We are THE KITCHENS'

New Wordpress Blog

2010-01-22T16:44:00.001-06:00

New state (MO) new jobs (His Voice, Inc. and State Farm) why not a new blog as well. Come take a looksy...we think you'll like it.

Advent Conspiracy

2009-11-22T23:15:00.000-06:00

Ok, so I know I left you hanging the other day. Let me explain a little more about Advent Conspiracy -the idea is to SPEND LESS, GIVE MORE, and LOVE ALL. This year you and I could spend less money giving gifts to the people around us and spend more giving to people who are in need.

Go to Advent Conspiracy site for more info and for more ideas of where to spend that money. Other amazing ideas are found at the His Voice for Sudan blog. The latest post has an amazing video about the needs in Sudan. The same post also links a document that gives more info on what some of the needs are. You can also click here for the document.

What's cool is that through this idea of spending less and giving more, it gives you, your fam, your small group or your church a way to share Christ and love people in a different way this year.

Love you all!

Advent Conspiracy... Have you heard about it yet?

2009-11-19T15:03:00.001-06:00

The Flower Mound Pumpking Patch

2009-10-18T19:22:00.004-05:00

This weekend was so fun! Amy Kuntz and Erin Woods came to town, and it was so good to hang out with them and the Burgers'... so refreshing. On Saturday, we went to the Flower Mound Pumpkin Patch. It was free to get in, and play in the bounce houses or the hay maze. It was so fun, just making memories with good friends! Here are some random pics I took while we were there.

Love you all... hope you had a wonderful weekend too!

Response to a comment

2009-08-02T17:38:00.003-05:00

This post is in response to the following comment:

What's wrong with clothing optional beaches? It's just been a way of life in Europe since the beginning. I tanned topless on the beach in Spain all the time when I was there, it's not awkward because everyone's so used to it. Is it a Baptist thing?

The problem with the question (what is wrong with clothing optional beaches) is that we do not share the same worldview as the commenter and therefore do not view this issue through the same lens. More specifically Allison and I believe in absolute truth and objective morality as defined by the bible. Consequently we value modesty and purity more than self-expression and the absence of tan lines because the bible values modesty and purity more than these things. On the other hand the commenter’s view of morality and truth appear to be subjective based on their own opinion and personal experience. To argue “right or wrong” in this situation with this individual would be a fruitless endeavor because we are not working within the same framework.

The question is really one of worldview and which one makes the most sense…we have chosen Christianity, which is based on the Bible, which we believe to be divinely inspired by the God who created us. The commenter has chosen their own opinions based on their personal life experience.

Thoughts?

Marseilles....

2009-07-01T14:10:00.007-05:00

The trip was sooooo good, but it is also good to be home. We both LOVED Marseilles. The culture there is much more laid back than in Paris. We did end up going to the Chateau d’If (which is the prison from the Count of Monte Cristo, as well as the prison which held many non-fiction prisoners). The prison itself was amazing walk through. What was really spectacular though was the view of Marseilles from the top of Chateau d’If. It was truly breathtaking.

In our time there in Marseilles, we decided we wanted to take a stroll the beach and stick our feet in the Mediterranean. We took a bus to one of the beaches. As we are standing about 30 above the beach on the side walk, we realized that the beaches in South France are definitely “clothing optional”, yes it was a little awkward. Needless to say, we did not take a stroll on that beach!

After two days there we returned to Paris on the iDTGV train (this is a ridiculously fast train that runs all over France.
We began our trip at point A, Went on to Lyon (point B) and finally made it to Marseilles (Point C), so fun!

At the Chateau d'If...

and yes we did both enjoy a burger and fries our last day there!

the view from our hotel, Hotel Saint Louis

The Mediterranean Sea...

The old port in Marseilles

The new port...and the Pajama Cathedral(I don't know the real name, that's what the locals called it)

The front of the Chateau d'If

The view from the Chateau d'If

At the top of the hill, Notre Dame de la Garde

All of that said... we had a total blast.

Quick Update

2009-06-23T07:44:00.000-05:00

Greetings from Marseille

Allison and I just checked into our hotel after spending the morning wandering around Marseille. It is a gorgeous city and the seafood is ridiculous. We were really hoping to get to tour the Chateau d’ If (the prison from the Count of Monet Cristo) however the local fishermen are striking today and have blocked all of the ferries to the island. We will have to wait and see what kind of mood they are in tomorrow.

We spent the majority of our day yesterday with a missionary couple who have been serving the Lord in France for 20 years. They planted 3 different churches in Paris and are now working in south France. Our time with them was extremely encouraging and refreshing. We hope that this will be the first of many interactions that we have with this couple. We were also able to enjoy our first meal that didn’t consist entirely of carbs. (man cannot live on crepes and baguettes alone) The rest of the day we spent resting. It was good to get caught up on sleep as the night before we didn’t get much. Conveniently the Fete de la Musique took place directly below our hotel room until the wee hours of the morning and we had to be up at 5 to catch our train to Lyon.

After a brief rest this afternoon we plan to spend the rest of the evening and the majority of tomorrow exploring Marseille. We will catch the super-fast train tomorrow evening back to Paris and head to the airport Thursday morning.

We will post some pictures of Marseille this evening or tomorrow morning for you viewing pleasure.

Sunday Pictures

2009-06-21T16:38:00.010-05:00

HILLSONG PARIS...and it was AWESOME!

Our metro station

A typical Paris Café... all of the tables face outward so you can enjoy the day and watch people passing by.

Our view from our seats in the café

A bridge along the Seine River

Le Mosquée de Paris

Us in front of the Arc de Triomphe

Le tour Eiffel... no pictures do justice to the size and beauty of the arc or the Eiffel tower!! They are both breath taking- to quote a man who saw the arc and said this to his family "this is a WOW moment, I need a sec"

L'école militaire

Pictures from Thursday, Friday & Saturday

2009-06-20T12:28:00.015-05:00

Today, in addition to visiting The Louvre and Notre Dame, we figured out we have Wi-Fi in our hotel room......it has been a good day. As promised here are some pictures from our trip thus far.

This is a statue that was right in the middle of our terminal in Toronto.

The view from our hotel... and yes we are staying at Hotel Odessa, kind of ironic.

Notre Dame- We never got to go inside, the line had hundreds of people in it!!!

Hotel Dieu means 'Hotel God', I am sure it has some importance here... I just really liked the blue door.

Typical French Street

The Louvre -archways leading to entrance

A vanity from Henri V house

Becasue the Louvre was once a palace, all of the ceilings look similar to this

In the promenade area of the Louvre

Walking along the Seine River...if you look real close you can see the Eiffel Tower in the distance!

All that said, we have had a blast thus far!

2009-06-19T12:03:00.002-05:00

Bonjour!!!

We made it!!! After a LONG two days of traveling we are here! Yesterday we spent some time in the city of Toronto. We have heard that Toronto is very diverse, and it really is. When we were riding the Subway, we realized there was no minority in the car, but rather is was a smattering of many different ethnicities.
Today,once arriving and navigating our way through Paris, we got to go to our adorable hotel, and also walk to the Luxembourg Gardens. It has been a great trip thus far, we are already tired :) and we are both amazed at the pace of Paris. More to come.... hopefully. Internet has been difficult to find but we will post when we can!

Love you all!

Allison and Justin

THE PRODIGAL BLOGGER

2009-06-14T18:08:00.002-05:00

We hope that you, like the father of the prodigal son, will lovingly embrace our return to the blog world in spite of our long absence. We also hope that you will not judge the timing and motives of our return……… 3 days before we leave to go to France and, unashamedly, to ask for your prayers as we travel. Here is the itinerary for our trip as of this afternoon:

• Arrive in France Friday June 19th
• Friday through Sunday will be spent in Paris
• Monday we will travel to south France to meet with a missionary couple
• Tuesday and Wednesday will be spent in Marseille
• Arrive in DFW Thursday June 25

We intend to visit mosques and churches in different parts of the country as well as different neighborhoods within the larger cities. There will also be time to enjoy museums, restaurants, wine, cheese etc. I guess you could say that it is part exploratory, part visionary and part vacation. We are really excited about going. We simply ask that you would pray for safety and clarity. Our intention is to blog while on our trip so that we can share some of it with you…we will see how this goes. Regardless we covet your prayers as we seek out what it means for us to be obedient to what we believe we have been called to.

Thanks so much.
THE KITCHENS’

Flawed Logic

2009-04-03T07:15:00.003-05:00

This morning I read two different stories regarding the issue of forced marriages of underage girls to men. (Finland) & (Spain) In addition to the obvious reasons to be offended and frustrated with these stories add to your list the logic of the parents. In both instances they claim that this is strictly a cultural issue not a moral one. This is the social norm in their former countries and therefore it is Western Europe that has the problem not Islam.

Even if this statement were true, which I do not believe it to be, their reasoning is bias. If we run out their argument then I should be able to live in their former countries and drink a beer or look a woman in the eye and have a conversation with her. My wife should be able to walk around with her head uncovered. However this is not the case because they would claim these cultural differences were moral issues. I would be subject to the laws that govern their country. In most instances Islam would be the law that governed the country, which I think helps to make my point.

These people are not trying to integrate into the countries they now inhabit….they are trying to conform them to Islam. Sometimes it is subtler than others but it is almost always the root issue of conflict between Western European countries and the Muslim population. They do not ultimately desire equality and freedom of religion. They want Islamic Republics governed by Sharia Law.

I share these things with you not to “get you all riled up” but rather in hopes that we will be moved to intercede on behalf of an already large and rapidly expanding people group that is, for the most part, unreached. I hope that our hearts will break for little Muslim girls that are forced to marry grown men AND their parents who think it's ok. The gospel is the only remedy for these problems. Because it values life (all are created in the image of God), it allows for submission to local authorities (God instituted them, He is sovereign) and because it is the power of God for salvation (which, from what I hear, is a pretty sweet deal).

I would love to hear your thoughts…..all 2 of you who have persevered through our blogging inconsistency.

the kitchens’

2009-03-29T21:59:00.001-05:00

I would like to think that at some point we will get better at blogging regularly but that probably just isn’t going to happen. However we do intend to continue to blog and hope that you will continue to persevere through our inconsistency.

March has been a busy month just like all the other ones. Allison and I had our one year anniversary which we celebrated while Allison was sick. Conveniently about the time that Allison got better I got sick…..with the same thing. It was eventful to say the least. To celebrate we went to a nice restaurant called Lambert’s that Saturday night (which was good but took forever) and then to the Dallas Museum of Art Sunday afternoon (which was fun but you should probably take it in through multiple visits). It wasn’t quite on par with our honeymoon trip to Hawaii last year but we had fun and are extremely blessed and thankful for the last year. Also of note, we did yard work for the first time today in order to avoid becoming “those people”.

Upcoming we have Allison’s graduation…..6 weeks and counting. She will then officially become “educated” and able to answer questions effectively, per her father. We are also finishing up our travel plans to France this June. We are looking at spending more time in Marseille than we had originally planned due to various articles and trends that we have read about. If you think about it pray for this to be a fruitful trip. We are not really sure what it is supposed to look like and have found it difficult to set up meetings with folks over there.
That’s all for now boys and girls. Until next time

the kitchens’

Bathroom humor

2009-03-06T08:35:00.003-06:00

This is what happens when you assume that the peanut butter crackers that you are about to eat are not tainted. You have to move the couch in front of the bathroom door.....for obvious reasons.

CORRECTION and UPDATE!

2009-03-02T06:56:00.002-06:00

Hi friends!

Thanks so much for praying for sweet Jonathan and his family. First I have a correction to what I originally told you- he is Cooks in Fort Worth, not Dallas, so it is only 15 minutes away for the parents.

Secondly an update:
- the mom has been discharged from the hospital and is doing much better- I mean I can't imagine though, healing from both Pneumonia and a C-section!
- Today Jonathan will be having his first open heart surgery at 8 this morning! Please please please continue to pray for this family! This will be the first of many surgeries, and this journey is just beginning for them!

PLEASE PRAY!!!

2009-02-27T07:19:00.003-06:00

Hi all!
Two days ago, one of our friends who was 38 weeks pregnant went to the emergency room because her fever had reached above 102 for the second time that day . When she got there, they automatically hooked her and their precious baby to heart rate monitors. As the the nurses continued to give her fluids, they began realizing the baby's heart beat was erratic, so the doctor decided to perform an emergency c-section. Yesterday, Jonathan (the baby) seemed to be fully healthy and doing great. The mom on the other hand apparently had pneumonia, so she would have to stay in the hospital a little while longer to let her lungs get to full capacity.
This morning I received a call from a friend that Jonathan was rushed to Cook's Childrens last night because they discovered one of the ventricles in his heart was not fully formed. Today this sweet baby will undergo a major surgery, while mom is stuck in a Fort Worth hospital where they delivered Jonathan. And the Dad has two places to be at once that are an hour a part.

Please pray with us for this family. We know God is Healer, and we know God does everything for his glory. Best of all He is fully sovereign, and has not and will not miss a beat with this family.

We love you all! Thanks for praying!

Valentimes

2009-02-15T18:14:00.001-06:00

Allison and I spent our first married Valentimes (intentionally misspelled as per the Stewart tradition) with some of our friends from Midland. Now neither of us makes a big deal about this particular holiday and because we knew we were having people stay at our house we didn’t make big plans. However, now that all is said and done I think I have to put Saturday in my top 5 Valentines Days of all time. Although watching Sweet Home Alabama, in the theater, with one of my roommates in college is pretty tough to beat. Our day consisted of the following:

• A large home cooked breakfast
• Josh and I went to the gym while the girls went shopping
• Outstanding lunch at Central Market
• Josh and I played Tiger Woods Golf while the girls put up curtains
• We all went to dinner at Blue Mesa Grill
• Josh and I played Tiger Woods Golf while the girls hung pictures and decorated our house
• We all played Jenga and went to bed

Good Times.

Crazy January

2009-02-06T09:12:00.013-06:00

Hi Friends! So as my dear husband promised, I am blogging. It is not because I do not want to blog that I don't. I feel like I sometimes even think in blog, so currently I have about 4 blogs circling in my head. My problem with blogging is I would rather spend all of my time with people than in front of my lovely little computer. So for now I will work on what I am going to call "the discipline of blogging".

All of that said, the blog that is to follow these words will be a bit lengthy, not in words but more so in pictures. It is our crazy busy Chistmas/January from the view of our camera!

ENJOY!

Our first Christmas was a blast! We spent Christmas with most of my family at my Dad's ranch near Austin and then spent the weekend after Christmas with Justin's mom. Christmas was wonderful!

Do you know what this is? It is my ticket to graduation. It came with a letter saying that I am good to go and I will graduation in MAY!!!!

And I turned 23!! so fun! It began with breakfast at Mimi's with Justin, and then ended with a party at the Burgers'. So fun!

So maybe my birthday was January 8th- National Championship Game day as well! Go Gators~ The guys cheer 'em on!

All we had was Titus' 4 year old candle!

So Justin suprised me with a trip to Bass Hall and tickets to the Symphony that was in town. Really Bass Hall is AMAZINGLY gorgeous, everyone should go sometime. We had a blast, but the show was real short (like maybe 45 minutes) A few weeks later we received a letter from Ft. Worth giving us a set a free tickets because the show we had gone to was too short.

So we decided to go to the Ft. Worth Stock Show and Rodeo... partially to fulfill my desire to go the carnival at the stock show. We also went to see the animals in the Stock Show, and what do you know, they were no where to be found! Really, we walked the whole ground, never found the stock show animals!

The Muslim Population in Britain

2009-02-03T06:43:00.002-06:00

I wanted to post this article after I read it for several reasons:

1. The numbers are pretty astounding - "The Muslim population in Britain has grown by more than 500,000 to 2.4 million in just four years" (also consider that France has the most Muslims of any Western European Country)

2. They address some of the issues that arise from such massive growth amongst a specific group - “The implications are very substantial. Some of the Muslim population, by no means all of them, are the least socially and economically integrated of any in the United Kingdom ... and the one most associated with political dissatisfaction."

3. There are some eye-opening contrasts made with Christianity in Britain - "In the same period the number of Christians in the country fell by more than 2 million. " "But while the biggest Christian population is among over-70s bracket, for Muslims it is the under-4s."

4. They have some interesting ideas of the implications of said population growth - "He said the greater platform that Muslims would command in the future should not be perceived as a threat to the rest of society. 'We each have our own set of beliefs. This should really be a source of celebration rather than fear as long as we all clearly understand that we must abide by the laws of this country regardless of the faith we belong to,' he said. " (He being the general secretary of the Muslim Council of Britain)

Enjoy

Sam Storms on Edwards on Heaven

2009-01-31T17:50:00.002-06:00

Last week while hanging out at the Burg's Vern and I, during our lengthy discourse, somehow wound up on the topic of heaven which reminded me of this sermon. It has been years since I listened to it but it is one of the best talks on heaven that I have ever heard. Sam Storms gave it at Piper’s Jonathan Edward Conference 6ish years ago. I listened to it on Friday while driving and it rocked my world all over again. If you have never listened to it (or even if you have) you should set aside an hour sometime during the next week and listen to it. It is that amazing.

I'm gonna make him an offer he can't refuse.

2009-01-20T06:11:00.003-06:00

I don’t know about you all but we definitely hit the New Year running. Our first married Christmas and New Year were awesome but time off went by way to fast. We have already moved into our new house and Allison has been back at school for a week…..ridiculous.

So as part of starting off 2009 right and preparation for our trip to France this summer we have instituted “study hours” at the house. Really just for me b/c Allison has to study all the time and she is a great student and very disciplined. (Did you know that she got a 4.0 her first full semester that she was married) So Tuesday and Thursday evenings are now study time. I am reading two books one on French Culture (Sixty Million Frenchmen Can’t Be Wrong) and one on Islam (Answering Islam). I am also listening to lectures from an Intro to Islam Class on biblicaltraining.org as well attempting to learn French via Rosetta Stone. I say this so that you will ask how it is going and thereby hold me accountable to edumacating myself.

In parting I would like to leave you with an example of the French I have been able to learn, with the assistance of my wife: “Il dort avec les poisons” Translation “He sleeps with the fishes.”

Don't call it a comeback

2009-01-04T09:44:00.001-06:00

“We must repent from our sins in sackcloth and ashes.” (Titus Burger, age 4)

As I meditated on the harsh rebuke that Allison and I received for not keeping our blog up to date the words of young Titus came to mind and seemed quite fitting. We would like to take this opportunity to apologize. We have no excuses just a blog with very few posts.

There is a temptation to make our attempt to regularly update our blog a new years resolution. However I am not sure if I have ever actually made one and I am positive if I did, or tried, I would not keep it. Therefore we will simply say that we are going to try to do better. It was an encouragement to know that people actually read it and wanted us to write more and our hope is that this, rather than a resolution, will motivate us to blog.

I am going to encourage Allison to post photos from events that she does and I will try to keep you abreast of what the Kitchens’ are up to. I would also like to post links to articles that I read b/c
1. I have nothing other than that to contribute to this blog and
2. I find them to be extremely informative and think that you will enjoy them as well.

We hope that you all had a wonderful Christmas and New Years. We look forward to hearing from you.

Love
Alli and J

Update

2008-08-25T21:07:00.003-05:00

Here is a quick update on all things Kitchens':

Allison started back to TCU today for her final year. She is very ready to be done.

We absolutely love our church (Trinity Chapel Bible Church). We have been involved with a small group there for about 4 months and in September we will begin leading a college small group.

Work is work. I still enjoy it, which I know is more than most people can say.

Over the next couple of months we will visit a few schools to determine where, if anywhere, I might go next fall. We still feel like this is something we need to peruse until directed otherwise.

Lastly we are looking at trying to go to Europe this March. Our reasons are threefold; 1) It will be our one year anniversary 2) We have some friends who are living in London for the next 11 months that we want to visit 3) We hope by that time to have established a few contacts in France who are engaged in the same sort ministry/missions/lifestyle that we would like to be in the coming years.

Until next time

the Kitchens'

photography...I think i love it again

2008-07-25T12:12:00.008-05:00

Hey All! Its Allison
Many of you know that FOREVER, ok maybe since high school I have loved photography. I have shot for many friends, and done some bigger jobs, but really I just love the art of photography. I love the way it connects me and the person/people I am shooting. I love that it is a way for the creativity God has made in us to be displayed. I love to use the camera to make people see they have great value...either through the pictures they see, or through the works I can speak to them in the time I spend with them. I love that it is an always changing art...and that ANYONE can be a photographer.

Somewhere though in the last 6 months... I had come to a point where I hated photography... I hated the thought of picking up my camera. I had not even realized this until the time grew closer for Amber and Jessica and I were getting ready to shoot Jake and Jessi Russo's Wedding. The whole feeling of hate came out. I still don't know why I felt that way... but Jake and Jessi's wedding cured me of it. Now all of the things I LOVED about shooting are back. It has been so good for me to walk through that because now the passion I once had for photography-where I never let my camera leave my hand, is returning.

But in light of all of that, I have been editing the pictures and here are a few...

A Rahr Adventure

2008-07-19T22:51:00.007-05:00

Hi Friends!
Today Justin and I experienced something fun and native to Fort Worth. Every Saturday from 1 to 3 the local brewery gives a tour and allows you to taste the beers that they brew. Justin and I had never gone before, so today we tried it. It was hot in the brewery but it was fun... a lot of live music and people everywhere. Here are some pictures from our day-

Islam in Europe

2008-07-03T07:28:00.005-05:00

I just wanted to post a link to an interesting story I read about European Converts to Terrorism. I found it to be very informative.

I think the first thing that runs through my mind when I read stories like this is fear. Then unfortunately my fear is followed by anger, I think this is a defense mechanism. I say this because I feel like these emotions are fairly typical of Westerners; however the fear and anger, over time, become hate. We want to feel safe in our own country and these people are being brainwashed to hate us from the time they are small children. They have suicide bombers, they treat women horribly and many people have lost family members to the war. They make it very easy for us to hate them.

However I think somewhere along the way we as Christians decide that "they" being Muslims are not worthy of the gospel. Now we don't actually say that but it can be seen in our actions towards them or lack there of. It can be seen simply when you watch how people react when you begin talking about Islam or ministering to Muslims. I don't say this to bang on the Church or Christians, that is not my intention at all. I say this because I don't think we even realize that we are doing it. Somewhere between fear and hate we dehumanize Muslims. This is why we are not devastated by the fact that people send themselves straight to hell by blowing themselves up in the name of a god who doesn't exist. This is why we don't long for a better life for Muslim women and education for Muslim children. It's why we want to segregate ourselves from them so that we can feel "safe".

Don't get me wrong there is nothing wrong with wanting to feel safe; it is just not our end goal. Our end goal is to establish a Kingdom filled with people from every tribe tongue and nation.

So my hope is that God would remind you (as He so graciously does me all the time) what He saved you from. That He would remind you that you were dead in your trespasses and a child of wrath until He decided to make you alive. That you had no "redeeming qualities" that caused God to choose you. You did not choose to be born into a Christian home or in a country where people have the freedom to preach the gospel without fear of persecution. It was out of His great love and mercy that He decided to breathe life into you. That He has made you a minister of reconciliation and called you to go and make disciples. That we are commanded to love our enemies and pray for those who persecute us.

Have a great fourth of July weekend.

Salutations

2008-06-22T13:21:00.005-05:00

So Allison and I decided a few weeks ago that we should create a blog in an effort to keep in touch with those who we don't get to see as often as we would like. The hope being that by keeping people updated as to what is going on in our lives they might reciprocate by commenting and or calling or whatever. We tend to forget about people, who we love and cherish very much, until they call randomly or something weird triggers a memory of them and then we are upset b/c we haven't talked to them in like a month. So this blog, in part, is an attempt to avoid those frustrations.

We would also just like a place to express thoughts, ideas, dreams etc. We talk often about our dreams and goals with our friends with the hope that in doing so we are creating accountability for ourselves. We want people to ask how our efforts to do missions with Muslims in France are going, and what we are doing now to make that a reality. Not to build us up or make others think more highly of us but to challenge us to stay focused.

Finally it just sounded fun. My wife takes awesome pictures so I love the idea of her getting to share them through this medium. I like to write occasionally and love the idea of facilitating discussion this way. So we hope that you will put us in your bloglines or google reader and comment often.

Love
The Kitchens'