John came for a visit

So... when we were in Bible college in Portland, we had the opportunity to learn from some amazing teachers. John was one of those teachers, but our relationship with him was unique because he also became our friend. We first met him in the fall of 2007. I was enrolled in one of his classes, and I remember that he began the first class by talking about how awesome his job as a landscape photographer was, and how we (his students) would probably never get a job as cool as his. He was right. He gets to travel all over the world and photograph this beautiful planet we call home. You can see some of his images at www. creationcalenders.com . 


Taking this class was life changing for me, and for Trevor (he was taking the same class with another amazing prof, Ray Lubeck). This was during a time when we had come from some pretty rigid, legalistic ways of thinking about God and the Bible, and had not been exposed to many voices that encouraged us to think differently. I experienced freedom in that class in some vibrant and incredible ways because I learned how to see the Biblical narrative as a whole, and how the books are all part of this great story. I saw for the first time the grandeur of God's love. Our class met at night, once a week, and one night I noticed John eating in the cafeteria. He lived outside of Portland and would commute to class, sometimes without eating at home. I took what was, for me, a big step and asked if he wanted to eat with us instead. He ended up coming for dinner every Monday night during that fall semester of 2007 and the spring of 2009, our last semester at Multnomah (I was big with child... Piper was born on May 29, two weeks to the day after we graduated). Those were precious times, though they were brief. I still remember alot of the things that John said, even though some of them didn't make sense to me at the time. We weren't ready to hear some of the things he said when he said them. It has taken time for us to work through those narrow ways of thinking, and we are still in that process. It's a journey that I hope to write about some day. Being able to talk with him about that journey was really cool. He got to meet Piper again (he met her as a brand new baby). He talked to us about his family, photography, some things he's working on, and his School of Theology.


He spoke to a group of students at the law school on Monday, and then also talked about some things he had been thinking about recently for a group of our friends at dinner. He also pointed us to some resources. We're hoping to read some together. I had to take down the list because of problems with my site. Please email me if you are interested in seeing the list. It was a great time all around. I am super humbled by the number of  friends that have come to see us, and this was no exception. We're hoping to travel to Portland for John's week-long School of Theology at some point.


Anyway, I have been busy sewing and shooting! Three photo shoots already this week, new bags being made for the shop, a dress fitting next weekend for the wedding I am doing in September, preparation for a craft fair in April, and more photo shoots next week. The other parts of life have been good too -- Trevor traveled to Miami for mock trial, Piper has been having fun with the warmer weather, and I had an awesome time last night sipping cocktails and singing with the women from Resurrection. I'm still planning to do an update on our family soon, and I'll also share a link to my flickr when a couple images are up from my recent work. 

Okay! Talk again soon!!
xo
paige