habits of grace

blog:
the habit of a mother who changes the world

‘be radical about grace and relentless about truth
and resolute about the real hills worth dying on.’

thanks, ann.

book:
God knows there’s a need:
Christian responses to wealth & poverty
by, susan holman, oxford univ press, 2009.

asking:
how has Jesus met you in your
ordinary journey of discipleship,
community, and mission
this past week?

thanks, city seminary.

close-to-home bb tribute

in light of adam yauch’s death,
a personal beastie boys tribute:

it’s patricia in the bed!

gorgeous girl. hilarious. xo

jesus shaves

david sedaris, jesus shaves excerpt

because we’re going to see him @ BAM
on tuesday and it’s time to, um,
prepare our hearts.

thanks, amc. xo

hanging on His every word

‘being disciples’
by rowan williams

a game-changer.

thinkfast

‘no great city on earth is
in so constant and rapid
a state of flux as
new york.’

-rider’s new york city and vicinity guidebook, 1916
swissmiss

fresh country air

at bentley farm

thanks, nate + the angell fam!

weak v. strong

zoinks,
it’s been a week of
weakness for me.

of moving through this seemingly
savvy,
flawless,
powerful,
oh-so pulled-together city,

listening & engaging,
participating & leading,
learning & shuffling & schlepping,
cheering & mourning,

but wishing to
run home and
curl up
and be weak.

and quiet.

to pray.

to be a child
before God
in prayer.

Jesus! what a Strength in weakness!
let me hide myself in Him.
tempted, tried, and sometimes failing,
He, my Strength, my victory wins.

and then to get back up,
in His strength
and move about this great city
in His courage and meekness.

in Christ’s strength-through-brokenness.

xo

a morning’s game,
‘jump over the string’

c’s dirty knee shows how
exciting the action has
already been.

God does win

‘perplexed with you.
aching with you.
trusting with you.
praying for you.

God does win.’

-wise words from the humblebeautiful cw to a mutual friend,
which gave me such encouragement that
i wrote them out in longhand
and taped them to my wall.

7:26a

walking quigley* xo

7:38a

sleepymonster

7:44a

finishing the last magical pages
of d’aularies greek myths.

7:57a

ready for the day

*we’re tickledpink to be dogsitting
for two happy weeks while nick is in london.

new birth portraits

new birth portrait series.

a must see.
today or tomorrow, preferably.

ps -
if you get into a train car that
ends in a 3 or a 5 (car serial no.)

look up!

womens bible society
sweet ads

thanks, nate

also in AMNewYork on
the bottom of the gossip pg
each day this wk

pps -
most importantly:

my fav people were together.
i’m dying.
i’m teleporting myself
back through time (yesterday)
and across the continent (cali)

brit, lu, p + jules!

a 255w70 reunion!!

dying.
with love.

let the teenage games begin

surprise!

happybirthdaytoyou

surprise crew:
sharon, david, anita, carter, diane, bernhard
ethan/jane/laura, abe, jordyn, lyd/ez/micah
sara h/harry/, hen/caro/bets, adam/eli
carrie, nate, sara/lu + c

this picture looks Exactly Right*
to me,

nathan coming in from school,
book in hand,
finger as bookmark,
heavyheavy backpack,
big cheerful grin.

and i know what always comes next,
that hug.

my nathan hug.

i always try to surpress happytears
and act like it’s special but
not necessarily the HUGE deal that
it is to me
to have him home,
with us,

exactly where we want him.

props to adam k,
nathan’s handler &
get-him-to-the-party-unsuspecting guy -
strong work for one so young!

lifesaver relay,
girls vs. boys

{put your money on the girls}

caroline + carter

ethan + eli

henry + e

i heard rumors of one near-smooch
btwn an accidently toothpickless adam +
an unsuspecting henry…

and david kept saying,
‘what happens at the party
stays at the party…
until someone posts it on FACEBOOK, baby!’**

what’s that for dinner?

3 pizza boxes that look exactly alike
and the wafting smell of pepperoni…

box 1: pepperoni
box 2: cheese

box 3?

tricked ya:
a betsy-caroline-mommy special
pepperoni cookie cake for our beloved n.

chocolate chip + brownie, baby.

bosom buddies ready for bedtime.
happy birthday eve, n. xo

*it’s also pretty accurate in
the clothing dept:

1. he puts on a tshirt (red & surprisingly long today)
2. i suggest, babe, can you wear a collared shirt?
3. we end up with this combo that keeps us both happy.

*true. and scary.
i digress.
we’re in the Lord’s hands.

on gathering + welcome

b’s playmobil as she
left it behind and
headed out the door
for school this morning

what hospitality.

1″ plastic hospitality,
as it were,
but sharing in the non-specific activities
that make up home + community
nonetheless.

i loved tim’s encouragement
as we begin to inhabit the new
w83rd space and make it home,
home is to be a place of

light
rest
shelter
warmth
harbor
food
love
comfort
peace
refreshment
joy.

philoxenia -
the love of stranger as
true hospitality.

a sunday snuggle

sometimes the w71/bway flowerman
gets it really right

to worship we go

c’s chrysler bldg print

getting absolutely blown away on our
walk home from la biblioteca.

q. is there a way to
feed my instagram stream
to my blog?

xo kj

urban nature

the outdoor garden at our school

{yingyan’s bldg on the left,
celine’s straight ahead}

gazebo + lg octagonal table
for outdoor classes

inhale, exhale.

the chalkboard tree i’ve
been asked to perma-sharpie on

a bit o’ wordsworth

this tree will find a
permanent home on
the entrance fence

and this little guy,
maybe 2′ tall,
will be somewhere nearby.

welcome, spring!

just wait until this outdoor classroom
begins to bloom…
*magical*

Christ, our joy and strength

it’s one of those days where i’m
hitting ‘replay’ on grooveshark
repeatedly.

sg: joy is in our hearts

loving shout outs to the sauls fam.
i’ve stopped crying.
for now.

am focusing on looking forward to sharing
in ministry with you as new things begin
in nashville. his Hope is in our hearts.

loving shout outs to the crosbys
and praying for the perfect house in philly
for your beautiful fam + ministry.

loving shout outs to the west side community.
can’t get enough of God’s grace in
and through you. i have so much to learn!

xo on this spectacularly shiny nyc monday morning;
all is new
and beautiful.

Christ, our joy and strength.

we were pressed on every side
full of fear and troubled thoughts
for good reason we carried heavy hearts

it is good to come together
in our friendship to remember
all the reasons hope is in our hearts

hallelujah hallelujah
Christ our joy and strength
hallelujah hallelujah
Christ our joy and strength

now with patience in our suffering
perseverance in our prayers
with good reason this hope is in our hearts

hallelujah hallelujah
Christ our joy and strength
hallelujah hallelujah
Christ our joy and strength

oh we saw the face of Angels
many good things well secured
for good reason this joy is in our hearts

hallelujah hallelujah
Christ our joy and strength
hallelujah hallelujah
Christ our joy and strength

viernes

my team of framing experts
xo

fav night of the week:
fellowship community group.

nick, hannah, anita, keely, hisaya, cory + i
luke, ang, jeff, jay, nate + grace l
john, shannon, amy, jess, jen + hillary

{dear rpc staff,
please know i’m trying to
incorporate the new lingo.
i’ll keep trying.
v gratefully, kjc}

we were to dress as ‘queen esther’
for the purim party;
did we come close?

n + ez tear it up
at rushhour
before spending the next 30 min
sweaty wrestling and dodging
pillow-bombs

best after-school ever.

we finished!
caroline’s class auction project.
the auction is tomorrow night.

well done, kiddos!!

blocking for caroline’s class play
she’s sammy-the-squirrel

the trees on our street are
heavenly at the moment.

give that man a backrub

big sister lura + baby brother timothy;
congrats, a + l.

lura took this pic;
you can almost see my house from hers.

west 42nd to west 70th

midtown view from 58th fl

ilovehenry

even if he trounces me at mastermind.

so thankful that the hole in
the neighbors fence got
justbigenough for lulu to come
through a few times a day. swoon.

looking for grey matter:
henry (top right) gets in on
the calf brain exploration during
his center school visit today.

harry got in on a v cool
bridge-building exercise.

ps – i’m never going to
get my to do list done today
if i don’t stop watching
vortex cannons + origami tutorials.

the kids should see this

first person

for the human-side to caroline’s
lincoln center project,
she asked 3 of our church friends
who perform professionally @ lincoln ctr venues
about their personal experiences there.

jenny as the sugar plum fairy @ ABT

jim @ the ny philharmonic

mark @ the met

j’adore their answers:
thank so much, friends.

1. Where have you performed in Lincoln Center?

jenny: i have performed in the David H. Koch Theater,
which used to be called the New York State Theater.
Once, I also performed at Avery Fischer Hall as part of a concert.

jim: I have performed in Avery Fisher Hall, at the Metropolitan Opera,
in Alice Tully Hall, the Juilliard Theater, and Paul Hall at the Juilliard School.

mark: i have performed in both the New York State Theater
(now called David H. Koch Theatre)
for the New York City Opera,
and the Metropolitan Opera, (the Met).

2. How old were you when you first performed there?

jenny: I was fifteen when I first performed at what was
then called the New York State Theater.

jim: I was 18 years old during my first performance, with the
Juilliard Symphony performing Gustav Mahler’s 1st Symphony in Avery Fisher Hall.

mark: I was 29 when I performed with the New York City Opera,
and 42 when I sang at the Met.

3. What did it feel like to be on stage with the audience looking at you?

jenny: I loved dancing on stage. I was a little nervous at first but
I loved to dance so much that I quickly forgot to be nervous.

jim: it was very exciting to see so many people at the concert!
But it also made me pretty nervous.

mark: If I understand your question, you are asking about the first time
I ever sang in those places. I will tell you honestly; both times I was terrified.
My heart beat faster, my skin was cold and clammy, I paced in my dressing room.
It was also very exciting . I was doing what God put me on this earth to do
at a very high level.

But if you are asking me what it is like to get up in front of people
to do what I do as a job, I’m used to it.

4. What was your favorite subject in school when you were young?

jenny: my favorite subjects in school were science and English.

jim: i loved math through high school, but my favorite subject from 5th grade on was Band!

mark: in 7th and 8th grade we had a class called shop,
which was learning how to work with wood and plastic.
that was my favorite class.

5. What did you like to eat for lunch when you were in elementary school?

jenny: my favorite lunch food in school was pizza if I was eating in the cafeteria.
otherwise, if I packed my lunch, I really liked peanut butter and jelly sandwiches.

jim: i really loved pizza! but that was only on Fridays, so usually my mom
made me a peanut butter and jelly sandwich. sometimes I ate the carrot sticks, too.

mark: probably the same as you; ice cream. we had a school lunch program and
bad spaghetti, limp salad, stale bread, and lumpy pudding was the norm.
The food was pretty awful, but it’s pretty hard to mess up ice cream.