Well, tonight is the first House-wide electricity/tech-free evening. I suppose that's not entirely true. Technically Sunday the non-twin Living Acts participants gave it a little trial run while Annie and I were at a wedding shower.
Tonight is the first one I'm attending.
There are two sorts of feelings I have about this. Obviously there's a sort of fascination and pride in realizing that we're trying something so...unorthadox in today's culture. As a kid I used to get so excited during thunder storms when the electricity went out. Even then I was a little, budding extravert and having no electricity meant that no one was allowed to be distracted from the physical company we provided for each other. I loved that. I was always the pesky little sister knocking on my sisters' doors asking them how much longer until they wanted to play.
So of course, there's something really nestalgic and fun about the idea of a tech-free evening with our little living acts family.
But as I said there are other feelings too.
I am still that little extravert and though as a young kid my extraversion showed up in my eagerness to play with my sisters...the social circles have spiraled outward: multiplied. I love my many circles dearly. I love my Living Acts circle; I love my Charlottesville Circle; I love my Bluffton Circle; the list goes on.. Alot of my circles exist in other regions: other states even. Yes yes..this is why I facebook and email and text and....use technology.
And blogging. I love blogging.
But I don't want to be the kind of person who can't escsape the modern world for a day or two.
I want to sit on the roof of the living acts house and not realize time even existing as I sink into a drawing in my sketchbook.
:)
Wednesday, April 28, 2010
Tuesday, April 20, 2010
people to wave at
I know not everyone is like this, but I'm the kind of person who really likes to know people. I'm not talking about popularity. I'm talking about something deeper. I'm talking about knowing someone so well that you can tell the difference between their good days and bad days just by looking at them: knowing what a person's not saying when they sigh. That's the kind of knowing I love. Deep knowing.
But being fairly new to Millersburg residency, I've been given the opportunity to experience the younger phases of knowing people. It is the young and tender phase that far proceeds the right to analyze their wordless expressions.
Yesterday Zack and I were running together on the trail at the bottom of the hill. It's a wonderful place to run and generally feels pretty private and out-of-the-way. Every now and then you'll pass a pair of high school young-lings in their school-pride sweaters gossiping in the supposed privacy of the trail or an elderly couple introducing some little pure-bread pup to the great outdoors. Sometimes I wave or nod my head; and other times I let the self-conscious knowledge of what a fashion-less sight I am when running get the best of me, and I give no nod or wave.
This time as we approached a little family cluster of walkers, I jumped full force into the "wave and turn to talk as you run" approach: a method of greeting that is humorous, yes, but hardly effective as far as conversational greetings go. But how could I help myself? This was not just any tiny family cluster of walkers: it was one that I knew.... well...at least on that surface level. I had met these new friends at a local house concert just two days before where I had struck up a good conversation with the father of the family. I called the names of my new friends as I ran past and twisted awkwardly around to answer a question or two about my run before there was too much distance to hear and too much twist in my step to sustain a good run.
Consistent to my talkative nature, I chattered with Zack for a bit about who the family was and how I had met them.
Now...I don't know what these people act like on a good day versus a bad day. I don't know what their troubles or joys are and I don't know what hides in the layers of their wordless expressions when they sigh or laugh.. but I was able to fill about a quarter mile's worth of conversation about these new acquaintances and that felt good.
I know how to reach the depths of what's going on with a person...but it's kind of fun to dedicate some time to what happens between neighbors who've only just met.
It's fun to create new people to wave to.
As always,
God is alive and we've got our eyes out for Him.
But being fairly new to Millersburg residency, I've been given the opportunity to experience the younger phases of knowing people. It is the young and tender phase that far proceeds the right to analyze their wordless expressions.
Yesterday Zack and I were running together on the trail at the bottom of the hill. It's a wonderful place to run and generally feels pretty private and out-of-the-way. Every now and then you'll pass a pair of high school young-lings in their school-pride sweaters gossiping in the supposed privacy of the trail or an elderly couple introducing some little pure-bread pup to the great outdoors. Sometimes I wave or nod my head; and other times I let the self-conscious knowledge of what a fashion-less sight I am when running get the best of me, and I give no nod or wave.
This time as we approached a little family cluster of walkers, I jumped full force into the "wave and turn to talk as you run" approach: a method of greeting that is humorous, yes, but hardly effective as far as conversational greetings go. But how could I help myself? This was not just any tiny family cluster of walkers: it was one that I knew.... well...at least on that surface level. I had met these new friends at a local house concert just two days before where I had struck up a good conversation with the father of the family. I called the names of my new friends as I ran past and twisted awkwardly around to answer a question or two about my run before there was too much distance to hear and too much twist in my step to sustain a good run.
Consistent to my talkative nature, I chattered with Zack for a bit about who the family was and how I had met them.
Now...I don't know what these people act like on a good day versus a bad day. I don't know what their troubles or joys are and I don't know what hides in the layers of their wordless expressions when they sigh or laugh.. but I was able to fill about a quarter mile's worth of conversation about these new acquaintances and that felt good.
I know how to reach the depths of what's going on with a person...but it's kind of fun to dedicate some time to what happens between neighbors who've only just met.
It's fun to create new people to wave to.
As always,
God is alive and we've got our eyes out for Him.
Wednesday, April 14, 2010
catching the swing
I love the slow and steady accumulation of activity that happens in this house around 6 pm. Those who have worked are coming home from their 9-5's and those who haven't are coming home from their errands or more likely, their shenanigans. For a few minutes, we are scattered individuals with separate tasks, but inevitably we find ourselves sort of absent-minded-ly clustering together over some random thing we can share interest in: the new mango juice for instance...
Today, at 6:30 our togetherness became a bit more intentional and we had our first house worship time. We started off with Rob Bell's discussion about Peter's attempt to walk on water but...of course, that's not where the conversation stayed. Conversations in this household take on lives of their own, and before we knew it, we found ourselves talking about how we as Western/American Christians react to the Holy Spirit...or even how we react to the reactions others have to receiving the Holy Spirit. I'm not describing the conversation well...but that's how conversations are I suppose: less vivid as their retold.
Often times conversations about such things can feel "rabbit-hole-ish" or webbed...but somewhere in the midst of our tangents and trailing...there seemed to be something working...living if you will.
Our individual projects are starting up like sloppy little dandelion buds. The transition from "idea" to "action" is always full of funny mixtures of hope and revision. But knowing that such a mix is appropriate makes it feel like real progress. In some ways, this is the part of the big-project journey where we head out a little ways to identify where the hills and valleys are: or where the impasses might be. Its going to be so exciting to watch everyone as we journey along.
Hopefully it will make a good read, too. :)
As always,
God is alive and we've got our eyes out for Him.
Today, at 6:30 our togetherness became a bit more intentional and we had our first house worship time. We started off with Rob Bell's discussion about Peter's attempt to walk on water but...of course, that's not where the conversation stayed. Conversations in this household take on lives of their own, and before we knew it, we found ourselves talking about how we as Western/American Christians react to the Holy Spirit...or even how we react to the reactions others have to receiving the Holy Spirit. I'm not describing the conversation well...but that's how conversations are I suppose: less vivid as their retold.
Often times conversations about such things can feel "rabbit-hole-ish" or webbed...but somewhere in the midst of our tangents and trailing...there seemed to be something working...living if you will.
Our individual projects are starting up like sloppy little dandelion buds. The transition from "idea" to "action" is always full of funny mixtures of hope and revision. But knowing that such a mix is appropriate makes it feel like real progress. In some ways, this is the part of the big-project journey where we head out a little ways to identify where the hills and valleys are: or where the impasses might be. Its going to be so exciting to watch everyone as we journey along.
Hopefully it will make a good read, too. :)
As always,
God is alive and we've got our eyes out for Him.
Monday, April 12, 2010
day one!
Today was, in my mind, the very first day of this Living Acts adventure, although that's probably untrue for many reasons. Many people have been praying for and working with this adventure long before this day. But the launch weekend felt so wonderfully celebratory and hopeful that I couldn't help but feel like the ribbon was being cut in some grand opening the entire weekend. And this morning; a cool, but sunny Monday morning, felt like the first day of that opening.
I woke with the feeling that the morning just beyond my groggy eyelids was something tangible: a gift I couldn't wait to use. Perhaps you've felt that way too. I'm sure you have. I hope you have. :)
I can tell already that this big adventure...will be full of thousands of smaller spontaneous adventures. For instance, today's included bike rides to Killbuck, crash-courses in ethnic accapella singing, and lots of brainstorming. Let me tell you, brainstorms are exciting kinds of storms. They leave the most constructive rubble...
I anticipate this blog will continue to map out which little dotted lines we follow: which adventures we live out and which brainstorms God blesses with life.
until then, I can't thank you enough...:)
God is alive and I've got my eye out for Him.
I woke with the feeling that the morning just beyond my groggy eyelids was something tangible: a gift I couldn't wait to use. Perhaps you've felt that way too. I'm sure you have. I hope you have. :)
I can tell already that this big adventure...will be full of thousands of smaller spontaneous adventures. For instance, today's included bike rides to Killbuck, crash-courses in ethnic accapella singing, and lots of brainstorming. Let me tell you, brainstorms are exciting kinds of storms. They leave the most constructive rubble...
I anticipate this blog will continue to map out which little dotted lines we follow: which adventures we live out and which brainstorms God blesses with life.
until then, I can't thank you enough...:)
God is alive and I've got my eye out for Him.
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