Judah

the process of a family photo

Mystery and Miracle

We have 4 chickens. These are the eggs they lay for us.
Every day it blows my mind. Every time it's a miracle.

Rooster

This was our family's first experience in slaughtering an animal for food. The 2yr old golden rooster was a gift from Ryan and Bonnie Marsh. Thanks friends!

Art as Conversation

Over the last 6 months my brother and I have been collaborating on a body of work together. The intent was a dialog between artists. We settled on the size of paper, the type of pen and a few other boundries and began the conversation. He began each piece with a character or a landscape. I responded by adding to the drawing. Then back to him. And back again. Each image is composed of anywhere from 4 t0 6 exchanges. Eventually, 31 drawings emerged out of which we settled on 26 of them being our favorites. We grew in an understanding of one-another as artists like I never would have imagined. Some of the earlier ones reveal the differences in our style, but some of the later ones are almost seemless. We still don't know what we are going to do with this special body of work (suggestions welcomed)- but I will say that it has been one of the most formative experiments in creativity that I've ever been a part of.

because we need a housemate

Joshua needs someone to live with him. He lives downstairs. So that means we need someone to live with him. That means you'd be living with us too... (genuine smiles). Here's his invitation- please contact us for details and a roof over your head (actually, it'd be 2 roofs because you'd be downstairs).

i want this life

somehow i stumbled across nicole's blog and foto stream this morning and found myself in a restful world. i have no context for this person and of course we all craft images of ourselves online, "controlled" perceptions if you will- but the lifestyle portrayed in the photographs evokes a sense of intentionality, nurture, creativity and care that i long for. at any rate, browsing them was sabbath experience and for a moment i thought i lived on wendell berry's farm.

happy anniversary to us! [8 yrs!]

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E is for Árbol

6x6, image copyright: phil nellis, 2009. not available.

J is for Águila

6x6, image copyright: phil nellis, 2009. not available.

S is for León

6x6, image copyright: phil nellis, 2009. not available.

obsolete works

My brother and sister-in-law are amazing artists. They believe in living simply, beautifully and differently- their art is the same. Recently they've launched a POSTnote company called Obsolete Works based on 50 images that have emerged from their doodles. As you browse the images, you almost feel the characters pull you into their world where you encounter their unique personalities. Buy their awesome art!

in celebration of sylas

he's awesome. and today he's 4. happy birthday son!

father's day shoot-out

the stages of a meeting

We were certain that our third child would be a girl. So certain that we couldn't even come up with a boys' name until a few days before the birth. When the baby was born there was a flutter of activity because the usuall first breaths didn't occur- instead there was an oxygen tank, hoses, instructions to rub the little limbs, busy latex clad hands, cpr... we were so relieved when the first cry was heard that we forgot to check what the gender was- the lively little face was enough at that point. This beautiful shot was taken a few minutes later, the instant we looked up after realizing that the whole time we had not been holding a baby girl. Thanks Mackenzie for capturing this magical moment between us and Ezra.

new face: ezra árbol

IT'S A[nother] BOY!!!

proud to announce Ezra Arbol Nellis!
he was born at 11:29 pm on 5/3
after 2.5 hrs of labor.
7lbs and 14oz, 20 in long.
our hearts are full and everyone is healthy.
couldn't ask for more.

graduation speech

I graduated with my MDiv yesterday from Mars Hill Graduate School. It was a full and rich day, spent with friends and family, culminating in a huge party, a veritable feast. I had the honor of being nominated by my peers and faculty to speak on behalf of my class. This is what I said...

"Don't search for the answers, which could not be given to you now, because you would not be able to live them. And the point is to live everything."

My son Sylas is nearly four and has no inhibitions in regards to the questions in him. They arise from his depths and spurt out onto the canvas of the world, voracious in their flow, begging only for an authentic response of any kind. I expect that as he journeys towards adolescence, the questions will move deeper into his body and he will become less free to speak them as self-awareness and cynicism set in. The world that awaits him is one that deems the inquiry less than its answer, the one who inquires less than the one who answers. The curious soul begs: "Where is it safe to ask all the questions I have? Is it ok to not be ok with the answers I have been given? Is there room for me in this process of discovery?"

It was the questions that brought Ruth and I to Seattle, 5 years ago, to this little graduate school tucked away in a nearly un-marked business complex in Bothell (The first question was- "where is it?"). They were questions about God, church, identity and community. We sought answers, for I had been told that the process of maturation was oriented towards the end of questions and the having of answers. Standing here, upon graduation, I can say that I know something more of God and have caught glimpses of who I am to be in creation. But it is not in that I have answers that I feel ready to graduate, but in that I now know the value of a good question, am learning how to ask better questions and have begun to learn how to live with unanswered questions.

The first month of my first semester, we became pregnant with our first child. We now celebrate the birth of our third. My MDiv studies have had the gift of being augmented by the intertexts of 3 children. If there is anything that children invite one to, it is the particularities of life- into the living of everything. And the point is to live everything. Will we hear the invitation to risk (which is ultimately the invitation into creativity)? How will we live into the questions when the making of mistakes has been so stigmatized that we are terrified of being wrong?

It is when this fear of being wrong has moved so deeply into my body that I become paralyzed by pride and settle for answers and ways of being in relationship that leave my heart out of the conversation. Mars Hill Graduate School has been a space where I have learned to step back into the sort of dialogue where I can hear and be heard, where together, we can experience the fullness of life and transformation. Here, I have learned alongside my peers and professors how to creatively risk in inquiry and to play with those questions whose answers I am not yet able to live.

One thing I have learned about the nature of questions- When I parent and I am lazy or disengaged, I offer answers that abruptly end my son's voracious stream of questions to relieve myself of this seeming burden. When I am present to his questions, I am learning to offer answers that increase his curiosity for the world, leading to deeper and more playful questions. As a theologian and an artist I have become hungry for the answers that expand my curiosity for the Other, that lead me to the articulation of more meaningful questions and a more consistent presence to dialogue. These, I am convinced, increase my capacity to worship God and participate in his Kingdom.

I am grateful for my brilliant peers and patient professors who have invited me to learn in this way. So, to us, the graduates: May the creative Spirit of God continue to lead us into the questions we are uniquely called to ask and struggle with in this life. May we never be so proud that we become resistant to transformation. May we hold all answers loosely until we are able to actually live them- and in doing so, might we bless the world.

L'Chaim.

[photo by Joshua Longbrake]