¶  My goal in life over the last couple of years has been to avoid pontification.  I stopped writing for a local publication because there just simply wasn’t anything left to say without sounding pompous dogmatic, or to put it bluntly-like a know it all.  In fact, there’s very little left to say about food, birth, community that hasn’t already been said.

That’s why I’m taking my writing in a different direction.  I’m going to write more about what works in my life and what doesn’t.  The ways I’ve failed.  The ways I’ve tried hard and succeeded.  The ways I try to fold in as much good as possible into the hours of my day.  It may be entirely boring and contrite, but for this point in my life, it just feels right.

It will be at the very least be good medicine for my soul.

¶  I’m looking forward to getting back to cooking more of the food we grow here on the farm.  To spending more time reading-all those good books about food, birth, and community.  To spend more time learning and taking in than teaching and spewing my thoughts.

I’m looking forward to the ways that this shift in my life will bring me closer to God, Nathan, and my children.  I’m especially thankful for the ways that it has brought me closer to a smaller group of friends.  Spending time to time, face to face with a good friend and admitting your faults and blessings is an embodiment of faith.  It takes me out of my head and allows my body to become part of worship in a more meaningful way.

¶  One of the things I love most about Nathan is that he came about his faith later in life and with a fresh perspective. He wasn’t indoctrinated or forced into religion. He simply felt the love of God and wanted to get to know him/her better.

Rather than forming a strict theology he has simply chosen to spend as much time in nature as possible (because that’s where he meets God). He’s made a commitment to love his wife and children and community in the way that he believes Christ came (in human form) to demonstrate the purest love. He doesn’t seek perfection, but simply tries his best. His only demand on me is that I not make a God out of him.

Nathan helps me make a whole lot of sense out of all the things that seem to be turned upside down in the here and now. He minds his own business in such a way that he often encourages the people around him to become more thoughtful. Without intention he nurtures the quiet space others need to get to know themselves better and if they choose, God.  #advent

What he does effortlessly in his faith requires every single part of my being.
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