Reverend Joseph Lowery, who co-founded the Southern Christian Leadership Conference with Martin Luther King Jr., delivered the benediction at Barack Obama's inauguration yesterday and I thought it was one of the best moments of the day. He struck a tone of respect for both the nation and the office of president, while at the same time calling us, prophetically, to care for the poor and the least of these, to steward creation, and to reconcile with one another. And he even added a bit of levity ...

God of our weary years, god of our silent tears, thou, who has brought us thus far along the way, thou, who has by thy might led us into the light, keep us forever in the path we pray, lest our feet stray from the places, our God, where we met thee, lest our hearts, drunk with the wine of the world, we forget thee.

Shadowed beneath thy hand, may we forever stand true to thee, oh God, and true to our native land.

We truly give thanks for the glorious experience we've shared this day.

We pay now, oh Lord, for your blessing upon thy servant Barack Obama, the 44th president of these United States, his family and his administration.

He has come to this high office at a low moment in the national, and indeed the global, fiscal climate. But because we know you got the whole world in your hands, we pray for not only our nation, but for the community of nations.

Our faith does not shrink though pressed by the flood of mortal ills.

For we know that, Lord, you are able and you're willing to work through faithful leadership to restore stability, mend our brokenness, heal our wounds, and deliver us from the exploitation of the poor, of the least of these, and from favoritism toward the rich, the elite of these.

We thank you for the empowering of thy servant, our 44th president, to inspire our nation to believe that yes we can work together to achieve a more perfect union.

And while we have sown the seeds of greed -- the wind of greed and corruption, and even as we reap the whirlwind of social and economic disruption, we seek forgiveness and we come in a spirit of unity and solidarity to commit our support to our president by our willingness to make sacrifices, to respect your creation, to turn to each other and not on each other.

And now, Lord, in the complex arena of human relations, help us to make choices on the side of love, not hate; on the side of inclusion, not exclusion; tolerance, not intolerance.

And as we leave this mountain top, help us to hold on to the spirit of fellowship and the oneness of our family. Let us take that power back to our homes, our workplaces, our churches, our temples, our mosques, or wherever we seek your will.

Bless President Barack, First Lady Michelle. Look over our little angelic Sasha and Malia.

We go now to walk together as children, pledging that we won't get weary in the difficult days ahead. We know you will not leave us alone.

With your hands of power and your heart of love, help us then, now, Lord, to work for that day when nations shall not lift up sword against nation, when tanks will be beaten into tractors, when every man and every woman shall sit under his or her own vine and fig tree and none shall be afraid, when justice will roll down like waters and righteousness as a mighty stream.

Lord, in the memory of all the saints who from their labors rest, and in the joy of a new beginning, we ask you to help us work for that day when black will not be asked to get in back, when brown can stick around ... when yellow will be mellow ... when the red man can get ahead, man; and when white will embrace what is right. That all those who do justice and love mercy say Amen.

Chevy is currently advertising that its Silverado pickup has "unbeatable" gas mileage. Ford has a commercial for its new F-150 that claims "you can't get better gas mileage" in a truck. Both get 21 miles per gallon. So ... they aren't lying, really.

Many of our friends and family have been following our renovation project in Three Rivers, Michigan, via this blog and we haven't written any updates since last summer. For the most part, we haven't had much to write about because we haven't had time to do much work. We were in Ontario in August as co-organizers of Practicing Resurrection and then, upon returning, we resumed our work at Calvin.

We've also been waiting for a lot of administrative work to be completed by both the city and the state. In March, we applied for a matching grant from the state for historic districts. The grant works like this: state funds are available for facade work (windows, brickwork, painting, etc.) and must be matched by building owners for other building improvements (electrical, plumbing, etc.). While we were awarded the grant in July (and had our matching funds ready through a loan), we had to wait to spend any of the money until we signed a contract with the state--which we finally did yesterday.

The delay was caused by a number of things. First, we applied for the grant in a block with several other building owners in downtown Three Rivers. As difficult as it is to organize details for one renovation project, you can imagine what it might take to do five at one time.

Second, and specific to our project, we had to work out how we were going to replace the front windows on our building. We were planning to replace each window with two windows, a rectangle double-hung on the bottom with a half-moon transom on top. The State Historic Preservation Office (SHPO), though, told us we needed to use one window with an arched top sash instead, which increased the price of the project by several thousand dollars--a cost that would have to be split between us and the state. After we made it clear that we couldn't increase our funding, a county project manager creatively helped negotiate a deal in which the state covered the overage.

While we've been frustrated with how long the process has taken, we realize that we wouldn't have been able to do this project at all without state funding. Now that we've signed the contract, we can start doing work requiring contractors (as we won't have time to do much work ourselves until June). We're hoping to get our new windows and doors installed soon. And, depending on the cost, we may have some framing work done by a contractor so we can start plumbing, electrical and HVAC installation.

I've been catching up on my commercial viewing during the NFL football season and, as per usual, I've been surprised by the stories advertisers are telling us. Some of the most egregious lies seem to be coming from the much-maligned auto industry.

Automakers, instead of actually building more fuel efficient vehicles, have decided instead to try to convince us that 24 miles per gallon (mpg) is fuel efficient--which is patently absurd. 24 mpg is only about 2 mpg more than the average, which has been stagnant for almost 30 years. The fuel efficient label, such as it is, should only apply to cars with a 35 mpg rating or higher (highway).

In the ad above, by the way, that's 24 mpg highway (always read the fine print); the city rating for the new Ford Flex is actually 17 mpg. Seriously.

We've detailed our financial situation on this blog before--it's been a mess for a long time, but we're slowly, surely seeing a light at the end of the tunnel, particularly for credit card debt.

I don't know if it's the hard financial times or what, but we've nearly gotten scammed twice in the past few months, and I wanted to post on those experiences to encourage folks who use credit cards or who have credit card debt to be vigilant.

The first time was when Rob called to transfer money off one account to a zero-interest account with Capital One. He asked the representative on the phone how much was available on the zero-interest credit line and received an answer of $700, so he transferred that amount. Turned out $700 put us a few dollars over the credit limit, which triggered a $39-fee and our interest rate got jacked up to 10%. When he called in to suggest that they remove the fee and lower our interest rate again, the representatives he talked to were politely perplexed by the situation. The fee was removed, but we're still waiting to hear the ruling on the interest rate.

The second instance was with Washington Mutual. When we first transferred money to this zero-percent interest card in June, the due date was the 23rd. Since then, it's varied from the 20th to the 23rd. Apparently, they vary their due date according to how many days are in a billing cycle. We have an automatic bill-pay system scheduled to pay out on the 19th. In December, however (big shopping month when fees and charges can get buried in a statement), the due date was pushed forward to the 18th. Our payment went through on the 19th and they slapped on a $39 late fee. Fortunately, we're paying down and not spending money on these cards, but if we weren't watching carefully, that fee would have just gone through unnoticed. I called and they agreed oh-so-willingly to a one-time removal of the fee, but couldn't tell me what my due date would be in the future. I called back again to change my due date to the 22nd, but they could only guaranteed that it would be "around" the 22nd--possibly as early as the 18th.

Credit card companies seem to turn me into a paranoid conspiracy theorist. I'll be glad when we're done with our indentured servitude to them for good. Please watch your bills, friends--the empire doesn't need your $39.

Many of our friends and family send out yearly Christmas letters and it's always fun to read what's happening in their lives. We thought it might be nice to reciprocate with our own update; however, after sending out road journals four times a year, we weren't quite up for another mailing, so we decided to try an online letter here instead.

In 2008, we continued our work with *culture is not optional (*cino), World Fare and the Calvin College Student Activities Office (SAO).  

For *cino, Kirstin served as the editor for catapult magazine, the bi-weekly online magazine published by *cino, and for road journal, *cino's quarterly print journal.  Rob oversees design, publishing logistics and finances.  We both do a good deal of networking with students and others interested in all-of-life faithfulness.

Our work with World Fare has been limited as of late, thanks in large part to a dedicated group of volunteer staff who attend to day-to-day needs.  Our friends Julie and Amber have taken over inventory management, which has been great for both the store and for us.  We still sit on the board of directors, Rob manages finances and Kirstin does a good deal of marketing and design work.  

We've learned a lot working at Calvin College, not least of which is how much we enjoy working with students.  We continue to help imagine and market the SAO's concert and film series with our friend and co-worker Ken Heffner.  We also work with a group of students called Cultural Discerners (CDs) to discuss Christian discernment of the spirits of the age, specifically in the area of popular culture.  The CDs also publish Uncompressed, a pop culture criticism magazine, about four times a year, a project we advise.

And now for the highlights of the (busy!) year ...

In January, Kirstin edited and Rob designed *cino's first book in partnership with the student-organized Faith & International Development Conference at Calvin. Do Justice: A Social Justice Road Map is the first in a new series of topical books that we plan to publish. Each book will gather articles, artwork and resource lists (some previously published in catapult) into a handy introductory volume on a given topic. Our hope is that the Road Map Series will be helpful for both new and mature Christians as they seek to be faithful in a certain area of life.

In February, we made our fifth annual trip to the beautiful city of Pittsburgh for the CCO's Jubilee conference, though this time we went as presenters as well as exhibitors. The conference is a fantastic event for college students that looks at how all of life belongs to God through workshops on a broad range of topics and academic disciplines. For example, a few years ago, students interested in architecture were treated to a session by the architect of PNC Park (home of the Pittsburgh Pirates). Our workshop this year was called "Food, Clothing and Shelter" in which we discussed how we might go about these basic aspects of life with attention to our deepest values of love and justice.

Calvin's biennial Festival of Faith & Writing was in April and *cino had a table in the exhibit hall, as has been our custom for three festivals. Attending this gathering is a great way to connect with writers interested in writing for catapult. We also published Eat Well: A Food Road Map in time for the Festival, the second book in our Road Map Series.  During the Festival, we were grateful to host our friends Norb (from Wisconsin) and Alice (from Florida), who met while they worked at the same school in southern Florida, but hadn't seen each other for a couple of years--a happy reunion!

Also in April, Kirstin's sister Alyssa married Dave and we celebrated with them in northwest Indiana.  There was a lot of fun and laughter and we look forward to seeing where their life together will take them.

After a full spring, we took a road trip east in June. Our first stop was with our friends Hank, Renee, Simon and Jacob in Beaver Falls, Pennsylvania, for good conversation and delicious quesadillas.  Then we headed to Philadelphia to see Kate and Nathan.  We enjoyed exploring their row house neighborhood, scrounging around Italian groceries to make a fabulous feast and visiting/re-visiting some historic sites.  Off to Baltimore to visit Emily--via Wilmington to see our friend Lisa's neighborhood and eat dinner at Iron Hill Brewery on the water.  Our stay with Emily and her parents Dawn and Rick was very relaxing and included an Orioles game, lots of great food, hiking and exploring the city.  We took a couple of jaunts from B'more, one to Dallastown, PA, to visit Beth & Byron Borger at Hearts & Minds Books and one to Washington, D.C. to visit Laryn, Janel, Alleia and Eric.  "On the way" back home to Grand Rapids, we made a stop in Chicago to enjoy a Cubs vs. White Sox game at Wrigley Field (baseball heaven!) and lunch at Tre Kronor with GR friends Erin, Chris and Lisa.  One other restaurant recommendation from our trip for those who drive through Pennsylvania: Maggie's Mercantile.  Two locations and very fresh, creative vegan options--just what you need on an extended trip sometimes.

Upon our return to Michigan, we began demolition on the second floor (above World Fare) of our building in Three Rivers, Michigan, in anticipation of renovating the space into an apartment for future use. We applied for and received a matching grant from the State of Michigan for historic districts, which is really the only way this project is possible. We've just finished the final details of the grant and are hoping to begin actual re-building early in 2009.  

While we were doing a lot of work in Three Rivers throughout the summer, we still had good amounts of time to relax with John, Erin, Daniel, Ken, Gail (often at the Hopcat or on our front porch) and with Laryn, Janel and Alleia when they came through town.  We raised radishes, tomatoes, herbs and some surprise squash in our back yard and frequented the farmer's market.

This summer also saw two momentous occasions in Rob's family, one joyous and one a little scary.  Rob's mom turned 60 in July and the family threw a big party in celebration.  Later that month, Rob's dad underwent an unexpected single bypass surgery to clear a blockage in his heart.  Many people now consider open heart surgery to be routine, but it's an entirely different story when someone you know and love is under the knife.  Through prayer and good doctors, all went very well and dad is now almost fully recovered.

In August, we attended Lollapalooza in Chicago to scope out bands as possibilities for Calvin.  We braved the heat and crowds to hear a lot of [mostly good] music--47 bands in 3 days, actually.  Among our favorites were K'naan, Wilco, Kanye West, The National, Lupe Fiasco, The Raconteurs and Battles.  The nature of the event was quite exhausting, but we were glad to spend time with Grant and Kristin (who hosted us in their apartment), with James and Kari who were over from the UK and with Betsy before she and Aaron headed to China again.

At the end of summer, *cino again partnered with Russet House Farm for the second biennial Practicing Resurrection conference in Cameron, Ontario. This year's event, with a "Home Economics" theme, featured workshops, keynotes, live music and a week of outdoor living.  We always enjoy the organizational aspects of this event, as well as connecting with dear friends--old and new--including our farm friends.  Henry, Sarah and Moses hosted us at their house for a couple of days before we moved out to the camping field (lots of coyotes!) and we had the opportunity to enjoy beef from their cows--small-scale farming makes a difference, indeed.

Back at Calvin after the conference, we both taught Prelude again, a one-credit introductory course for first-year students, and we're anticipating teaching our first three-credit course this January on "Pop Culture in the Empire." 

With a new intern in our office at Calvin--Marty, who's become a good friend--Kirstin has been able to do more writing.  Between Calvin and freelance writing, she's been published in Christian Educators Journal, Relevant Online, The Banner and The Christian Courier.  Rob has been putting together a snazzy new site for the biennial Festival of Faith & Music, which is organized by our office and will keep us pretty busy for the first part of 2009.

This fall was also a significant time for *cino and World Fare. *cino launched a new catapult web site in September, which Rob had been working on most of the summer with our good friend and *cino web developer James Stewart.  We hope the new site will allow for more user interaction with our published content; eventually, the site will also form the foundation for a networking application we've been dreaming about for several years.  *cino also partnered with Christian Educators Journal to build their web site, the first step in what we hope will be a fruitful relationship going forward.

On Labor Day weekend, World Fare celebrated its fifth anniversary during Three Rivers' HarmonyFest.  Then in October, we held our first ever annual membership meeting, where supporters of World Fare got together for an international potluck.  It's always wonderful to gather with so many amazing people who are passionate about local and global justice!  In preparing for the meeting, we learned that the store has had over $190,000 in sales in its first five years, which translates into almost $50,000 we've been able to put back into economically disadvantaged communities around the world.  How exciting is that?

This fall, we've also been enjoying life with our new housemate, Emily.  Emily was the student worker in our office at Calvin, and then the first ever summer intern for *cino, and now she's one of those honorary-sibling kinds of friends with whom we enjoy making meals, drinking tea and watching both very good and very bad television.

We closed out 2008 with a visit with Kirstin's family (Rob's was at Disney World for Christmas), including a new nephew, Noah, brother to Charley and Xander.  Finally, we spent some time at home: pecking away at work, finishing up The Wire, celebrating our eighth wedding anniversary and trying to recover from nasty colds.  And here we are, at January 1, 2009.  Thanks for reading!  We hope this year is one of abundance for you--abundant peace, joy, understanding and love.