"The week of Chuck"

So this past week we have spent a lot of time celebrating my wonderful boyfriend who was comissioned (became a member) at his church here, and had a birthdy last Sunday. One of the things I love about our community here is that they love to celebrate people, which is awesome! It was kind of a crazy week, so here were some of the highlights:

Last Wednesday Chuck was comissioned as a member (they call their members "volunteer staff") at Mosaic, a church here in Pasadena, in a special communion service. Many members of the small group he and I are a part of at Mosaic were there to pray, support and celebrate this step in his faith journey.

Susan, the wonderful young woman who helps co-lead the small group with Chuck brought him flowers, which I have had the opportunity to enjoy in my apartment for this past week =)

Susan and Chuck

Chuck and I

Part of our small group: Theo, Nathan, Amanda, Chuck, me, Susan, Randy

Two days later, Chuck had to do a day-long solitude retreat for a class, so he left early Friday morning and drove over to Malibu, where he spent the day alone, on the beach. I drove over Friday night and joined him for an over-night camping trip and a short hike Saturday morning. In spite of the fact that it was ridiculously hot it was SO wonderful to get out of Pasadena to see the beauty around us and have some time in silence. (The hike we did on Saturday we did without talking, he still needed a couple more hours of silence for his class requirement, and it ended up being really fun to walk without talking through nature).

The sunset in Malibu Canyon Friday night

Trying to get a glimpse of the creek that he could hear. There were WAY too many signs warning us about snakes being in the area to get me to venture off the trail with him, so I stayed behind and took pictures.

Sunday was Chuck's birthday, which ended up being a pretty low-key day, with church, homework and then a gathering of about 12 friends at the Yard House Brewery for dinner. I didn't get very many photos, but here are two I did get:

Chuck and Kyle practicing their Zoolander 'model' poses

The final event of the week was this past Wednesday when his small group had a birthday dinner for him at BJS restaurant/brewery, where ten of us gathered admist a ridiculous number of Laker fans to celebrate Chuck and watch the Lakers (unfortunately) beat the Spurs in Game 1 of the Western Conference finals.

Rodger, Grace, Katherine, Chuck, Wendy, Me, Kas

the birthday pazookie, an essential part of dining at BJs--a fresh baked cookie with melting icecream.

on Left: Suan, Kas, Chuck, me, Rodger on right: Nancy, Wendy, Katherine, Grace

I think the high light of the entire week was the gift his small group found for him, the remote control surfer that you can take out into the waves...yes, he went bananas over the thing!

It was a busy week but it was so fun to see so many different parts of his community gather around him to celebrate the wonderful gift he is to so many of us!