Cross Community Rockville

Church

Cross Community Church

Cross Community Church

We’ve been a part of a few different churches over the years, from Fourth Presbyterian Church, where we met, to Calvary Fellowship in Juneau, Alaska. We’ve gone to a couple Evangelical Free Churches and a non-denominational church for a little while. We’re currently involved in our second church plant, both of which have been Presbyterian (first EPC and now PCA). There’s something special about a church plant, although to be honest, the facilities aren’t always as comfortable as many would prefer. Today was our fourth and final meeting at this county school facility over the last four months. Generally we meet at the Rockville Senior Center, which is a much nicer facility (although not necessarily the easiest to find without GPS). The first time we met here, in October, it was swelteringly hot and humid. The next two times it was chilly. Today, the heat was on so most people were comfortable (and I was only a little warm). Next week, back to our regularly scheduled location.

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Cross Community Christmas

Cross Community Christmas

Cross Community Christmas

Cross Community Church of Rockville is (so far) a smallish church. Since a lot of folks travel for Christmas, we expected a relatively smaller group on Christmas eve (morning). So, pastor Ben and his wife hosted church this week at their home. This is our Christmas Eve Morning service (and there are more people around the corner and around me where I’m standing). If it looks like a lot of folks are on their phones, that’s because they are using them as their ‘hymn book’ as we sing. Also note that we were invited to come in our jammies, which a few did. We’re a pretty casual church in general. All the more so when we’re at home. My apologies for the title. I generally absolutely abhor annoying alliteration.

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Separation Anxiety

Daniel

Daniel

Back in February I posted a picture of Lacey and Daniel when Daniel was three weeks old. He is now almost eleven months and he’s still as cute as ever. I happened to check on the nursery this morning at church and he was the only child there, being held by Christine whose own son has moved up to the Sunday School class with the other youngsters. Daniel’s older brother, Tim, also moved up and that, actually, is what he’s crying about. As long as he has his brother with him, he’s willing to have his mother leave him in the nursery. But when Tim leaves, as well, that’s too much to bear. Seeing a somewhat scary looking old may with a big, black thing that makes bright flashes of light didn’t help. He kept staring at me as I moved around and took a few pictures. Of course, he quieted down and was fine shortly. It’s been delightful to see this little one grow this first year and I’m looking forward to the next. It’s also delightful to see all the toddlers move up into Sunday School. All too soon they’ll be heading off to college.

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Ariana and Kyle

Ariana and Kyle

Ariana and Kyle

Kyle is a pastoral intern at our church’s mother church and he came to preach today, covering the fairly well known story of Daniel during the reign of Darius the Persian. Kyle’s message was good and it was also wonderful to meet his new bride, Ariana. After church, as we do the first Sunday of most months, we had a fellowship meal together. The weather was so wonderful we went outside and ate in the shade of the large trees around the Senior Center. After the long drive yesterday, this was a relatively relaxing way to spend the early afternoon. Certainly more relaxing than Daniel’s day with the lions (spoiler alert…that turned out alright, as well).

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The Kids Are ‘Helping’

The Kids Are 'Helping'

The Kids Are ‘Helping’

Actually, after church these kids do help put things away. They put all the Sunday School and Nursery things back into the bins, they load those bins onto carts and bring them all to the storage area, where they get stacked (that part is generally done by an adult). Meanwhile, other things (generally larger, heavier, and more delicate things) are being put away, like the sound equipment. Some of the older kids help with that, as well, putting the music and microphone stands into the carrying bag. All in all, it’s a pretty well run process (as long as no one is away that week).

Today, after everything was put away, someone (and I don’t know who) decided to give the kids a ride. They came into the room and I told them to wait while I got my camera and took a few quick pictures. I also took some pictures of clematis blooming outside, but pictures of flowers are a dime a dozen.

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Montgomery County Prayer Breakfast

Montgomery County Prayer Breakfast

Montgomery County Prayer Breakfast

When anyone advertises anything as the ‘first annual’ whatever, you have to admire their optimism. I mean, anyone can have a ‘first annual’ anything but following that with a ‘second annual’ is the tricky bit. That’s not to say things just happen after that, but doing something twice on the same day of the year is a real milestone (or is it a millstone?). The National Day of Prayer, established in 1952 to be held on the first Thursday in May, was the occasion of the second annual Montgomery County Prayer Breakfast with over 100 in attendance. Many thanks to Paul and Janet for their efforts to get this going and for enlisting sponsors to cover the costs.

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CCR Picnic

Jenny

Jenny

It was a really lovely day today, sunny but cool with just the hint of a breeze. A perfect day for the first church picnic of 2017. And that’s what we had. With the change of our service time from 11:00 to 10:30, we finished earlier than we have in the past. That also contributed to a smooth flow from church to picnic. I hadn’t had time last night to make anything so Cathy ran out to buy some fried chicken right after church and got back as folks were starting to go through the line.

As I’m sure you’ll be surprised to learn, I took a few pictures. Most of them were of kids playing on the swings and slides of the playground outside the Rockville Senior Center. But I took some of the grown-ups, as well. This first one here is of Jenny, a relatively new friend and member of our congregation. It’s been nice getting to know her and it was extra special today to meet her younger brother, Tom, who arrived yesterday for a short visit.

Josh

Josh

The other picture is of Josh, whom I’ve known for a pretty good while now. I’ve gotten to know him a lot better over the last 18 months or so and it’s been a joy. In addition to working with the youth at the church, he’s just begun classes in pursuit of an M.Div. at Reformed Theological Seminary. It’s going to be a busy few years.

I’ve posted a picture of Josh once before. That one, last December, was with his sweet girlfriend, Lizzy. She was also at the picnic but didn’t happen to be with Josh when I took this, or I might have posted another of the two of them. They sure look good together.

After the picnic I expected to come home and crash but it was so lovely outdoors that Cathy and I did some more work in the yard and garden. We’ve got most of the flower beds ready for this year’s growth and the back yard in particular looks a little naked. Now it’s a matter of waiting for things to come up.

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Children’s Sermon

Children's Sermon

Children’s Sermon

Pastor Ben hasn’t done Children’s sermons before but he did this morning. He had the children come up and sit with him on the steps at the front of the room before telling them a Bible story and explaining it to them briefly. Of course some of them couldn’t sit still that long. But it was nice and it’s also nice to see that many kids together.

I don’t know if this is something Ben’s planning to do on a regular basis, but I like it.

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Christy

Christy (and Andy)

Christy (and Andy)

She hates to have her picture taken and I doubt she’ll like this one any more than others I’ve taken over the years but this young woman has been a real blessing to our family and it was really nice to see her this morning. She and a friend came to help with music and worship at church this morning and I took a few pictures (yes, during church, it happens). I wouldn’t necessarily go so far as to say that Dorothy wouldn’t do any singing without the influence of Christy but I do think that influence was real and important. She pushed Dorothy well out of her comfort zone and it’s really paid dividends since. Even without that, Christy is a lovely young woman, sweet and loving to everyone she meets (at least as far as I know and I’d appreciate it if no one shows me otherwise). She also has a really pretty voice. Just sayin’.

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Christmas Eve

Olivia, Alyssa, Ellie, and Hope with Sugar

Olivia, Alyssa, Ellie, and Hope with Sugar

For a number of reasons, not least of which was a scheduling conflict at our normal location for church tomorrow and the fact that most people want to be with their families on Christmas day, we had a Christmas Eve service today instead. It was a fairly small, informal affair, with only about 20 people in all including more children than adults. After the service, I took this picture and if I have their names right, they are Olivia, Alyssa, and Ellie behind Hope and Sugar (the dog).

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Lizzy and Josh

Lizzy and Josh

Lizzy and Josh

It’s December and that means all sorts of Christmas parties (or, if work-related, holiday parties, but that’s a post for another time). The first Christmas party of the season was with our church family. It was hosted by our pastor and his wife (and their kids, I suppose) and it was a full house. I honestly don’t know how many of us were there but it was a good crowd. Of course, being a pot luck, there was way more food than we could eat, although I guess some folks didn’t get to try things that ran our early. For me, the highlight was little smokies wrapped in bacon and then sprinkled with brown sugar and baked. Man, were those good (thanks, Joanna and Juan). There was an excellent cake, as well, made by Brigitte with candied cranberries on top. While the cake was excellent, to me the cranberries were the best part.

Naturally I took pictures and this is one I really like, a couple of wonderful young folk named Lizzy and Josh. I enjoyed sitting with them a while and chatting and I’m glad this pictures turned out so well.

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Youth Group

David, Lily, Will, Vera, and Sarah

David, Lily, Will, Vera, and Sarah

It’s a small and fledgling youth group, I admit, but this is at a small and fledgling church, so perhaps that’s appropriate. This is one of a bunch of pictures I took to promote our youth group. We cannot offer crowds and huge events. But we can offer something a little more individual. Our ministry goals are really the same as for Cross Community church: to share the gospel, love the city, and build community, all within the context of youth.

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Will and Ethan

Will and Ethan

Will and Ethan

Will and Ethan have both been in pictures posted here, both separately and together. We were at their house this evening and I took a few of Ethan and then this one of the two brothers together, which I think is a good picture. I’m finding that on the days I don’t go out during the day at work, I’m having a harder time coming up with a post-worthy picture. Going to someone else’s house is helpful, of course, because there is always something new to photograph, even if it’s just their kids. Will asked me to send this to him, which I did, so if you’ve already seen this from him, you’ll now know where it came from.

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A Day In The Country

Cathy On The Pond

Cathy On The Pond

We had originally planned an outing for folks from out church to the family property in Pennsylvania for August but a lot of folks couldn’t come that weekend so we moved it to today. The day we would have gone in August was sweltering and muggy. Today was cool but beautiful. The wind was a bit strong but we had a fire going the whole day and I think that those who went all had a good time. I know I did. Being outside all day, cooking over a fire, and of course being with friends (old and new) is a great way to spend a day. Cathy was the first to go out in the canoe, battling the wind. As you can see, the trees are starting to turn.

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Some New Friends

Some New Friends

Some New Friends

One nice thing about being involved in a new church is that it’s forcing us to meet lots of new people. This is a family we’ve started to get to know. On the left are Victor’s parents, Gamal and Monira, then Sally’s mother, Sue. To the right of them (their left) is Sarah in the back and Daniel in front, Sally, Victor behind her, and Vera on the end. Of course, there are upsides and downsides to many things in life. Being heavily involved in this church has been really good but it’s meant that we’ve seen some good friends a lot less, much less than I’d like. Hopefully we can remedy that, at least a little.

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New Church Location, New Church Time

Cross Community Church

Cross Community Church

Today was a significant day in the life of our young church (Cross Community Church / http://www.cross-community.org/). For the last 20 months, we’ve been meeting at First Baptist of Rockville, for 8 months in a room downstairs and then for a year in the sanctuary, always in the afternoon. We are and will always be grateful for their generosity to us but it was time for us to move to a morning church service and to do that, we needed to be somewhere else (they wanted to continue using their sanctuary in the mornings for their own service, which I suppose it reasonable). Starting this morning we had our first 11:00 AM service at the Rockville Senior Center (1150 Carnation Drive, Rockville, Maryland 20850 / 39° 06′ 00″ N, 77° 10′ 36″ W).

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Farewell to Friends

Farewell to Friends

Farewell to Friends

Nooree and Jane moved out today, heading back to Philadelphia and the next stage of their epic journey. We are so blessed to have had the chance to get to know them and look forward to hearing about the next stage of their lives. We’re also going to miss them and their darling, wonderful, exuberant, and beautiful children. Cathy and I have been involved in countless moves through the years and now that we’re the other side of 50 we have less trouble saying that we’ll play with the kids or I’ll take pictures for posterity. We actually didn’t even show up until the truck was about 99% loaded. Nooree asked if I’d take a group picture for them and here it is. Note: I’m in this picture. That part was taken by Cathy. The rest is mine.

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Adera and Alshadye

Adera and Alshadye

Adera and Alshadye

We had a bit of an unusual church service this week. Our pastor was out of town. He knew he would be leaving sometime but didn’t know when, for sure. This is all due to an adoption process that is very time consuming (not to mention costly) and fraught with all sorts of hurdles and hoops over and through which the adoptive parents must leap.

Instead of a regular sermon, we heard from six people from the church, four individuals and one couple. One of them was Alshadye, the young woman in this photograph. As we were preparing before the service, we were looking for pictures of the various speakers to put up on the screens. I had at least one of each of the others (and we also found some on Facebook) but I didn’t have any that were any good of Alshadye.

So, after the service I got out my camera (as I often do) and took some pictures, including this one of her with her son, Adera.

Not having a picture was pretty irrelevant, of course. What she shared with us was much more important and I’m so thankful to have her worshiping with us and involved in our community.

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Will and Ben

Will and Ben

Will and Ben

It was a pretty eventful day, but more about that in a minute. We want to Ben and Erin’s house for our bi-weekly prayer meeting and Bible study. It was a good time, both for the actual prayer and Bible study and simple as a time with friends. As usual, I brought my camera. I don’t always get it out, but I typically have it with me anywhere I go. This is Will and Ben (or more precisely Ben and Ben, but the younger Ben goes by his middle name, which is William.

Self-portrait, by Will

Self-portrait, by Will

Will took a bunch of pictures with my camera, as well, and I thought I’d share one of them with you. So, this is a self portrait that he took, not really realizing that the flash would totally overwhelm the rest of the picture. But I kind of like it. It’s a somewhat surreal self portrait and suited to his personality. He also took a really good picture of me making a weird face at the camera. I won’t be sharing that one.

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Wil, Ben, and Grace

Wil, Ben, and Grace

Wil, Ben, and Grace

We were over at Ben and Erin’s this evening for a prayer meeting and Bible study. Before we got started I took a few pictures of various people. The I let Wil and Grace both take some pictures with my camera (with decidedly mixed results). When I took my camera back, I got this picture of Wil, Grace, and Ben (in the middle). I think it’s a pretty decent picture, especially of Wil and Ben (sorry, Grace, you looked down just at the crucial moment). But then, I think they are pretty decent people.

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Rena

Rena

Rena

Taking pictures of kids can be fun but it can also present some very unique challenges. One of the biggest issues with kids is that, even if they want to be photographed, they often don’t know how to smile naturally. That’s sometimes true for adults, as well, of course, but not as common. With kids, even if they have the most beautiful smile in the world, if you ask them to smile, you get a very forced, very unnatural, toothy grin.

What’s really nice, though, is when you are able to catch an real, natural smile on one of these little ones. This picture is a great example. Rena’s “smile please” isn’t terrible, but it’s still a little less natural than her “real” smile. This is her real smile. It may not be her biggest, happiest smile, but it’s genuine and delightful.

And beautiful.

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Grace and Marley

Grace and Marley

Grace and Marley

This is Grace. Grace likes babies. I mean, she really likes babies. The baby in vogue at the moment is Marley, an adorable little thing, although her mother says she beginning to exhibit signs of being naughty in a stealthy sort of way. She makes up for it by being so darn cute, but of course, human nature being what it is, she’ll need some correction along the way.

It’s been about eleven months that we’ve been getting to know Grace and her family, as well as all our wonderful new friends at Cross Community Rockville. We’ve been greatly blessed by them and I don’t know that my feeble writing skills can do justice to how grateful we are to them all.

One thing I’m especially looking forward to, as I do wherever I am, it watching these little ones grow up. This is one of the few benefits of being old—the ability to see the trees and not just the forest. On the other hand, of course, with age comes oldness, as we like to say.

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Dinner With the Guys

Joel, Steve, David, Ben, Juan, and Henry

Joel, Steve, David, Ben, Juan, and Henry

I had dinner with these guys this evening at Matchbox in Rockville. If you go there, I can highly recommend the spicy meatball pizza and the plate of six mini-burgers. The burgers themselves are good but the pile of thinly sliced, fried onions were really great. We had a great time talking about whatever came to mind. Thanks, guys for putting up with my puns. This picture was taken outside, where there is a fire burning at the corner of the building. I didn’t have anything to put the camera on, so the platform around the fire takes up a fair amount of the foreground.

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Hope, Will, and Grace

Hope, Will, and Grace

Hope, Will, and Grace

We had our bi-weekly prayer meeting and Bible study this evening and these three were having fun with the harpsichord at the Brights’ house. Each played singly but when I got out my camera, they gathered and all played together.

As you can see, they are all on the hammier end of the spectrum, mugging for the camera. They actually can play pretty well and I’m looking forward to hearing them play more as they get older and more accomplished.

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Addie!

Addie!

Addie!

We had a somewhat impromptu get together this evening (which as I write this, on July 30, was actually a very long week and a half ago). Our house isn’t necessarily set up for kids these days, with Dorothy having moved on from dolls and toys, but we managed to find things that would entertain the younger folks. This little gem, Addie by name, deserves to have an exclamation mark after her name. She is a bright light wherever she goes and we were terrifically glad that she came with her family.

She is not bashful in the least, while her brother, Jonah, is a little bit shy. I got pictures of him, as well, but they don’t do him justice. I think, however, that we will get along very well and I’m looking forward to getting to know them in the years ahead.

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Hope and Grace2

Hope, Grace, and Charis

Hope, Grace, and Charis

Our church has a longstanding tradition, going back at least a month, that on the first Sunday of each month we have a lunch together before our service, which is at 2:30 in the afternoon. It was such a beautiful day today and being the Fourth of July weekend, we thought a picnic would be appropriate. I took a few pictures and it wasn’t hard to pick this one as my favorite. The girls are Hope, Grace, and Charis (from the Greek χάρις, meaning grace). So, Hope, Grace, and Grace (or Grace2).

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Kellan and Me

Kellan and Me

Kellan and Me

Before church this afternoon (our gathering is not until 2:30 on Sundays) a bunch of us went to York Castle for ice cream. If you happen to be in the Montgomery College (Rockville) neighborhood on a hot afternoon (or anytime, really), you could make worse choices for a refreshing snack. I went with Caribbean cherry (although I’m not entirely sure how that differs from mainland, North American cherry) and was not disappointed. Cathy had lychee, which is quite different but also very good. A lot of folks played it safe with mango, which is always a sure thing. I was taking pictures and Kellan wasn’t sure he wanted his taken until I suggested we take one together. He smiled for the picture that Abbie took with my camera after this but I’m posing pictures that I took, so that’s what you get. Taking a selfie with an SLR isn’t quite as easy as with a phone, but this one turned out pretty well.

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Cross Community Rockville

Matt, Monica, Pedro, and Jeremiah

Matt, Monica, Pedro, and Jeremiah

I’ve really enjoyed getting to know a bunch of new people in this church plant in which we’ve become involved. Normally meeting and getting to know new people terrifies me, but I’m actually enjoying it. At the same time, I still have moments of terror. You see, I suffer from a serious but somewhat strange malady. I don’t know what it is called or even if it has a name. For all I know it is called “you’re an idiot”. Anyway, I have a hard time with names. Always have. I remember faces pretty well but when it comes to associating names with them, not so much. I’m not talking your normal level of forgetting names. This is serious. Even with someone I know reasonably well, I hesitate to use their name because I’m afraid I’ll get it wrong.

As for this photo, I have only known these folks for a couple months, seeing them at church once a week. It makes me nervous to label the picture with their names. Someone, please correct me (gently) if I got it wrong. Nevertheless, I’m glad to be stretched in this way. This is where I need to be.

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Men’s Camping Trip, Day 2

As mentioned in yesterday’s post, I went camping with some of the guys from church. When Ben (our pastor) suggested a camping trip, I mentioned that our family owns some property in Pennsylvania and it might be a good place to go. While talking about the place, I mentioned something about my niece planning to have her wedding there next year and that there was some work that needed to be done. He thought it would be great to have the guys do a bit of bush whacking. We cleared the brush growing on the inside slope of the dam around the pond as far as the overflow pipe (about half way around).

Bee Fly on Bluet

Bee Fly on Bluet

I didn’t work as hard as some of the younger guys (or as hard as the one guy there who is older than me, for that matter). Mostly I dragged the cut brush down the dam and into the woods. I also took a few breaks to take pictures, both of the guys working and of the flowers growing on the dam. While I was photographing the bluets in the first picture here, a small insect came to visit them. At first I thought it was something related to the sphinx moths but after doing a little searching I believe instead that it is a bee fly (Family Bombyliidae). Anyway, pretty neat.

Your Host

Your Host

After the work on the dam, cutting brush including trees with trunks up to about three inches in diameter, we did a bit of shooting. We had in our number a former county police officer as well as a few gun enthusiasts. We had a gun safety talk and then we shot the heck out of a few targets. I’m happy to say that no one was hurt, although the ground behind the targets was a bit torn up. The photo I have posted here of yours truly was taken by Joel, one of my fellow campers (thanks, Joel!). Yes, that’s one of the hated (and also much loved) AR-15s you hear so much about. I found it to be quite easily handled, much lighter and less kick than my .35 Remington, which has a significantly larger cartridge. In addition to the rifle, I also fired three handguns, a Glock .40 caliber a Glock 9mm and a Ruger .22 long. I quite enjoyed myself. Our neighbors (about a half mile away) came to see what the fuss was all about, but once they saw it was nothing untoward and it was me, not some local kids, they left us in peace (or whatever, but this clearly isn’t Maryland).

Rib Roast, Cooked on a Spit

Rib Roast, Cooked on a Spit

While the shooting was going on, there was some serious meat being cooked over the fire. David had brought two boneless rib roasts, which he put on a spit and wrapped with bacon. They cooked for about two hours and where between medium rare and medium when they were taken off. I have to say that while there are not many pieces of meat that I don’t enjoy, a good piece of rib cooked over an open fire is about as good as it gets. This meat was about as close to perfection as you are likely to find.

Ethan's Fish Story

Ethan’s Fish Story

When the shooting, with its significant noise, was finished and our delicious lunch was consumed, some folks packed up for the day and headed home. It was early enough, though, and Andy and his son wanted to do a little more fishing. So, those who were still there spent a much quieter hour or so pulling bluegills (Lepomis macrochirus) out of the pond. I think their chances of catching bass would have been increased with spinners rather than worms but I don’t think it made much difference to Ethan. What he caught was much less important than that he caught something. We weren’t catching breakfast, so the fact that everything was too small to eat didn’t matter. Also, the guns and their noise had made him a little nervous but the time we spent fishing in the quiet, afternoon sun was just the thing to help him relax again. I have to admit that even though I enjoyed the shooting and would do it again, I’m more likely to head out with a rod and reel for some solitude.

All in all, it was a great time. I haven’t known any of these guys for more than about five months and this weekend helped me to get to know them and them me. We need to do this again.

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Men’s Camping Trip

Ben, Ben, and Marc

Ben, Ben, and Marc

Some of the men from Cross Community Church went camping, up at my family’s place in Pennsylvania. We had a nice time around the fire on Friday night after a great dinner of burgers and hot dogs. Of the ten people there that evening, there were four Bens (although one of them goes by Will). Two of them are in this picture, Ben and Ben on the left, with Marc on the right. We stayed up talking until about midnight. What a way to spend a cool, spring Friday evening. It doesn’t get much better.

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Cathy and Erin

Cathy and Erin

Cathy and Erin

I’ve posted a few pictures from the church plant that we’ve become involved in. This week, despite the somewhat lousy weather (or icy weather, anyway, trying to put a more optimistic spin on it), we met this afternoon. We even had a pretty good turnout, all things considered (and why anyone would make a judgment without considering all things is beyond me). As usual, I took a few pictures and I like this one the best. Most of you will recognize Cathy, of course. This is Erin that she is with.

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Rockville Church Milestone

Ben's Installation Service

Ben’s Installation Service

Two church-related posts in two days. Sorry about that but it’s what’s been going on. They are from two different churches, neither of which is the church of which we are members, which I find a bit interesting. I posted a picture last week of David (February 15, 2015) and mentioned a church plant in Rockville that we’ve become involved with. This evening there was a service to install pastor Ben as a member of the Potomac presbytery (PCA) as an associate pastor of McLean Presbyterian Church. His job, however, will be here in Rockville. It was good to gather and celebrate this event with our newly found friends, our brothers and sisters, and we look forward to the weeks and months ahead as we walk down this road together.

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New Friends

David

David

Through an unlikely series of connections, we’ve recently become friends with a new group of people. One of Dorothy’s classmates was Jack. Through him, Dorothy met his girlfriend, Abbie. Through that, we met her parents. He is a pastor and has been led to plant a new church in Rockville. We have become involved in that and are meeting with them on Sunday afternoons.

They have already started getting used to the idea of me taking pictures fairly often but I’ve hesitated to post any of them. This one makes me laugh, not least because when he noticed my camera aimed at him, David put on an expression and posed for me, looking thoughtful and serious. Then we both laughed.

Love the beard, David.

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