Why I like to be in KC

Ten days ago I was whining in this post that I wanna go home. Of course, the biggest reason why I wanna be home is my lovely wife of almost 35 years (Dec 28). Vicki is my best friend, an amazing wife, wonderful mother and much more.

On Thursday our Youthfront staff watched the movie Romero together as a part of our monthly formational practice. The movie is about the life of Oscar Romero, who was appointed Archbishop of San Salvador, El Salvador during a very tumultuous time in the 1970’s. Great injustices were happening throughout the country and the poor were being exploited, raped and murdered. Archbishop Romero was assassinated because he was willing to stand up against gross injustice. The movie portrayed many different ways individuals who claim to be Christians react to what is going on around them. The issue of what it means to “do justice” was the focus of our staff discussion. The questions that we wrestled with following this film are still provoking our imagination and dominating our conversations.

We started the weekend out early, on Thursday night we had family over for dinner, my parents, Micah and Jessica, Daniel and Lexi.

On Friday we settled with our insurance and a roofing company to get a new roof on our house after it was damaged by a major hail storm. Friday morning into the afternoon Topher Philgreen and I worked on finishing touches of our Youthfront Budget with our budget directors. OK, that part wasn't loads of fun but it has to be done. Friday night Vicki and I saw the movie Like Dandelion Dust starring Mira Sorvino which has won several film festival awards. This is a really good movie that resulted in the two of us having a serious cry. Trailer below.

Saturday morning we went to the City Market to stock up for the week, yes... home cooked meals. We hooked up with Micah and Jessica, and also ran into Vicki's parents, brother, sister-in-law and niece. Saturday evening Daniel and Lexi came over and we enjoyed the fruits of the market. We ate on the deck in perfect weather and watched the S.F. Giants beat the Phillies.

On Sunday morning Vicki and I got ready for the Chiefs game and planned to arrive early to take in the Arrowhead atmosphere. The last thing I did before we walked out the door to head to the stadium was grab our season ticket package. I freaked out at first because I couldn't find tickets for the game. I looked at the parking pass, saw the schedule and started laughing when I realized that the game wasn't in KC but in Houston. Stink. It would have been a beautiful day at Arrowhead. Instead we watched the Chiefs let a big lead slip away in the last few minutes of the game.

After church on Sunday evening we headed to the Uptown Theater for Sufjan Stevens in concert. We went with Micah and Jessica and had great seats in the front row of the balcony. The venue was sold out and filled with tons of friends from Youthfront, Jacob's Well, NTS, Youth Workers, etc. Sufjan was stunningly good. What a great way to wrap up a wonderful weekend at home in KANSAS CITY. Only bummers of the weekend were a Chiefs loss and Giants losing game #2, although Jeremy Affeldt pitched well.