a new season

i greet you all in the name of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit.

G-d has been faithful and generous in the last two weeks. and i'm certain He will continue to be to us all.
everyone [except Richard] was away from Wallingford for spring break for a couple weeks. Heather went to California, Ben and Cory went biking and hiking in Washington, Lindsey went to Camden, NJ and then to Minnesota, and I went to New York City.
for me, spring break was a time of spiritual growth. i stayed with my sister and brother-in-law in East Harlem and spent each evening conversing in the kitchen around a variety of important topics that are relevant to my life. we had difficult conversations that had beautiful outcomes. G-d has blessed them with the gift of counsel, and they truly blessed me with their words. praise Jesus!

as i was flying back to seattle today, i finished the book Jesus for President by Chris Haw and Shane Claiborne. I was emotionally moved by the last 100 pages. I would like to share with you some words that reminded me of the power in conversion, spiritual and physical.

"We need conversion in the best sense of the word – people who are marked by the renewing of their minds and imaginations, who no longer conform to the pattern that is destroying our world. Otherwise we have only believers, not converts. And believers are a dime a dozen nowadays. What the world needs is people who believe so much in another world that they cannot help but enact it. Then we start to see some true conversion vans that run on veggie oil instead of diesel. Then we will see some converted homes that run on renewable energy, power their laundry machines with stationary bicycles, and flush their toilets with dirty sink water. Then tears will be converted to laughter as people make their machine guns into saxophones or police officers use their clubs to play baseball."

i've been reminded a lot lately that there are a lot of little things i can be doing that will change the way i think and act about things of this world...things like celebrating Passover with fireworks instead of the Fourth of July, making Easter my Presidents Day, praying with my brothers and sisters each night before i go to bed and each morning before we leave for school/daily duties, and remembering the lives of martyrs' Martin of Tours or Marcellus the Centurion before each community dinner or house meeting. i'm learning more each day to be creative as i live out my life for Christ. this journey is rocky most of the time and not easy. but G-d is the Father of provision and grace. remembering this helps me along the way, and i hope it helps you too.

grace be to you as well this week.

remember to always love.