the wind is ripping down main street today, tearing the blossoms from the little downtown trees and attempting to rip our canvas awning to shreds. it's an 80-degree day mere hours after frost threatened the early buds and blooms that dared to emerge before the end of april.

rob's hellish semester at Goshen officially ended one week ago today--hellish because of its absurd amount of homework, leaving him breathless and feeling like he hadn't had a chance to do or learn anything REALLY well. seems sort of a shame, although he seems to have absorbed more than he intially realized. and i'm sure the surprising emergence of knowledge will continue to be true for this past semester and others. it's nice to have him back.

we attended the Festival of Faith and Writing at Calvin College this weekend, right on the heels of Rob's last exam. it was a thoroughly exhausting and inspiring experience. as my Christmas gift, i was able to attend as a participant without the obligation to attend to our display booth the whole time, which was wonderfully freeing. we met/heard some incredible folks, as well as having the opportunity to spend time with people we knew already, people from all different parts of our lives.

perhaps my favorite experience at the festival was gathering some like-minded folks together, most of whom had never met each other, for a "last supper" at a local Chinese buffet. what a beautiful expression of unity in the body of Christ when we can gather, acquaint, discuss and dream over a meal with people who are both strangers and strangely known to us. we had a similar gathering in PIttsburgh after the Jubilee Conference and i think it will become a tradition.