pittsburgh

We spent last week in Pittsburgh, PA, having a Covenant Seminary reunion with several friends. We had a geat time catching up with several folks we haven't seen in quite awhile. We did quite a bit of hanging out, playing games and seeing sites. A couple of us also had the chance to see a few movies as well as get caught up on misssed episodes of Grey's Anatomy.

Brooke and I really enjoyed Pittsburgh. It's an old city with interesting architecture. On Friday we visited the local botanical gardens which were quite nice. They had a Thailand exhibit which had few ferns and other plants that reminded me of walking at Totara Park in Auckland. That night we had dinner a Quaker Steak and Lube, which is apparently a local icon, and then went up one of the historic inclines to the top of a big hill where we were able to look across the river to the city lights. After that there was a suprise baby shower and a counter-suprise birthday.

We really enjoyed our time with friends. It was great to hear about what's been going well and what's not been going so well in their lives. It was a time of giving and receiving encouragement, a time of talking, listening and laughing. It is brought back to me again that one of the mercy's of God is that when he rescues us he not only calls us into relationship with himself but with others. Living life with a community of friends is like tasting grace.

Brooke will probably post a lot of pictures of our friends so I figured I would post a picture of another special friend I haven't seen in a while. Lucy is Jon and Meagan's Boxer and we used to watch here when they lived in St. Louis. She is absolutely crazy and she's one of my favorite dogs. It was good to catch up with her as well.