Yesterday was a great day in the Van Diest family. Saturday night we went out to dinner with our friends, Rietemas (11 year anniversary) and the Williams. Amy Yablonski, our good friend, came over to hang out with us and watch our kids. So on Sunday morning we headed to Fort Collins to grab a great breakfast at Lucilles. No luck, 1 hour wait and we were all dying of hunger. So we headed over to the Rainbow Cafe and had a wonderful time. 
Amy came out to Boulder, CO about 2 years ago after she graduated from Baylor to work with us on campus at CU. She has been a great friend and it was awesome to hear about what journey God has her on right now. This past summer she ended her time with Campus Crusade and is now working for Amali as a consultant. They do pr consulting, event planning, fundraising, media relations and so much more. It is super fun to see how God is using Amy to bless so many others in the non-profit world with her gifts and talents.
After we got home, I needed some couch and Broncos time. God bless DVR's. I can watch a game in about 2 hours. What a huge family blessing. Not only was the game watched quick but the Broncos won in the last second with a rushed field goal. We're not the Patriots but we are 1-0. During the last few minutes of fast-forwarding, Billy, my neighbor called and said get over to Mitch and Ming's (other neighbors). They had dumplings, beer, and great Korean ribs. My mouth started watering immediately. One of my best friends in high school, Frank, was Korean and I still remember the taste bud singing of his moms Korean ribs. Mitch is from Texas and is far from Korean but Ming is Asian and I think in about an hour I must have eaten 10 ribs.
The afternoon continued on and on as the kids were running around the yard with about 12 other kids and a huge, strapping young man from Asia, Dragon Lo. Lo plays AA ball for the Colorado Rockies. He is a good friend of Mitch and Ming as both of them have worked for Charlie Monfort (owner of the Rockies) for some time. It was so fun to see Lo and kids from 2 years old to 15 years old throwing dodge balls at his each other. We laughed and relaxed all afternoon. Fall is coming so I grabbed my fire pit and then we sat huddled around the blaze as the sun dipped behind the Rockies (mountains that is, no Lo) and tried all sorts of bottles Mitch brought out from the cellar. Thanks to some great gifts and not so great gifts from people around the world and Charlie Monfort we drank some great $200 port, $800 cognac and a frightening tasting white liquid (I think it was Ethanol 85). We're testing to see if that last one will kill the grass alongside the patio.
We talked economics, politics, war, family, culture, spirituality, church, religion, and listened to U2, Garth Brooks and some others I didn't recognize. Seeing the neighborhood come together, eating, drinking, laughing, kids playing, and talking about the Kingdom was a small taste of Heaven for Christine and I. We thanked God for the 6 hours spent on the patio. We prayed that God would come, bless each person there and that they would experience His love and mercy. This is a bit of what we want to see God do through us. We want to have the time, space and heart to listen, relate and be with people who live in Greeley. We keep coming back to the prayer to God, "Can we do this full time and trust God to birth missional, apostolic Christ-centered communities all over Weld County?" "Can we see God's Kingdom come here in our own neighborhood."
It was an encouraging afternoon and a bit of the vision God is giving us.
2 comments:
Reading this I feel like I was there. Thanks for sharing your family with us.
We can just imagine the great time of fellowship you had with the neighbors. We so enjoyed the same feeling when we visited. You are so blessed with such awsome neighbors. Praise God!
Miss you, Dad and Mom
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