Shown Mercy

Two words we never thought we'd use in connection with our home: wedding venue... An expedited landscaping project and we were ready to go....  Saturday wedding rehearsal...  A picture of "before" the landscaping project...  Sunday worship pre-wedding...  Meanwhile, back in Kentucky... James blending in with his cousins (and loving it!)  Time for the wedding: Sunday evening...  Bride and bridesmaids getting ready...  Flower girls and Bible bearer ready to go...  Praying over the groom...  Mothers and babies viewing room (inside the air conditioning)...  Laura the wedding director extraordinaire...  Groom...  Musicians...  Mr. & Mrs. Justin Bailey!  Reception: food, folks and fun...  Deck (a.k.a. dance floor)...  Titus hanging out with his neighbor, Buddy, during the wedd...

A quick trip north...   Early last week I had the privilege of participating in the International Justice Mission 's 5th annual Advocacy Summit in Washington, D.C...  Lana and I hit the road north following worship with our Imago Dei family to join around 250 others from 40 states in order to raise our voices for the oppressed...  Upon our arrival, we checked in our hotel and hit the pavement to eat at one of my favorite places (mostly for nostalgic reasons): Tortilla Coast..  You simply cannot go wrong with chips and salsa!  It was such a lovely evening at our nation's capital...  No matter how hard we tried, we did not succeed in snapping a 'selfie' with the capital in the background.  However, it did make for a few good laughs...  Monday was a packed day of equipping by the amazing staff of IJM, including CEO/President Gary Haugen, as well as other experts from Solidarity Center, World Vision and Free the Sla...