Matthew, Daniel and David have all put up blogs about our weekend at the Common Root Conference, so I suppose it is my turn. First of all I must say that we were very blessed to have a house to stay in with such great hostesses. The community we stayed in was very welcoming and I enjoyed seeing a different way of living in community. It was interesting to be in Minnesota because that is one of the places I could have been had I chosen to go to the Lutheran Volunteer Corp. I was actually nervous that I may slightly regret not goingto LVC. Minneapolis was a nice city, but I have no regrets. I am actually more thankful for the journey I am on than I was before, even though I was thankful before.
The conference was more encouraging to me than anything. It was nice to see that so many people were having conversations about what it looks like to be in community and live out the Kingdom here on earth. The weekend started with Tom and Christine Sine speaking, they live in a community called The Mustard Seed. They spoke about their community and their reasoning for living in community. I enjoyed the last two speakers Carol Rose who is part of the Christian Peace Makers and Jin Kim who is pastor of a local church in Minnesota called Church of the Nations. Carol Rose I enjoyed because of the stories she told about the work she has done and that the Christian Peace Maker teams do, ive actually briefly thought about becoming a relief worker some day in life…I probably won’t, but it was a thought I had once. I am actually not sure I could handle it, I too easily put myself in others positions. Jin Kim spoke about his church and how multi-cultural it is and how it got to be so multi-cultural. The thing that stood out to me most in all the things he said was he said “God doesn’t need me to do a Damn thing,” which thinking that made me feel a lot lighter. I suppose I always know this but I forget sometimes. I get caught up in trying to do “good” and overwhelm myself most days but really if I didn’t do something, if it was important, God would have someone else step in and if I am meant to do it God will have me do it, but ultimately God doesn’t need me to do a damn thing! So I am very thankful to be at Gabriel House, even though if I am honest some days are very difficult and draining. I still love it here and I love my Gabriel House family 
Common Root February 23, 2009
I am a dreamer February 10, 2009
So I have reconnected to my wandering dreamer mind. I think it went dormant during the winter. There is new excitement with spring coming and the prospects of a garden, and also the prospect of school in the fall. I have been hanging out with more people which is nice. I had coffee with Lynne this morning to talk about gardening. I am also feeling more settled, especially knowing that I am going back to school. I really like what is going on around Richmond.
With that said, I am still dreaming up things I would like to do in life. I would like to live in England for a summer and work in a pub, I would love to live in Colorado near the mountains and learn to snowboard, I want to be more sustainable in life, I want to learn how to knit, I want to bike more places, and picking up the guitar again would be nice I enjoyed taking lessons last winter much more than my previous experience. There is so much to do and experience!
These are my random thoughts for the day brought to you by lack of food, too much coffee and very nice weather.
“Blue skies smiling at me, nothing but blue skies do I see” February 9, 2009
The yellow room is finally finished and livable. All we need are curtains and I can move in So this weekend was a celebration of the room being finished, but not only that, I was accepted into VCU’s Masters of Social Work program! It looks like I will be in Richmond for at least another 2 years. I called a bunch of people to let them know that I got in, and I realized this evening that I forgot to call my sister 
There was a lot going on this weekend though.
Friday everyone in the house went to a play called “Uncle Tom De constructed” that was performed by the Conciliation Project it was very well done. There was discussion after the play which was ok. I am glad that we spend a lot of time in reconciliation type discussions at the house. After the play we all went to Karaoke which was interesting. Matthew sang Jesus Walks, Sarah sang Natural Woman and Lonnie sang a few jazz numbers. I didn’t sing. Then Saturday was a work day finishing up the yellow room, I got to use a miter saw! Saturday night we went Salsa dancing which was also fun. I love the culture around Salsa dancing because its all about the dancing and feeling the music and having fun. I went to lunch at The Black Sheep today with Alicia which was a treat and the this evening as a house we watched Across the Universe which we projected on to the newly painted walls in the finished room Which we realize no one but us were as into the idea because we never really watch TV so to be watching a movie and have it be projected was quite the treat.
I loved the weather today. I like being out in my neighborhood when the weather is nice because everyone is out. I like just sitting on the porch and talking to people as they pass by. One man passed by with his daughters and was asking if the house was a rooming house and I said no but explained that a bunch of people live here and we do community dinners twice a week and that he and his daughters should stop on by. So we may have a few more for dinner this week to add to the average of about 15-20 we have already. Oh and Friday Lonnie invited everyone at the play and in the cast to dinner. I am almost completely over my cold now though so hopefully I can handle the onslaught of people.
Is it Spring yet? February 3, 2009
So a few things have happened in the past few weeks. The jeep was stolen, then found. All of this happened during community dinner in which there were 9 children and 11 adults. It was a lot of excitement for one evening. You can read all about it on the Gabriel House blog.
I have been sick all week with a horrible cold. I am terrible at being sick. When I am sick I do all the stuff I do when I am well, which probably means I stay sick longer. Friday I went into work earlier to relieve someone who was sick but felt they couldn’t make it through the day. Then I went out every night this weekend, bad idea, but I had a good weekend. Sunday I wasn’t going to church so I could rest some, but I ended up doing some work in the yellow room. Not as much as Matthew and Sarah did, they put the final coat of paint on the walls and I put the final coat of paint on the fire place. Needless to say, I didn’t really rest, but the yellow room is very close to being finished. I will get to move in this weekend! I have been dreaming all winter about the insulated walls in that room.
In other news, I decided to go to the Common Root Conference in Minnesota. I made the mistake of booking a flight before I asked off work because the ticket prices were going up and I wanted to get on the same flight as David and Matthew. I think Daniel got a cheaper flight but he is on a different plane. Luckily I was able to get off work so I am free to freeze my hind parts off in Minnesota. I am looking forward to it. I am hoping it will give me new inspiration and energy for the house. I feel a bit of energy coming back when I think of having a garden, even though that is also overwhelming because I have no clue what I am doing. Thankfully we all work together on the garden and I have some garden gurus I can consult. I may also participate in Hope in the Cities training program called
Connecting Communities. The training this time has an educator theme. The people participating are involved in some aspect of education whether it be the PTA, teacher, or administrator. I am a little apprehensive about it because of cost. I would only be able to participate if I get a scholarship and even then I have to pay a decent chunk of money, at least it is a decent chunk for me. I am sure it will all work out though.
