Wednesday, July 14, 2010

Commune

Our house has been absolutely crazy since we moved in! People over every other night, community meals, sleepovers, talks-serious and otherwise!, laughs,cries...doing life with people is what it is all about. Or, as Beth told a customer recently,"Community, it's good for the soul!".

Mark's friend Lee passed through last week with a handful of his friends (won't you all come back and live awhile?!). So, with them all sleeping down in the basement that put the house total to...5 boys, 4 girls, a pup, and two kits. It was great!

As you do, or don't know, two of our couches do not fit into our new house-through neither door nor window. Believe it or not, we continue to pull them out of our garage on a nightly basis as we grill out with our friends, get the fire pit going, and have yummy smores! I love sitting out in the backyard on my green snuggly couch roasting a mallow, listening to radical face, and getting to know some really cool people.

I could not have more enjoyed my weekend with all of us living in one big house! Mark has often hinted at commune living, and I have not always been so sure...but if Lee is there and he makes yummy raspberry french toast, I am SO in. =)

Love and community-get some.

Books

I've finished three books in the last week.

"Silence" by Shusako Endo

"Silence" is one of Mark's favorite books. It follows the life of a missionary in Japan at a time when Christianity was forbidden. This story is gripping, moving, and ...unsatisfying in that it leaves you with so many questions about faith, and the heart of God. I definitely recommend it-power through the first 30 pages or so, after that it gets good!

The Silence of God is something so hard to wrap one's head around...



"Notes from the Hyena's Belly" by Nega Mezelkia

I saw this book at the library and had to choose it. It is a coming of age story, written by an Ethiopian man. The book is full of Ethiopian history-political and otherwise, as well as popular Ethiopian folklore, and an amazing tale of a young boys survival during the communist years in Ethiopia. Plans to visit Harar are now underway...

"Tears of the Desert" by Halima Bashir

I could not put this book down once I started it. It is the tragic and triumphant autobiography of a woman doctor in Darfur. I felt like I had lived in her little village with her after reading this book, which made the war in Darfur all the more horrifying as Halima courageously shared her story. As one person she has made such a difference, I want her same fire and strength to possess me.

Monday, July 5, 2010

Content

I'm sitting in my new house...so content. In 3 days we pretty much have everything done. Pictures are hanging, curtains are up, all the knick knacks and random stuff have a place...it looks great in here!

We had a successful 4th party last night..well, maybe there was a little too much sangria involved, but it was a blast! I love friends, food, sparklers, and games! I even loved getting caught in the rain and having 20 soaking wet people huddled in the sun room looking at fireworks. Life is good!

Summer is so wonderful, I want it to last forever, but also can't wait for school to start back up again.

Love and water world,

Alissa