing, and then surgery will be a last resort.  So, sadly, no race for me, at least not this month.  There is another one here in Memphis in December, so perhaps then.

    Semi-related, as a part of training and moving to midtown, I have been frequenting the downtown YMCA, which is a great facility.  There is a trolly that goes back and forth, though it ends a mile from my house.  The other day, I ran down to the Y, worked out some there, and took the trolly back, and ran the last mile.  It’s a cool part of downtown Memphis that I was excited to experience for the first time.

    My friend Joey stumbled on a newspaper article last week about a gathering in a local establishment called Beer and Bible, facilitated by Phyllis, Tickle, someone I have been wanting to meet ever since moving to Memphis.  I had the opportunity to go and participate in the discussion last week and just loved it.  It was about the most eclectic group of folks you can imagine who used the 7 deadly sins as a jumping off point for discussion.

    I also had the chance to accompany my friend Jon and a few other guys who do some work with FCA at Carver HS to a football game.  Carver is a school in urban Memphis with few resources and about 30 guys on the team.  The team they played is an over-resourced suburban school with about 30 guys/position.  Needless to say, Carver got crushed, but it was fun to be back on the sidelines of a HS football game.

    What else?  With the help of some friends, lots of painting at my new place has gotten accomplished and I also added a few pieces of furniture as I seek to create an inviting and hospitable sort of place.  Pictures forthcoming.

    The class.  I am in the final stages of grading final papers for the first go-around of an online class for Fuller – The Emerging Church in the 21st Century.  The class was filled with great discussion and insights.  The majority of students feel as though they have a lot more clarity on what the EC discussion/movement is all about and I have reall enjoyed helping them to explore their questions, misgivings, and thoughts in general.

    Lastly, while the website leaves a little to be desired, the atmosphere at Republic Coffee doesn’t.  I am writing this from their location – one I very quickly become a huge fan of.  If you’re around midtown, check it out.

    Posted in bible, coffee, emerging church, friends, Fuller Seminary, memphis, midtown

    Me Too

    September 8, 2008 // No Comments »

    Caught this bumper sticker on a run around midtown the other day – wish I had it.

    Posted in memphis, midtown

    The Midtown Memphis Move-in

    August 11, 2008 // 1 Comment »

    Well, thanks to this lovely crew (not pictured, but equally awesome are: Jon O., Greg J., and Russell M.  I managed to get all my stuff in my new home yesterday afternoon.

    move in crew

    And the unpacking, sorting, and arranging has commenced.

    I am in need of a fridge, some furniture, and some other odds and ends (Bueller, Bueller…), but I was pleased to find (after 4 months of separation from my stuff, which lingered in storage), that I had most of what I needed for the house.

    If you are someone who needs my new house address, feel free to drop me a line and I’ll be happy to send it to you.

    Now, I wonder who likes to paint????

    Living here has already paid off.  I am less than a mile from my good friends, the Watson’s.  Around 10:30 last night Matthew called and asked if I could come over and stay with Nathan, their 2 year old.  He and Lisa were gonna have to take Elias (their new born) to the hospital as he was running a 101 fever.  I was so happy to.  In my mind, this is a major part of what “living in community” is all about.  You are close enough to those you want to share life with that you can be there for one another.  Far from experiencing this as a burden or bother, this request was precisely the sort to make me feel “at home.”

    Thus begins the journey of discovering the truth of this popular bumper sticker…

    midtown is memphis

    Posted in community, friends, memphis, midtown

    A Place to Lay My Head

    July 18, 2008 // 2 Comments »

    After 4 months of getting to know Memphis, living with various people and in various places, and living out of a suit case, I have found a place to hang my hat – at least for the next year.

    front of house
    here for more pictures (not my stuff in the house)

    Here’s what metropolitan Memphis looks like

    Downtown Memphis is actually to the west of “the loop” between the Mississippi River and 240.  Inside the loop is generally referred to as midtown, though it has more specific designations in certain parts.  To the east of the the loop is Germantown, Cordova, and Collierville.  Piperton, where our church community has purchased land for some future use is a little more east than Collierville.  I considered living in virtually all of these places.

    Living subversively in a suburban context is something I care deeply about and feel like a good portion of my life will probably go to, but for a smattering of reasons, it doesn’t seem that now is the season for that. I mentioned a slew of factors in the decision making process in my post about being scared to live in the suburbs and I don’t really think that any decision I would have made would have been THE right decision, but here’s why I am pretty excited about this place.

    1) Location.  This house puts me within walking distance (less than 1/2 of a mile) of coffee shops, restaurants, shopping, the largest park in the city, the playhouse, and the only theater I am aware of in Memphis that shows Indy films.  Here’s a little map I started to put together of all the stuff I can walk to easily.  There’s a ton more that is easily within biking distance (1-3 miles) such as the YMCA where I’ll work out and my bank.

    2) Set-up.  The house is perfectly set-up to invite others to explore intentional community.  There are 3 huge bedrooms and 2 full bathrooms on the 1st floor as well as a 2 bedroom 1 bathroom apartment with its own kitchen and a separate entrance on top.

    3) Neighborhood.  The neighborhood is both racially and socio-economically diverse and by virtue of living here I will be part of the “Tucker-Jefferson Neighborhood Association,” an active group which aims “to maintain and improve the dignity and integrity of the residences and businesses in the area, to preserve the diversity of the area, to insure orderly an compatible land use in the area, to encourage homeowners living in the area to improve their homes, and to work together on problems and issues of certain concern.”

    4) Opportunity.  Living Hope is a primarily white, affluent, suburban church that is asking God how we might engage and be a blessing to urban Memphis as well as to where we are.  Having more people move into urban parts of the city will inevitably be a big part of that.

    I am truly grateful to have found this place and am really looking forward to having a context to engage on a more constant basis.

    Posted in decisions, intentional community, memphis, suburban, urban

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