📸 Day 10 of 30 | train

A running shoe on display at a store.

📸 Day 9 of 30 | crispy

Food on a plate—crisp tortilla with bacon, cheese, and arugula leaves.

📸 Day 8 of 30 | prevention

A small container of Lexol brand leather condition. The container reads: “Preservative” “Softens Leather • Prevents Cracking”

📸 Day 7 of 30 | well-being

A woman snuggling a dachshund that is laying on her shoulder.

I haven’t forgotten my photo challenge. I had some trouble renewing my micro.blog account over the last week, but it’s fixed now and I can start catching up.

📸 Day 6 of 30 | windy

A "Happy Birthday" balloon tied to a mailbox flies in the wind. Prickly pear cactus and a mesquite tree are in the background.

📸 Day 5 of 30 | serene

Even though I was sick at the time, I enjoyed this quiet moment painting a watercolor of my bicycle at this beachside park.

A 1982 Univega Gran Turismo bicycle stands on grass by the ocean at sunset; a backpack, pen, water bottle, and open paint set rest on a picnic table in the foreground.

🎵 Johnny Costa Plays Mister Roger’s Neighborhood Jazz very well.

🎵 Jay Nelsestuen, thanks for the the introduction to Djesse. After a month I’m still on volume 1, but…wow.

📸 Day 4 of 30 | foliage

Amidst lush Southern California greenery, a man stands on a sidewalk near some cars with his Dalmatian. The dog is sniffing a tree.
Presbyterians don’t do solo communion. This may seem strange if you think of communion as a purely private and personal act, but that’s not all that is going on. As Chad Van Dixhoorn writes, commenting on Westminster Confession of Faith 29:3-4, “this meal is intended to celebrate communion with Christ, but also with fellow Christians.”

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For several years Julie Beck has been publishing articles in The Atlantic on friendship. Check out: The Friendship Files.

Some folks in Tucson are hoping to reduce homelessness with a tiny-home village. This is a bold experiment from which I suspect we will learn a lot.

📸 Day 3 of 30 | card

A special birthday card from a friend who loves the American West as much as I do.

A greeting card stands upright featuring an illustrated Western Meadowlark (Sturnella Neglecta) on the right side with a map of the Western United States in the background.

I shared the following with my church this morning:

Each year on Arizona Gives Day, Arizonans donate money and pledge volunteer hours to support the non-profits that support our communities. The impact that these non-profits have in our lives is huge. And they need our help.

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📸 Day 2 of 30 | flowers

Yellow flowers on a desert hillside with cactus, rocks, and other plants.

For April I’m sharing a photo a day for the Micro.blog April 2024 Photo Challenge. No foolin’.

📸 Day 1 of 30 | toy

A Muppet-like man in a push-up position with his mouth wide open.

Big Resurrection Day at Covenant. In addition to our regular service, we also had two reaffirmations of faith, two baptisms, and a delicious, brunch-based lunch. It’s wonderful to see and enjoy all the Lord is doing.

I’ve put together a new program at Covenant called Forums of Five. Forums of Five aims to provide our members with an easier path for fostering close friendships in the church. Here’s why. Each Forum of Five consists of either five men or five women who build friendships with each other as peers for the purpose of mutual Christian care. Forums start with a fun Day Away and then meet monthly for a year to share life’s ups and downs and support each other through prayer.

Finding and developing close friendships is not new. And I’ve drawn from several sources to form the initial plan for the ministry and am looking forward to how things take shape. I’m sure we’ll learn and change as we go. But I’d like to take a moment and recognize some experiences, books, and people I’ve learned from that have helped me get this far.

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