visitors, updates, ramblings...

paul and capria jaussen were in the city this last weekend visiting the rotten apple for the first time. ben and i got to hang out with them sunday evening. it was, of course, excellent. i had not seen either of them since they moved to seattle 2 years ago. not much has changed except for capria's hair length (lucky girl can pull off anything!)

and on to other news...

ben and i after much deliberation and consideration have decided that when our lease runs out (may 8) we will be leaving shelter island and moving back to chattanooga for a time. there are many reasons for this move, which i will not get into here. we made this decision a couple of weeks ago, but have not had the opportunity to share the news with everyone yet.

in lieu of this, we have both been caused to reflect on where we are now and what this means for us. the future plans we both had before we got married now seem farther away. yet there is an energy that seems to drive us both together and forward, though we know not to where we are going. is that faith? is that the Lord leading us? it is something we are both in prayer about. what this means for both our former plans for school we have no idea. neither ben nor i have given up on our dreams and goals. but they seem to be transforming into something else.

the words "relationships, friendships, community" are all becoming part of our dialogue more and more. and questions come after. what does the relationship between ben and i mean for the relationships with the rest of our community? and where does our community lie? we are in the process of learning about these things in our context of marriage. and this is beautiful. to share and be shared with. to know and be known. to love and be loved. and when we recognize this, we both look outward for those who are in our community, desiring to be with you again, to give to you these things that we are learning and growing in together.

this time here on shelter island has been a fruitful one. a place of healing, growth, solitude, learning, rejuvenation, and heck, an extended honeymoon...