semester so far

so a few things i've been working on this semester in alexandria. we had a weekend competition in mid january for the virginia society of architects. the competition was to design a memorial/museum to the freed slaves that sought refuge in ft. monroe during the civil war. part of the entrance had to be from the water that surrounded ft. monroe.
my competition board got selected to the top 8 from the alexandria center that will go down to richmond to be judged against the top 8 from virginia tech, uva and hampton university.

i've also been taking a photography class which has been absolutely amazing. i've been taking pictures recreationally for a few years now, but having assignments and reviews of them has really made me improve my technique and vision of what i'm trying to capture in my pictures.

national cathedral

national cathedral

alleyway

alexandria cemetery

so yea, more work to come eventually. especially my studio project i've been working on for DC

de-railed plans

so my plan for today was to go take pictures of the national cathedral in DC, stop by utrects [art supply store] and head back here for dinner.

that was my plan anyways.

after a lengthy delay filled metro ride and a long walk to get to the cathedral, i find out that it has just closed 20 minutes previous.

ouch.

so i walked around the outside a bit and took some decent pictures, nothing fantastic, but i hiked back to the metro and planned to at least get some stuff from utrects so i could work on some studio stuff this evening.

so after another delay filled metro trip, i arrive at utrects at 6:05.

of course, they close at 6.

double ouch.

so, frustrated and tired, i walked next door to McDonalds.
comfort food i suppose.

so i'm sitting there eating my double cheeseburger when a guy comes and sits down across from me [there aren't any tables open, and i'm sitting at a 4 person table] and asks me if i have a dollar.

so i proceeded to sit down and talk with william as he ate his french fries. he was staying at the shelter down the road, had lived in DC all his life, went to St. Patrick's to 'meditate,' liked listening to talk radio.

when he had finished his fries he headed out and i followed suit, only to be stopped right out the door by a man named jeffrey who wanted some food as well. so i went back in and got him a meal.

not in my plan for the evening, buying food for two homeless men.

not in my plan to get to the national cathedral after it had closed

not in my plan to get to utrects after it closed

not in my plan to go to McDonalds for dinner

not in my plan to spend an extra 9 dollars at McDonalds.

but it was in God's plan.

Word

So tonight i went to frontline in arlington. it was a lot smaller scale than frontline at McLean, so it was much more like the size of large group back at Va Tech.
i'm not really sure what a typical service there looks like though, because this was a special service. the whole theme of the evening was the book of Philippians. through some different ways we read the entire book. it was good to read scripture in its entirety, rather than just selected verses at a time.
also there was worship woven into the readings that was applicable to the verses being read. i really felt like it was what i needed. i've gotten some scripture, but i haven't gotten the corporate worship aspect lately.
so all in all, i really liked the service and i'll have to go back next week and see what the regular services are like.

Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things. Whatever you have learned or received or heard from me, or seen in me—put it into practice. And the God of peace will be with you.
-philippians 4:8-9

mega-church here i come

so tomorrow i'm going to Frontline Arlington, a satellite location of McLean Bible church [local Northern VA mega-church]

now i'm not typically a fan of mega-churches. i wasn't a big fan of the NewBirth church in Atlanta that we visited this summer during GUPY and the first time i visited McLean i was turned off by the massiveness of it's size.

so then why am i going tomorrow? frustration at the churches i've been checking out around alexandria, the need to get some authentic worship that i don't get in most traditional services, and i just feel like i haven't found any sort of ministry here that i can be a part of.

so we'll see how it goes tomorrow. my next post could be a rant against mega-churches or the opposite.

Take me out to the ballgame

So spring training started a few days ago, so i'd like to take a moment to talk about my favorite sport.

baseball

there's something about the game, it has the tradition that no other sport does. a history of magical moments. babe ruth calling his shot, kirk gibson's pinch hit homerun , willy mayes over the shoulder catch, the red sox comeback against the yankees in 2004.

people complain that it's slow, it's boring, but i think there's so much strategy. In no other sport is it about the precision and strategy of two players at once. the pitcher choosing his pitch and location, the batter anticipating the pitch and trying to hit a 90 mph ball.

it's the sounds of the announcers, the national anthem, the smell of the grass at the ball park, the quirky things they do between innings to get the crowd pumped up. the 7th inning stretch
all of the things that get you into the spirit of the game

and it's the love of the game even among the players. the guys who play single and double-A ball [minor leagues] getting paid hardly anything, but they continue to go out there and work their butts off for a chance. just a chance to play in the major leagues.

and because there's no better moment in sports than the bottom of the 9th with two outs and a chance to win the game.

and that is why i love baseball


.....i need to go watch the sandlot now

(w)holy discontent

when i think about where i was last summer, and i think about where i am right now. i feel like a hypocrite.

last summer, i was living in the city and ministering to those that were economically worse off than i was.

right now, i'm living in a city, spending the majority of my free time in coffee shops and watching TV.

what happened?

last night i was walking downtown to pick up some dinner and i passed by a beggar on the street, when he asked me for spare change i mumbled no and kept walking.

on my way to dinner.

probably what he needed money for.

couldn't i have invited him to come eat with me? or at least offered to get him something?

i passed him by and knew i had just let myself fall into the status quo again. being apathetic to the plight of the poor. i felt the guilt of it all the way down to get food and all the way back to where he had been. i thought of what i could do to make it right, give him my sandwich i had gotten, offer to go buy him something.

but the man was gone when i got back to where he'd been. i'd already missed my opportunity.

For I was hungry and you gave me nothing to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me nothing to drink, I was a stranger and you did not invite me in, I needed clothes and you did not clothe me, I was sick and in prison and you did not look after me.

forgive me Lord, a greedy sinner.

is that the life i've slipped back into? a life of middle class apathy? a life that's so self absorbed that i don't think of others? I'm not happy or fulfilled by the life i'm living up here in alexandria. and i always made the excuse in blacksburg or back home in chesapeake that there weren't homeless around. but if there was, of course i would take care of them.

i guess not.

i continue to pass them by on the streets as if they aren't there.

i need God to change my heart, because it's just that, a matter of heart. my mind knows that these are your children and that we've been called to care for them, but my heart hasn't embraced that.

break my heart for these people O Lord.