Christmas 2009

Don't you love the movie Jon made as part of our Christmas present to the Lundy fam? That was a REALLY REALLY fun present to give...

Christmas this year was different but wonderful! We stayed in sunny CA, so we didn't see a fleck of snow (except for the fake snow that was sprinkled all over the floor and counter tops at our bank). Although we didn't go home to be a part of the traditional Christmas Eve festivities that we are used to, we were fortunate to still be able to spend time with family.

We went to Christmas Eve church service and came home and ate a great meal cooked by Stephanie's mom, then opened gifts from the grandparents (everyone got PJs! It's a tradition of theirs). The boys all had matching red plaid PJ pants and white long sleeved tops..they looked so stinkin' cute!

We woke up Christmas morning to Calvin and Christian running into our room and jumping on the bed...that's the BEST way to wake up on Christmas morning! We opened more presents and ate a delicious feast! (Ham, sweet potato casserole, green bean casserole and mashed potatos..mmmm)

Our favorite part was giving them their presents. Since we have been here Jon has been taking videos and pictures of the boys doing all the different things they do. He put a GREAT film together and coordinated it to awesome songs that fit perfectly! He is so gifted at being creative. We also took each boy and had separate photo shoots of them doing something they like. Christian playing the guitar, Connor skating (we would have tried surfing, but we're just not that good), Cameron playing football and Calvin running around at the beach being silly. We gave each photo an antique effect and framed them in thick, dark wood, beautiful frames. It was SO SO SO fun to watch Matt & Stephanies reactions!

Christmas afternoon, we drove up to my Aunt Nancy's house and had a California Christmas dinner..Crab legs! It was the first time I had had those and they were delicious! The next day we went into Los Gatos to shop around and eat sushi for lunch. That evening, Aunt Nancy hosted another Christmas get together with us, Jim and the Berkefeld family. We ate ANOTHER delicious meal, opened presents and played games. It was a fun night, full of laughter.

The next morning, Jon and I woke up and headed for San Fran (It's about an hour north of Aunt Nancy's). We spent the day walking around San Fran watching people paint and breakdance on the street as well as visit fishermans wharf, peir 39, Ghiradelli square, Coit tower and Lombard street (The crookedest street in the world).

Christmas 2009 was very special and now we are gearing up for NYE! We have LOTS of fun things planned to ring in the new year, so stay tuned!

"A Very Lundy Christmas"

Check out our first two months with the Lundy boys!

week 3: Kingdom Center

We recently found a great church in Ventura that we are connecting with. Our biggest draw to this church is what they are passionate about, as evident by their "Kingdom Center" project. And here's what it's about: Around 30 local churches joined to buy a run-down, vacant motel building in the middle of the city. It's undergoing major renovation, each room becoming a transitional living home for a homeless family/individual. Ventura has a huge homeless population, many of whom simply got laid off & couldn't make their rent/mortgage payment. This transitional living will involve case management etc in order for the person(s) to get back on their feet and is intended to empower them; it's not just a free room. They have to meet a lot of requirements while going there.

Heather and I have been working on "our" room (each church paints/decorates their own room & supports that family); everyone doing work there is a volunteer or is homeless or doing community service. It's been great to be a part of something that's bigger than church denominations & economics; bigger than ourselves.

Shane Claiborn states that the great tragedy with the Christian middle/upper class is not that they don't care about the poor or give money here & there, it's that they don't know the poor, the oppressed, the marginalized. He says when you know the poor, you know the people God is most concerned with; you find where God's heart is.

Here's a link to a quick video the church put together. You can even find us near the end of it. The guy you see in the red sweater is homeless, but spends nearly every day there, working. Check it out:

http://vimeo.com/8064100

Above is a picture of the tiny room one set of people will call home some time soon. That's our "accent wall". To the right & bottom is walking into room #9; "our" room.