our house.

our house of 2008

2008-12-18T09:51:00.000-08:00

a new year coming

2008-12-07T22:54:00.001-08:00

our house is forever in transition, but we only grow with each other in the LORD because of it, as He teaches us how to live with change.
we haven't written on this blog for quite a number of months, and for that we are sincerely sorry. much has happened in that time that has made us focus on other things than updating this here blog.
lindsey beach and ben kaspar moved out of Our House September 1st. they both still live in Wallingford -- our friendly, little neighborhood. ben now lives with two friends in a small house with a big front yard, and lindsey lives with five other women in a house with a big back yard. with their departure came Kaylee's arrival who cory and abby met earlier in the spring through a dear friend and professor, Dr. Kathleen Braden.
in October, our friends Torin Schaafsma and John Hyde moved into the house. so, there has been seven of us living here since October [Cory, Abby, Greg, Shantel, Kaylee, Torin and John]. cory, abby and kaylee are still students at Seattle Pacific University, so they have been focusing on school this quarter. Cory and Kaylee will be graduating this year, and Abby will be graduating next fall hopefully.
Our House has taken up having soup nights every Friday night. we invite our friends and hope people bring in others that we haven't met. this has become our "community dinner". we miss having potluck dinner-style though, so we're considering changing soup nights to our normal community dinner like last year.
tomorrow night is an important house meeting for us, because it will be the last time we will all be together for quite awhile. Abby is leaving with her fiance Jacob [that's right. they're engaged and are getting married in June 2009!] for her parents' homes in Indiana; they will only be gone for five days though. Cory will be leaving for Michigan to spend the holidays with his family; he will be gone for one whole month! Torin will be going home for the month and most of January in preparation to leave for Columbia for two years, where he will be working with the Seattle Mennonite Central Committee. we will miss you torin!! Greg, Kaylee, John and Shantel will be around Seattle for December though.

two weeks ago, we got to have dinner at the Mustard Seed House and were graced with the presence of Tom and Christine Sine, Eliacin and Ricci Kilmer and their two children Catie and Gabriel, Dustin and Joy Cross, Judy and a friend of the Sines. at our house, we hosted a new theology professor at SPU, Mike Langford and his wife Kelly and daughter Hannah. they just had another baby who they named Seth. he's only a couple weeks old. Congratulations family! the Langford's have become an important part in some of our lives here at Our house. they're a beautiful family that has taught us a lot about community. we're hoping to have more professors and friends over for house dinners more next quarter.

hopefully there will be more frequent posts to come.
live in love.

Merry Christmas from Our House

2008-12-07T22:17:00.000-08:00

transitions and guests

2008-07-21T17:00:00.000-07:00

it has been a long while since i have posted anything on our blog. my apologies to anyone who checks it and is continually disappointed.

our house has been going through a huge time of transition. as you know, we are knee-deep in summer fun and long hours of work. Ben is still working at Pagliacci Pizza and being a "fellow" for the Obama '08 campaign. Lindsey is interning for a low-income housing organization here in Seattle. Cory is taking some classes at Seattle Central Community College to get some extra credits in, all the while interning for Food Lifeline. Greg is working at Gregg's Cycles still and I am still working as a nanny for the family i have been working for for two years now. However, that is not the end of our list. Two friends moved into our house in June, Shantel and Becky.

Shantel is from Puyallip, WA and Becky is from Bellevue, WA. Shantel is a barista at Peets Coffee & Tea on Queen Anne. Becky works as a nanny like I do. Shantel went to SPU and has decided to discontinue her time there and is thinking about living with us next year here at OurHouse. Becky graduated from SPU this spring and will be moving into her own apartment in about two weeks, which she's really excited about.

We have decided to renew our lease on the house we've been living in this year. However, we are unsure of who exactly will be living here. Each of us are trying to hear from the LORD and figure stuff out all the while desiring to be in community always. so we'll keep you updated about what's going on once we know more. We have been meeting with a couple friends, Virginia and Ryan who desire to live here. We don't want to make any decisions based on seniority, so we have decided to take a step back and re-live our first springtime together. that was before we were even living together. we all met together weekly and sought counsel and the LORD's voice together, and those who felt that the LORD wanted them to live here eventually moved in. we just want the LORD to decide who should be here next year instead of us who have lived together for almost a year.

june and july were big GUEST months. in one week in june, right after finals at SPU, we had about 12 people come in and out over a period of about ten days. this last weekend, we had two very special guests - friends of a dear friend of ours, Rachel Liberto. rae left seattle for yoga school in california and then arizona to start a community in Douglass, AZ with a quaker couple by the Mexico border. she met two girls at the yoga school who quickly became her friends. they notified her that they were coming to seattle and wondered if she knew of anywhere they could stay. she thought of us and they arrived last friday night. Jessica and Brynn were wonderful people to meet, and in a way, they brought Rae back to us with their new memories of her.

Shantel left today for a family reunion in cleveland, ohio for two weeks, and a friend from Grand Valley State University in Michigan arrives tomorrow to stay for a week. so, as usual in the summer, some of us leave and more visitors come to take their places for awhile.

blessings friend,

abby

smile

2008-05-21T19:55:00.000-07:00

cornelius and benjamin.

the joys of spring. and of not wearing a shirt.

creations

2008-05-11T13:01:00.000-07:00

Scott Erickson is a friend of ours and has been for almost a year now. I met Scott at the 2007 World Vision Acting on AIDS conference in Illinois, where he painted during the worship services. At that time, however, I didn't know he was from Seattle. Then, a year later, I decided to check out Sanctuary Church in Greenwood [where Cory, Ben and I go to worship on most Sunday mornings], and I found Scott painting during the service.

I invited Scott to paint at an Acting on AIDS benefit show that I was putting on, along with the rest of SPU's Acting on AIDS leadership team. Scott completed two paintings during the show, and I was able to purchase one and bring it home. This painting is of a girl who has AIDS and is living here in Seattle. As a leadership team, this year AoA has been focusing on getting to know people who have HIV and are living with AIDS right here in our city. We have come to realize that AIDS is prevalent locally, not just in Africa or India. So at the show one evening autumn quarter, Scott painted two paintings: one of a young boy in Africa who has been orphaned because his parents had AIDS and died, and the other painting of a girl that we could know in our own city that has AIDS.

This was painted by Scott during Church today at Sanctuary. He started painting some orange wispy lines, and Cory and I looked at each other and agreed that we already loved the painting. I don't know what Scott saw when he painted this, but I'll tell you what I saw. A boy looks at the city, some buildings and sees the system that is so prevalent in society today. But he is instead consumed with the Almighty, the Holy Spirit. The boy keeps his eye on the system, making himself aware of its false powers, but he knows the truth. He knows that it is G-d in the Holy Spirit who has all of the true power.

Check out Scott's upcoming work and blog at http://transpireproject.wordpress.com/ He has three shows this week in Seattle and then will be partnering with AoA World Vision at the 2008 Acting on AIDS Summit that is in D.C. this year.

Scott and his wife, Holly are also a part of our mentor's church that is being planted right now, called Awake. check out awakeseattle.blogspot.com

cheers,
abby

GREG!

2008-05-08T11:50:00.000-07:00

OurHouse has a new housemate and member: Greg Jones!

Greg is a recent graduate of Seattle Pacific University and has been a friend of ours for a couple years now. He majored in music [percussion] at SPU, and is trying to find a job recording music in Seattle. Currently, he's employed at Gregg's Cycles in Greenlake, working as a bike mechanic. He's our hero, because he can help us all on our bikes. Ok [since the others know a lot about bikes], he can help ME on my bike. :) We're really excited that Greg is living with us. He's getting up for breakfast with us most mornings, which isn't easy all the time, and he looks forward to our house meetings each week, because it's a time where we can all be together humbly, open and vulnerable.

Come over and meet Greg. He's great. Oh, and if you like playing the drums, Greg will probably be playing his drum set when you come over and would like to let you have a turn. :)

Also on the horizon...there will probably be a friend or two living with us for the summer and then finding other housing in the autumn. If you would, please be in prayer about our upcoming conversations with our landlord, and also that G-d would be leading the decisions that we make here in OurHouse.

Peace and blessings,

abby

an intentional interview

2008-05-01T17:57:00.000-07:00

happy May! i pray you are healthy and full of joy. may the LORD be always at your side.

OurHouse got interviewed by Judy, a 20-something living in community in our neighborhood [Wallingford] and working WITH Tom and Christine Sine at Mustard Seed Associates [http://www.msainfo.org/] here in Seattle. OurHouse met with Tom and Christine early on in our journey together, before we ever actually moved into the house we're living in now. After we moved in, they came over for dinner in the winter to catch up with us and meet with the LORD in prayer and fellowship. They lead vibrant, beautiful lives, serving the Seattle community. Christine is an avid gardener/canner, and she and Tom have both written quite a number of books, including the Mustard Seed Conspiracy.

Judy came over for dinner on a Wednesday night [the night we have dinner with just house members and one or two special friends that want to meet with us intentionally] about three weeks ago, eager to interview us about how we all came about living together in this house. So we told her the whole story. It took about an hour and a half to tell, but it was good for us, because we hadn't told the story in awhile. It allowed us time to reflect intensively back on a year ago and where we were in our journey with the LORD and with each other. So go to the link above and you'll see our photograph and the link to the article below that. While you're there, check out the Mustard Seed Associates blog page.

ourhouse through the eyes of others

2008-03-30T19:47:00.000-07:00

...Grand Valley State University week!

Nearly six weeks ago, 13 students came to stay at our house for five days from Grand Rapids, Michigan – the home of our dear brother, Cornelius. The students were here in Seattle for their spring break trip to explore, meet new people and serve with their hands and their hearts around the city. Those thirteen became dear friends of ours. They became our brothers and sisters. Talk is going around about there being another visit from Grand Rapids come summertime. We at OurHouse look forward to this with great joy and excitement.

two new friends from Indiana Wesleyan University – Bobby and Carrie and three GVS friends

our new GVS friends thanked us for our hospitality by painting a mural for us!

here's ourhouse, complete with Richard, Jacob and Challah

we miss our new friends from Grand Rapids! we hope they decide to come back and visit! they had beautiful hearts and loved music, which we shared often in our home by evenings of praising G-d together and other nights by reminiscing on junior high by singing DC Talk songs.

a litany of RESISTANCE

2008-03-26T01:06:00.000-07:00

This is the Litany of Resistance, created with the help of The Potter Street House's friends Jim Loney (CPT Reservist) and Brian Walsh (activist theologian).

This cry and prayer is beautiful to me. I'd like to share it with you.
--------------------------
One: Lamb of God, you take away the sins of the world
All: Have mercy on us
One: Lamb of God, you take away the sins of the world
All: Free us from the bondage of sin and death
One: Lamb of God, you take away the sins of the world
All: Hear our prayer. Grant us peace.

One: For the victims of war
All: Have mercy
One: Women, men and children
All: Have mercy
One: The maimed and the crippled
All: Have mercy
One: The abandoned and the homeless
All: Have mercy
One: the imprisoned and the tortured
All: Have mercy
One: The widowed and the orphaned
All: Have mercy
One: The bleeding and the dying
All: Have mercy
One: The weary and the desperate
All: Have mercy
One: The lost and the forsaken
All: Have mercy

One: O God -- Have mercy on us sinners
All: Forgive us for we know not what we do
One: For our scorched and blackened earth
All: Forgive us
One: For the scandal of billions wasted in war
All: Forgive us
One: For our arms makers and arms dealers
All: Forgive us
One: For our Caesars and Herods
All: Forgive us
One: For the violence that is rooted in our hearts
All: Forgive us

One: For the times we turn others into enemies
All: Forgive us
One: Deliver us, O God
All: Guide our feet into the way of peace
One: Hear our prayer.
All: Grant us peace.

One: From the arrogance of power
All: Deliver us
One: From the myth of redemptive violence
All: Deliver us
One: From the tyranny of greed
All: Deliver us
One: From the ugliness of racism
All: Deliver us
One: From the cancer of hatred
All: Deliver us
One: From the seduction of wealth
All: Deliver us
One: From the addiction of control
All: Deliver us
One: From the idolatry of nationalism
All: Deliver us
One: From the paralysis of cynicism
All: Deliver us
One: From the violence of apathy
All: Deliver us
One: From the ghettos of poverty
All: Deliver us
One: From the ghettos of wealth
All: Deliver us
One: From a lack of imagination
All: Deliver us
One: Deliver us, O God
All: Guide our feet into the way of peace
One: We will not conform to the patterns of this world
All: Let us be transformed by the renewing of our minds
One: With the help of God’s grace
All: Let us resist evil wherever we find it

One: With the waging of war
All: We will not comply
One: With the legalization of murder
All: We will not comply
One: With the slaughter of innocents
All: We will not comply
One: With laws that betray human life
All: We will not comply
One: With the destruction of community
All: We will not comply
One: With the pointing finger and malicious talk
All: We will not comply
One: With the idea that happiness must be purchased
All: We will not comply
One: With the ravaging of the earth
All: We will not comply
One: With principalities and powers that oppress
All: We will not comply
One: With the destruction of peoples
All: We will not comply
One: With the raping of women
All: We will not comply
One: With governments that kill
All: We will not comply
One: With the theology of empire
All: We will not comply
One: With the business of militarism
All: We will not comply
One: With the hoarding of riches
All: We will not comply
One: With the dissemination of fear
All: We will not comply

One: Today we pledge our ultimate allegiance… to the Kingdom of God
All: We pledge allegiance
One: To a peace that is not like Rome’s
All: We pledge allegiance
One: To the Gospel of enemy love
All: We pledge allegiance
One: To the Kingdom of the poor and broken
All: We pledge allegiance
One: To a King that loves his enemies so much he died for them

All: We pledge allegiance
One: To the least of these, with whom Christ dwells
All: We pledge allegiance
One: To the transnational Church that transcends the artificial borders of nations
All: We pledge allegiance
One: To the refugee of Nazareth
All: We pledge allegiance
One: To the homeless rabbi who had no place to lay his head
All: We pledge allegiance
One: To the cross rather than the sword
All: We pledge allegiance
One: To the banner of love above any flag
All: We pledge allegiance
One: To the one who rules with a towel rather than an iron fist
All: We pledge allegiance
One: To the one who rides a donkey rather than a war-horse
All: We pledge allegiance
One: To the revolution that sets both oppressed and oppressors free
All: We pledge allegiance
One: To the Way that leads to life
All: We pledge allegiance
One: To the Slaughtered Lamb
All: We pledge allegiance
One: And together we proclaim his praises, from the margins of the empire to the centers of wealth and power
All: Long Live the Slaughtered Lamb
One: Long Live the Slaughtered Lamb
All: Long Live the Slaughtered Lamb

In Jesus for President, Shane Claiborne and Chris Haw make it clear that this is a litany ready to be shared and used in worship however you may choose. share the prayer with your friends and write a prayer of your own.

be creative. and assume love.

a new season

2008-03-26T00:38:00.000-07:00

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.

a favorite professor comes to dinner

2008-02-15T09:53:00.000-08:00

After a quarter and a half of trying to schedule dinner with Dr. Braden, we all finally agreed on this past Wednesday evening, and Dr. Braden came over with her husband, Zhenya.
Kathleen and I had met a couple days before to discuss what to make for dinner. Zhenya is Russian [he and Kathleen have a very cool story of how they met], so we thought we should make something authentically Russian. we decided to make Piroshki, because it would require all of us to sit at our table and prepare it together. it's a bit labor-intensive, but delicious!

Zhenya and Kathleen

Piroshki is made by forming dough around a filling. Dr. Braden prepared a cabbage, boiled eggs and onion combination for our Piroshki. so we each took a section of the dough, stretched it out with our fingers while forming it in a circle shape, filled it with a spoonful of the mixture and then pinched it shut by bringing the sides of the dough up over the filling. we arranged about 15 little piroshkis on a greased baking pan and brushed the tops with butter for a golden finish.

Zhenya and Kathleen also brought over some Russian chocolates and Russian soda. Dr. Braden even wore her Russian apron!

after dinner, we had coffee, made in our french press from beans that Ben's cousin gave us (thanks again, Jess!), and triple-chocolate cake. it was a really fun and relaxing evening.
we want to host more people who are important to us but and don't usually have the opportunity or time to visit.

celebration of Richard's birth

2008-02-15T09:22:00.001-08:00

Richard's birthday was February 12th, so we decided it would be fun to tour Fremont with him. We walked from our house to the Troll on top of Troll Avenue.

Richard thought it was "a waste" for the statue to be crushing a VW Bug.

Then we walked to the Lenin Statue and then to the DINOSAURS! [if you haven't seen the dinosaurs, you must a.s.a.p.!] They're located on Canal Street, near where Richard is interning during his stay here in Seattle. Sadly, he had already seen the AWEsome dinosaurs and wasn't that impressed, because he rides his bike past them each morning. haha. Our final destination was Coldstone Creamery for some ice cream. Lucky for him, it's free on birthdays!

heather, lindsey, richard

cory congratulates richard on his birth

this is our house

cory, ben, abby

When we returned home, Cory iced a cupcake, Ben added a birthday candle, and Lindsey wrapped Richard's gift. We walked into the dining room, sang "Happy Birthday," and had Richard make a wish [another "American tradition"]. He unwrapped Heather's gift of some Dove chocolate bars that were wrapped in a Anime portrait of Richard. classic. then he unwrapped his early Valentines Day gift, big chocolate LIPS! he thought they were really funny, thankfully. :)

french toast feast!

2008-02-11T22:13:00.000-08:00

tonight OurHouse had many wonderful people in its body.
they came, with eggs and friends to make and eat french toast together. sweet! and savory!
we ate together, played music and danced. ben, josh and i took some photos, and challah [jake's puppy] danced around our feet, hoping for a piece of challah french toast to fall to the floor.

jake's playing banjo while alex sews a filsons patch onto his jeans.

this couch = becca.challah.ben.greg.rachel.

aaron is playing the metal dust pan with a spoon.

richard is teaching my brother, josh Japanese.

lindsey is wrapping gifts for her Urban Involvement team at SPU. this one is a giraffe.

andrew is holding our new rabbit, Nora. heather paid $15 for her on craigslist. she's our new beauty.

we'd love it if you came to our next feast.
we always dumpster Challah bread on Sundays at Essential Bread Company and eggs from Trader Joes.

the first and third Thursdays are Community Dinners at our house. come! and bring a nice edible something.

a new sister!

2008-01-27T12:18:00.000-08:00

this is Eva Nakisuyi.

Eva is 11 years old. Her birthday is on November 27th. Her parents are no longer living.

Our House decided that one way we'd like to give the money in our common fund is to sponsor a child. our dear friend, Katie has wonderful parents who are a part of a beautiful organization called Buyamba Orphan Outreach.
Buyamba translated into English simply means “Help”. This orphanage not only reaches orphans but also assists children whose parents are too sick or destitute to care for them. We wanted to support Buyamba's ministries because of the wonderful people that care for the children there in Uganda.

There was a glorious time of celebration when we joyously opened the envelope that contained Eva's picture and information.

thanks be to G-d for His blessings.
for His provisions.
for His LOVE.

If you feel in your heart a desire to join with us in daily prayer for Eva, please do pray.

Let us not be satisfied with just giving money. Money is not enough,
money can be got, but they need your hearts to love them. So,
spread your love everywhere you go.
– Mother Teresa

a new beginning

2008-01-26T15:54:00.000-08:00

we're continually finding that this is a year of learning and growth for us. this is a year of finding a renewed spirit.

we're learning how to ask for forgiveness when we fail those who we love. we're learning how to have grace for those that fail us. we're learning that having hard conversations, that may require vulnerability and humility are more often than not, beneficial and quite needed. we're learning what it really means to love someone who may continually be hurtful. and most importantly, we're learning how only the LORD G-d is able to fill us with the grace, humility and love that we need each day.

when all of Our House came back together after being away from each other for Christmas break, we discovered that our hearts needed rejuvenation and greatly needed the unity that we once shared. it took us three weeks, a hard but heartfelt meeting with our mentors, four house meetings, and many tears amidst one-on-one conversations to find that sought-after peace and unity.

last week, my word of the week was 'reconciliation'. i don't normally pick descriptions for my days or weeks, but that particular theme was inescapable.
know this about me: i don't enjoy initiating. and confrontations are difficult for me. the LORD knew what i needed this week, and He readily provided me with all that i needed. He's such a generous Father. it was a surprise to me when one morning, as i was working on homework in between classes, i felt this pulling in my heart to ask my dear sister if she would meet with me so that we could talk through some things together. i had been feeling for weeks a disconnect between us and G-d gave me the courage to initiate a conversation that would probably be hard and possibly emotional. she agreed, so we went to 7-11, got drinks and found a spot to sit in the sunshine. my faithful Father filled me with an abnormal desire to be open and to be vulnerable. we left our time together to go to our separate classes, having understanding, respect and our renewed unity. thanks be to G-d!

we're all taking one day at a time, trusting G-d to help us up when we fall on our faces, ashamed or hurting. because of His grace and mercy for us when we fail, we smile now more than we ever did before. we rejoice instead of crying out.

there's something i've been thinking a lot about lately that perhaps you may also want to apply to your life – we may always have reason to be sad or hurt, but in everything, we have reason to rejoice to G-d. for He is loving. He is forgiving. He is trustworthy. He's full of grace, patience, mercy and joy. G-d gives us our every JOY.

G-d IS our every JOY.

Winter Break part I

2007-12-14T16:12:00.000-08:00

Hello all,
Greetings with love and prayer. We're all over the country! Here's a bit of an update. Heather is in Oregon. Cory is in Michigan (ILLINOISE?). Lindsey is in Jersey. Abby and I remain residents of Washington, but not for long, because she's flying to New York and I'm flying to Florida. I reckon we'll all be back here early January, since that's when winter term starts.
Our house has been able to host a couple ragamuffins this week and that has been a wonderful blessing. The picture below shows me with New Zealander, Arielle, between Pioneer Square and the international district. She'll be on her way by tomorrow, but she has blessed us this week (and thanks, Heather, for lending your bedroom.) Also, it's been great to share a handful of adventures with Patrick this past week. Blessings in Ohio, friend.

Well, I guess that's about it! Don't buy too much shit for the holidays. Time spent is more valuable anyway.

blessings all around.

2007-11-30T11:51:00.000-08:00

greetings family!

the month of november is nearly over, which means Autumn Quarter at SPU is also almost over. time passes quickly, and we are still learning how and trying to practice slowing down. as i ride my bicycle, i realize and am thankful for how it allows me to take in my surroundings and truly appreciate them. i actually notice the beauty of the persons walking on the sidewalk beside me and am able to greet them warmly with a "hello!" or "good morning!" without a rolled-up car window giving me an excuse to drive fast right past them without even a wave of my hand.

i hope you had a wonderful weekend of giving thanks and were able to spend time with people that you cherish and love. we had a lovely weekend here at OurHouse. cory, lindsey and i stayed in seattle. heather spent thanksgiving with her family in Oregon, and ben enjoyed himself immensely in Cabo, Mexico. my mom, Becky came up from Indiana, and my brother and his 4 yr. old son, Teague came over for Thanksgiving dinner, as well as Lindsey's parents, Susie and Joe and brother, Curtis. we also were blessed to have some friends join us for dessert and merry music-making. the fireplace set a warm glow to the room, and a banjo and harmonica entertained us with their joyous sounds.

cory, nate, brother josh, mama becky, abby

indiana family photo

jacob

within the last couple weeks, many blessed opportunities to serve our community have been presented to us. we are continuing to seek our Father's will and are so blessed when He gives us ways to serve.

+ one night, a few of us went over to the Green Bean [a coffee shop in Greenwood that lovingly serves the community] to help them finish their clean-up and asked if there was ever any need for volunteer baristas. our response was a very excited "YES!" so cory emailed Hayden, one of the women who runs the coffee shop and told her of our interest. we met together one evening at SPU and shared hot cider and relaxation while listening to some friends play music at a fall art party hosted by Lingua- the arts journal on campus. i told Hayden how i was once a barista at tullys for 1.5 years and missed making drinks but even more, i missed my customers and the relationships that i had built with them. those relationships are what makes the Green Bean so beautiful, and we want to be a part of that community even more. Hayden even talked about the possibility of offering a class for those wanting to learn the art of coffee-making [ben and cory want to learn! heather, lindsey and i have all had equal experience in this area]. thank you Hayden and Lisa for needing help! we'll begin volunteering there in December and January!

www.greenbeancoffee.org

+ We're going to be hosting an exchange student!

our new friend Richard Struijk is coming to Seattle from the Netherlands to work a 3 month internship with Steve Geelhood and his company, a member of Sanctuary church. Richard is in his early 20's and is 4 years into a 5-6 year joint BS and MS Chemical Engineering degree. happily, we have an extra room in our house to offer him. we are excited to have another member in our family! thank you Steve for thinking of us!

finals are next week for us at SPU. we're almost done and trying not to procrastinate as we desire to finish well.

please contact us if you need prayer, for we would be so blessed to have you come to us.
we LOVE you.
also, if you know of someone who needs help in some way or could use clothing donations, we are here to serve that person. we want to serve YOU.

slow down and find the beauty. it's everywhere.
and be blessed as you bless others.
thank you for your prayers and your support.

Happy Anti-Halloween

2007-10-31T19:51:00.000-07:00

Tonight was Halloween and we gave away pumpkin loaf and extremely dyed pumpkin bread (pictured above). We walked around our neighborhood, met our neighbors and got some candy. They are really amazing and in love with our block. They made reference to how amazing all of the people on our block were and said that they didn't know about the people south of us. It was kind of funny.
On of our favorite neighbors lives behind us and up the alley. Her name is Mikel and she was dressed as a man for Halloween but assured us that she was a woman. She was great. A little emo girl that came us to the door after us was really funny too. In the most apathetic and flat tone she could muster, she mumbled tricker-treat and then ran away.
Our personal experience with tricker treaters was slightly traumatic. We saw people approaching our front porch, ran to greet them and then discovered what they were really up to. Two young boys were quickly emptying the entire contents of our candy bowl into their bags. They were so started that we came that they ran off with the totality of the candy and the bowl. We got the bowl back and I think that they were a little traumatized as well, but they deserved it or something...
All in all, it was amazing. Our landlord is going costume watching on Capital Hill which is amazing too.

We love our neighbors a lot and are looking forward to getting to know them over the rest of the year.

HAPPY HALLOWEEN!

our family

2007-10-10T00:28:00.001-07:00

our Father in Heaven gave us His love for each other.

we are a community of believers who love Jesus.
it is a struggle at times to love others and be loved.
but we choose to love at all costs.

"Life in community is no less than a necessity for us, an inescapable 'must'... all life created by God exists in communal order and works toward community." -- Eberhard Arnold

we are a family.

School is cool but not for a fool who can drool with a tool in a swimming pool making a rule about a cruel mule

2007-10-10T00:04:00.000-07:00

The first couple weeks of school bring many things into our lives. We've been busy, but not too busy (debatable?) haha! We're trying to remember to pray often and love generously. It's so fun to get free stuff! I'll just say it right out! It just is! coffee! coffee grinder! french press! marker board! If you're ever thinking about buying a cup of coffee, come to our house instead =) Most of all, though, we're thankful for the people that share life with us. It has been wonderful! It means so much to us that people find a sanctuary when they enter. We hope you come soon.

an update of sorts

2007-09-20T22:37:00.000-07:00

Hello family.

Here is a brief and abbreviated post about our current status as a community, sorry about the breviety but we will update in more detail soon.

We have been rejoicing in the amazing blessing of our house. It's one of the most beautiful gifts we have ever recieved and it has filled our lives with incredible joy. We have had parties and gatherings with so many friends and house guest over the last few weeks.

We have also been grieving the loss of one of our members. Katie will no longer be living with us and we miss her incredibly. Her presence and lack there of has been such a joy and heartache but we will always be one with here, regardless of her location. She is a loved forever by us.

We are awaiting the arrival of our last member, Ben. He arrives Saturday night!

We are looking forward to the year and the things that we will be learning and living.

To God be the glory.

we have a home!

2007-09-03T17:48:00.001-07:00

hello dear family.

well lindsey and i are moved into our house. we still await heather, cory, katie and ben. life will be even more joyous once they arrive.

moving in wasn't stressful at all. Jesus blessed us by having our friends ask when they could come and help us. we had six people and five cars. we moved all of the contents in our apartment into our house in one load! it was really great. and quite fun actually.

we continue to be blessed each day, either by having someone come help us clean the house, finding furniture on the side of the road, being given something we've been praying for, or simply but beautifully having people always at our house sharing in community and love.

here are some photos finally.
the start of our new home.
there aren't any photos of the downstairs, because i couldn't get any good ones. and the dining room isn't worth taking a photo of yet, because there's nothing in it. soon, perhaps by the end of this week, there will be a large dining room table, created out of an old, vintage door that we will add legs to!

please come visit us and share in the love and joy that we have to give.

thank you Merek!
Merek was our painter this week. he cleaned our walls and put a fresh, stark coat of white paint on them all. he also washed our porch today. so lindsey and i decided to show him our appreciation by baking him a cake, complete with a small paintbrush!

our back porch, currently full of recycling, two lovely lanterns from goodwill and a beautiful watering can from goodwill-by-the-pound.

clean kitchen.

half of our front porch.
two comfy chairs from a dumpster.

this is the beginning of our living room.
large, burnt sienna couch that was given to us.
rug from the salvation army thrift store.
table from goodwill.
and a beautiful fireplace, complete with candles.

come soon!

okay then, the house is rented.

2007-08-17T15:08:00.000-07:00

It's amazing to me house some sentences are so effortlessly rolled off tongues, while the same sentence can cause heart attacks and fits of joy in others. I think that was the moment when I finished signing our deposit check and Robert said, "Well, okay then, consider it rented."

Over the last week, we have looked at 9 houses, emailed dozens, and called about 50. Being first time renters I am sure there are people snickering at the commonality of our journey but it was difficult to transition into after last Tuesday. A question that was reoccurring in my life was my ability to hear the voice of God in the situation. Where we able to look at a house and get a tingling feeling knowing that this was the one? What neighborhood are we suppose to be in? Are we doing too much work on our own or is God calling us to be patient, faithful, and diligent in our search. We got to a point where we could see God's hand of supervision over our sporadic journey. He protected us from the craziness of the U-District, installing a bathroom, and a completely confusing landlord who wanted us to rent her house enough that she was going to move. Doors where slammed closed and at first we would get sad and disappointed but after a while, those feelings were non existent. Another house wouldn't work out, but it became okay because God was protecting us from something. The last house we called on on Monday was advertised at a 5,000 square foot mansion for the small monthly price of $2,200. It was a typo.

The real house is less than 5,000 square feet (thank God) but has 6 bedrooms, 2 full bathrooms, a huge living room and dining room with hardwood floors, a fireplace, front porch, den, and parking. It's perfect.

When we signed the check, I wasn't really all that excited anymore. I was happy and content, but just satisfied with the process, feeling the comfort of God in the tangible reality of renting a house.

He is faithful even when we are faithless and he has provided us a house.

Please stop by anytime. We are at 4111 Stone Way next to the dollar store and across the street from the 24 hour Emergency Vet Clinic.

Trust and Obey

2007-08-08T10:25:00.000-07:00

Being a good Baptist, I have sung this hymn for most of my life, even at the points when I was definitely not obeying and trust was no existent. However, during the current phase of my life, I feel as though I am living into this song a little bit more deeply. It is not simply enough to trust and it's so often confusing just to obey, the tension of our Christian struggle is to live in faith between the two, being humble enough to remain in that tension until we are called to a new one.

As a community we had seized to live in that tension for a wee bit. Posts like the previous one demonstrate that we were definitely rejoicing in God's providence and his faithfulness, becoming preemptively content before our time. Our meeting yesterday was... confusing, in a word. God's presence was there very strongly and we had a chance to stand in awe once again at the places that he had brought us from and the amazing work he has already done. We were able to meet an amazing woman of God and share in her joys and dreams about community. We felt so encouraged and supported by our mentor and his presence and leadership was such a needed blessing in a delicate moment. We were asked difficult questions and gave answers that accurately portrayed our community, glorifying the way God has made us. By the end of the meeting we had all seen God and his presence was undeniable, but we were on two different pages of the 'co-habitation' (a term we have slowly come to despise) issue, staring at each across a valley of disbelief and confusion.

We left the meeting, not on bad terms, but wounded and confused. We have experienced every single emotion it seems like; anger, pain, joy, hope, confusion, exhaustion, fear, and peace.

Right now we are at a good place. We rejoice fully in God's perfect plan for us even though we are in pain. We have hope beyond this moment that he will provide for our needs, even though we were moderately discouraged. We see the clock of August ticking down but we have faith in an eternal God who provides all things in his perfect timing. And we are learning to trust again, because, right now, it is the only thing we have. Our flesh tells us to fear homelessness and deadlines and failure but the Spirit provides peace and comfort beyond our understanding. We have realized that everything in this journey is secondary to our pursuit of God, a house doesn't matter and all of the bowls and towels mean nothing. We will forever be homeless because we are the body of Christ and we are too large to fit into a house. We were able to see the community of believers that he has weaved together across the nation, from New York to Philadelphia to Indianapolis to Colorado Springs to southern California and here. God is good and we are called to live in response to him, a task that is confusing right now but our ultimate joy.

Thank you for your prayers, they move mountains and build houses. We are so thankful for everyone who has been with us on this journey and we are so blessed to be in this journey together with you. We could definitely use prayer and encouragement right now for the next step and any points of wisdom would be so greatly appreciated. We in awe of the things that God is doing and we are amazed that we get to experience them with you.

To God be all honor and glory and power forever and ever. Amen.

did you guys want a...

2007-07-31T11:04:00.000-07:00

In regards to the last post, God is faithful. We have a meeting with the landlord (Fawn) on August 7th and we are all so excited to discuss the possibilities for next year. I still stand in amazement whenever I hear someone else tell the story and am so happy to think that God didn't just want to give us a house, but wanted to add a little excitement and humbling perfection to the situation.

All we really do is dream about next year. It was easy being in the moment when the house was a hazy concept and our location was undecided. Now that we have a house and we have a location we want to be there. August will be the best month of anticipation we will ever experience.

In the mean time, God is keeping us in the moment by providing incredible blessings. The people that he has surrounded us with are putting on the skin of Jesus and giving richly. We are in constant awe of the generosity of the body and the faithfulness of God to provide. A dear friend recently gave us an entire kitchen set. She worked since her junior year of high school to generate supplies to live on her own but her heart has changed and she can't see her future self living outside of community or within the US. Through God's nudging she decided that our house would be a great home for her belongings. My parents are donating a bike rack and Mason jars for canning (fresh peach, pears, tomatoes, applesauce, and salsa). Hangers from the side of the road, colanders from dumpsters, glasses from free boxes are just some of the ways that little bits of God have popped up in our lives. We see the amazing work that he is doing, weaving together supplies for community living and we are overwhelmed, but together in our joy which makes it infinitely sweeter.

The 3 of us in Seattle are going to be planning, planning, planning over the course of August. We will be creating a recipe book, finical system, food structure, fencing, gardens, flowerbeds, and then the last joyful act of moving in!

If you are looking for a way to support us, please pray. It's a phrase that gets used flippantly but we have seen God move so powerfully in response to our prayers and we want to constantly remain in the center of his will. Some things that we need prayer for are planning over the summer, the process of securing the house, finding balance of the now and the overly exciting not yet, and more faith.

Things that we still need:
push lawnmower, vacuum cleaner (preferably new), large pots and pans, an indoor drying rack, white dishes, and furniture.

It's all going to be okay though... someone will most likely just say, "Did you guys want a..." and we will just laugh and say, "Yeah..."

perfection is found in Ballard

2007-07-26T16:33:00.000-07:00

As we sit at our favorite, or most frequently visited coffee shop (Fremont Coffee) we are rejoicing and so at peace with the plans that God has in store for us. Abby had the opportunity to meet with a fellow member of Sanctuary today. Her name is Clara and she has lived in community for 9 years in Boston and a few other cities. Over the course of the conversation the topic of our lack of housing came up and Clara responded with a shocked face and an overflow of excitement. Apparently, the house that she is living in right now is a 6 bedroom, 2 story house, fully optimised with a backyard! and garden! and washer and dryer! and TWO refrigerators! in Ballard! The landlord is a 33 year old female who is a Christian and feels that God is calling her to rent the house to an intentional community.

Right now we are overwhelmed with the smallness of our imaginations and overwhelmed with the faithfulness of God. He wants to give his children amazing gifts and we sit here and doubt with our worry. He is so faithful and just to give us our wildest desires and ultimate dreams. We will be meeting with the landlord, God willing, sometime this week. Please be in prayer for this opportunity and we will keep you all updated about our journey.

To God be the glory!

-abby and lindsey

faith. not worry.

2007-07-18T10:49:00.000-07:00

this has been a difficult week.

satan is constantly tempting us to worry about our financial obligations, both present and future. each time i'm under this now familiar temptation, i pray asking God to fill my heart with His Spirit while assuring me that He will take care of us all as long as we trust in His promise.

God already has a house picked out for us! and He will provide whatever funds are needed to get us into that space. He will also help us pay our last months rent, our cell phone bills, money we owe to our families, etc... i can't allow myself to worry even once because i have personally seen over and over again how God has blessed my sister with anonymous checks in the mail, or a refund from something or other presented with the exact dollar and cent amound that she needed. her testimonies become personal to me, so how could i possibly sadden my Lord by worrying and doubting His hands and His angels?

thankfully i have a friend, Jake who reminds me of God's faithfulness every single day. i value so dearly the encouragement from people that are dear to me and our daily prayer times together.

i pray that the Spirit of the Lord is dwelling in our future community house already.
i pray Jesus blesses you as He continues to bless us.
and may you remember to have faith in His promises.

-

continual blessings.

2007-06-25T00:18:00.000-07:00

life in the u-district is grand.

the Saturday farmer's market is located in the parking lot across from our house. we have a disfunctional toilet [had to buy two plungers and rid-x]. lindsey's purple orchid makes our windowsill colorful, and john's bamboo has new sprouts. we've enjoyed tea parties and will be making dinner for friends in a couple days. we bought value village dishes and glasses -- all mismatched and unique. and praise Jesus we all have jobs.

heather, lindsey and i will begin looking for our house in a couple weeks. oh boy! this responsibility has thankfully not stressed me out at all. i had a lengthy encouraging conversation with my sister, Keren today; she told me that she was excited for us in reflectings on this journey we have all been on and will continue to live out together. she told me she couldn't wait to see which house God has picked out for us already. i was instantly encouraged. God has already picked out our house! and He's probably laughing, excited for us to begin our search and wondering how long it will take us to find it. i pray we walk in the footsteps of Jesus all in His timing -- not only in following our own agenda.

simple blessing:
thursday night, heather and i were sitting at a table at the tollgate, listing appliances we'd like to have in our apartment but will need for our house next year. i finished writing 'toaster' and 'blender' when raylene came up behind me and tapped me on the shoulder, telling me she had a few items she thought we might be able to use in our house. i followed her into the back room, and when she turned around, she held a toaster in one hand and a blender in the other... later, i crossed off the two items and wrote, "thank you Jesus."

be encouraged by the simplest things.
we are so blessed.