I almost laughed the first time I saw this. We have a plant in our office. In a space without windows, this bit of green adds a lot of life.

After having it for a week or so, this is what it looked like.

It's lovely. It's green. Sure, I hadn't really thought to water it, but I was still appreciating the fact that it was alive. It wasn't brown; the leaves weren't falling off. You can see here that whole thing does have a bit of "droop" to it, but the change from when we first bought it was so gradual that I hadn't really noticed...

Then, I decided to give it a little water before leaving the office. It's probably about time for that, I thought. When I came in to work the next morning, this is what I found:

A whole new plant! It's spunky; it's spry. Look, you can even see the pot it's nestled in. Whoa, I had no idea the life it had been missing.

And I immediately thought of the connection to my own heart and life. It's amazing how being connected to the Vine and receiving from the Living Water really is our life source (John 4, 14). Going awhile without it, even if we "don't notice" on a surface level (we may think we're functioning "just fine" by our own less-than standards), we will start to wilt.

Again, I had been fine with the way the plant looked before. In my ignorance really, I thought it was "ok." But no, the plant needed so much more, and we need so much more to thrive. True life and breath really is in Him!

(p.s. I realize this post reveals my total ineptness in caring for plants. I'm okay with that! haha. I'm learning. :)

Post-work walks

Just some shots of our post-work walks this past week... More to come later!

It's wonderful to explore some of the trails surrounding our new home together! 

Lord, our Lord, how majestic is your name in all the earth!

The earth is the Lord's and everything in it.

The heavens declare the glory of God; the skies proclaim the work of his hands.
What is mankind that you are mindful of them, 

human beings that you care for them?
Lord, my Rock and my Redeemer.

Psalms 8, 24, 19

Redeemed

Redeemed. I've been reminded this week how beautiful it is that we are redeemed in Christ, because of His love.

Ted and I have experienced the faithfulness of the Lord in our lives, and been strengthened by His steadfastness. It hasn't always been clear to us, or written boldly in the stars. Our weak, cataract-ed eyes have kept us from seeing in brilliant colors, only dimly, the vibrant faithfulness of God.

Yet His presence is real. It always has been, and always will be. We may not perceive it, only vaguely,   at times. Yet I am reminded now, this week, that His goodness runs deep. His steadfastness is never-ending.  I'm only now glimpsing the surface, lapping handfuls of water from a river that has no bed.

How precious to me are your thoughts, God! How vast is the sum of them! 

Were I to count them, they would outnumber the grains of sand - 

when I awake, I am still with you.

Psalm 139:17-18

First week

The first few days in Mt Airy have been refreshing; wonderful. We may still have half-filled boxes along the floor and no curtains, but that doesn't matter... I love it.

Each day, we have enjoyed a long walk through the neighborhoods and nearby Carpenter's Woods. Flowers and pane windowed porches everywhere.

We still go to Hunting Park every day, sometimes multiple times in a day, and I've had one recurring thought each time:

I am so glad I did not leave this place because I simply don't like it here or that I can't stand the so-called "inner city." Each morning that we have driven in, I admire the people and places that I know well.

Being in these two different spots leads to some striking comparisons. One place currently has the highest crime rate in the city, and the other has the lowest. In one, you're more likely to see the one sign over the other:

The average street corners look pretty different from each other:

In one, kids roar down the busy road on their scooters and throw basketballs over oncoming traffic. In the other, a man holds a glass of red wine and walks his poodle down a tree-lined path. The differences are ... well, laughable! Such unique, wildly divergent places.

Did I mention that one is only 5 miles from the other?!

It's been a fairly mild week for us, settling in. We've rearranged furniture, dusted here and there, but mostly enjoyed these beautiful, new surroundings. We truly thank God for this space and this peace. 

Carpenter's Woods, a 5-minute walk from our new home

Moving day

Why was moving day so much fun?

Was it the endless sweeping, or the running back and forth with boxes?
No.

Was it the early morning Dunkin' run, or putting chairs in the street to find the perfect parking spot for our u-haul?
No. Though each of these things were kind of fun, in their own way.

What made moving day so great were the people who came to help.

Our neighbor, Ramon, was preparing for days to help us. At 8:30am, he was the first to join the effort in assisting Ted. Then his son, Jose. By 9am, who else shows up but our landlord Andres, Tim P, another neighbor Luke, and Chino. The men tackled the jobs at hand, leaving me to dust, sweep, and steal a couple more donuts when no one was looking... ;)

On the other end, I marveled at how quick the work was with so many helping hands. Like a well-oiled machine,  one friend commented. Everyone was flying up and down the stairs at the entrance to our new place with furniture and area rugs, not skipping a single beat. Sure, they had the lure of a 70-degree weather day and presumably better afternoon plans to motivate them to finish, but they also made the choice to be here with us today, and that meant so much.

Oh, boxes!

The donut snatcher!

In our kitchen window ;)

Change is afoot: your prayers

Early this month, Ted and I started to look for a new place to live. Back in February, we decided that it would be good for us to move out of Hunting Park, at least for this next season of our lives. It felt big for us to make this decision, so then we started searching and awaiting what God would provide. This past Sunday, we found our new place, an apartment just about 3 miles away :) Praise God!

This decision was a long one in the making. I have been contemplating it for some time. After some good conversations following the Christmas break, we both decided that living in a lower-stress environment would be good for both of us for now. It's a good decision for us, one that will challenge us not to find our value or justification in the things of this world (in this case, how challenging our neighborhood living environment is for us.)

We are going to miss it here. There is sadness in leaving, as in any big transition. Thankfully, we will still be here almost every day, but internally, I know this will feel like an entirely new phase for us. We will now be coming in to Hunting Park from the outside. Some good friends and ministry partners are here. Please pray for our transition, for our new apartment in a tranquil, tree-lined block in Mt. Airy (Philadelphia), and for our rootedness to ever be in Christ!

To commemorate the years we spent in our 4225 home, we made a riveting video "tour" of our space this past Sunday, where so many memories have been made. (And by riveting, I mean kinda boring! hehe.) I've spared you the link and just posted a few pictures from it here. In the bottom photo, Ted is explaining how his love of coffee developed in this home, lol. So you see, you're not missing much by my not posting the video :)  Love you all.

Prayer update

Family and Friends:

A lot has changed since our update 2 months ago, not the least of which is the weather! Today, I (Katharine) am writing you from a cool café in the Fishtown section of North Philly (very "hip," for being overrun by "hipsters" and their cool cafes and eateries!) The sun is streaming in from the glass-front café, and I am loving it.

 

We also have some personal transitions afoot, as Ted and I are looking for a new place to live.Yes, back in February, we decided that it would be good for us to move out of Hunting Park, at least for this next season of our lives (which we see as the next, final year of Ted's fellowship at Christian Legal Clinics.)

 

This decision was a long one in the making. I have been contemplating it for some time (some of you may remember, that a shooting incident on our block last April caused me to question and reassess - in a healthy way - my current reasons for living here.) After some good conversations following the Christmas break, we both decided that living in a lower-stress environment would be good for both of us for now.

 

That being said, our housing/apartment search began 1.5 weeks ago, and there's nothing to show for it quite yet! We told our landlord that we'd like to be out by May 1st, so we have a deadline for our search, but it's not so inflexible that we'll be in a total lurch by then :) Our current housemate would like to continue living in 4225 N. Franklin, so we may stay on another month, by her good graces :) It's a funny situation we find ourselves in!

 

Please pray for peace, for God's provision of a new home - He knows just what we need - and for God's loving Spirit to fill us from the inside out.

 

We encourage you to check/follow Katharine's blog for some more updates/photos. There are many events to report on including: Pro Deo 2013, Drexel Spring Break, and a Winter Trip to Orlando.

 

Our boss, Pete, has his surgery scheduled for April 30th, a one-week hospital stay in Pittsburgh (about 5 hours from here), and an expected 6-8 week recovery time. Thank you for your prayers for Pete and his wife Wendy as well.

 

More stories from the legal clinic to be coming soon!

With all our love,
Katharine + Ted