we spent american thanksgiving over at tom and anne’s place. they made an impressively juicy turkey while the guests each contributed a side dish. we brought a “spinach and cheese puff”, which was a spinach casserole recipe i found on martha stewart recipes. anne’s mom baked an amazing pumpkin roll cake… i wish i wasn’t so full by the time it was served! needless to say, it was a wonderful meal and time with friends.

church life has been keeping us busy. a few weeks ago we helped paint one of the back rooms from a shadowy blue into a refreshing pale green.

then last week, we transformed the sanctuary into a coffeehouse. although we didn’t try to plan it this way, it ended up being quite ‘international’, with some african music, middle-eastern flute music, as well as french rap!

I guess it’s about time I talked a bit about the major change in my life this school year. Back in September, I accepted a position as pastor of Hyde Park Alliance Church, the church I’ve been attending for the past five years here in Chicago. I must say I feel truly blessed to be able to serve such a loving, supportive congregation, who are understanding of the academic side of my calling, alongside my current pastoral work. It’s also very rewarding to apply much of the ‘theory’ that I gained from my time at Regent College, though it’s also been a great learning experience, even in this short time. By the way, the picture above is of me in my ‘office’… er… our Sunday School room.

joe and i just finished watching hours of election coverage. i’m sure many of you saw the big rally at Grant Park in downtown Chicago. here are a couple pics i managed to take while driving through downtown on my way home from work (since the highway was closed for security).

it was actually a very surreal drive; thousands of people everywhere with relatively few cars on the road…and then there was the black sedan with entirely black windows driving ahead of me as i headed into hyde park. hmmm…more secret service perhaps? in any case, regardless of who you supported, it’s exciting to know that we just witnessed something historic happen.

with the US election only three days away, everybody’s obama or mccain signs are posted. here’s one from chinatown.

for the last few months, there have been barricades with secret service and police only a few blocks from where we live, securing the street with obama’s house. i wonder what it will be like after tuesday if he wins?!