Janathan Grace Reflections   This is my journey of self discovery shared with you

We are first-time home owners!  I like the outside and Berly likes the inside most.  The living room has cathedral ceilings with two skylights and a loft that includes a small bedroom and bathroom.  We were kind of stressed because several issues came up we had to overcome financially and in the sellers coming through with their agreement, but in the end it all worked out fine, even better than fine, since we got a number of extras we weren’t expecting (such as a full propane tank for our gas fireplace and new bathtub fixtures).  The “master” bedroom is in the loft, which currently has no privacy, closet, or space for dressers!  So I have some handyman work I have to do–one reason we are registered at Home Depot (along with Berly’s choice of Target).  We’re excited about having our own place for the first time in our lives!  Love to all, Kent

So it’s been a while since I blogged last.  Among other major events, Kimberly and I have been house shopping and we have a written contract on a house we both like.  Unfortunately, L’Arche has not found another role for her (her old job was replaced while she was on leave of absence), so we are dependent on my work for now, which isn’t enough to manage, so I’m going to have to get a second job.  I’ve applied for a position as a pizza delivery man part time.  We’ll hear soon if I got the job.

Since my last blog, I also went down to my alma mater, Columbia International University, to preach.  I had one opportunity to speak to the student body and twice to smaller groups of students.  Many seemed to be encouraged by my message on grace, and some asked for an electronic version of my book “Overwhelmed by Grace.”  Kimberly went with me to Columbia, which made it much more pleasurable.  May we all live more in his grace and freedom!

On February 14th, 2007,

God created a celestial ice world

On a mountain in Bedford, Virginia

And pledged our intention to make a lifetime covenant.

We’re Engaged!

And…

While we wanted to share

This news joyfully with you,

We ask you to also share joyfully

 In acknowledgement

That our wedding day is uniquely ours

And we will be sharing together

 The ceremony of marriage

 Without any witnesses,

 Save God and His minister,

To memorialize

this most intimate and private covenant.

We expect to celebrate in some way

With loved ones

 On a later date

With love, Kimberly and Kent

Well, I have had bronchitis for two weeks now, starting on Christmas eve!  Thankfully Berly and I celebrated Christmas that morning, so I didn’t really miss anything, but I have been fairly miserable.  Luckily I got a day off for Christmas week and a day off for new years (and took two sick days), so I had extra time to rest.  I seem to be getting slowly better.  Berly and I celebrated Christmas together at a lodge near the blueridge parkway.  Half the day was spent in processing some of our personal issues–for us, that makes it a good day!  It is deeply fulfilling for us to connect with our true hearts, understand and accept ourselves and each other, and reach a new level of personal and relational health.  It is not comfortable, but very comforting, not easy, but very enriching.

Well, I can’t seem to think of anything important to say.  I thought the warm weather was finally behind us, but we are supposed to reach 60 degrees tomorrow!  Considering how much I froze my toes off yesterday biking, I will gladly welcome shirt sleeve weather.  Some of the hills I bike around here are miserably steep.  A couple of them I can’t climb without weaving from one shoulder to the other all the way up, and it doesn’t help my back.  We are having a “Dirty Santa” L’Arche party on Tuesday (should probably call it “Cheap Santa”), and another one on the 19th.  Berly will probably come to the second one–she’s been avoiding appearances at the house, but thought she might like to come to this.  We are still deciding about what to do for Christmas–plan to be on our own… maybe spend the night somewhere special.  Hope you all have great Christmas celebrations!

It is thanksgiving morning.  It has never been a very big celebration in our family other than a large meal with extended family, less extended as the years have gone by, so I don’t really miss not doing anything or being with anyone significant.  It mostly feels like any other day.  I volunteered to work in the L’Arche home today (3-11p.m.) so others could enjoy family gatherings.  Even our core members are mostly out with family, though two will have returned by this afternoon and we plan to go eat at our weekly gathering spot called “The Fisherman’s Lodge,” a weekly community dinner sponsored by a small local church that draws 30 or 40 people.

It has turned beautiful outside, but my knee is bummed from biking yesterday (in very cold rain), so no biking today.  This weather is luckily supposed to hold through the weekend (when temperatures will reach the upper 60s).  I started to really connect with my soul this morning, but those feelings just walked out without warning or reason, so I’m left with this sense of emptiness… I’m not sure where my emotions will drift today.  Kimberly will be home tomorrow, which gives me something to hang hope on.

Kimberly left last Wednesday to visit various family members in Chicago and St. Paul.  She won’t be back till the day after thanksgiving, which leaves me all by my lonesome.  The aggravating thing is that I rarely get two days off in a row, but last week I got Thursday and Friday off and this week I get Monday and Tuesday off–all during the week Berly is gone!  I have gotten back to cycling regularly (for about 3 months now), and it feels good physically.  Mind you, this is in the mountains, so I’m getting very good exercise!  Happy Thanksgiving everyone.

Kimberly and I continue to learn more about ourselves and each other.  It continues to be hard but good.  Things are always changing and growing in us and between us.  I really should journal to remind myself of the truths I keep discovering.  We took a trip to Shenandoah to celebrate our 2 year anniversary and two weeks later Berly’s brother and sister-in-law came to visit and we took them hiking up Crabtree Falls trail (the most beautiful set of falls and cascades I think I have seen).

Berly and I took a few days vacation at Va Beach last weekend.  “It was the best of times.  It was the worst of times.”  Somehow all our issues seem to come out when we go on vacation together.  We can spend lots of time doing daily life with only minimal problems cropping up.  I haven’t thought it through, but maybe it is because vacation brings unique dynamics and situations that we don’t ordinarly have to face and so haven’t worked through yet.  Vacations always force us to face new issues and work through them, so it helps us grow, usually in significant ways, but it doesn’t do much for providing rest, refreshment, and relaxation… but then, whose vacation does that?

Okay, so it has been forever… well four months… since my last blog.  First, I had to get accustomed to working a full time job again, one that is very different from anything I have done before and lots of things to learn with a fluctuating schedule.  Second, I had to move into the L’Arche home (at the end of July), though I left most of my furniture, etc. at the apartment for a friend to use.  Third, I had to take everything from a two bedroom apartment and reduce it to one room (at the end of September).  Some of my books and furniture are at Berly’s place, some stuff I gave away, and some are packed into every spare hole in my bedroom at L’Arche.  At least it’s bigger than my efficiency in Arlington (but there I had storage at the church).

I keep up with all you bridgeway folks through your blogs (I check it daily), though it says more about your personal lives than about B242.  There is so much I am learning and being stretched with at L’Arche.  It can be very stressful but also relaxing depending on what is going on and if anyone is having a bad day–we are very relationally based and a small community, so anyone’s issues becomes everyone’s issues.  I used to think that if you worked hard enough at being a community, you would reach a level of being fairly comfortable and supportive with each other…  Now I am learning that true community is always full of screwed up people and relationships, and the hope is that the positive will outweigh the negative, but that even the negative, when faced in a healthy way, is really valuable for our growth personally and as a community. 

Love to all of you at Bridgeway, Kent