observations #2

Rob Stukenberg and I went on a cafe journey around Lincoln Park. These were the spoils of the evening.

You have not tasted quality coffee until you have gone to Intelligentsia Coffee off Broadway. Our friend Adam was working.

This is latte art by Adam.

I did not know that soda fountain shops still existed. Bobtail Homemade Ice Cream was just down the street from Intelligentsia.

We found a frame shop too.


More pics! http://picasaweb.google.com/jantzenloza/Intelligentsia#

Places we visited:

Intelligentsia Coffee and Tea
3123 North Broadway Street
Chicago, IL 60657

Bobtail Homemade Ice Cream
2951 N. Broadway
Chicago, IL 60657

Four Sided Custom Framing Gallery

2939 N Broadway St

Chicago, IL 60657

Bourgeois Pig Cafe

738 W Fullerton Ave

Chicago, IL 60614

22 September 2007

You are...
simply beautiful. brilliant.
The Lord lavishes His love on you.
And i am meek in my attempts to be of good stewardship.
The climax of creation builds upon days of joyful toil.
And an Artist peaks with the delight of all eyes.
Daughter of eve,
Be at peace with your Maker.
And break the fetters of miry clay.
You shall be spotless for our Bridegroom.
Dressed in clothing white.
None shall break in with deception,
Or the temptation to comparison.
Taste no longer of the fruit of the knowledge of good and evil
But drink of the new wine,
Which has been brought through One’s labor.

Sing, dearheart, to be filled to the brim
With contentment,
And leave no room for contamination.
And He will taste the wine
Transformed from simple water
(surely not by one’s own action or thought)
And brings blessing to the house that has saved the best.
Dance, and take notice of your liberty
Be beautiful as you have always been.

You are His.
He is yours.
Victory cries from the Hill and conquers death.
Life! Life is the cause and effect
Of the Resurrected.
Perfect Israel has spoken
then, now and always,
Be beautiful as you have always been.

Meet Jessica

For those who have not yet been formally introduced, meet Jessica Danielle Hinchley, a woman of great love for the Lord and grand beauty found not only in her smile but in her joy for life and serving God.

This is me proposing to Jessica.

This is Jessica and me as a betrothed couple, set to be married July 24, 2009 in Greenville, Wisconsin.

Fiction Family (part 2)

Here are more mementos from a wonderful(ly freezing) evening.

The cohort


Seabird

The August

The IV

Fiction Family

On Thursday night, Fiction Family came to Chicago! Sean Watkins of Nickel Creek and Jon Foreman of Switchfoot combined their musical talents and penetrating songwriting to form Fiction Family. They graciously shared their love for music with us on the coldest day in Chicago in ten years leaving us wonderfully warm in our spirits. Find out where they're headed next at www.fictionfamily.com. After the concert, Mike and I ran a quarter-mile in the coldest weather I've ever experienced just to get back on the train.

http://picasaweb.google.com/jantzenloza/FictionFamily#

Noble Tree Coffee and Tea

This place is quickly becoming a frequent rest stop for me. Noble Tree Tea and Coffee is a coffeeshop hidden in Lincoln Park with three floors of comfy seating, eclectic vintage art and lattes in unique ceramic mugs. If you're ever in Chicago and need a break from sightseeing, Noble Tree is nice place to hide away and reflect/think/get creative.

http://picasaweb.google.com/jantzenloza/NobleTree#
2444 N. Clark, Chicago, IL

The 12th of January

A year ago today, I set foot on Philippines, the place my mother came from. and where my father lives.

http://picasaweb.google.com/jantzenloza/ToTheFatherland

My cousin, Pastor Carlos Ilustre shared this pilipino proverb with me during my stay:

"Kailangan nating lingunin ang ating nakaraan para marating ang ating patutunguhan."

which means, "We need to look back at our past but not to live in it to be able to know where we are going."

To Narnia and the North!

These are some of the books I'll be reading. Classes start tomorrow. A deep humility has been settling in me that began by looking through this semester's syllabi. No longer does my idealistic personality rehearse in my mind, "This is the semester that will change my life. This is the one that I will excel in." Instead, I am coming to a greater understanding of responsibility and endurance that comes only in adulthood. I would not call it a rite of passage, but it feels like I've entered through a door that says, "entrance only" and I can't turn back without thinking it's going to hurt if I did.

Lately, I tell people how I'm doing through this image I've been having lately: I'm going to wake up in my room in California. I'm five years old and have no menial responsibilities like going to work, paying the bills, attending 600 level classes... I'm going to wake up and I'll have dreamed all that's happened in my life up to this point living in Chicago. This is not to say that I wish I were five again, but the idea of "home" has quickly vanished and I have found myself lethargic and melancholy that "home" is something I don't get to look forward to right now.

Parker Palmer said this: "What a curious inversion--taking feelings of estrangement that we normally try to get rid of and calling them positive signs of vocation instead! By this logic, the need to feel at home turns out to be idolatry, because it involves finding our security in position and place rather than in dependence on God. If we live in God, we will find ourselves on pilgrimage; we will be taken to alien places where we are strangers and estranged. Only when we acknowledge that 'you can't go home again' will [we] be on the road to faith."

Hebrews 13:14 says, "For here we do not have a lasting city, but we are seeking the city which is to come." I continue to pray for a heart and mind that seeks to grasp this truth and a boldness to live in such a reality that embraces the "already but not yet."

MGS Ministries Recap 2008

Last semester, Moody Graduate School hosted a number of events where I tagged along. These were the spoils of each evening.

MGS went into a Chicago neighborhood as learners in order to understand the community and listen to stories of the people off of Halsted and Belmont.

http://picasaweb.google.com/jantzenloza/ImmersionNight#

Pacific Garden Mission is one of the largest homeless facilities in Chicagoland. Moody students spent the evening sharing stories and music with the men and women who call this place home.

http://picasaweb.google.com/jantzenloza/PacificGardenMission#

Moody celebrates diversity by inviting its community to listen and share in the various cultures that are represented at our wonderful grad school.

http://picasaweb.google.com/jantzenloza/InternationalNight#

(I attempted to post the pictures on the actual blog only to slow down the server. I hope the links will suffice. Enjoy, comment, and tag to your heart's delight!)

I Am a Promise

I found this documentary hidden in the Moody Library. A must-see for those seeking to understand social injustice and the difficulties for those living in the inner city from an elementary school's point of view.


As one who feels a call into broken places, this documentary reveals the realities of life in ministry in the city. It is amazing how connected I feel to the loneliness the principal experiences in this film. After viewing I Am a Promise, I feel drawn and empowered to enter into the city as a learner.

observations #1 (continued)

These were the highlights of the afternoon. Hope you enjoy them!

observations #1

It was a beautiful day to take my camera out for a walk. This is what we saw.