The Closing of a Chapter

Today marked a somewhat official end of the previous chapter of our lives. For the past year and a half my wife and I have been living in intentional community with 2 other married couples. While we had moved out about 2 weeks ago, we spent today cleaning the old house and getting all of our final possessions moved to our new apartment.

As Mandy and I left that barren, empty, lonely dwelling this evening, we did so with somewhat heavy hearts. We recognized that this last year and a half has been an adventure, a good story, and that as we drove away we were officially ending that tale. It was a good adventure. Donald Miller talks about writing better stories for our lives in his new book A Million Miles in a Thousand Years. He says that the best, most-memorable stories are those that are out of the ordinary, that are a bit unexpected, that are both joyful and painful all wrapped up in one. This was one of those stories. We took a risk. We went out on a limb. People thought we were crazy (or swingers!). But it payed off in the end. Not every day was roses, but the experience was incredibly positive. I don't know if I would do it again, but at the same time, I wouldn't trade this experience for anything.

Thanks for the adventure Chris, Meggie, Brian, and Nicole...we love you guys!!

Helpful Thoughts on Loving Your Neighbor

Shane Claiborne (author, speaker, & founder of The Simple Way) has recently co-authored a list of 50 practical ways we could better love our neighbors. This list was very helpful to read through I will continue to pray about what things God might be calling me, my family, and our house to in the coming months. The following are the first 10 things on the list:

1. Fast for the 2 billion people who live on less than a dollar a day.
2. Contact your local crisis pregnancy center and invite a pregnant woman to live with your family.
3. Ask your pastor if someone on your church’s sick list would like a visit.
4. Join an open AA meeting and befriend someone there.
5. Adopt a child.
6. Mow your neighbor’s grass.
7. Volunteer to tutor a kid at your local elementary school. (Try to get to know the kid’s family.)
8. Grow your own tomatoes – and share them.
9. Ask a small group in your community to meet regularly for intercessory prayer.
10. Build a wheel chair ramp for someone who is homebound.

Click HERE for numbers 11-50.

Big News!!...Communal Living

Some of you will know this already, but Mandy and I have been contemplating living in community with 2 other couples from our church. I have hesitated in writing about this endeavor here because I was still unsure whether this would actually happen, but last night the 6 of us signed a lease to live together for at least the next year.

Over the next 2-3 weeks we will slowly be moving into a 5 bedroom, 3 bathroom house in a neighborhood of Seattle called Northgate. Northgate is a bit further from downtown Seattle than we originally intended, but renting this house will allow us to save a lot of money each month and will afford us great community with our housemates. We understand how difficult this experiment will be at times, so we thought it necessary to have a house with ample space to "get away" from the rest of the community to recharge ourselves emotional and spiritually.

A number of months ago Shane Claiborne (a writer & speaker who lives in community in Philadephia) spoke at our church. One of the couples purchased one of Shane's DVDs and the 6 of us met the next week to watch it and have dinner together. Out of that meal and conversation, this idea of communal living was birthed. All 6 of us desperately want to take seriously the life and message of Jesus and feel that a large part of that calling is to a life of simplicity, humility, sacrifice, and surrender. I think we will experience all of these throughout this next year. Please be praying for us as we begin this exciting yet terrifying experiment.