This weekend part of my (Chelsea) came to visit Jeff and me! We had fun staying busy outside for most of the weekend. On Friday we visited with the family I nanny - Aysha and the boys had a blast racing cars and building with magnetiles. We then went to Meijer Gardens in Grand Rapids. For those of you who have never been, for two months in the spring they have a beautiful butterfly garden with hundreds of different kinds of butterflies. Jurnea took many pictures of the different kinds with her camera she got for Christmas. Aysha was a bit timid and held on to my arm for dear life, but she told me all the different colors she saw. After we saw the butterflies, we went to the Children's Garden outside, and Aysha, Jeff, and I played on their tree house. We saw their large horse statue, and by then we were all a bit pooped. We stopped by to visit Jeff's sister, Cassie, and then met some of our friends (Steven, Joanna, and Caedmon) at Bangkok Taste in Jenison. Bangkok Taste is one of the best Thai restaurants I have ever been to. Joanna and I both had the chicken curry pad thai, and were blissfully happy about our decisions :). Jeff got his favorite - Sesame Chicken - a little bit hotter than he has before, and he too was happy. When we got back we played games with everyone and included our good friend Elsie. Elsie also did some henna art on Jurnea's foot. Henna is a plant based skin dye which stays on for approximately three weeks. Elsie does beautiful patterns of flowers, birds, trees...pretty much anything you would like. Friday was a full day, and we were all tired that night.
The next morning Jeff and I went to a CCDA (Christian Community Development Association) meeting at Community Fourth Reformed. We sat by two girls who will be in the Hope Neighbors house we will be living in next year. Kathleen did an excellent job of keeping our discussions focused specifically on how we as a community can live intentionally in the neighborhood while also knowing we will only be there for a year. It was wonderful to talk about relocation, reconciliation, and redistribution in light of living in Christian community. One specific think we discussed about reconciliation that I can share is that we recognized that all brokenness is not from God, and all restoration is. We talked about how across the globe, whether people are Christian or not, where there is reconciliation, God is working and is being praised. We as Christians are able to name and give credit to the One who is at the center of restoration. All reconciliation is intentional - one man said "we will never know each other until we experience each other, and we will never experience each other until we do it intentionally." How am I living intentionally? Is listening purposefully the beginning of reconciliation? I feel like this is true.
At noon, Jeff and I brought my family to City Vu Bistro - a restaurant in Holland that is one of few in the world that is completely earth friendly. Mom, Jeff, and I each got different flat breads which were AMAZING! Jurnea and Patrick each got burgers and I'm pretty sure enjoyed them as well. Aysha had root chips and really enjoyed playing with their long silverware :).
We went to the Tunnel Park beach after that (yet again - 75 degrees...amazing). The last time Aysha had been to the beach she would not put her feet on the sand. She curled up her little legs if we tried to put her on the ground. THIS time she was running in the waves, and at one point was buried all except for her head in sand. She played so hard she fell asleep before we got back to our home. For supper we went to Goog's - a family favorite. Goog's is a burger place where my sister Keshia said she would drive to Michigan simply to get a burger. I had the Phoenix (jalapeno bacon, pepper jack cheese, chipotle mayonaise, and veggies), Jeff and Mom had Lynn's Ultimate (mushrooms, green olive sauce, veggies, and swiss cheese), Jurnea had a club burger (on sour dough bread) and Patrick had the Philly Burger (green peppers, onions, Provolone cheese, and horseradish sauce). We were all stuffed - including Aysha who by the end of the night had eaten about half of a 1/2 burger and two pickles! We played outside and then some Phase 10 and Seven Wonders before going to sleep. Once again, a very full day but one filled with a lot of fun!
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