a journey of 2531 miles.: friends who are family.

so much has been happening these past two weeks! i'll let pictures do most of the talking.

two weeks ago the reeds threw a pizza party at their house- i got to come over and help with all the preparation, from making dough to chopping veggies to assembling the pizzas like true italian chefs. katy and i had a regular pizza parlor going in her kitchen, making one as we pulled the one before it out of the oven. everyone just hung out and played games, apples to apples and the question game. it was an evening of too much pizza, coffee and shortbread cookies, and fellowship with good friends. only one picture though, i didn't have my camera :(

the next weekend was easter. there was a good friday service that i went to at ballard which was really intense. the worship was heavy, the video about Jesus' death very straightforward. the whole evening was intent upon reminding us what Jesus did, how he was unjustly accused, how he chose to endure what he did in the name of love and obedience to his Father. how even in our sin, even in our blatant disobedience, he endured the punishment that WE deserve. the service ended with the video showing the tomb being sealed, with an invitation to join mars hill on sunday at 9:30am at quest field to hear the rest of the story.

it was a reminder of the cost of the sacrifice.

the next day was full of last minute preparations. katy, dorina, kelsey and i spent some time wandering around pike's market and eating lots of cheese and honey samples before heading to the field for rehearsal. we all served in one aspect or another, and since mars hill was expecting around 20,000 people to show up, there was a walk through for all 1000+ volunteers the day before. that afternoon was sunny and beautiful.

we cooked a gourmet pasta meal (asparagus, chicken, white wine, cream, feta, sun dried tomatoes, lemon, fresh basil) that evening and ate it family style, because that's basically what we are.

i spent the night at the reed's house that night since we all had to be at the field at 7am on sunday. it was a bit of a scramble, coffee and granola in hand, as we all hurried out the door to pile into the car. when we got there, all the loose ends from the day before had been pulled together. katy, kelsey, dorina and i huddled under our panchos in our uncovered seats and watched as people began to trickle in. it was pretty amazing to look up from the front and see 17,000 people in the stands above. mark preached a very straightforward message, gospel truth. then the baptisms started, and katy and i made our way down to the front in our bare feet and hopped into the (thankfully quite warm) tanks. at the end of it all, more than 750 people came down to be baptized, publicly proclaiming Jesus as their Lord and Savior, acknowledging that they are sinners, separated from God, that Jesus is the only way of reconciliation, and repenting of their sin and choosing grace.

it was an honor to be a part of it.