the new addition to my face

i kind of left you guys hanging after that last post--sorry about that. i actually began this post a week ago, but never got back to it. this one is going to be a kind of summation of the last couple of weeks. in short, i decided to stay in the architecture program, and even though the financial frustrations are pretty great, the alternative (putting off school for another year, finding a job that will hire me for a year and pay enough for me to live and pay bills, etc.) seemed really unappealing. so here i am, and i have to say that i love denver and colorado more and more all the time. the only things lacking are the people i wish i could have by my side and a church that i feel really challenges me in my relationship with jesus. this last point is the thing i want to discuss most.

pathways
i have visited a church here in denver called pathways twice, tonight being the second time. it is similar in some ways to the grove: they meet on sunday nights, it's made up of mostly white 20-30-somethings, and would be classified as "contemporary", i suppose. there are some things about it that i like. i like the similar format, but it would almost be better to switch to something so different from the grove because i find myself more often than not weighing everything against the grove. they have a social justice ministry group that meets regularly, though i'm not exactly sure what they do outside of providing for the needs of refugees in our country, which is great, don't misunderstand me. the downside is that, despite the "good feeling" i get about the staff and mission of the church, there seems to be no life/passion/enthusiasm in the body. they have a decent list of ways to get "involved", but on Sunday nights, it feels like i'm the only one singing in the congregation. this church has another campus a little further south that meets in the morning. i may check that out and see if it's just the people at this service. i also want to find out more about this social justice ministry.

church in the city
this one could be my favorite thus far. it's totally different from anything i've ever attended. the compstons and i went last week together. the two things that attracted me to it were the fact that they have a group called "heart for africa" and the church originally started as a homeless outreach ministry, which if you've been reading my blog, is a large need in denver. it was essentially a black gospel style church in it's worship. there were people in the congregation from every racial, socioeconomic background, and as a complete contrast to what i found at pathways, everyone was clearly excited to be worshiping jesus--clapping, dancing, etc. kristen and i were really excited, until the pastor got up. it was the worst let down. he didn't seem to fit with the rest of the church. he spoke on peace, but instead of preaching out of the word, he mostly shared anecdotes and famous quotes by famous people. it was really sad. i was ready for someone to get up there and rip the word apart and let it come alive for people. his redeeming feature was that he was a messianic jew from the bronx, and at the close of the service, he sang a blessing in hebrew. it was one of the coolest things i've ever heard.

origins
last sunday night, i visited origins with the compstons again. they meet on sunday nights in boulder. it was more similar to the grove than even pathways, but i think after encountering the diversity, clear outreach and passion that morning at church in the city, i was a little deflated. it seems like a really awesome church. i have nothing really bad to say about it, except that yet again, the pastor didn't really teach fully from scripture. really the only thing that i wasn't excited about was the fact that it's in boulder, which means it's 45 minutes away from me. that will be really hard for me, but there are several people that live in broomfield, where the compstons live, so there might actually be a community group that meets there. one thing that was really exciting was that this college guy from CU made an announcement about a group they started last year committed to seeing the end of child prostitution in their lifetime. it was like the voice of God came down on a cloud and said "Here, Kristen, meet some people that love Jesus and are passionate about the exact same causes." that was really neat. kristen went to a meeting about it last week, and i think she was really encouraged by it.

as it stands, i'm not sure about churches, but there are more that i haven't even looked into yet. on another note, i spent all last weekend with the compstons. i spent the night there friday and saturday. it was a great time. yesterday, we did a six mile hike up deer mountain in rocky mountain national park, and it reminded all of us how out of shape we are. i spent the night with them last night, and then we spent the majority of today laying around and eating, recovering from our rigorous exercise the day before. life is good. i'm hanging stuff on my walls this weekend, and i promise pictures of my apartment are coming, meredith! for now, i'm including pictures below of the new addition to my face. farewell!

feeling a little nervous...

yikes!

kristen held my hand through the whole thing!