The last 40 days have been quite spectacular. On August 17th, Jessica and I left for France along with her parents Mike and Vicki. Our trip had two major stops: Taize France, where one of the first protestant monasteries exists, and Cheltenham England where the Greenbelt festival takes place each year. Below you’ll see pictures, but first a video of the Friday evening prayer time at Taize. You’ll have to excuse my singing, and the difficulty in seeing much. Cameras are pretty much discouraged in the church because the brothers prefer everyone to be participating in prayer and not merely sightseeing. What you are seeing was too beautiful for me to not capture, and as you’ll hear, I tried to participate as well. The video starts in just after Jessica and I, and Mike and Vicki had knelt, crawled, and half-walked our way to the front of the church, crowded on all sides, to have a chance to pray at the cross. This expression of prayer only happens on Friday night each week after the regular evening prayer concludes and has been a tradition at Taize for quite some time now.

The rhythm of Taize is built around fixed hour prayer. Morning, midday, and evening. For over 60 years the community of Taize has been praying on a little hillside in France. Taize is a beacon of reconciliation and hope for the world. When we were there, we joined approximately 6,000 other people from all around the world to pray. I would like to tell you more about the Taize experience if you are interested. It is a very unique place in the world and the pilgrimage there has affected me in some profound ways. Additionally, if you are interested in learning more about Taize, a friend of mine, Jason Brian Santos, has written a fantastic book on the community.

Next you’ll see a picture of Greenbelt from up in the “crow’s nest” where the operations team has a good way to see everything and make sure all is well. Greenbelt was amazing! As far as festivals go, it was the best I had ever been to, and Jess and I never even made it over to the main stage. It’s so much more than a festival. We spent lots of time hearing speakers like Stanley Hauerwas, watching documentary films and listening to filmmakers and experts field Q&A, seeing theatrical productions, experimenting with functional art like a water piano, celebrating in the beer and hymns tent, and taking in some really cool music at the performance cafe. It’s impossible to see and experience everything at Greenbelt. There’s 10 things going on at the same time all the time, and all of them are worth your time. Frustrating and amazing! Some of the brains behind Greenbelt have been meeting with a team from the US, and this summer the Wild Goose Festival will be born in North Carolina. I can’t wait to see what might come of this.

We had several other stops along our way including Paris and Annecy France (in pictures below). We also stayed a night in Chartres. France is beautiful and it was fun to get to see some of the smaller towns and stay in the countryside while visiting Taize. Across the channel, we got to see quite a bit of London, and then skipped up to Windsor, Oxford, and finally Cheltenham. Near Cheltenham we also stumbled upon the Gloucester Cathedral (used in filming Harry Potter) and it was beautifully arranged for a sculptors art showing and also filled with some church leaders and Greenbelt folks that we didn’t expect to find there. One of the people there had access to the tower so we were able to climb to the top of the amazing cathedral and get a view from the top. I am amazed and how old and how beautiful those things are. How did they ever get constructed and completed?

Following our mega-trip was Rock the Light at Youthfront Camp South. It was fun to provide a venue for that festival and help host the party for about 4,000 people. I’m excited for what that festival can become in future years. We limped through the week after Rock the Light and immediately went on our annual staff retreat at Youthfront to Beaver Lake in Arkansas. It was a great time to catch up with people, have a blast tubing and tearing it up on the personal watercraft, and also to pray and share life together. And that brings us to this week! The first real week back in the office since May and diving right into our new budget year. I am blessed to have the opportunity to be the budget coordinator this year at Youthfront so I am driving the process as we figure out how to live within our means for the coming financial year. Oh, and I’m still leading worship at Jacob’s Well most Sundays and loving the opportunity, the staff, and the community there.

In other news, Jessica will be switching to working nights and has chosen the weekend option meaning she’ll only have to work 2 shifts (Friday or Saturday, and Sunday night) and it is paid as if it is full-time. This will allow her the margin to keep up with grad school and hopefully also be a better working environment with a pace that is more fit for a human being. And I am now the proud owner of a smoker! It is a belated (but still greatly appreciated) wedding present from Jess to me! Tomorrow I’ll try my hand at pulled pork. I’ve been reading diligently about all things smoking: from meat selection, to fire and smokeology, to rubs and sauces etc. etc…

Whew! So I am finally breathing again. Praise God for all he has allowed us to do this summer and fall, for keeping us safe and blessing us with so many unique experiences and friends. 2010 will be a tough year to beat and there’s still a quarter left!