our four-year-old boy

uncle kevin!

my brother kevin has moved to bellingham! he’s been here for a few weeks now, and already it’s hard to imagine life without him.  

he lives half a block away from us and eats dinner with us every night.  he works with aaron at seaview, he does yard work in our yard, he makes fancy pizza, he watches war movies with aaron, he is teaching me about texting and facebook, he plays with the kids, he does dishes...  what more can i say?  it’s awesome.

and now my kids say, “word.”

babies movie

watch this amazing trailer!  i am really excited to see this movie.  it is so interesting to see how different these babies’ environments are, and yet they all seem so similar.  i think that isla might do really well in namibia.  she loves getting dirty, she loves being barefoot, she loves banging rocks and she loves animals.  noah, on the other hand... not so much!

one more

i just remembered this book--another wordless children’s book, not a graphic novel, but similar idea.  it is a really beautiful story of giving and of saying goodbye.

graphic novels

i stayed up late last night reading this book.  it was a really powerful story of one family’s experience of the dust bowl.  mostly, it was about an eleven-year-old boy dealing with fear, rejection and purposelessness.  it’s a little bit scary (though i did let noah flip through it) but the resolution is really wonderful.

i love graphic novels.  particularly at this stage in my life, where i don’t get a lot of time to read and don’t have a ton of focus when i do, graphic novels are a perfect middle ground.  often they are a way to learn a lot about something, quite vividly, in a short time.  here are some of my other favorites.

aaron and i both love this one by craig thompson.  it’s sort of a coming of age story of a boy growing up in a conservative christian home.  it’s really honest and beautiful.

i also love this one by raymond briggs about his parents.  it’s a fairly straightforward story about their lives together, and how much the world changes as they age.

i suppose this is a children’s book more than a graphic novel, but it’s also a really great story of friendship.  the author also has a longer graphic novel that is about loss--very sad!  but also really lovely.

this guy has written a few graphic novels about his international travel experiences, but this is the most interesting.  i learned a lot about burma, but i also really enjoyed this guy’s daily struggles being the caretaker for his little son while his wife works for doctors without borders.

does anyone out there have recommendations of other great graphic novels?

our church

on sunday a photographer from the bellingham herald was taking pictures during the easter service at our church.  it’s neat to see the service from this perspective.  above is our dear friend bonnie, lighting the candles on the altar.

you can see more pictures here if you’re interested.

easter

today we rejoice in new life!

last night, our little godson julian was baptized. he bears the name of st. julian, patron saint of hospitality, whose name graces the community into which he was born.  even though we couldn’t be present for his baptism, we will, with god’s help, “by our prayers and witness, help this child to grow into the full stature of christ.”

also last night, our dear friends the wassells were received into the catholic church.  what another big celebration!  if we had been able to be present there, when the congregation was asked, “will you who witness these vows do all in your power to support these persons in their life in christ?” we would have said, with gusto, “we will!” 

easter is a mystery.  how exactly we can help others grow in christ is also sometimes a mystery, and a big responsibility.  but i think i know a few small ways i can do this, and i will.  with god’s help.