Thanksgiving Pictures

Ben & Jeremiah enjoying the sunshine on our deck Thanksgiving afternoon.
It was a beautiful day!

Hard at work carving turkey and making dressing!

These two were not hard at work. Smile.

Sitting down for our Thanksgiving meal. It was delicious!

The evening of Thanksgiving was perfect for a fire in the firepit, marshmallows, songs and conversation.

Soccer in the yard on Saturday afternoon.

Team 1: Uncle, Nathaniel & a blue flamingo

Team 2: Uncle Ben & Jeremiah

Our living room: Cozy and filled with some of the people I love the most.

Aunts reading favorite stories.

1000 Gifts - Thanksgiving

It has been a cold, gray, rainy day here. I have finally started to get out the Christmas decorations and slowly start putting them out. My computer was down for the day so I spent the day just puttering and enjoying the transition from Thanksgiving to Advent. The computer glitch means that I don't yet have pictures to post. But the gifts over this past weekend were too numerous to count. My heart was overflowing.

- the car pulling up into the drive and my brothers and sisters pouring out, arms wide in welcome
- sitting on the back deck on a sunny, warm Thanksgiving morning, savoring coffee and conversation and the knowledge that we are going to share a whole weekend together
- Jeremiah's face lighting up in the attention of his uncles
- a table overflowing with good food
- Nathaniel's charming antics
- hugs
- laughter
- serving by feeding
- setting 8 places at the table
- conversation with sisters
- coming out of the kitchen and seeing my living room full with some of the people I love the most
- breakfast all together
- the boys and men all playing soccer in the evening sunlight
- both bathrooms being used
- exhaustion

They're coming!

I am hoping that right now (9:30pm Eastern Standard Time) my brothers and their wives are in a car driving swiftly through the night to get here! It has been a busy few days of cooking and cleaning in preparation. Tonight the house is clean. Yummy food is stocked up. We have Panera bagels and fresh fruit for breakfast when they arrive in the morning.
I am ready for hugs and laughter and games and conversation.
I am ready to enjoy.
Happy Thanksgiving!

Hospitality

We finally have a real bed in our guestroom! It was a terrific find on Craigslist and I have spent the past few days puttering around in the guestroom cleaning and organizing. It really is a joy to make a room inviting and comfortable for all the loved ones we hope will come and stay.

One of the reasons we love this house is because it is so easy to have people over. The floor plan, the extra bathroom, the open space, the fenced in back yard, all these things just make it easy to invite people into our home. Even before we were married we both agreed that we wanted our home to be a place that we used to glorify God. Having people in our home means that they usually see the "real" us. There is usually a basket of unfolded laundry somewhere. The kitchen sink always has dirty dishes. Toys make their way throughout the house. The floor is dirty. Sometimes we run out of food and have to improvise at the last minute. Our kids don't always behave. Aaron and I can get snippy with each other.

But we make a real effort at opening our home because we value community. We believe that in sharing life with others we build each other up.

Recently I was re-reading The Hospitality Commands by Alexander Strauch. This quote really stood out to me:

I don't think most Christians today understand how essential hospitality is to fanning the flames of love and strengthening the Christian family. Hospitality fleshes out love in a uniquely personal and sacrificial way. Through the ministry of hospitality, we share our most prized possessions. We share our family, home, finances, food, privacy, and time. Indeed, we share our very lives. So, hospitality is always costly. Through the ministry of hospitality, we provide friendship, acceptance, fellowship, refreshment, comfort and love in one of the richest and deepest ways possible for humans to understand. Unless we open the doors of our homes to one another, the reality of the local church as a close-knit family of loving brothers and sisters is only a theory. (p.17)

Sometimes I get jealous of the church in Acts. The Bible paints such a picture of community and growth and caring! "And day by day, attending the temple together and breaking bread in their homes, they received their food with glad and generous hearts," (Acts 2:46) Sometimes in our Sunday night small group we ask, "Would we meet every day to worship together? How amazing would that be? How would it change our lives? How would it change the world?"

I'm not sure how to wrap this up. It is starting to sound preachy and holier-than-thou, which is not what I intended. It is not always easy to exercise hospitality. But I think it is always worth it.

Next week my 2 brothers and their wives will be here. I am so excited that they will be here in our home and that we will be sharing life together for a few days. I pray that our home will be full of laughter, play, fellowship and prayer not to mention good food!

1000 Gifts (33)

My heart is very full today. Our church service yesterday, starting off a week of prayer for the persecuted Church, convicted me. I find myself today in the midst of doing mundane tasks with a pain in my heart. I feel unsettled. I feel stretched and uncomfortable. Because dwelling too long on my worldliness as opposed to the suffering of others for the gospel is just uncomfortable. Which of course, it should be.

Remember those who are in prison, as though in prison with them, and those who are mistreated, since you also are in the body. - Hebrews 13:3

I don't know yet exactly how this will change my actions. But I know that my heart is changing. It is scary sometimes. It is scary because deep down inside this changing of my heart means that my life also needs to change. That there are things that I need to let go of and things that I need to be willing to accept if I truly want to be part of advancing the Kingdom.

So my gifts today are written with a trembling hand, because as deeply as I desire comfort I am learning that I want to love God more......
- conviction that lingers and feels of the Spirit and not simply of guilt
- church leadership that is transparent and challenging
- singing in worship, The earth will be filled with glory like water over the sea and knowing deep down that it is true
- tears
- feeling the reality of Heaven and the life to come
- friends who are walking this journey of learning to live more deeply in the Spirit with us

34 - reflections

A few weeks ago a younger lady (I want to say "girl" but am restraining myself since she was a college student) asked me during Jobs for Life, "So what are your vocational goals?" It stopped me short. I hemmed and hawed. I had absolutely no answer.

In the past 5 years it has never occurred to me to have a goal for my life other than being a wife and a mother. Because for me, being a wife and a mother in this season took all the energy I had. The past 5 years of my life have been a season of complete giving of myself. Being pregnant. Nursing babies. Losing sleep. Constant supervision. Lugging diaper bags. Spending days just trying to keep us all fed and clothed and our environment relatively clean. Oh, yeah, and trying to be a good wife too.

I'm OK with that. I don't feel like I "gave up" anything, or lost myself. On the contrary, I gained so much! And in that strange Biblical way of opposites I found so much of myself in the losing of the self that I was.

I have noticed though, that the past few weeks have brought with them a certain restlessness. As the boys gain independence and I find more time that is my own I find myself starting to think forward a bit more. I am starting to regain the sense of who I am and my own dreams apart from my children.

I don't know what God has in store. I have burdens and dreams in my heart, but I know that God is in control and will mark out the path.

Today is my 34th birthday. I woke up to Nathaniel's gentle fingers on my face. A full pot of hot coffee was waiting in the kitchen along with a note from Aaron. I have spent the morning cleaning and home schooling. I am anticipating eating dinner out tonight. I told Aaron that I want to go clothes shopping, without children (!), and maybe find some clothes to get me out of the "stay-at-home-mom" cliche. I am anticipating a gathering of friends in my home on Sunday afternoon to celebrate a new life about to enter the world. I am starting to make preparations for a house full of family for Thanksgiving.

I realize as I sit here that I am content.

I am learning that there are seasons of life and I don't have to do everything all at once. I am learning the truth of the statement:

Loving where you are is a way to love who He is. -Ann Voskamp

When it all boils down to it, all I want is to love Him more. And I think, that even though I have a long way to go, this past year has brought deeper love and more contentment. I am thankful.

1000 Gifts (32)

- brilliant fall leaves
- crisp skies
- new sleeping bags
- communal meals
- making new friends
- watching Nathaniel charm college girls into taking him into the woods to look for sticks
- Jeremiah's independence
- thoughtful conversations
- laughter, lots of it!
- daily worship, what a gift!
- transparency
- praying for a friend
- crying with a friend
- knowing that God is among us as we seek to live and love and serve in this community
- living together for a weekend, a small taste of heaven, come quickly Lord Jesus!

Heading to "camp"

Jeremiah and Nathaniel are so excited they can hardly contain themselves. This evening we leave for our church's weekend retreat, which Jeremiah and Nathaniel call "camp." The fun of the ages that we are entering in now is that the boys can remember things. Especially Jeremiah who has a mind like a steel trap. He remembers the cabin we slept in last year, and the 6 other people who were in that cabin, and all the equipment on the play ground, and how we ate all our meals with everyone in the dining hall (which he calls a restaurant), and how we hiked back and forth up the side of the hill from our cabin to the main lodge every day. He even remembers exactly what the bathrooms in the cabins look like for goodness sake.

I can't help but smile at Jeremiah's excitement. Because I still have memories of spiritual retreat in Nigeria. I vaguely recollect the cabins we stayed in. I clearly remember the gross oatmeal we had every morning. I remember the dusty paths and the trees. I remember the old green swing that hung from the branches of one of those trees. I remember the little stone wall that we would balance and play games on. I remember the joy and safety of being surrounded by people that I knew and loved.

I was looking forward to the retreat, but honestly, as exhaustion and sick linger the preparations are daunting and the idea of trying to sleep on an uncomfortable bunk bed in a room full of people exhausts me even more. Yet, as I see "camp" through the eyes of my children it takes on a whole new significance and excitement. How wonderful to have this opportunity to give my kids the same memories of excitement, fun, and community that I have.

Lessons learned from a quiet week

I usually like to be on the go. Staying at home all day with the kids sometimes felt claustrophobic to me and so I filled our days with outings, play dates, library trips, grocery shopping, and more play dates so that I didn't feel isolated and alone.
Last week I felt feverish and just completely exhausted. I canceled everything on our calendar for the week and we spent the days in our most comfortable clothes. We snuggled on the couch together (now that it is big enough to fit all of us!) and watched tv. We read lots of books. We played games. The boys spent hours together playing make believe and coloring pictures.
This week Jeremiah has had a fever and we are halfway through week 2 of staying quietly here at home. I thought by now that I would be going crazy. Yet, when I woke this morning I realized that I welcomed another day to stay at home. I am so surprised! But I have seen some definite benefits for us in this quieter, stay-at-home-more lifestyle.

The boys relationship
The boys have hit a stage in which they are really learning to play together and be friends. They literally happily entertained themselves for hours last week. I heard a lot less arguing and screaming and much more cooperation and laughter. Some of the conversations I overheard had me laughing! I am seeing new maturity in Jeremiah in his willingness to let go of his "everything has to be my way, and perfect" mentality. It is clear that being here at home has meant that they have had to learn to get along and be play mates.

Discipline/Obedience
Being at home meant that I had time to work on instruction and discipline routines that we were letting go of in our busyness. It was easier for me to be calm and consistent when I didn't feel the pressure to get us out the door and on to the next activity.

Keeping up with housework = less stress
The weekend before I got sick we had a marathon cleaning/organizing session. Even though I had pretty much no energy the week that I was sick it was easier to keep the house in some semblance of order. I am by no means a perfectionist when it comes to cleaning but having a dirty and disorganized house can stress me out. Being on the go a lot meant that cleaning and organizing just didn't happen.

School work
I admit that we were fitting in bits of school work here and there amongst our other activities. We didn't really have a routine and some days we would just breeze through the work in order to check it off and move on to "fun stuff." Yikes! That is not fostering a love of learning, which was the original reason we decided to home school. I have some serious thinking to do about the structure of our schooling days.

Rest
God created rest for a reason. Activities and outings and play dates are fun but we need rest to keep our bodies and relationships healthy.

I am realizing that I need to be more intentional about our schedule. As much as I love being on the go and having a constant stream of people in and out of the house I am seeing that we may be entering a season in life in which we just need to make it a priority to slow down for the good of our family.

Harvest Party 2010

A few months ago Jeremiah came to me and announced that he wanted to be a paper bag for the harvest party. Why? Because then no one would know who he was of course! However, a friend of his had a whole room of costumes and let the boys each borrow one. Since the boys are currently obsessed with all things Star Wars Jeremiah chose to be Darth Vader and Nathaniel chose to be a clone trooper. Jeremiah's main concern was that no one could guess who he was. One well meaning friend of ours identified him which sent Jeremiah into tears. Yet, I was so proud of him when a bigger, rougher kid broke his light saber (which was his most prized possession at that point). He was calm and self-controlled although obviously sad and disappointed.

We had another fun evening out at Linda's place. The boys have been there enough now that they know the boundaries of the 3 acre play area and run off to explore the minute we get out of the van. I got a little bit nervous when the sun set and they were still running around in the pitch dark, but Aaron reminded me that we are trying to give our kids room to range and encourage independence. So, I took a deep breath, and tried to relax while they continued to have a blast in the dark.

There were the traditions of the chili cook-off and roasting hot dogs over the bonfire. The kids listened to Linda tell a story. And of course, the hay ride. Which was actually a tad bitter sweet for me this year. Jeremiah asserted his growing independence and insisted on sitting in the front with his friends, as far away from me as possible. Nathaniel wanted to sit next to Ruth and Eli and had no interest in snuggling up with me. Aaron was riding in the front vehicle helping out. So I sat in the back, leading songs, laughing with some of the little girls who were clustered around me, watching my boys with their friends, and wondering at how fast time flies.

1000 Gifts (31)

This week the gifts are not numbered, but here they are:
It was the perfect kind of weekend. The kind filled with fun and friends and good food and lack of naps and a house full of people. After small group left we tucked two exhausted boys into bed. But their excitement over their new sleeping place was such that we could hear their chattering continue for another hour before they finally gave in to sleep.
The air was balmy for an October night so the windows were left open and we were awakened in the wee hours of morning to a crashing thunderstorm. I snuggled under the blankets, reveling in the feeling of warmth and safety as the wild storm played outside. When I woke the rain was continuing to fall. The house was quiet. The combination of exhaustion and overcast skies helped the boys sleep until 8:30 a.m.! We puttered around the house. I worked in their room moving furniture, organizing toys, vacuuming up dust bunnies while they claimed the middle bunk as their fort. I listened to them chatter as they laid out blankets and staked out their separate territories. I smiled as I heard an avid discussion as to whether the fort was their Peter Pan house or a pirate ship. I have seen a real friendship develop between Jeremiah and Nathaniel in the past week and it has warmed my soul. Jeremiah is showing new maturity. My dreams and prayers for my boys are taking shape before my eyes.
This bunk bed itself is an answer to a prayer that I had been quietly praying the past few months. "God, you know what we need. Please provide." And last Wednesday evening a friend came up to me and said, "We are moving and need to get rid of bunk beds. Would you like them?" My eyes teared up. I explained my quiet prayer. How his gesture of generosity was building my faith.
On this rainy Monday morning I feel full of gratitude. This life I have been given is a truly beautiful gift.

I join the gratitude community on Ann Voskamp's blog.

"things of this world"

I have been thinking a lot over the past few years about consumption and materialism in relationship to faith. I have struggled often in my heart when I think about purchasing something new because I want to be a good steward of what I have been given. One verse plays in my mind over and over again:

Do not love the world or the things of the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For all that is in the world - the desires of the flesh and the desires of the eyes and the pride in possessions - is not from the the Father but is from the world. And the world is passing away along with its desires, but whoever does the will of the Father abides forever. - 1 John 2:15-17

If this verse is true (which I believe it is) then how should my life look? How will my actions reflect my belief?

I recently read something on another blog that was so encouraging to me because it gave some specific tools to evaluate "the things of this world." The author of the blog heard a speaker (Crawford Loritts) give 3 questions to help in evaluation:

1. The motive question: Why do I want this?
2. The worship question: Does what I want consume, control, or change me?
3. The purity question: Am I clean? Is my heart contaminated?

I was so excited to see this because I feel like now, instead of just walking around feeling guilty all the time, I can use these questions to evaluate my consumption.

Anyone else struggle with this issue?

End of soccer season

Last night was the very last soccer game of the season for the "Kicks." It was a beautiful fall evening, clear with just a slight hint of coolness in the air.

Warming up.

Jeremiah liked to take charge during warm up time. He always ended up in the goal position, loudly telling all the other boys what to do. Notice Nathaniel in there? He was convinced he was on the team since coach Neal always let him practice with them. He can hardly wait until next year when he can officially be on a team.

Running, running, running.....

Jeremiah really enjoyed playing defense this year. He understood his task and did it with great gusto. However, once he kicked the ball away he thought his job was done and proceeded back to stand exactly on his assigned spot to wait for someone to approach him again.

As much as he loved defense, he loved playing goalie better. He was pretty good at it too. Something about it just seemed to make sense to him.

The trophy.

Jeremiah still has his trophy from last year in a place of pride next to his bed. He was so excited to get another trophy this year. Nathaniel pitched an all out screaming fit (in the middle of Pizza Hut and all the way home) when he realized that he wasn't going to get a trophy. Jeremiah in a beautiful, unprompted, act of generosity gave (as in gave for good) Nathaniel his trophy from last year. When I told him how proud I was of him for being so kind and generous he said, "Well, I just really want my brother to be happy." My eyes got teary at that moment.

After the game we ended up with a van full of boys since Levi (Jeremiah's team mate) and his brother Riley (Nathaniel's buddy) wanted to ride with us. It was a loud and crazy ride. But Aaron and I were smiling silly at each other as we listened to the friendly play and chatter (and punching and yelling) that were coming from the back. It feels good to watch our sons make friends. It feels good for us to make new friends outside of church. It feels good to be riding to Pizza Hut with a van full of boys who are loud and crazy and anticipating eating cake. :-)

A few interesting notes:
* One night when I was tucking Jeremiah into bed after a game he told me that he liked games better than practice because his team always wins. Interested to hear his definition of winning I asked him how he knew his team had won. "Well, because we always have fun and try our best!" was his confident answer. I told him that was true, but that another way to win a game was to be the team who scored the most goals. He looked at me like I was crazy and didn't know what I was talking about.
It is funny how at this age it is pretty clear that some kids have a competitive spirit and others don't. Some kids get on the field and really attack the ball and are intent on scoring goals. Others (like Jeremiah) have some concept of the game, but really just want to run around and cheer excitedly when a team mate scores a goal.

* Last night I noticed that when Jeremiah played offense he was running up the field, parallel to his team mates and on the opposite side of the field from the ball. So later that night I asked him what he was doing. "Well, I had a plan," came the immediate answer, "I thought that if I could go fast around the guys in the black shirts we could make a trap and keep them away from the ball. So even though I was away from the ball I could get closer to the ball in the end when the black team was trapped. But no one on my team was cooperating." Pretty good strategy for a 5 year old!

* Halfway through the season we were having some trouble with Jeremiah getting into trouble on the sidelines, pushing and kicking. So we had pretty much laid down the law, if we saw him hitting or kicking we were leaving immediately. At one point during a game I looked over and saw that Jeremiah had organized a game of "duck, duck, goose" with the kids waiting on the sidelines. It was hilarious to watch. After that he organized them all to cheer, "GOOAAALLL!!!!" loudly for a good 5 minutes.

So it was a good soccer season. We all made new friends and we all had fun. Jeremiah learned a lot more about the game of soccer. He also learned a lot about getting along with other people. We will have our Monday and Tuesday evening's back, but we will miss the opportunity we had to socialize and enjoy being outside and involved in something together. We are retiring the cleats until next year when we will have 2 boys on different teams. Oh my!

Note: I was going to wait to post this until I had time to edit the pictures. But since I know that will never happen I just put them up "as is."

1000 Gifts (30)

- changing leaves
- boys playing
- old friends
- petting goats & llama's & a hedgehog & chinchilla's
- an old tractor
- crisp autumn sky, spread blue and clear
- peanut butter & jelly sandwiches eaten at a picnic table
- being able to be flexible with our school schedule in order to do fun things with friends

10 Years!

10 things I am learning in our 10 years of marriage:

1. Marriage is harder than I thought it would be.

2. Marriage is easier than I thought it would be.

3. Marriage has been like a mirror to show me the depths of my sin and selfishness, but also the immense grace given in my salvation.

4. We communicate and show love differently, and that is ok.

5. Life may bring changes and challenges but I know that we are a team and we will face everything together.

6. Sometimes humor is the best way to move on from a disagreement.

8. Forgiveness is always a choice.

9. Love is always a choice.

10. Always assume the best.

What a 10 years it has been! I am blessed to have this man beside me as my partner in life.

the couch

We finally said good-bye to our 12 year old (at least), garage sale purchased couch! It will seem strange to say that this was a long, spiritual process for me but it was. I finally let go of the guilt I was feeling for using so much money for what seemed such an indulgent, unnecessary purchase.
Most couples will spend their 10th anniversary celebration weekend on some kind of romantic get away. We spent part of our weekend at IKEA. Happily meandering through the displays, sitting on couches, imagining our home and how we want it to be a welcoming, comfortable, inspiring, healing place. We made our decision, made the final purchase (while I tried not to hyperventilate), and strategically packed the large boxes into the van. We drove home drinking Dr. Pepper and eating junk food, listening to college football on the radio and talking about all kinds of things. We worked most of the evening assembling the couch and re-arranging the living room. Finally, we snuggled on our new couch and watched a movie.
I struggled long and hard over spending money on a new couch. But now that it is here and we are enjoying it I am so thankful! It is comfortable, has more seating room, and hopefully makes our living room inviting to other people. We truly want our home to be a place where people feel welcome and comfortable. Is it sacrilegious to hope that our purchase and use of a couch will honor and glorify God?
Now I really have no excuses for putting off picking out a paint color and finally painting......

(Note for those interested in these kinds of details: We originally wanted this couch with a sleek, bluish-grey cover but it was out of stock. So we went with white. But, it is a machine washable slip-cover and I have been reading in decorating magazines that white, washable slip covers are actually great if you have kids because you can easily wash them and keep them clean. We shall see. Worst case scenario is that we have to buy a new slip-cover from IKEA every few years. Anyway, I actually like the white. I think it balances out the darkness of the rug and keeps the room fresh and modern.)

1000 Gifts (29)

We have been very busy lately. It doesn't feel like a hectic, hurried busy. All the things we have been doing are good, serving, and even soul feeding. Yet, there have been moments in which I have felt a bit overwhelmed with the simple maintenance of our home. Last night after small group Jeremiah threw up again, after we thought that the worst of the stomach bug had passed, and I realized that we really and truly need to slow down.

When I sat down to blog today I realized that even though I have been consistent the past few weeks in waking early to spend time with God, I have not been taking the time to count the gifts. So, I started right away:

643. Jeremiah feeling extra snuggly, a bit unusual for this growing 5 year old who is getting too big for my lap

644. Nathaniel's grateful, enthusiastic, generous, forgiving heart

645. my husband who gets up at 4am to deal with throw-up so that I can sleep

646. fall sunshine through the dining room window

647. the first batch of pumpkin muffins!

648. spending the day in my comfiest sweat pants

649. friends who call to check on me

650. plump pumpkins on the front step

651. nights that are cold enough to warrant the thick winter comforter on our bed

652. the way the goldening light announces that fall is finally here

653. answered prayer

Slowing down

We had a lot of things planned for this Saturday. We were going to clean, and go to a birthday party, and try to hit the sale at the Goodwill, and have dinner with friends. Instead, both boys are snuggled in bed listening to The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe on CD because they have a stomach bug.
Aaron was up with Nathaniel last night and I have spent the morning with household cleaner and paper towels in my hands, cleaning up and holding bowls and running the washing machine.
Even though nothing much this week has gone as I have planned I still feel peaceful and content. I am tired after struggling with insomnia for most of the week. While I am sorry that my boys aren't feeling well, I am thankful for a day to slow down, snuggle together, and just be quietly here.

Parenting Lessons

This is what I have learned about parenting this week:
* Always throw your camera in your bag!
Jeremiah played goalie at his soccer game on Tuesday night and he was rocking! I was so mad that I didn't have my camera to capture him posed with bended knees intently following the game, getting down to make a save, and throwing in with all his might.

* When you get impatient with your boy's behavior use this phrase instead of berating him.
"You are a boy of character and integrity. Please let your actions reflect that."
Seriously, I think this has been the most practical and revolutionary piece of parenting advice that I have ever run across. I am impatient and a yell-er. Having this little sentence has changed the way I respond to the boy's behavior. (If you are interested check out The Mother of Boys Society for other great stuff.)

* If your day is going bad pack up everything and head to the park.
I was in a funk this morning and my tone and actions toward my children were less than loving and patient. I finally got so sick of myself that I shoo-ed the boys into the van and headed to the playground. It was still pretty warm for this time of year, but I was able to sit in the shade, enjoy a cool breeze, read my Bible and pray while the boys played. My attitude changed and our day is going better.

1000 Gifts (29) - Community

I had this in depth post about community that I was crafting, but it just didn't flow right. And as I (finally) sit down after a long day I find my brain too fuzzy to really polish it up. So, suffice it to say that this Monday I am overwhelmed with gratitude for this feeling of being part of a community.... We had a week and weekend full of moments that just solidified our feeling of being right where God wants us to be; serving, working, enjoying, and developing relationships.

A few years ago when we were thinking about moving, Aaron and I really desired to feel more a part of a community. We wanted to know people well, to share our lives with others, to feel part of the place in which we lived. As we started to scope out other places to live we realized that the reason that we didn't feel like we were part of a community is because we were not intentionally fostering community. We were holed up in our house, busy with our lives, and expecting community to come find us. Duh....

So we decided to stay in our small town and be more intentional about creating community. Slowly that is what we have been doing. This weekend it hit me; we truly are part of a community now.

I feel so blessed to truly feel that we are part of a community here now. I grew up moving a lot and felt fairly root-less. I can feel our roots growing deeper here.

- a meeting of the local Library expansion committee, me being asked to serve after I was praying that I could find ways to do things that interested me and served the community

- seeing in very concrete ways how serving God with others develops real and honest relationships

- a house full of people

- 7 kids, playing in the yard until 10 p.m. running, shrieking, building, chasing fireflies, covered in dirt

- adult conversation on the deck, new relationships formed and old relationships deepened

- parenting talk on the side lines of the soccer field while the older kids play the game and the younger kids just play

- lunch at Chick-fil-A with other soccer families, laughter

- new friends

- roots developing