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Dim Sum Today

Enjoyed some wonderful Dim Sum with Mike & Kristen Jones and Ted & Kathryn Egly today.  Tried out Triple Crown in Westmont. 

Let's see....  Here's a sampling: Roast Pork Buns, Shrimp Dumplings, Pork Dumplings, Spring Rolls, Shrimp Rolls, Steamed Pork Ribs, Stir-fried Chinese Vegetables, Steamed Sticky Rice wrapped in Lotus Leaves stuffed with Chinese Sausage, Mushrooms, & Pork. 

Sorry, no Phoenix Talons (chicken feet). 

In case you're wondering....  Dim Sum is a Chinese cuisine that involves a wide range of small dishes - similar to Spanish tapas.  You can read more about it here.

Here are a few photos (click for larger images):

 

Alex + Dad's iPhone = Not good

Weekend Photos (Jan. 10-11th)

Snapped a few photos from the production booth this weekend.  Click for larger versions.

BTW - Our band killed it this weekend!  WOW.  Awesome job on Coldplay's Viva La Vida.  Amazing.

2008 Christmas Eve Services

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Blown Away!

 

Ok, so here's how it worked:

We asked The Orchard Community to buy and donate brand new toys.

The toys were then taken to Bardwell Elementary School on the east side of Aurora for an event called The Christmas Gift Mart which is an amazing event put on by our friends at Community Christian Church in Naperville.

Now the cool part....

The gifts weren't donated to families in need.  They were sold.

For $2 each.

Why?  So that parents that would normally not be able to purchase gifts for their children would be able to do so without simply receiving a “hand-out.”

And the really, really cool part?

The money raised by the sale of the gifts was poured back into partner schools in two communities.

And get this....  The same exact thing happened in Joliet as well as Aurora! 

The results?

9,500 toys collected.

1,000+ volunteers.

3,500 community members blessed in Aurora & Joliet.

$11,500 raised for schools by the Aurora Gift Mart alone!

I'm telling you...  This was one of the most amazing things I have ever been a part of! 

And Orchard.....you guys are AMAZING!  Thank you, thank you, thank you for the 800+ toys you donated and to all of you who were a part of serving at the Gift Mart event!  What a beautiful way to celebrate the birth of our Savior.

Caption?

Inked!

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Wow, what a weekend at The Orchard as we kicked off a new series called "Inked!  Man, the momentum was awesome!  TONS of new faces....all three services packed out....a sweet Harley Davidson on the stage.....and a bunch of amazing teams that worked super hard to pull it all off!

"Inked" is a series about going "beneath the surface" in our relationships.  We began this weekend by talking about "communication" - and specifically how to be effective listeners.  Our prayer was, "God, help us to seek first to understand....then to be understood."  Now, that's a good prayer! 

And the fact that God understands us empowers us to be intentional about listening with the intent to understand others.  Practical, hopeful and extremely convicting!

Don't forget - if you have a tattoo, we'd love to hear your story behind it.  Just go to www.MyTatStory.com to tell your story and submit your tattoo photo!

She Thinks My Tractor's Sexy

Took this photo on my way to the office this morning...

If you could create a custom bumper sticker for this car, what would it say?

A grace filled weekend....

Still recuperating after a long, but beautifully ending weekend at The Orchard... 

It began with me officiating a wedding ceremony for a great couple from The Orchard.  And then.....the memorial celebration service for Todd Mitchell - which had to be one of the most impacting and celebratory services I have ever been a part of.  Our team was amazing and I have never been more proud of this guy.  More on that later... 

This was also weekend #2 in our new series called, "Becoming."  This is a series where we are taking our time journeying through several contemplative, communal, and missional practices.  And seriously......I haven't been this excited about a series on a long time!

We also had the special privilege of having a guest artist, Katrina Willis, with us for all three weekend services.  Her portrait illustrations were so beautiful and added a great element to our gatherings.

Without a doubt, it was a grace filled weekend... 

Here are some photos:

(Click thumbnails for larger images)

8.16.08 Gathering at The Orchard

Here are a few photos snapped last weekend at our Saturday night gathering at The Orchard.

(Click for images to enlarge)