here's the deal

just exorcising some demons from my head:

--the gathering was great not because of what it was but of those who made it so. there were great sessions on the good news of god and what it means today, communal living and why people do it, women in ministry and women in emergent as well as emerging, i heard the one by tony jones on theology was good something about theology is everywhere (if you went to this one fill me in more)and the one by doug pagitt on post-augustinian christianity (which i listened to...thank you ian) BUT the real bread and butter happened outside of the sessions...talking with people like mike stavlund who spoke with me openly about his son, will, dying just about a month ago (amy - i would love to hook you up with he and his wife)and watching him and stacy dealing with it while still being in community with people there... in fact, if i knew nothing else about emergent and the books i have read and people i have met, and i saw mike and stacy come up at the beginning of the week and explain WHY they were there in light of will's death, that would be all i need to know about the people there and would have been sold on emergent from that point. this is why emergent is so appealing to me... it is real and love and freedom and honest pursuit of god and christ and it is messy but it recognizes the reality and beautiful place messiness has in life (thank you mark and adam for the "beautiful mess")
--through this time i have decided to go ahead and start the cohort, with directed encouragement from sarah notton and tony as well as andrew and becky..originally i thought i would wait and see who was interested but it seems good to just go ahead and get the ball rolling and see who comes along side
--mitch and kara are incredible friends of ours...in fact they are family... you get to a place where you realize that people become involved in your life, if you let them, to such a degree that the categories of FRIEND don't apply but the categories of FAMILY are more fitting...anyway, they came along side of us again and supported us by loving us and pledged support by action and that is wonderful...during our conversations i expressed a frustration about not living by the disciplines that i hold dear, at least by word, and through mitch's encouragement we are embarking on an eight month trek to live better primarily through health but i plan to use this as a catalyst for other things that are important, issues of justice locally, better life for those around me, active love...
--christy and i have a relationship that is defined by tension, it is not easy. we also have a lifestyle right now that is demanding and trying, therefore out of love for her as well as needing to get things done and living my love more actively i am limiting myself to computer use in the early morning and late evening. we have a lot on our plates and we need your prayers and persons (i.e. hands, feet, mouths, ears, eyes, minds) to help us be all that we desire to be and dig ourselves out of the mountain of stuff that we are buried under.

FINALLY, i will be adding more people to my sphere of blogfluence...please visit them because i believe it will be worth your time

my little love is awakening so i must tend to her...peace